FIRST Community Spotlights

Are Boys Better Than Girls in Math?

Deirdre — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:28:01 GMT

According to ABC World News, a new study rejects the myth that boys are better than girls in math and science. Check out this video of high school students in New Jersey who use LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Powered by NI LabVIEW in the classroom.

RoboCup 2008

Deirdre — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:37:04 GMT

Today, I got the following letter about RoboCup 2008 from Dr. Hong, the Assistant Professor of the Mechanical Engineering Department and Director of Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at Virgina Tech.

Dear friends of team VT DARwIn;

Thank you for your constant interest and support for team VT DARwIn for RoboCup 2008. We are the autonomous robot soccer team from Virginia Tech, representing the United States in the International RoboCup 2008 Humanoid league, and we are in Suzhou, China now for the competition. More than 440 teams from 35 countries are participating in this year's competition, which makes it the largest in the game's history.

13 undergraduate students and 2 graduate students are on this year's team, with support from many others including students from RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory) and engineers from TORC Technologies who have lead team VictorTango for the DARPA Urban Challenge to an impressive third place last year. We hope to keep the spirit alive by wining the RoboCup cahpionship this year. Our newest DARwIn III series humanoid robots are faster, stronger, and much much more smarter than ever, and we believe that they will perform well with impressive results at the competition this week!

* Please do check our our brand new team web site to see the exciting work we have been doing for the past year, and meet our newest DARwIn III series humanoid robots!

* We will be posting our daily blogs from Suzhou, China (July 15-20) to report on our exciting tournaments at RoboCup 2008. Expect to see video clips and high resolution photos of the action and breaking news to bring you the sights and sounds right from the competition floor!

The team would like to thank our generous sponsors; Philip Morris and SAIC as major sponsors, and National Instruments, VaCAS, Maxon Motors, TORC Technologies, National Science Foundation, and Dr. Pat Artis for their generous support in many ways.

Cheer for us! Let the games begin!

Go! VT DARwIn! Go!

Dennis

Faculty Advisor for TEAM VT DARwIn.

Additionally, I checked out the blog and found this great video. Enjoy!

Video: Interviews and Opinions on new FRC Controller

Deirdre — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:55:46 GMT

In this video, LabVIEW Champion and VI Shots Blogger Michael Aivaliotis interviews Ray Almgren, who leads the worldwide academic relations program for NI, and several FRC teams (2023, 1739, 47, 107 and 2053) to get feedback on the NI CompactRIO controller.

Share your thoughts in this discussion forum thread.

Additional NI LabVIEW Resources

Deirdre — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:46:09 GMT

I've gotten a number of emails from FIRST teams asking for more tutorials on how to get started with NI LabVIEW. We are developing some customized content to help you succeed in the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition.

In the meantime, check out these engineering resources:

LabVIEW Guided Tour

Introduction to Graphical Programming

Tutorial: Get Started with LabVIEW

Tutorial:Customizing a Virtual Instrument

LabVIEW Online Trial

Additionally, check out this tutorial from WPI, which contains some information on how to program CompactRIO using C/C++

Video: Announcing the New FRC Controller – NI CompactRIO

Deirdre — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:05:12 GMT

As you’ve heard by now, the NI CompactRIO will be the new controller for the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition.

CompactRIO is an advanced control system designed for applications that require high performance and reliability. With the platform's open, embedded architecture, small size, extreme ruggedness, and flexibility, FIRST teams will use this hardware to quickly build custom robotic systems.

Check out this launch video, which shows how CompactRIO will help you Build a Better Robot:

For more cool videos, visit the NI FIRST Robotics YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/nifirstrobotics).

Building A Robotic Beckham

Deirdre — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:00:59 GMT

LabVIEW and Apple Technology at Virginia Tech

Apple just released this case study titled, "[Building A Robotic Beckham: LabVIEW and Apple Technology at Virginia Tech|http://www.apple.com/science/profiles/romela/]."

This document shows how students at RoMeLa, the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech, use Macintosh systems and National Instruments LabVIEW to turn out robotic creations that think and move by themselves.

Specifically, Apple showcaes DARwIn, the Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence. He is humanoid, autonomous, and made of precision-machined aluminum. DARWin is only three years old, but moves and thinks independently. He comes in two versions, 16 and 24 inches tall, and is currently training to be a soccer player. He competed in the 2007 RoboCup competitions at Atlanta, Georgia, where teams from around the world put autonomous soccer-playing robots through their paces.

You can also see DARwin in action in this YouTube video.

Virtual Tour of the the National Instruments Booth at FRC

Deirdre — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:06:57 GMT

FIRST has posted the following videos that show the NI booth demonstrations of the new FRC controller and LabVIEW

The Power of NXT

FIRST Tech Challenge Technology

FRC Controller Test Drive

DARPA Grand Challenge Vehicle

Robotic Arm controlled by a Wii Remote

DDR with LabVIEW

Intro to the new FRC Controller with Junior - the dancing NI demo robot

Thoughts on the NI FIRST Community?

Deirdre — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:50:00 GMT

Hello, FIRST Teams!

My name is Deirdre Walsh and I'm the Community Manager at National Instruments. I hope you find the NI FIRST Community to be a useful resource for technical tutorials, application videos, example code exchange, and most of all having fun! Please let me know what you think of the new site.

Good luck all future future competitions and see you in the pit!

Welcome FIRST Teams!

LHoot — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:55:47 GMT

The FIRST Community Spotlight Blog is your place to find the latest on FIRST from employees at National Instruments. From the FIRST LEGO League to the FIRST Robotics competition, this resource will bring you the latest news, videos and even interviews from the FIRST Championship. Enjoy!