The DPRG monthly meeting for July 2025 was a “Show and Tell” event. Members brought their projects and talked about robots.
It was a golden opportunity to see progress on various projects that you hear about during RBNV and on the Discord channel in person.
Pizza was served at lunch for all attendees.
DPRG Members and friends toured the RobotLAB facility and had a chance to mingle with the robots! They were able to see about 20 different robot types that address different market segments. It was a great opportunity to see a wide variety of real robots that get to be deployed in customer environments. After the tour the group was able to share lunch with the hosts. A good time was had by all!
On June 15 DPRG held a Power Lunch at the Derbyshire pub in Frisco. The event was attended by about a dozen DPRG robot-heads. There was good beer, and good English food, and lots of talk about robots and AI.
DPRG holds a Power Lunch about once a quarter. Make sure that when the next one is scheduled that you plan to attend. They are fun and provide a lot of person-on-person conversations. Watch the website and the Discord channel for details of the next event.
On April 26, 2025, as part of Dallas Maker Space’s open house DPRG demonstrated robots. It was also the return of “Big Robie”, DPRG’s 10-foot mascot robot, after a total refurbishment by a team of club members. The exhibit was well attended by visitors, and everyone had a good time.
Paul’s Slidedeck: ROS, SLAM, LinoRobot (pdf)
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
AI Generated Meeting Summary: Meeting Summary (PDF)
Join DPRG on March 22, 2025, 10:00AM CT, at the Dallas Makerspace for a presentation “ROS2 Navigation and Linorobot2” by DPRG member Paul Bouchier.
Presentation overview
Note: Featured image generated with help from AI – ChatGPT.
Doug’s Slidedeck: slidedeck (pdf)
Join DPRG on February 22, 2025, 10:00AM CT, at the Dallas Maker Space for a presentation “KiCad for Robots” by DPRG member Doug Paradis.
Presentation overview
KiCad Overview and Setup
KiCad is a suite with a schematic editor, PCB editor, symbol editor, and footprint editor
It was recommended to install the “Freerouting” plugin
Create a new project directory with subdirectories for footprints, symbols, and 3D models
The schematic screen includes a title block that can be edited. Page size can be changed in page settings
Schematic Editor
The schematic editor has tools for adding symbols, power symbols, wires, and “no connect” flags
Unconnected pins must be marked as such to avoid errors during the electrical rules check (ERC)
Wires should be labeled for grouping into net classes
Different types of labels include individual wire labels, net class directives, and global labels
Creating Custom Symbols
A tool was presented for generating symbols for modules or ICs: http://kicad.rohrbacher.net/quicklib.php
Key steps include specifying the component name, number of pins, and pin configuration (e.g., dual in-line (DIL))
Pin types (input, output, power, etc.) should be set to make the ERC as useful as possible
Ground pins are always considered power inputs
A project symbol library can be created to store custom symbols
The symbol editor is used to create a new library, and the generated symbol file is placed in the project symbol directory
The new library can then be added to KiCad
ERC and Net Classes
The ERC icon is used to check for errors in the schematic
A common error is a missing power flag on a power trace [23]. Power flags tell the ERC that power nets are connected to a power source
A net is a group of connected components, such as VCC or ground
Net classes allow design rules to be changed for specific nets
Each net can only be part of one net class
Net Class Setup
Net classes can be set up via Schematic Setup
Net classes can be assigned to nets using the net class directive too
Footprint Assignment
The footprint assignment tool is used to assign a physical footprint to each schematic symbol
Parts are mostly standard parts like connectors, resistors, LEDs, and capacitors
Modules may require finding or building a footprint
The internet is a good source for finding footprints
It is important to verify the accuracy of downloaded footprints
A project footprint library can be created
PCB Editor
The PCB editor has tools for selecting items, showing the rat’s nest, adding footprints, and defining rule areas
The edge cut layer defines the shape of the board and any holes through the board
Auto Routing
After assigning footprints, the “magic autorouting button” can be used
It was mentioned that Java may be required for the auto-router
Board borders need to be added
Board Shape and Design
Custom board shapes can be created in inkscape and imported
It was recommended to set the copper to edge clearance to one millimeter to prevent clipping during board fabrication
Fill zones can be added to the board
Gerber Files and Manufacturing
Gerber files are generated for manufacturing
It was recommended to use a Gerber viewer to inspect the generated files
JLC’s PCB site has instructions for generating Gerber files
A DFM (Design for Manufacturability) check can be performed on the JLC PCB site
Additional Tips
Printing a 1:1 copy of the PCB layout and placing the parts on it can help verify the design
Mounting holes can be added as components in the schematic
note: Featured Image generated with help of AI – Microsoft Designer.
