HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: wrb@cbnews.cb.att.com (wallace.r.blackburn)
Subject: Where to get LEGO gears?
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 18:25:37 GMT
Keywords: lego mit robot

Can anyone tell me a good way to get a collection of the LEGO Technics
gears.  I would like a number of the 8- and 24-tooth gears.

The sets available in local stores have few gears and I called LEGO Dacta.
The person I talked to told me they have a set of 7 gears, 1-40T, 1-24T,
1-16T, 1-8T, and three oddballs (bevel, etc.) for $16!  Seems a bit pricey
and makes a reasonable geartrain impractical.

Are there kits available specifically for the 6.270 course?  Thanks for any
info.


			Wally Blackburn AA8DX
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
From: epperson@adobe.com (Mark Epperson)
Subject: Motor control parts
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 04:10:09 GMT

I am looking for a DC motor controller chip that will result in the fewest
number of parts.  The circuit must allow constant motor speed under varying
load, and support a 1.3A reversable motor @ 12vdc (not a stepper).  I do not
have much experience with analog circuits and have very limited test
equiptment (ergo the small part count request). 

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Mark Epperson
From: callv@next (Dr V Callaghan)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: RWI Address Needed
Date: 21 Dec 92 17:50:00 GMT
Reply-To: callv@essex.ac.uk


I should be very grateful if someone could send me the address
of RWI (Real World Interface) who make small mobile bases. Their
address is not in the FAQ (although they are mentioned in the
list of mobile robot companies).

Thanks,

Vic Callaghan

Internet: callv@essex.ac.uk   University of Essex, UK
From: fredm@media.mit.edu (Fred G Martin)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: Macintosh version of DLM 6811 downloader
Date: 21 Dec 92 15:31:34 GMT
Organization: MIT Media Laboratory

Dear Macintosh and 6811 users,

A Macintosh version of the MS-DOS DLM 6811 downloader program I've
been distributing for use with the Mini Board is now available on the
MIT Media Lab FTP server.  It has flags that should allow it to work
with other 6811 boards (for example, downloading to external RAM
rather than EEPROM).

The compiled Macintosh application plus Think C 4.0 source code is in
pub/miniboard/mac/DLM.sit.hqx on the machine cherupakha.media.mit.edu
(address 18.85.0.47).  

There is also a small bootstrap monitor program that allows you to
interactively read and write memory and burn EEPROM bytes
individually.  This program is in the same StuffIt archive as DLM.

If there are any questions or problems please let me know.  Thanks.

	- Fred 
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
From: graves@arabia.uucp (Phil Graves)
Subject: Re: Dante Advisory
Summary: longest distance for robotic control
Organization: Lockheed ESC, Houston
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 15:51:23 GMT

>Ron Baalke writes (about Dante's expedition to Mt. Erebus):
>> 	However, portions of the robot exploration will be 
>> controlled from a payload control center at Goddard.  This will 
>> be the longest distance ever for live robotic control and 
>> simulates what may be in store for NASA's further exploration 
>> activities with humans and robots on Mars.  
>
Nathan Ulrich writes:
>I wonder how they define the distance for live robotic control?  I'm kind of  
>surprised that NASA hasn't teleoperated anything in orbit from the ground  
>yet... or do they include the satellite bounce distance?  If they do, then I  
>guess Woods Hole would actually hold the record:  we've done quite a bit of  
>remote flying of underwater ROVs from remote sites: via 10,000 meters of fiber  
>optic tether, two satellite bounces and a few hundred miles of fiber-optic land  
>line.

I wonder how they define "live robotic control"? What are they actually
controlling from Goddard?

Robotic spacecraft (ie. Voyager) have been
controlled/reprogrammed from earth. I think this would win the prize
for the greatest distance for remote control of any kind.

The Soviets had an lunar vehicle called "Lunikod" ( or something
like that) which was controlled remotely from earth. 

In the Robotic Systems Evaluation Lab at NASA-JSC, a robotic manipulator
was controlled through a TDRS satellite link from Houston to 
White Sands and back. This commands traveled from an operator in Houston,
up to a satellite, down to White Sands, back up to a satellite, and then
down to the robot in Houston. Feedback from the manipulator took the same
route. This was an experiment to evaluate the time delay that would be
involved in the ground control of robotic maintanence tasks for Space Station
Freedom.

