Resources for Teams:
Speakers Bureau
The USC College of Engineering and Computing is proud to offer the following list of speakers in support of nearby* FIRST Robotics teams. These people are all experts in the listed fields and are available to speak to YOUR team to give it a knowledge-based competitive advantage. To engage one of these speakers for a team meeting, please contact Ruth Heacock by e-mail or phone 803.777.2754.
* Now, what is nearby? It probably depends on the particular speaker, their schedule, how much fun it sounds like your team will have, and about 30 other unidentified variables. Five miles? Certainly nearby. 10 miles? Sure. 20 miles? Could be. Depends on which day and how busy is the schedule. 40 miles? What kind of pizza are you offering? 100 miles? Probably not. But it doesn't hurt to ask. 200 miles? Forget it.
Note that this list is current as of 2006; speakers may be added or removed from time to time, so check this page again before you put all your eggs in one metaphorical basket.
Dr. David Rocheleau on Gears, Chains and Sprockets
Dr. Rocheleau teaches courses on design of mechanisms, he regularly supervises a senior design project team that builds robot machines, and if anyone can tell you how these things get around he can. Is traction your problem? How about speed? Wanna run a variable gear box? Sign this guy up to speak to your team.
Dr. Phil Voglewede on Mechanisms
Dr. Voglewede's main research interest is robots. And he's a mechanical engineer. You're smart enough to put two and two together -- that adds up to robot design expert. So if you want to know just about ANYTHING about robots, ask this guy to speak to your team and tell him your problems.
Dr. Juan Vargas on Software Design for Embedded Systems
Dr. Vargas is Mr. Microsoft these days, but he comes back to the university often enough to impart some of his knowledge to the rest of us. He can tell you what you should do to make sure that your code is well-designed, maintainable, and modular. If you want to define the code structure so that LOTS of people on your team can work on it, then you need to talk to this guy first. (Available after Feb 3, weekends only)
Dr. Gang Quan on Microcontroller Programming
Dr. Quan teaches embedded system design, computer architecture and organization, and other topics in computer engineering. HeÕll be happy to help you with code development for that critical 40 seconds of autonomous mode operation as well as for control during normal operations. If your robot has to zzziiipp, you need good code!
Dr. Yanqing Deng on Code Development
Dr. Deng normally teaches about microelectronic devices, which won't necessarily do you a lot of good. What will do you some good is that he also is experienced in the area of instrument control and coding. If you want your robot to be an instrument for scoring big points get Dr. Quan to help you in code development.
Dr. unknown on Getting a Charge out of Batteries
Dr. unknown is a world-renowned expert on batteries -- even if we don't know who he is yet. There are plenty of guys and gals around here who can give you tips on how to get the most power from your battery, how to extend the life of your battery, and the best way to recharge your battery in order to stuff the maximum number of Coulombs into it. If your robot's gotta run long, you'd better take charge of the charge!
