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A team from Sidmouth went along to help out on March 16th, including some Sidmouth Robots!
The penalty shootout was very popular, with dads as well as kids
This is actually two systems. The shooter is a robot car with a servo to operate the footballer. This is controlled by a radio remote control transmitter but it is a real robot because it does some autonomous things (such as not driving off the table no matter what the operator does) The goalie is just a servo to move the footballer back and forth. Is this a robot? The knob controlling the movement is interpreted by the Raspberry Pico so that you can't overstress the servo or go outside programmed limits, but it doesn't really think enough to be classed as a robot
Kennaway House, Cellar Bar, Sidmouth,
The workshop was a great success. Over a hundred people came through the door.
Some of them came for 5 minutes and stayed for 2 hours!
The Mercy Dash, run by Team PiDrogen attracted a lot of attention, and competition.
The Connect 4 robot attracted a lot of attention and even won one of its games! This hard-working machine is really three robots. One plays the game; one provides the player with counters on an elevator; one sorts out the red and yellow counters. They all communicate via a database and GPIO. It is a bit temperamental but fascinating to watch.
NO. It senses the door opening, and acts on that by turning on a light, but it doesn't think.
NO. It can certainly think, but it doesn't really sense or act.
NO. It looks like a robot, and it certainly acts, but it doesn't sense or think
YES. It's just a LEGO model, but it senses the world around it through the bumpers at front and rear; it thinks about what to do inside its Mindstorms brick, and it acts by moving around and bulldozing things out of the way. It is a robot. You can see it in action here:
Not a lot of people know that.
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ROBOT WORKSHOP 2026
Another successful year, with more visitors than ever, and more robots for them to explore.
ROBOT WORKSHOP 2025
160 visitors were hopefully intrigued, informed, and inspired by the many fascinating robots on display. Roboteers came from as far afield as Ottery to show of their craft, but the star of the show was brought from Honiton by Phil Hall
MEGGAN does Mercy Dash
The new obstacle course remote control car has a go at the Mercy Dash course. It's controllable, and fast
CrumBot3
It is time to revamp this venerable robot. First up, change the DC motors for steppers meaning some fine control will be possible. Second replace the weedy little roller brush with a much more impressive device (originally intended for brushing horses down). Add some sensors, and it now has the potential to brush intelligently. As you can see, it's mostly Lego in this prototyping phase, but that may get replaced by 3D printed components later
Dorchester Science Festival 2025
A team from Sidmouth went along to help out on March 16th, including some Sidmouth Robots!
The star of the show yet again was the Penalty Shootout. Kids liked the obvous purpose (scoring a goal!),
and learned from watching the previous players. Some were intrigued that quite a bit of it was made from Lego
Motion Control 2024
At Sidmouth Robot Workshop, in October 2024, Simon Tytherleigh let visitors make films with his computerised motion control rig. Here is a taste of the results, plus a time lapse video of the whole day in one minute!
ARRY Maze Runner
It is time for BERTIE to retire! This is ARRY, the latest maze running robot. Significantly slicker, even in it's first incarnation
Dorchester Science Festival 2023
A team from Sidmouth Science Festival went to Dorchester to help them out on Sunday 12th March.The penalty shootout was very popular, with dads as well as kids
This is actually two systems. The shooter is a robot car with a servo to operate the footballer. This is controlled by a radio remote control transmitter but it is a real robot because it does some autonomous things (such as not driving off the table no matter what the operator does) The goalie is just a servo to move the footballer back and forth. Is this a robot? The knob controlling the movement is interpreted by the Raspberry Pico so that you can't overstress the servo or go outside programmed limits, but it doesn't really think enough to be classed as a robot
PicoBotD
The latest LegoBot is TOW TRUCK. This is another Pico-based robot using the Kitronik motor and servo board. It has 4 wheel drive and a quite powerful arm servo. Distance measurement is done with the trusty old HC-SR04. Power is from 4 rechargeable AA batteries. The superstructure is mostly standard Lego but the servo bracket is a 3D printed Lego-compatible. The robot first scans taking distance measurements. It then works out the angle of the nearest object (hopefully its trailer) then spins to that angle, goes the measured distance, picks up the trailer and tows it a short distance.PicoBotF
This LegoBot is DOZER. This is a Pico-based robot using the Kitronik motor and servo board. It has 4 wheel drive and a quite powerful arm servo. Distance measurement is done with the trusty old HC-SR04. Power is from 4 rechargeable AA batteries. The superstructure is mostly standard Lego but the servo brackets are 3D printed Lego-compatibles.Robot Workshop 2022
A Great Success!
Nearly 200 visitors enjoyed a huge range of robot-related activities and demonstrations.NeoPixels
The new TONKER beer delivery robot is beginning to take shape. Now with posh lighting.3D Strength
So how strong are 3D prints anyway? I am making a few Ukraine Solidarity Belts with 3D printed buckles (made in PETG)Robot Workshop 2021
Kennaway House, Cellar Bar, Sidmouth,
Saturday 16th October 2021
The workshop was a great success. Over a hundred people came through the door.
Some of them came for 5 minutes and stayed for 2 hours!
The Mercy Dash, run by Team PiDrogen attracted a lot of attention, and competition.
Sidmouth Science Festival 2019
The Connect 4 robot attracted a lot of attention and even won one of its games! This hard-working machine is really three robots. One plays the game; one provides the player with counters on an elevator; one sorts out the red and yellow counters. They all communicate via a database and GPIO. It is a bit temperamental but fascinating to watch.
Robots In Action ...
JASON
is a camera crab. He can make time-lapse films by moving a little bit sideways between shotsBERTIE
solves a maze (with help from the cat)Sense. Think. Act.
What is a ROBOT?Is this a robot?
NO. It senses the door opening, and acts on that by turning on a light, but it doesn't think.
Sense. Think. Act.
Is this a robot?
NO. It can certainly think, but it doesn't really sense or act.
Sense. Think. Act.
Is this a robot?
NO. It looks like a robot, and it certainly acts, but it doesn't sense or think
Sense. Think. Act.
Is this a robot?
YES. It's just a LEGO model, but it senses the world around it through the bumpers at front and rear; it thinks about what to do inside its Mindstorms brick, and it acts by moving around and bulldozing things out of the way. It is a robot. You can see it in action here:
Robot?
The word 'robot' was first used in its modern sense in a 1921 play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by the Czech writer, Karel Capek.Not a lot of people know that.
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