But enough of that ...

I am sure that we will learn alot from the Erebus expedition, and look
forward to more news to come. Good luck to those on the ice!

-- 

**************************************************************
* Philip Lee Graves    * graves@arabia.jsc.nasa.gov          *
* Lockheed-ESC         * graves%lock.dnet@aio.jsc.nasa.gov   *
From: dstewart+@cs.cmu.edu (David B Stewart)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: Re: Help for Technical Report from CMU
Date: 3 Jan 93 01:24:49 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

In article <58199@dime.cs.umass.edu> connolly@rabbit.cs.umass.edu (Christopher Ian Connolly) writes:
>In article <103479@netnews.upenn.edu> sarkar@tuna.cis.upenn.edu (Nilanjan Sarkar) writes:
>>	I need to locate a technical report from Robotics Institute, CMU
>>which has been suggested by a reviewer of my paper. 
>
>In other fields, technical reports are considered "inaccessible",
>hence not fair game for citation.  This is a case in point, where the
>author is having a hard time tracking the thing down.  If the idea is
>really worth citing, then it should have been published in a more
>accessible form.  At the very least, the reviewer should have
>suggested a more solid reference.


I disagree.

First of all, our university library has many technical reports from
other universities, as they are considered appropriate for citation.

Second, it is always possible to obtain a copy of a technical report
at no cost, simply by contacting the department and university directly.
This is no more difficult then trying to locate a book or journal that
your own library does not have.  In addition, tech reports can be retrieved
through inter-library loans.

Tech reports often have useful information that will never be found in
published journals.  Due to the length restrictions in all journals and
conference proceedings, the published work is often only a summary of
a more complete technical report.  For someone who needs all the data,
graphs, detailed algorithms, etc., then it may be necessary to go
beyond the published work, and to look at the tech report.

A tech report is often used for pre-published material.  Because of the
significant lag for publication (as much as 3 years in some journals),
tech reports can be used to publicize a group's work.  However, since
a tech report may  not of had any peer review, the person reading the
tech report must perform the review themselves, before they can accept
or reject the work in question.

~dave

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David B. Stewart  - email: <dstewart@cmu.edu>            The Robotics Institute
snail mail:       - ECE Dept., Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Current Projects: - Chimera 3.0 Real-Time Operating System
		  - Reconfigurable Sensor-Based Control Systems
From: jmce+@andrew.cmu.edu (James Ryan Miller)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: PADS Shareware Installation
Date: 12 Dec 92 15:13:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.of_csQK00iUy83m1h4
Organization: Freshman, CIT general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
 
 
    I've got a number of requests for the info on how to get PADS to
install, so here it is.  Any problems with this, just let me know.
 
                                        Ryan Miller
                                        jmce+@andrew.cmu.edu
 
------
PADS logic and PADS pcb manual installation
 
        Many people have had trouble running the install program for
these programs.  Then you must install the programs manually as follows:
 
1)      You need these files:           PADSPCB.ZIP
                                        PADSLOG.ZIP
                                        PADSLIB.ZIP
 
        make the directory:             /PADSDEMO
 
        unzip PADSLOG.ZIP into the \PADSDEMO directory, and copy the
file files.exe to logfiles.exe.  Then unzip the other two into
\PADSDEMO.
 
2)      Make the following directories: /PADSDEMO/LOGFIL
                                        /PADSDEMO/FILES
                                        /PADSDEMO/LIB
                                        /PADSDEMO/CAM
 
3)      Move the following files:
        \PADSDEMO\LIB.EXE       ->      \PADSDEMO\LIB\LIB.EXE
        \PADSDEMO\ULIB.EXE      ->      \PADSDEMO\LIB\ULIB.EXE
        \PADSDEMO\FILES.EXE     ->      \PADSDEMO\FILES\FILES.EXE
        \PADSDEMO\LOGFIL.EXE    ->      \PADSDEMO\LOGFIL\LOGFIL.EXE
 
4)      Execute the following files (they are self extracting):
                \PADSDEMO\PADS.EXE
                \PADSDEMO\DHLP.EXE
                \PADSDEMO\LOGIC.EXE
                \PADSDEMO\LIB\LIB.EXE
                \PADSDEMO\LIB\ULIB.EXE
                \PADSDEMO\FILES\FILES.EXE
                \PADSDEMO\LOGFIL\LOGFIL.EXE
 
5)      Okay, the program installation is done.  You must do hardware
setup still.  Goto the \PADSDEMO directory and run pinstall.
 
