R o b o f e s t�� eNewsletter, 11-12-07

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Contents:

 

(1)� Robofest 2008 Kick-off Schedule

 

(2) �MCWTF Offering Four $500 Grants to All Female Teams in Michigan

(3)� ARISE Dedication Open House

 

(4)� Thanksgiving RoboParade, Saturday, November 17, 2007

(5)� Fall Mini Urban Challenge

 

(6)� Seeking Site Hosts for Robofest 2008

 

(7)� Robofest is Seeking Sponsors for 2008 Competitions

 

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(1) Robofest 2008 Kick-off Schedule

The kick-off of Robofest 2008 is just a month away! Robofest 2008 rules will be posted on www.robofest.net during the week of Dec. 10, 2007. The following informational meetings are being planned:

- Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, 6:30pm � 7:30 pm, Lawrence Tech University, Southfield MI

- Friday, Dec. 21, 2007, webcast, time will be announced in the next eNewsletter.

- Friday, Dec. 21, 2007, 6pm � 7pm, Lawrence Tech University, Southfield MI

- Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007, via Skype video (ID: robofest), time: TBD

 

(2) MCWTF Offering Four $500 Grants to All Female Teams in Michigan

Robofest is pleased to announce that four grants of up to $500 each are available to all female Robofest 2008 Teams from Michigan.� The grant is being offered by the MCWTF (http://www.mcwtf.org).� If you are interested in applying for one of these grants supporting all female Robofest Teams from Michigan, you can obtain the application at http://www.mcwtf.org.� The grant application is due no later than December 17, 2007.� If you have difficulty accessing the site or downloading the application, please send an email to [email protected] or call 248-281-5391.

 

The Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to inspiring and assisting girls and women in Michigan to pursue technology education and careers. We do this by providing educational programs and scholarships, as well as ongoing support as they move through the educational system.

 

(3)� ARISE Dedication Open House

Lawrence Tech has established ARISE! (Autonomous Robotics Institute for Students and Educators). The vision of ARISE is to offer a full range of innovative programs, events, and facilities for students & educators to learn & teach STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), leadership, and entrepreneurship through hands-on intelligent robotics. To celebrate the establishment of ARISE, there will be a Dedication and Open House on Friday, Nov. 16, from 2:00 pm to 3:30pm in the Buell Management building Atrium in front of M219 �(No. 4 building on the campus map at http://www.ltu.edu/contacts/campusmap.asp).

 

Refreshments will be served and there will be short ceremony with Dr. Walker, the president of Lawrence Tech and others beginning at 2:15 pm.

 

The PDF file of the program can be found at http://arise.ltu.edu/ARISEopenhouse.pdf

 

A Robofest longtime participant, Jim, will demonstrate a ribbon-cutting robot written in NQC. Block robotics learning group in Canada will bring their Lego Musical Robot. Hillside Middle School Honors Choir will sing songs to celebrate the opening of ARISE. The general public is invited to this event.

 

We are looking for part-time coordinators for ARISE. If you are interested in this position, please contact Dr. Chung at [email protected]

 

 

(4)� Thanksgiving RoboParade, Saturday, November 17, 2007
Lawrence Technological University will host the 2nd annual Thanksgiving RoboParade, an indoor robot parade for Thanksgiving, on Saturday, Nov. 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Buell Management Building.�

 

Students will design fully autonomous robot floats that will follow the parade route and detect other robots in front of them. The robot floats will be fully programmed to stop and start without human help.�

 

The parade will feature robot floats constructed and programmed by middle school and high school students. The video from the �believed to be the world first� Thanksgiving Robot Parade last year at LTU can be found at www.robofest.net. Also, a video of last year�s parade can be found on the YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlGY2YSqT3c .

 

Robofest veteran teams in Michigan are still invited to join this parade, which is relatively easy for them to participate in. To register, please go to www.robofest.net. Registration is free.

