chrisgilmerproj

Happy New Year! I know we're almost into February, but it's been a while since I've updated here. Several new things are happening right now and I thought I should share it here. First, I've started into the build season for the FIRST Robotics Competition as a mentor for Team 980 - Thunderbots.  I just helped them set up their new website using Wordpress and I'm going to help with programming the robot later in these next six weeks.  I'm also hoping to relearn my 3D modeling skills so I can help make models of the robot.  So far I've spent about every night and weekend with the team and we still have several weeks to go.  I can't wait to see the result. Lately I've become enamored with the idea of buying a Cupcake CNC from Makerbot Industries.  This is a real DIY 3D printing solution that is within my budget range.  I'm always thinking of unique parts that I wish I could have machined for me and this would be a great solution for rapid prototyping. As I understand it the Cupcake CNC was a product of a hacker space called NYC Resistor.  The idea of a hacker space, or a community for people like me to tinker, build, and create, really intrigued me.  A little more research dug up HackerSpaces, a community devoted to helping these types of places grow and thrive.  In fact there is a new hacker space called Crash Space LA.  It's in Culver City, about 20 minutes from me, and I'm going to keep an eye on them because they are A) nearby and B) possibly buying a Cupcake CNC. My friend Kyle and I recently discussed getting into wind power.  We'd like to put together a wind power generator for our trip out to Burning Man this coming September.  If we do it right we might be able to get enough power to light up our camp and put in some entertainment like karaoke.  That would really be cool. Finally, I'm still working with my friends Mike and Will on our Anomaly Robotics business.  Over the holiday I put up a new web store written entirely in Python, hopefully to sell some of the things we create in the future.  We're also discussing doing some more advanced things with the Robot Operating System (ROS) from Willow Garage and implementing some of the SLAM algorithms on our roomba.  I expect we'll do some pretty cool work with it in the next couple months. That wraps up what I've started doing this year.  I have a busy schedule, but I'm happy with it.  I'm hoping this year sees a lot more cool projects than last year.  Stay tuned, you won't be disappointed.