|
Welcome
Robot Enthusiasts!
We are Firmly
Founded. And Proudly Growing with over 4,000
members from across the globe.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TRCY is Sponsored By:
"Building
Adaptive Robotics Solutions." |
|
|
The
Robotics Club of Yahoo! was started September 11th 1998 
Join our
club on Yahoo!
|
|
We
truly have a great mix of members, from newbies to pros! Over 4000 members from across the world!
President's
Message:
My name is Justin
Ratliff. Thank you for visiting TRCY, The Robotics
Club of Yahoo, which is open to anyone with an
interest in robotics. Simply go to our Yahoo club site,
create a user name and password.
The Robotics Club of
Yahoo is a moderated group. All message from new members must be
approve for posting by a group moderator. SPAM and other unwanted
posting will be deleted and members posting in-appropriate content to
the group will be removed. Please remember to keep conversations
civil. Its ok to not like other people's ideas but disagreements
should be respectful. Name calling will not be allowed.
If
you feel your messages are taking to long to post, please send me an e-mail with your Yahoo ID.
I hope you'll find a home
in our group.
-Justin R. Ratliff
|
| |
Best sites to
start searching for
the robotics info you
need:
Looking for
tutorials for robotics? Check these out:
Want to learn how to build your own robot?
Then you need
Robot
Builder's Bonanza: 4th Edition by, TRCY member Gordon
McComb. It's like the bible for robot builders! Gordon
McComb's articles can also be found in Nuts & Volts and
Servo magazine!
Long time TRCY member Dennis
Clark also has written a couple of books to share is knowledge
and is also the Answer Man in Servo magazine!
Great book on underwater robotics:
Build Your Own Underware Robot is one of the
best books on the subject.
Check out
www.westcoastwords.com to purchase
Book Spotlight:
Robot Builder's Bonanaza, 4th Edition
by, Gordon McComb
Must
Have Tools:
Here is a quick
list of tools every robot builder should have if
you
want to be able to create, repair and debug any robotic
creations. For a
complete list download the Tools .pdf
which includes in-depth details and pictures.
The
most important tools is a Multimeter. I recommend a
digital
multimeter. There is no need to buy an expensive meter, some of
which can
cost as much as $399 for advanced meters from Fluke. You can get
a cheap
digital meter from Jameco or Circuit Specialists for $9.99-$13.
This will
allow you to take a wide range of DC and AC voltage/current, read
resistance,
check diodes, check transistors and capacitance. You'll also want
to buy a
set of alligator test leads, which you can find at Radio Shack.
Radio Shack has a set of fully
insulated alligator clip adapters for test leads. The item number
is 270-354A. I highly recommend them!
The
next must have tool is a good Soldering Iron. You can buy
a cheap
soldering iron for $10 or less from Wal-Mart or Radio Shack, but I
would order a
decent Weiler adjustable temperature model for
around $50
from Jameco. You'll also need solder, I like the sort from Radio
Shack the
best. It's also not a bad idea to go ahead and buy a replacement
tip and
solder sucker. You can get a solder sucker from Radio Shack for
less then
$10, it'll help with any goof ups.
You'll need a
solder-less Breadboard for experimenting. This is a
socket board will allows you to pop in components to test out your
circuit
ideas. You'll also want to get a set of jumper wires.
You can
find these at your local Radio Shack but you'll end up spending twice
as
much. Circuit Specialist have breadboard and jumper wires sets
starting at
around $10, which is a great value!
Next
on my list of must have tools are a good set of Screw Drivers.
You should own a set of jewelers screwdrivers, which are smaller sized
and good for taking apart most smaller electronics. You can get a
set from
Wal-Mart for less than $5. You should also own a 4-in-1
screwdriver, which
lets you switch out between Phillips and slotted driver bits with
ease.
Wire
strippers and Pliers. You should have good wire
strippers! For
pliers you should have a set that includes: wrench style, needle nose,
and wire
cutters. You can pick up a set like this from Wal-Mart for around
$10.
Misc.
tools: A wide selection of tape including masking, duct and
electrical
tape! A selection of wire nuts: small, medium and large. A
selection
of wire ties: small, medium and large. (Tie down your loose
wires, you'll
be glad you did!) Small and larger scissors.
Ordering
Online: Jameco
Circuit Specialist
Marlin P. Jones Circuit
Specialists Harbor
Freight
What
to Study or Degree to get for Robotics?
On the
TRCY message boards we
often see
questions about what should be studied or what degree should be pursued
to have
a career in the robotics field.
Currently
there are not many
schools
which offer a pure robotics degree. The study of robotics
involves just
about everything under the sun. Robotics is the art of
duplicating
functions or tasks that a human would do. To do that you need to
understand: mechanics, electronics, computer design,
programmable
logic, software programming and the philosophy of cognitive
science.
To answer
the question of
what you
should study to learn robotics I recommend you first ask your self what
you like
to do? If you like working with your hands and staying active a
degree in
mechanical or electrical engineering would suit you better. If
you like to
sit for hours on end solving problems when a degree in computer science
or
programming architect might be better for you.
In either
case keep an open
mind when
it comes to your career choices, because currently there are not many
jobs in
the robotics field, and most of them are currently for the service of
industrial
robotic arms.
If
studying robotics on your
own as a
hobby starting with a robot kit is a great way to
start.
Interested
in some online course study?
Check out these links:
Club
News:
Our
club was listed in the April 2007 issue of Servo Magazine as one of key
online robotics club in Gordon McComb's column "Robotics Resources".
We
made
it into SERVO Magazine June 2004. In Gordon McComb's Robotics
Resources
you'll find TRCY listed. Thanks Gordon for the great write
up!
Gordon McComb is as everyone should know the author of Robot Builders
Bonanza 1st, 2nd and 4th editions and co-author of
the 3rd edition as well as the owner of Budget
Robotics.
Our TRaCY
robot kit was mentioned on the LangaList
on 7.31.00
Our club and robot kit were the topic on a article in the Cincinnati
Post on 5.26.00
We now have our own domain name. You can reach this
website buy typing TRCY.org into any
browser. This making linking to use
much easier!
TRCY
membership jumped up on April 28th, 2000 with 144 new members!
This
is thanks to a very nice article written by Tim Lord of Slashdot.org.
Slashdot is News for
Nerds covering
Stuff that matters! The article was about the great price on the
TRaCY
robot kit. The TRaCY kit
was
produced by fellow members Joe Partlow, Dennis Clark, Justin Ratliff
and with
the help and advice of several other TRCY members like Gary Croll and
Harry
Lewis. (TRaCY robot is no long produced or sold!)
The TRCY
Fighter Bots was listed as a "go to" site in Gordon McComb's Robotics
Workshop article in Popular Electronics Nov 1999, way to go TRCY
members!
We have also been listed in the reference section of his new book, Robot
Builder Bonanza: Second Edition.
This
site was
est. January 9, 1999
This
site was last updated March 17, 2014