 

 

(5) Fall Mini Urban Challenge

Inspired by the DARPA Urban Challenge, Lawrence Tech offers this indoor autonomous robot competition solely based on an onboard CCD camera as a sensor. The contestants are to use a common robotic platform called L2Bot. Teams must implement a vision guidance software system to allow the robot to maneuver a given course. The event will be held on Tuesday, December 18th, at 6 p.m. at Lawrence Tech University in Southfield, Michigan. For more details about the L2Bot, please visit http://www.robofest.net/l2bot. Challenge rules in PDF can be found at http://www.robofest.net/2008/MUC07fall.pdf. Registration is free.

 

 

(6) Seeking Site Hosts for 2008 Competition Season

The following 28 sites have been confirmed to host Robofest 2008:

 

Aurora High School, Aurora ON, Canada, Date TBD���������

Brockhill Park Performing Arts College, Kent, England, Early April

Burt Elementary School, Detroit MI, TBD

Canton Charter Academy, Canton MI, Apr 12

COEX, Seoul, Korea, Oct 18-21

Cypress Springs High School, Cypress TX, Apr 12

Detroit Edison Public School Academy, Detroit MI, March

Detroit Community High School, Detroit MI, Mar 29

Detroit Merit Academy, Detroit MI, TBD

Digital Arts and Sciences Academy, Highland Park MI, Mar 8

Ernest J. Dossin Elementary, Detroit MI, Apr 10

Hillside Middle School, Northville MI, TBD�����������

Hill Country Middle School, Austin, TX, Apr 12

ICYTEG, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico, TBD

Kettering High School, Detroit MI, TBD

Macomb Intermediate School Dist., Clinton Township MI, Apr 12

MACUL, DeVos Center in Grand Rapids MI, Mar 5

Mae C. Jemison Academy, Detroit MI, Apr 3

Neinas Elementary, Detroit MI, Apr 10

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Detroit MI, TBD

Southfield Christian School, Southfield MI, TBD

St. Clair County RESA, Marysville, MI, Apr 5

St. Dennis, Royal Oak MI, Apr 12

St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston TX, Apr 5

U of D Jesuit High School & Academy, Detroit MI, TBD

Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor MI, TBD

YMCA Service Learning Academy, Detroit MI, TBD

 

Robofest is still seeking site hosts until early December for the 2008 Competition Season across the USA and the world.� Please check out site host info, application form, and FAQ at www.robofest.net under General Information Section on the Robofest home page. Interested individuals, organizations, or schools should contact Dr. CJ Chung at [email protected].�

 

 

(7) Robofest is Seeking Sponsors for 2008 Competition

In an effort to keep Robofest a low-cost affordable contest for everyone while maintaining its quality, we are seeking sponsors for the 2008 contest.� If you or your organization is interested in helping to support the important work of Robofest, please contact CJ Chung, [email protected].� Robofest appreciates any type of support, big or small.� Robofest accepts both cash contributions and in-kind services donations.� Donations such as robot kits, printing, signs, promotion, etc. are greatly appreciated.� Please contact us if you are able to support Robofest in any way. Robofest plans to print the promotional posters in December; so in order to put your company or organization logo on the poster, we will need sponsorship commitments by the end of November. The sponsorship (pledge) form can be found at http://www.robofest.net/2008/Sponsorship08form.doc .

 

Robofest has 2008 Sponsorship Opportunities at several levels, including individual donor opportunities, entitled �Friends of Robofest.�� Individual donors, Friends of Robofest, can make a gift to Robofest via credit card (MasterCard, Visa, or Discover) by visiting the following link:�

 

https://www.applyweb.com/public/register?ltualum

 

When using the on-line donation form, you must specify Robofest as the gift recipient and also specify your gift amount.� The on-line form is encrypted with Secure Socket Layer technology to guarantee transaction security.�

 

All Robofest donations are tax deductible contributions. Transactions must be processed by December 31st to receive 2007 tax credit.� Robofest Sponsorship is important in our effort to keep Robofest a low-cost affordable contest for everyone.� We hope you will consider supporting Robofest in our sponsorship campaign.� We appreciate your support.

 

Anyone interested in other sponsorship levels should contact Sally Mancini at [email protected] .

 

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Lawrence Tech University / Robofest World Headquarters

CJ Chung, Associate Professor, Robofest Director

21000 W. Ten Mile, Southfield MI 48075

[email protected]��������������� www.robofest.net

(248) 204-3504������������������ Fax: (248) 204-3518