interview

[Aaron]

I need a expert in robotics to interview for a school report on robotics I'm doing for my eighth grade class please help!!!
If u could answer a few questions that would be awesome:

name?
age?
how long have u been participating in robotics?
how did you get started?
what does robotics mean to you?
who inspired you?
have you had to overcome any obstacles?
how has robotics made a difference in your life?
what was your least favorite and favorite moment involving robotics?
what is your favorite part of robotics?
what advice do you have for some one like me who wants robotics to be their career when they are older?
 

[little-c]

Chris,

19
6+years.

how did you get started?

working on blown up bomb squad robots to rebuild working robots out of them. someone thought it would keep me ocupied.

what does robotics mean to you?

finding a solution to a problem.

who inspired you?

crazy bomb squad guy.

have you had to overcome any obstacles?

yep. everything from motors not fitting, to trying to work out how to make a robot know if it can drive over stuff or not. oh and the but your a first year thing. why can't I know how to build a robot?

how has robotics made a difference in your life?

Im taking a university course in it, and practicaly spend my life working on some robotic project or another.

what was your least favorite and favorite moment involving robotics?

least favorite moment is when my bodged bomb squad robot made form blown up robots got blown up during testing. worse, it was humman error that caused it to fail.
favorite moment is when one of my robots caught fire. it continued to drive around until we switched it off and put the fire out. it still worked!

what is your favorite part of robotics?

favorite part of robotics. probably stuff going wrong. if it works, its boring!

what advice do you have for some one like me who wants robotics to be their career when they are older?

learn programing languages, pay attention to maths, and learn anything you get the chance to. everything is useful. knowledge doesn't wiegh anything.

[z.s.tar.gz]

I'm no expert but I'm not a noob either so what the heck:

Zach

17

~3 years

I'm a hobbyist hacker/modder so I was bound to end up in robotics one day

Robotics is at the point that computers were at in the 80's: It's starting to emerge more and more in the mainstream market. I think robots are the way of the future.

I just wanted to make a robot for something to do one day so I guess nobody? Admin's tutorials definitely helped so maybe him.

I've had to overcome so many obstacles it's not even funny. Of course these were mostly created by myself because I like to bite off more than I can chew.

Robotics has become my primary hobby now overtaking hacking/modding so I guess it's made a pretty serious impact in my life. People also refer to me as "the robot guy" now.

My least favorite was when I was learning to use a microcontroller because I'd never done it before and it was giving me some problems (they were my fault of course)
My favorite was when I built the chassis for my robot and it really came together instead of just CAD and a box of parts.

My favorite part of robotics is the electromechanical aspect. It's so cool to turn electricity into applicable motion.

Here is my only piece of advice: Do what's hard to do. Build your own circuits. Make your own chassis. Write your own programs. What you pay in effort gets you so much more in knowledge. As John F. Kennedy once said: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard" (just pretend the moon is a metaphor for robots)

[HyperNerd]

name?
Jamie

age?
14

how long have u been participating in robotics?
4 years

how did you get started?
I learnt VB.NET, got a BASIC Stamp 2, and just started mucking around.

what does robotics mean to you?
A whole damn lot. As we move forward and technology gets better, there will be more and more need for people with skills in robotics, HCI, AI etc.

who inspired you?
Probably Admin, as I looked at some of the things he had done, and thought, 'I could try that...'

have you had to overcome any obstacles?
Loads. Some simple stuff like wheels not fitting on motor shafts, to more annoying stuff like PICs just failing to do anything and not knowing why.

how has robotics made a difference in your life?
I want to take HCI or something else to do with robotics at university, then get a job in R&D.

what was your least favorite and favorite moment involving robotics?
Least favourite: Having a freshly soldered board blow up in my face after an hour of work.
Favourite: Seeing my first robot run around on the floor on its own for the first time.

what is your favorite part of robotics?
Solving new problems with each project, and having a really good laugh when things go wrong.

what advice do you have for some one like me who wants robotics to be their career when they are older?
Do your own thing. Do new things. Just get stuck into whatever takes your fancy. Whatever you learn will help you at some point in the future. Knowledge is power.

 -HyperNerd

[SmAsH]

name? James

age? 14

how long have u been participating in robotics? 3-4 years.

how did you get started? Pulling apart R/C cars and the likes, then i stumbled across this forum.

what does robotics mean to you? Robotics takes up a large part of my life these days and some day i wish to do a mech-e course at uni and get a job in that field.

who inspired you? I'm going to say John Palmisano (Admin). His dedication to robotics as well as this forum is amazing, i think a fair chunk of this forum would be no where if admin hadn't created this site (plus all the cool robots he's made).

have you had to overcome any obstacles? Don't get me started. Robotics is an obstacle! But it is an obstacle once conquered pays off for sure.

how has robotics made a difference in your life? Well, its definitely kept me busy in my boredom spots, given me so much info no other hobby could give.

what was your least favorite and favorite moment involving robotics? Least would have to be the frustration of something not working when you have put days of work into it, but i guess this tests your dedication eh? Favorite would have to be the first time i ever saw something i had created come to life a crawl around on the floor chasing light.

what is your favorite part of robotics? The knowledge gained, i know it will help me later in life and i can share it with others.

what advice do you have for some one like me who wants robotics to be their career when they are older? Be persistent in the hobby, never give up and you will get there.

[madsci1016]

name?  Bill
age?  24
how long have u been participating in robotics?   
3 years

how did you get started? 
 tinkering with circuits

what does robotics mean to you?   
 A lot, it's my hobby and career

who inspired you?     
No one i can think of, just kinda started.

have you had to overcome any obstacles?
college, lol.

how has robotics made a difference in your life?
i made it my career, and i love what i do.

what was your least favorite and favorite moment involving robotics?
Least would be when my 'sure-winner' robot broke during the competition. Best would be when the robot worked when my would be future boss was watching.

what is your favorite part of robotics?
The hands on challenge. I love to build.

what advice do you have for some one like me who wants robotics to be their career when they are older?
Pay attention in school, and don't stop tinkering.

FYI, I work for the Dept of the Navy, in Unmanned Systems and Technology.

[GearMotion]

Y'all make me feel really old.

[Aaron]

I would just like to thank all of you who answered the questions for me. my presentation went great!