DPRG held its annual members’ meeting on Saturday January 25th at 10am at the Dallas Makerspace North Lobby classroom.
Annual Meeting:
Smart Camera Panel:
AI Generated Meeting Summary: Meeting Summary (PDF)
The annual meeting is where DPRG handles important business, and members have a chance to share their views concerning club direction. It is important that members try to attend.
There will be no DPRG December meeting at the Dallas MakerSpace. Also, the RBNV meetings for December 24 and 31 have been cancelled. DPRG wishes everyone a good holiday season and New Year. The next meeting is RBNV on January 7, 2025.
In place of the December meeting we will have a robot power holiday lunch at Kelly’s Craft Tavern on Preston just north of highway 121 on December 30. It will begin at 11am and you can arrive anytime before noon, when lunch will be served. We will have a private area to socialize in, capable of holding up to 20 people, and we will have waiter service for food and beverages.
Please RSVP here if you haven’t already done so. We’ve got about a dozen RSVPs so far.
Reservations
Everyone is responsible for their own tab.
Location:
3191 Preston Road, Frisco, TX 75034
See you there
Join DPRG on October 26, 2024, 10:00AM CDT, at the Dallas Maker Space for a group meeting. The Canadian RoboColumbus Plus Competition to be held in the Stoney Creek, Onterio area has been rescheduled to coincide with the local competition in Farmersville on November 23rd.
At this month’s meeting, Dallas area competitors in next month’s local RoboColumbus-Plus competition, are encouraged to show-and-tell the current progress of their robots.
Pizza will be served at Noon. The meeting is open to all.
note: The featured image of this article is part of an inside DPRG running joke with our Canadian members.
Join DPRG on September 28, 2024, 10:00AM CDT, at the Dallas Maker Space for two presentations made by DPRG’s own Scott Gibson and Mike Williamson.
GitHub Link: ROS2 on Rpi Zero 2W
Mike presents his “ROS2 on Raspberry Pi Zero 2W” project – the cheapest way to experiment with ROS2. ROS2 is a set of open-source robotic middleware and tools.
Scott’s Slidedeck: Develop and Debug with JTag and VisualGDB
Scott shows us “How to Debug with JTAG” for microcontrollers and even the Raspberry Pi. JTAG is an industry standard for testing, debugging, and programming electronic devices. This presentation will introduce you to true debugging, versus beginner methods such as adding print statements.
These presentations are a great opportunity to be introduced to both of these powerful techniques, which will improve your robot building skills. Pizza will be served at the meeting.
More Details about Presentations:
Debugging using JTAG – Scott Gibson
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“I will be using visual studio (code , community, or the full version will work) I will be using it with visualGDB plugin. VisualGDB has a trial period but is a package that is purchased. I will be reviewing two different arm families. The LPC series from NXP and the stm32 platform from ST. I will mostly cover C code from my robots. And show some coding bugs I have run into.” Scott previewed his talk at the Robot Builder’s Night Virtual; video clip of his preview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?
This project installs the Robot Operating System, ROS2, on about the cheapest ($15) platform that can run it, and connects an LED and an SR04 Ultrasonic range sensor and makes them work. If you’ve got $20 to spend on self-improvement, this is good value. If you have an old Raspberry Pi 3 lying around, or a 4, they will work too (and run faster).
Per suggestion at a monthly meeting, we will likely have a few sessions on ROS2 that will each be shorter in length than usual, possibly presented by different speakers, which will build up from the basics. This is the first one (and the first time we’ve tried this). The intent is to eventually aggregate them into a composite video that covers the topic.
Mike provided a github repo with a README that shows you what parts you need, and what to download:
A direct link to the wiring diagram and parts you need is:
https://github.com/mikew123/ros2_pizero2w_dprg_ws/blob/main/images/Schematic_DPRG_ros_demo_2024-08-23.pdf
