To all the Robocuppers out there

Please join yo! http://www.facebook.com/groups/431901523507213/. We are trying to get all Robocup Junior Soccer participants in the world in 1 group.

Robocup Nationals 2012

Hi guys,

It has been a while since I have last updated this blog. Also a while since Robocup Nationals. But definitely, it wasn't because we didn't do well. In fact, we did superbly. Here's our track record:

Event name (total number of categories): Achievements
Nationals 2009 (2): Cat A 2nd, Cat B 2nd
Internationals 2010 (2): Cat A Indiv top 12, Cat A Superteam top 12, Cat B Indiv top 20
Nationals 2011 (3): Cat A Light 1st, Cat B unknown
Internationals (3): Cat A Light Indiv 2nd, Cat A light Superteam 2nd
Nationals 2012 (3): Cat A Light 1st, Cat A Open 1st, Cat B Open 1st, Overall 1st


Here are some videos of the journey!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pUmmUuYJVU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQmBPysY6o0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiNggX3zEDk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxbGaqM41Tc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM-qLEOzmjk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olcAPq1F4Cs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRH0H5mgo0k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbXf94OLs_c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlDkxxfZBW8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMONsAHniW8
Channel URL: http://www.youtube.com/user/Kenchow96?feature=mhee
(hope I didn't miss out any)


That's right, 3 teams, 3 golds, overall champions. This is the absolute quantifiable pinnacle of excellence. Our route to Mexico seemed almost too easy. Resistance was almost negligible in the group stages as we cruised to victory after victory, racking up hundreds of goals in the process while hardly conceding. What we did not expect were the other factors that eventually stopped us from proceeding to represent Singapore in the World Cup of Robotics. In spite of long negotiations with the school, they cited several concerns:

1) Price. Mexico is hardly a cheap destination. Getting there alone will cost over 3k. Eventually, we did come to a consensus that this was OK with us. But the next factor cropped up.
2) Danger: Living in a place as safe as Singapore, Mexico struck fear into the school. Drug rings, gangs, rampant kidnapping. Never mind that it rarely happens in the city itself. The school simply would not move.

Of course, there could be, and probably were other undisclosed reasons but that is not for me to speculate in such a public space.

On another note, organizers of robotics events could do with slightly more mainstream locations. After all, this was not the first time that a trip was called off.

World Robotics Olympiad (Manila): Called of due to high terrorist threats
FIRST Lego League (US): Called off due to natural disaster

However, we are not going to let these freak events set us back. In fact, we have recently displayed our robots running a totally radical and redesigned program. Although they were completely un-tuned at the time of display (I finished the program past 2 the previous day), it was already outperforming the program utilised during the national rounds. Hence, look out for much improved results next year. By nationals next year, expect radical hardware changes. Although nothing is confirmed, I am planning on changing the ball sensors, adding a kicker, dribbler and LDR-based capture zone sensing, as well as dual processor processing. With these much changed in terms of hardware, do expect some new algorithms to fuel the robot's hardware.

Having taken a long break (by my standards) in robotics, NJRC preparations is still in its infancy but do expect me to be out in full force after my final exams. Till then, there are always other blogs to read! :)

Thanks for reading!
Kenneth

[Youtube] My Channel

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share that I uploaded some Robocup videos from Turkey this year. as I have realised the lack of Robocup Junior Soccer Category A Lightweight videos. In addition, its Superteam and Individual 2nd quality! Take a look if you are getting started!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Kenchow96?feature=mhee

Thanks,
Kenneth

Nothing Much

Hey Guys!

Sorry about the long period of inactivity, Robocup seriously killed my braincells. What's more, we couldn't put up a fight only because of a short. Oh well, I guess we will be hoping to get into the international rounds now although there is a really low chance. I'm working on a lightweight Category A robot as shown above, done using a Medium Density Fibre (MDF) prototyping board as can be seen above (pictures coming up soon). Also, I am going to do a windows 8 mockup which will take quite a while. So in the mean time, this blog will not be updated very regularly.

Bye!

Kenneth

11th February 2011

MASSIVE UPDATE:

Wow, so busy that I haven't had much time to update my blog.

Ok, RE first. I didn't get my 3.5k! Had to make do with 3k for the basic costs. So far, the spending has been under 2k but that's probably because we haven't actually done anything. The rough spending breakdown is listed here:

2x$390, X1-RCU

4x$125 Motor Drivers

2x$10 Power Splitter

2x$100 IR ball

6x$20 Sheet metal

Thats about all I can remember, totaling up to $1600. I have this feeling that this RE project will be holding the record for some time for the largest amount spent in the shortest time. As for the progress, it has been going along quite well actually, with one base more or less cut into shape. We are still checking out how we can cut 90 degree bends though, and hopefully we can find somewhere that we can borrow a laser cutter for a low cost. Will try to get some pictures soon, since I have finally made the effort to dig out my camera charger.

