In this issue:

   Visit By Boston Globe Reporters
   The StarterBot : A Club Project
   Potential Meeting Date Change
   Next Month: The Practice Contest!
   Attendees


Visit By Boston Globe Reporters:
 

A late season snow storm didn't stop reporter Mark Dagostino and photographer Nancy Horton of The Boston Globe from stopping in to see what our club was all about. We spent a good part of the meeting showing off our creations and discussing our favorite topic, Robotics! We'd like to thank Mark and Nancy for the excellent article that appeared in the Boston Sunday Globe's New Hampshire Weekly section on March 22nd.

The StarterBot - A Club Project: (go there now!)


Once we got over being "celebrities", we started a very interesting discussion on what the club should be able to offer new members. Since we hope to attract new people with the newspaper article, we thought the best thing we could offer would be a complete "Starter Package". The entire package would be available on one (or more) 3.5" floppy disks. The disk would contain all the information and software necessary to build and program a basic (but expandable!) robot. Some of the contents could be:
       Schematic Diagrams
       Mechanical Drawings
       Bill Of Materials
       Approved Vendor List
       Assembly Instructions
       Software
       Example Code
       Reference Materials

We want people to be able to build this "StarterBot" for less than $100. Our current thouqhts involve using a Basic Stamp processor, and hobby servos for motors.

All this is preliminary and ideas or suggestions are extremely welcome!


Potential Meeting Date Change:

There are discussions underway about moving the club meetings to a weeknight. Please bring your comments and/or concerns to the next meeting, or forward them to the mailing list.


Next Month - The Practice Contest!:

We will attempt to have at least a partial contest setup at the next meeting. Bring your "ContestBots" and we'll see how things go! (see the contest rules in the January Newsletter)


Attendees

John Cook
Jay Francis
Quentin Lewis
Jim Shepherd