My first experience with combat robotics ended exactly as I expected: in complete destruction. It was 2016. A friend of mine, Leanne Cushing, competes on BattleBots, and she suggested I join her for a combat robotics competition in Massachusetts. Not knowing much of anything about robots in general, or combat robots specifically, I built two bots […]
The combat robotics community spreads across the entire world, with major competitions happening on almost every continent. Combat robots are divided into different weight classes based on the robot’s overall weight, and within those classes an amazing number of weapon types are possible. In this guide we’ll introduce you to all of the most important […]
Jason Pohl calls himself a “pretengineer” because he’s self-taught. Trained as artist, his design work has taken him from creating video games to actually designing and fabricating parts for Orange County Choppers. He moved into CAD design and working with CNC machines, creating custom parts for motorcycles in-house. Jason has boundless energy and enthusiasm as […]
We’ve been keeping our eyes on MicroPython for some time now. It would seem that there is quite a draw for many users due to how incredibly easy MicroPython can be for beginners. The folks at Arduino seem to be interested in this as well. They published a blog post explaining that they’re experimenting with […]
In A Crack in the Hourglass, a media artwork by Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, people are invited to submit a photograph and story of a loved one lost during Covid. Over a period of about 40 minutes a modified robotic plotter draws the image of the loved one using hourglass sand. Once the drawing is complete […]
The most enduringly successful chip in electronics history was created by one man working in a back-alley storefront. His name was Hans Camenzind, the chip was the 555 timer, and this year marks its 50th anniversary. It has outlasted all competitors, is still being manufactured in basically the same design, and has sold billions worldwide. […]
WAU, SOUTH SUDAN: In 2017, Field Ready supported Water for South Sudan by 3D printing spare parts for their equipment. Wau State in South Sudan is a very remote location with huge supply challenges. Engineer Dr. Ben Savonen later co-founded Kijenzi, a U.S.-Kenyan commercial manufacturing network that had its first 3D printing hub in Kisumu, Kenya. […]