I don't remember posting about FLL too. The results were actually better than expected, with all teams getting an award from our school. My team won the gracious professionalism award which was completely unexpected. We are even on consideration to represent Singapore during the World Festival along with the winning team (4 members), another guy from another team from our school, and one more unknown person. IF we get into the finals though, there would be another problem- the US trip is days before the mid-year exams. Considering some time for jet lag and the long hours preparing for the competition (apart from the extremely high cost, rumored to be 4k), we are kind of dead for our exams. Nice to know that they think highly of us though, so I'll update back once I get confirmation.

Oh and this was probably one of my most occupied Chinese New Year. Since we had Singapore Math Project Festival (SMPF) presentations to complete, we were required back in school for additional practice lasting about 9 hours. The starting expectations given when we signed up for this competition was that we would just have to brush up on out presentations and report submitted for our research education project last year but we were wrong. We were forced to do a massive overhaul. But over time, it just got better and when the going got smoother, our spirits rose-a little. Its almost perfect now, and it should be, since our presentation is tomorrow.

Just when I thought I could relax for the rest of the Chinese New Year, I realized that I had to do the class shirt! I got that done in under an hour though. Although I don't really have much experience in designing shirts, I did 3. Not really of the highest quality though, as you can see here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1690140008264&set=t.1080640987 , http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1690109447500&set=t.1080640987 , http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1690063726357&set=t.1080640987.

And just today, there was merit trial which was more or less boring. I got to meet some guys from Nanyang though and I think that really increased our chances of getting something for Robocup next year. The few photos that I took will be going up on Facebook soon so I'll post the link to the album here. Be sure to check back soon!

Will continue posting if I have updates/ realised I missed out on something but for now, bye!

*hit count: 260+ (so slow, need to update more frequently)

Multi-tasker 7

Hey guys! I am finally back in action after a long break. Here is my mock-up of an ideal multi-tasker. This multi-tasker categorizes all running applications and other related applications are placed on shelves beside it to allow for easy access. With my focus still on customisability, I have yet again added an options bar with quick access to task manager, program settings and the color scheme of multi-tasker 7. Ideally, it will be called up by a key board short cut and overlay all running applications. As you might have noticed, I am trying to break away from my black program bases with this mock-up. Hope you enjoy it!

Of course, Robocup RE is up and going! Although I am not very sure about the amount we are going to get, I have submitted an audacious request for SGD3,500 for equipment. That is excluding the flight tickets, competition entry fee and misc. costs. We'll see how it goes and I'll update the progress here as soon as I get the finalized details.

Of course, I am happy to see that the hits are steadily increasing although at a slow pace. It has just crossed the 20 mark so to all who visit my blog, a big thank you! Wow, the internet is amazing. Talk about globalization. Somehow, this blog has made its way to the states, Malaysia, Russia, Germany and the UK!

*Page view update: 210

End of holiday rush

Hey people, I really cannot stand Lego. Not that their software isn't good enough, I find the hardware exceptional when compared to the China made versions. It is the software that I'm frustrated about. In the beginning, I wasn't too critical because I thought the lag the occurs every time NXT-G starts was due to the old and thus slower dual core processor. After re-installing NXT-G on my new laptop a few weeks ago, I figured it had to be that the software itself was lagging. After all, I was using an Asus X42JR with an Intel i7-740QM, a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon graphics card and 4GBs of RAM. The loading time was my biggest gripe. For a laptop that has the ability to handle Command and Conquer, HAWX, and Counter Strike smoothly, I do not see how a relatively less taxing program like NXT-G could tax the processor. Even after it has supposedly "loaded", it will show a blank windows for quite a long time before the GUI loads. When programming, the interface continues lagging, with connector wires often overlapping, making programming confusing. I can certainly tell you that even with a Chinese program like Robo Express with a slightly inferior hardware build does not lag even on a dual core processor. Moving on, my FIRST Lego League preparations have completely stagnated and the competition is approaching quick. 1 month to prepare (ruling out the week with Outward Bound School) is barely enough to finish the programming, which also means that we will not have the time to do any testing. Either ways, I will be working more on it next week (hopefully) so I hope we can produce a robot which is capable of scoring the full 400 points before school reopens. Things will be very different after school reopens with competitions like Robocup Singapore open to prepare for. Which reminds me that we will have to budget for it, again in a week. Looks like the final week of the holidays is not going to be used for unwinding yet again, or continuing to produce more Photoshop works. Alright, post again soon, bye!

Whoa Blogger is excellent too. After pressing save as draft more than 10 times, it wouldn't save. Deciding to be smart, I opened a new tab, copied the content and pasted. Guess what? It posted on the first try. Makes me wonder what the problem was.