        That should be it.  I hope this helps.  Let me know if you have
any problems.
 
                                                Ryan Miller
                                                jmce+@andrew.cmu.edu
------
------ End Of Summary ------X

Note:  I've downloads PADS and tried it out... its quite nice, a little
hard to get used to.  I also found out that there has been a revision
to BoardMaster (for the Amiga) which adds some important features, so
I have sent for the upgrade.

Thats all!
 ----------------------------
 Ryan K. Brooks                        "You're never dead till you're        
 2575BrooksR@vms.csd.mu.edu                  out of quarters."     
 Marquette University EECE              
 NemeSys Corporation
 "Curtains for Windows" 
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
From: tlhouns@ns.pacbell.com (Lee Hounshell)
Subject: Re: Miniboard parts kits
Organization: Pacific Bell
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 18:11:13 GMT

Carlos M. Puchol (cpg@cs.utexas.edu) wrote:
: I wonder how many people is out there that has not received the kits.
: -- Carlos

I paid Mr. Senn for four kits.
I've yet to receive any of them, or even be told when they might be sent.
He's already forced me to go out and purchase additional parts myself for the project
I'm working on.  Needless to say, I'm not exactly happy about the situation.
It looks like a lot of people aren't too happy about this..

--
Lee Hounshell - (510) 823-2432
tlhouns@srv.pacbell.com
Alchemical Engineer and Virtual Realist
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
From: klambrec@gmuvax.gmu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: 6811 order status
Date: 2 Jan 93 17:10:06 -0500
Organization: George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.

I've been on vacation for the last three weeks, and haven't been
near a computer much.  Sorry if I haven't returned someone's mail.
After catching up on the newsgroup, I just wanted to make the following
comment:  I'm still expecting a January 15 shippment of 6811s, and I
do have the time to package and ship them.  I'll post an update to
the order list in a day or two.

--Jim

Newsgroups: comp.robotics
From: gratclif@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Gregory W Ratcliff)
Subject: MiniBoard Kits...
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 23:36:48 GMT

Ok my .02 on the miniboards.


As many of you know, I dealt with the supply of the pcbs for the 
last 6 months on the pcbs.  I am continuing to do so.  If  anyone 
is interested in getting parts kits from ME let me know.  

Prices TBD.
I think a minimum quantity of participants would be required.  I could
take over for Derren if HE approves.

Greg Ratcliff


-- 
Gregory W. Ratcliff  Ratcliff.8@osu.edu  on the internet   
Columbus, Ohio     ICBM
nz8r@w8cqk 	 on the air
N1697X     	 in the air
From: M23067@mwvm.mitre.org
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Date: 24 Dec 92 14:32:35 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, McLean VA 22102

There are a few opportunities for employment in robotics with The MITRE Corpora
tion in Houston Texas.  MITRE is a highly technical, not for profit organizatio
n.  The Houston activity primarily is involved in robotics for space in support
 of NASA's Johnson Space Center.
 
Current openings are for:
    1)  a systems engineer interested in identifying requirements for sspace ro
botics and relating these to hardware and software subsystems.
 
    2)  an EE interested in control of robots.
 
    3)  an AI person interested in intelligent planning for mobile robots.
 
Interest and experience in space applications is a plus. An advanced degre
e or several years of experience is a requirement.
 
If you're interested please send a resume to LSeidman@MITRE.org (or fax to 713
33 5147.
 
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
From: ulrich@canberra (Nathan Ulrich)
Subject: Re: Dante Advisory
Reply-To: ulrich@canberra.whoi.edu
Organization: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 92 23:47:47 GMT

Ron Baalke writes (about Dante's expedition to Mt. Erebus):
> 	However, portions of the robot exploration will be 
> controlled from a payload control center at Goddard.  This will 
> be the longest distance ever for live robotic control and 
> simulates what may be in store for NASA's further exploration 
> activities with humans and robots on Mars.  
> 	The feeds will be transmitted from Mt. Erebus via NASA's 
> Tracking and Relay Data Satellite West to Goddard.  NASA will 
> issue further media advisories when the dates and times of the 
> feeds are  known. (Call 301/286-6397 for recorded update 
> information.)

