Tag Archives: hobby roboticists

RBNV – Robot Builder’s Night Virtual – 5/26/26

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When

• May 26, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time.
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.

How

• Join Google Meet https://meet.google.com/mwm-imzg-rss
• Join by phone: (US) +1 470-222-8542 , PIN: 334726924

Why

• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.

Agenda

• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on.
• Ad-hoc presentations – Whoever would like to show & tell.
• “Stump the club” Challenges – Ask for help if you’ve hit a roadblock in your project. Somebody in the club can probably get you pointed in a good direction – or even arrange a side bar session to help.

Note: We record a video of these sessions and post them on the DPRG YouTube channel. By joining the meeting, you’re giving consent to be included in the recording.

Roborama 2026 – 5/23/26

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DPRG will hold its 30th Roborama competition on May 23, 2026. The competition consists of six classic DPRG contests. It is an event that allows roboticists of all skill levels to compete for prizes and bragging rights.

 

The competition contests are:

  • Quick Trip – Robots drive in a straight line to a location and return to their starting point.
  • Four Corners – Robots travel around a large square shaped course attempting to return exactly to their starting location.
  • Line Following – Robots follow a black line around a track with twists and turns. The level being run this year is advanced.
  • Mini Sumo – Robots attempt to push their opponent out of a circular arena using power and strategy. Robots are limited to 500gm weight and 10cm x 10cm size.
  • Barrel Racing  – Robots run against time navigating around a triangular course of 3 orange cans, similar to the rodeo competition.
  • Six Can – Robots race to remove 6 cans from an arena

 

The schedule, rules, and all other details can be found at the  Roborama 2026 webpage.

 

This annual event is always a lot of fun, even as a spectator. Everyone is welcome.

DPRG Monthly Meeting – Unitree Go2 Robot dog (and maybe more…) – 4/25/2026

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Meeting AI Summary

The April monthly DPRG meeting featured a presentation by Sensori Robotics, who demonstrated their Unitree Go2 Robot dog. It was a chance to see a robot “dog” go through its paces. Sensory Robotics also discussed their pivot from robotic mowers to building research-focused, wheel-based, bi-manual humanoid robots that use physical AI software. Ross Melbourne explained that the shift to Vision Language Action models and zero-shot learning is driving massive funding toward humanoid robotics.

After the presentation, Sensory Robotics had a give-away of excess inventory from the Robotmow mowers that they have liquidated. The give-away included brushless DC motors, wheel motors, mower wheels, and various other parts.

The post meeting show-n-tell which is always an interesting time to share ideas. Tnis month’s show-n-tell included a demonstration by Jason of his animatronic robot prototype, ‘Endoskeleton’. Also, Mike Williamson made robot runs of his 495-gram sumo robot and his ROS barrel racing robot. They performed very well.

A pizza lunch was served after the meeting. Next month is Roborama!

Line Following Parade at Dallas College – Eastfield Campus – 4/11/2026

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Presentation:  Presentation (PDF)

A DPRG Team of Mark Reynolds and Doug Paradis participated in a Line Following Parade held by Dallas College – Eastfield Campus on April 11, 2026. Their entry was based around a theme of “Roborama”. It consisted of two parts: a line following robot with a ultrasonic sensor that allowed the robot to match the speed of a leading robot, and a float that contained automaton simulations of a line following and a 6-can competition, a workbench with a laptop with an OLED display screen, two posed test dummies, 84 addressable LEDs, and a posed Robie that looked like it was driving the robot. See the presentation for details of the entry.

The entry was very well received at the event, which the sponsors hope to make happen yearly. Multiple DPRG members came to the event to support the team.

RBNV – Robot Builder’s Night Virtual – 4/7/26

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Meeting Video:

AI Generated Meeting Summary:  Meeting Summary (PDF)
Star Rewards  (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.

Mike Williamson – ⭐
Ray Casler – ⭐
Mark Reynolds – ⭐

When

• April 7, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time.
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.