Long before Transformers 3 was filming in Chicago, and years before the unmanned, robot carpet vacuum was perfected, Chibots was elevating the hobby of robotics for all humankind.
Chibots is a Chicago area robotics enthusiast group that caters to individuals who want to learn about and construct robots. In addition, there is a wealth of knowledge along with scheduled events at their website, at Chibots.org. The club, also known as the Chicago Area Robotics Group, was started by robot hobbyists over a decade ago. A new group of Chibots members are now carrying the torch, promoting and educating the public on robotics.
Humans can be “wired-in” to the latest resources and news where people interested in robotics can come and look up information. Also, people can find the latest information regarding the meetings, events, and competitions that are coming up, as well as recaps from past and recently attended robotic events.
Salvador Garcia is the president and current blogger for Chibots.org. With the information age in full effect, he sees Chibots as a conduit for those with a genuine interest in robotics.
“Much like Bill Gates once (having a vision) saying that everyone should have ‘a computer on every desk,’ meaning everyone should have access to computers, Chibots’ philosophy is that everyone should have access to the field of robotics,” Garcia says.
Chibots hold their meetings every month. Garcia says the meetings are open to the public and are attended by a diverse type of people that include both novice and expert robot hobbyists.
“We have had father/son teams that were working on a science fair project, high school and university students, engineering professionals that hold different positions within their organization (managers, engineers, software developers), and retired folks that were electrical and electronic engineers.”
Chibots meetings are structured. The first segment is club business where events and other business is discussed; the second segment is a presentation by a guest or member that discusses some robotics related topic; and the third segment is “Show, Tell and Ask.”
“This is the most interactive segment where people showcase their project, regardless of whether it is a vintage robot, a finished product, a work in progress, or some component that can be used in a robotics related project,” Garcia says about the “Show, Tell and Ask” segment. “In some cases, we have a door prize available to paid members that is donated by one of our sponsors and raffled off during the meeting.”
Attendance (robots included) varies and depends on topics discussed, weather conditions, meeting location and the time of the year. Garcia says attendance is low during the winter months, and in some cases, during July or August when people go on vacation.
“During a low attendance we might have as little as six people and during a high attendance we can have as many as 30.” He added that right now, despite cold-weather months, Chibots attendance has trended higher because of interest in the Heddatron Robotics Project.
The Chibots website also includes events that are coming up. Their events are divided into three categories: meetings, competitions and expos.
Meetings are their main venue where people interested in robotics can come and share their vast knowledge or ask questions regarding some issue with their projects. There are numerous guest speakers that come to give fascinating presentations of their work. The robots—a key component to their project—steal the show.
Announced competitions are also a hot topic at Chibots meetings and their website. Through the website, individuals can register their robot, associate it with contests, and also register the robot for a specific contest; these encourage robot construction.
“The competitions include games where robots must follow a line; where two robots go head-to-head in a mini Sumo match; where the robot must solve a line maze; and ‘humanoid Kung Fu,’ where two robots go against each other to attempt to knock their opponent to the ground.
“Another popular competition is called SRS Robo-Magellan. While all other competitions are held indoors, this one is held outdoors. The objective of this game is for the robot to locate various orange cones that are placed along the course. The robot that locates the most cones in the least amount of time wins. The robot can use different types of sensors to locate the cones, such as sonar, ultrasound, image recognition and GPS,” he says.
Garcia stresses that each of these tasks require very specific mechanics, electronics and in some cases programming.
The SRS Robo-Magellan is usually held late in the summer (in 2011, it’s scheduled for Aug. 6 at Moraine Valley Community College). Other exciting competitions, grouped into an event called “Chibotica,” are held in the fall (usually late October) at the iHobby Expo that takes place every year at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.
Finally, the third type of event is the expo. Here, Chibots’ robots do indeed get a chance to take over the humans of Chicagoland. Organizations invite Chibots to display robots with a booth or space; the various members showcase their creations.
At the expos, they get an opportunity to talk to people who are interested. In 2010, Chibots was invited to the following expos: the DuPage County Engineers’ Week at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Rice Campus, Wheaton); the Embedded Systems Conference Expo at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont; the Arrowfest 2010 in Itasca; the popular iHobby Expo at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center; and the busy Chicago Toy and Game Fair 2010 at Navy Pier.
“Johnny-Five” of Short Circuit fame would be proud to be a member created from hands of Chibots members. By no means are these robots anti-social.
This February, in the upcoming Sideshow Theatre play Heddatron, robots will play some of the characters onstage at the Steppenwolf Garage (in Chicago). A few will be remote-controlled, while others will be autonomous “critter-bots.” These robots will be “trodding the boards” and creating social drama between one another. Humans will in fact, share the stage, as the chasm between human and robot emotions and actions converge. The five robotic “players” are named Hans, Aunt Julie, Judge Brack, Billy and Berta.
Eddy Wright's Operator Control Panel (OCP), to be used for Heddatron. Just like the Heddatron Robotics Project itself, the social interaction between people and robots in the play is at the heart of what Chibots want to achieve. “(For) the social aspect, I believe that Chibots does have a large role. By introducing robotics to people we are helping them realize that robots are not the creations that are seen in film, rather they are devices that can easily interact with people,” Garcia says.
Garcia says in decades past, robotics was an expensive and complex hobby. He adds the hobby today is much more accessible both in technical complexity and cost.
“While some robots are still quite complex and can cost the builder a few thousand dollars, there are many alternatives where someone that is interested in this field can get started with about $20. Chibots’ mission is to spread the word to those interested parties that ordinary folks can get into this field because the cost is not prohibitive and there is plenty of information readily available.”
He added that another important mission of Chibots is giving people a real worldview of robots.
“Someone that is expecting (Star Wars’) ‘C-3PO’ and instead gets a robot that follows a line might be disappointed. We try to show everyone that ‘C-3PO’ is a movie robot, and in fact, not really a robot at all, and that building even a simple robot such as the aforementioned ‘line follower’ can be a rewarding and educational experience.”