I wonder how they define the distance for live robotic control?  I'm kind of  
surprised that NASA hasn't teleoperated anything in orbit from the ground  
yet... or do they include the satellite bounce distance?  If they do, then I  
guess Woods Hole would actually hold the record:  we've done quite a bit of  
remote flying of underwater ROVs from remote sites: via 10,000 meters of fiber  
optic tether, two satellite bounces and a few hundred miles of fiber-optic land  
line.

Interesting news, though.  Can you keep us informed about possible live video  
on NASA Select (schedules, etc.)?

--
Nathan Ulrich
Deep Submergence Laboratory
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
ulrich@canberra.whoi.edu
Newsgroups: comp.robotics,sci.virtual_worlds
From: sburton@dres.dnd.ca (Stan Burton)
Subject: Pan/Tilt Camera mount
Reply-To: sburton@dres.dnd.ca
Organization: Defence Research Establishment Suffield
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 22:50:07 GMT


We are looking for 3 commercial pan/tilt camera mounts.  We would
appreciate a response as soon as possible.  We will be flexible on the
specifications if required, i.e. full panic is in effect.  The
specifications are as follows;

1) Pan Angle  - +/- 180 degrees (continuous 360 deg. is preferred)
   Pan Rate   - 30 degrees/second preferred 12 degrees/second minimum
   Tilt Angle - +/- 45 degrees
   Tilt Rate  - 30 degrees/second preferred 12 degrees/second minimum

2) Weight - less than 10 Kg (20 lbs)

3) Power - 24 VDC with plenty of current is available, we can adapt to
     any lower voltage.

4) Interface - RS-232/RS-422 serial preferred, although we can produce
     whatever drivers/interfacing may be required.

5) Environment - Somali desert environment. Prefer a unit sealed against
     sand/dirt/dust, but we can build an enclosure if required.  Unit must
     operate in ambient temperatures of 45 Celcius (113 Fahrenheit).  We
     can force air cool (to 45 C) if required.  A vibration environment
     typical of a land vehicle is to be expected.  There is no
     stabilization system.

6) Payload - the camera is a very small/lightweight Sony model, although
     we would also like to mount a floodlight if possible.

7) Time Frame - we would require delivery in January.


If you sell such a product or know of a company that does please let us
know.  Email response is preferred, but we do monitor this group.
-- 

Stan Burton (DND/CRAD/DRES/DTD/MSS/AGCG)                 sburton@dres.dnd.ca
(403) 544-4737     DRE Suffield, Box 4000, Medicine Hat, AB, Canada, T1A 8K6
From: dstewart+@cs.cmu.edu (David B Stewart)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: Is Miniboard stuff appropriate?  (was Re: GET A LIFE!)
Date: 2 Jan 93 06:38:57 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.C07rsz.AoH.1
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

In article <1992Dec31.185903.15219@mixcom.com> Clint.Laskowski <Clint.Laskowski@mixcom.mixcom.com> writes:
>In <C04q71.n24.2@cs.cmu.edu> fitz@frc.ri.cmu.edu (Kerien Fitzpatrick) writes:
>
>>This is COMP.ROBOTICS ----- not comp.miniboards.where's.my.order.
>
>Hey, there is not that much that goes on in this newsgroup
>anyway... why not let the people who have something to say
>about one of the most interesting developments in this
>newsgroup (ie. the miniboard) say it?

Sorry, but some of us don't think it is one of the most interesting development
in this newsgroup.  Please don't assume the feelings of the net.users!

>I believe Darren's problems in completing all the miniboard
>orders has a lot to do with robotics and its maturing as an
>industry of the future.
>
>How do others feel?

I agree with Kerien that many of the miniboard posts are not appropriate.  It
is appropriate to describe the product, and have discussions about the product
on comp.robotics.  However, is it NOT appropriate to use this newsgroup as a
means for handling the sales or distribution of the product.  That should be
done through other mechanisms (e.g. email -- what about creating a mailing list
of anyone who ordered your product?).  So I don't care if Darren is having a
problem completing orders; he should not be using comp.robotics to solve that
problem.

Considering the amount of traffic on miniboards, someone might also consider
starting up a new newsgroup called comp.robotics.miniboard.

