= Robot Group People = == Eric Lundquist == http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/P2230115.jpg Eric and Catherine the Creative II == About Me == Eric Lundquist is the President of the [http://www.robotgroup.net The Robot Group] for the 2002-2003 year. In previous years, he served as Vice President (2000-2001) and as a Board member (2001-2002). Eric made his first appearance at [http://www.robotgroup.org/robofest/robof7.html Robofest 7] with his [http://www.robotgroup.org/projects/mrp.html Mobile Robotic Platform]. His creation worked quite well and the robot fit right in with the groups other stable of robots. He has since created numerous other robots and enjoys helping others in getting their creations to work. When not building robots, Eric serves on the [http://wwwlbjhs.net/lasa Liberal Arts and Science Academy] Corporate Advisory Board. LASA is a nationally recognized magnet public high school. The board works closely with the administrators and program director providing advise and resources not normally available to public educators. This unique blending of corporate support and public education has created an incredible program that is something for Austin to be proud of. An Austin resident for 7 years, Eric works for [http://www.mci.com a large telecommunications firm] as a software development manager. He has over 23 years of experience in software development ranging from: assembly language operating system device drivers, to business applications in COBOL and RPG II, to SQL databases and Object Oriented Java and C++ applications. Building robots is a way for Eric to "get his hands dirty" with real mechanical equipment and leverage his software experience at the same time. Eric is [http://www.bundyology.com/ Married with Children] with 4 children ranging in ages from 20 to 7. He also has 2 dogs and 2 cats. When not going quietly insane, Eric enjoys reading science fiction. == Projects == * [http://www.robotgroup.org/projects/mrp.html Mobile Robotic Platform] My First Robot! Essentially a photovore that exhibited remarkably complex behavior utilizing very simple computational resources. * WideTrack A large tracked robot. * [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/Catherine3_sm.jpg Catherine the Creative I] - Collaborative effort with Anna Nedeau to make Robot created art! A [http://www.lynxmotion.com LynxMotion] arm programmed to grip a sponge brush, [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/Catherine4.jpg dab it into paint], and place random strokes across the easle. Some of the end results were sent to the organizer of the [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/art2d2postcard.jpg Art2-D2] art show in NYC. He liked them so much, he had some of them framed and displayed at the show. We even got a mention in the Village Voice! Here is an [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/Catherine1.jpg example] painting created by CtC. At the time my daughter Catherine was about 5 years old and they both seemed to have roughly the same artistic ability, hence the name. * [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/CtCSchool1.jpg Catherine the Creative II] - CtC sheds her paintbrush for a Sharpie pen. Initially based on the work of [http://www.lynxmotion.com/proj014.htm Jeppe Mikkelsen] but the code was so hideous I eventually chunked most of it and replaced the inverse kinematics with precomputed tables. * [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/B3WannaBSide2.jpg Large PVC Pipe Pneumatic Cylinders] - These cylinders were built out of 3 in pvc pipe for the full scale mock-up of B3. They actually worked! * [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/EricScanner.jpg ScannerBot] - A small tilt and pan self-contained unit designed to act as a very slow scan camera. It incorporated a [http://www.lynxmotion.com/fs.htm Basic Stamp I] to read the CDS cell and a [http://www.seetron.com/ssc.htm Mini SSC servo controller] to drive the servos; all connected to a small laptop via RS-232. * [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/RoboVac1.jpg RoboVac] - A radio controlled shop vac. Originally developed for my wife who has difficulty pushing a conventional vacuum due to physical limitations. Power was tethered because of the large power requirements of the shop vac. Additionally, a PC power supply was used to provide +12V drive motor power (automobile electric window motors) and +5V to the radio receiver and servo that controlled the height of the vacuum head. It worked well except for the body length which made maneuvering in tight spots a little difficult. * [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/PipeBot_sm.jpg PipeBot] - A pvc pipe tethered platform. I built this platform mainly to test out the [http://www.hvwtech.com/pages/products_view.asp?ProductID=68&CurPage=2 L298 motor controller] I had just purchased. Pipe Bot also sported a motion sensor that lit up a bright LED whenever it detected a person in front of it. Kids enjoyed driving it around the Robot Group warehouse. The fuzzy dice, of course, made it go faster. * [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/Walker1_sm.jpg Walker] - A large chain driven 6-legged walker. Based upon a scaled up version of [http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?endeca=1&ean=9781590611869 Gordon McComb's Robot Builders Bonanza] walker project. While it never walked very well, it did show up as a background prop in the movie [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/SpyKids-1106024/ Spy Kids] [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/SpyKids9.jpg here](lower left) and [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/SpyKidsWalker1.jpg here](lower right). * [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/facecast3.jpg Face Casting] - Several of us attempted to make face casts with the eventual goal of making silicon masks that could be animated. It was kind of eery seeing my [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/facecast6.jpg death mask] looking back at me. * [http://www.robotgroup.net/eric/DecTalk1.jpg DECTalk] - This amazing piece of 1980's technology was acquired for a short-lived business venture years ago. It is still one of the best Text-To-Speech synthesisers out there. I've ported the old DEC driver code to run under Linux and hope to use it with Glenn Currie's Robot Brain project. == Contact == You can contact Eric at robo@robotgroup.org ---- http://counters.honesty.com/cgi-bin/honesty-counter.cgi?df=gen.0545592.00002.gif Free counters provided by [http://www.andale.com Andale]