~dave

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David B. Stewart  - email: <dstewart@cmu.edu>            The Robotics Institute
snail mail:       - ECE Dept., Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Current Projects: - Chimera 3.0 Real-Time Operating System
		  - Reconfigurable Sensor-Based Control Systems
From: fitz@frc.ri.cmu.edu (Kerien Fitzpatrick)
Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Subject: Miniboard delivery
Date: 31 Dec 92 15:11:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.C04q71.n24.2
Reply-To: fitz@frc.ri.cmu.edu
Organization: Field Robotics Center, Carnegie Mellon University

I don't know about others, but if all this group is going to be is a
pissing match about miniboard kits then let's get another group going
or send these guys off to a miniboard group.  

This is COMP.ROBOTICS ----- not comp.miniboards.where's.my.order.

If you wish to reply to me regarding this message....my email address
does work.  Don't post to the group and generate more useless traffic.
Even sun-managers is turning into this and it truly defeats the purpose
of both groups.  Good people will start tuning out, losing great 
experience, insight, and wisdom for many of us that are working in
robotics.

If people wish to carry on a conversation with Darren - use email.
Just because a person does respond within another's timeframe doesn't
mean it is legitimate to post to the entire group.  Someone act as
the converging effort and form a mailing list to interact with Darren.
I'm sure that many here do not want to see periodic updates of when
miniboard kits are going to ship........that isn't robotics...its a
shipping and handling department.

Kerien Fitzpatrick


---
Kerien Fitzpatrick			Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Field Robotics Center			(412)268-6564
The Robotics Institute			Internet: fitz@frc.ri.cmu.edu
Carnegie Mellon University
Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp,comp.mail.misc
From: fenner@postscript.cs.psu.edu (Bill Fenner)
Subject: Re: Mixed format addresses
Organization: Penn State Computer Science
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 17:39:54 GMT

In article <qpaRrAOABh107h@boombox.apana.org.au> David.Keegel@apana.org.au writes:
|barrett@daisy.ee.und.ac.za (Alan P Barrett) writes:
|>.UUCP is not a valid top-level domain.
|
|... as far as The Internet is concerned.

Which is all that matters, since the DNS is an Internet construct.  If you
want to call something a "domain name", then it had better be in the DNS, or
you're wrong.

That's why I (try to, I often forget to) refer to it as "the .UUCP
pseudo-domain".

  Bill
Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp
From: rkh@ucs.att.com (Bob Halloran)
Subject: Re: Proto to use with  HDB
Keywords: HDB, proto
Organization: AT&T Universal Card Services, Jacksonville FL
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 14:17:21 GMT

In article <1201@muikku.pulp.nullnet.fi> costello@muikku.pulp.nullnet.fi (Antti J{rvinen) writes:
>
>	This may be RTFM but my man pages referring to uucp are missing.
>	I'm transferring mail and news with HDBuucp to a ms-dos
>	system using waffle.  HDB uses g-protocol to do the
>	transfer. G-protocol is kinda slow and I'd like to know
>	if waffle and HDB could use a more intelligent protocol
>	for this. How do I change that protocol? Is there
>	command-line arguments for uucico or can I configure the
>	uucico somehow? I have already tried to place a letter
>	referring to preferred protocol the Systems-file to 
>	the beginning of the field where baud-rate is set ie. I have
>	a following line in Systems-file:
>
>	system-name Any ACU f9600 <phone> "" \r Welcome uucp\r 
> 
>	Where 'f' in the beginning of 9600 states that I would like
>	to use f-protocol. This doesn't work, uucico refuses to
>	call. What can I do?

You can set protocol in one of two places: on a per-system basis
in the Systems file after the device field (in your example, use "ACU,gf")
or on a per-line basis in the Devices file (Ex. "ACU,gf tty01 ....")
In either case, the supported protocols go after the device type, comma-
separated.  g-protocol is always assumed, so specifying it is optional.

BTW, you may want to check your documentation as to whether or not 
f-protocol is supported in your implementation.  Many don't have it.

	Bob Halloran
	AT&T Universal Card
	Jacksonville FL

	rkh@ucs.att.com
Any similarity between opinions stated here and AT&T's 
  corporate opinion are purely coincidental.

"How can you tell a politician is lying?  His lips move..."
	-- M-m-max Headroom
"Read my lips - no new taxes" -- George H. W. Bush, 1988
Xref: sparky comp.mail.uucp:2453 comp.mail.misc:4129