Humanoid London Gathering Or Club

[Traull]

im just starting out in this humanoid hobby and was wondering if there are any gatherings of people or even clubs, in the london region, who may battle and/or work together to compete in compertitions.

i have searched online but i am not seeing anything from this year, are gatherings DOOMED!!!!

lets hope not !

im currently looking to buy a kit with the hope to being able to learn and use to create my own style robot in the future.

anybody have opinions on what they thought was a good robot they have had?

i was really liking the look of the new bioloid gp but that wont be here for awhile and i think i would still like to be able to construct my own.

[Traull]

so is anyone out there in the london region for gatherings to maybe start a robo football team and just tinkering.

this seems like a very anti-social hobby!

its a shame as i have held off my order of a khr-2 because there is no groups where people can test out robots and express ideas to make improvements.

does anyone have any ideas of where groups may gather in london uk?

[i-Bot]

You are right, that in the UK, we are rather antisocial in the physical sense. However there are quite a few on-line contributors in the forum from UK. They are always ready to help online or hands on if needed.

For meetings, the best attended last year for humanoids was Maker Fair in Newcastle.

There have previously been a few humanoids here:
http://robosavvy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6667

You might contact Orac to see if there is anything new going on, or maybe to start something.
http://www.ukrobotgroup.com/joomla/

[NovaOne]

You may also try:
http://london.hackspace.org.uk/ or your other local spaces
http://hackspace.org.uk/
.....they are very sociable crowd.

I don't know why UK humanoid and biped owners/builders/hackers aren't more keen to get together?.

...... they just don't seem to have the same goals. Sorry for the pun

I have attended all events I can. They are a great bunch, and I have been really amazed by the intellect and talent of the guys that have got together in the past. In fact to be honest I could not keep up with them....

[limor]

How about meeting at the London Hackerspace on Tue 30th ?
Tuesdays from 7pm are open evenings

http://wiki.hackspace.org.uk/wiki/Weekly_meetings

[Traull]

yea i have seen this place but have not visited it yet.
yea sounds like a plan meeting up on the tuesday 30th maybe we could get a regular gathering of people maybe once a month or something.

have you been there before??

like i said i am currently looking for a robot and was aiming for a khr-2 as it seemed nice value and easy adaptable.

i sadly have not got a great knowledge of writing own codes but thats what im hoping to learn eventually. i have built rc cars and plans in my younger days but sadly have not been able to for some time.

i have a meeting to get to on that day at 8.20 but can spend about 45min there but like i said i dont have a humanoid robot yet will probably get one around christmas time now.
but would be nice to talk to people and get ideas.

what robot do you have? would you recommend any?

anyone else you may know who would be able to join???

[teabot]

Hello, as a member of the London Hackspace I can honestly say that we'd really welcome your presence at our public meetings. I'm confident that there'd be a lot of interest in the humanoid robotics scene in addition to other shared interests - we're a very inclusive and diverse group.

Regarding regular humanoid meet-ups: The London Hackspace has facilitated events for other groups in the past so we might be able to help you get started with any plans you have in this regard.

If this is of interest, the best next step would be to come along to a public meeting and get talking. You can come along and just hang out. If you have any specific plans you'd like to discuss then any of the directors would be a good initial point of contact. You can also find most of us on IRC.

Unfortunately I won't be at the meeting on the 30th but hopefully I might meet you on another occasion. Personally, I've wanted to get involved with humanoid robotics after visiting some of the robot shops in Akihabara and it'd be great to meet some people with some actual experience of these robots.

Hope this helps - Elliot.

[NovaOne]

When I said

I have attended all events I can.

I was refering to humanoid gatherings (usually on Saturdays in Birmingham)
I don't live close enough to any hack spaces to attend on weekday evenings.
ie tend to go to weekend all day special events

So I will not be able go to London on the 30th....not being antisocial....honest.

I have a Robonova and a Robbuilder, I have not switched them on since Newcastle.....Robo nova is currently faulty.

[Orac]

Hi,

I may be able to attend this, possibly bringing my humanoid in tow.

Need to see where I am working that week.

In the mean-time, I put up an Instructable to my cheesy Halloween project.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Halloween-robotic-backpack/

Made me laugh anyway

[limor]

So London Hackerspace on Tue 30th sounds like a plan !

I'll bring at least (maybe more) the khr3 with the embedded gumstix / IGEP which hopefully by then will be working with 2 LiPo's, usb hub and webcam. (see the gumstix khr3 thread)

[Traull]

wow i think we have started something lol

this is what i was looking for, people united, so when competitions come around then everyone can be involved i hope many more people can show up and help us people wanting to get involved.

i look forward to seeing you all there.

[Traull]

i was trying to get a robot that is small and quick mainly for robo soccer but could also compete in sumo/battle events.
any ideas
i was thinking khr 2hv with hip pivot and to change some of the leg servos after a little bit of practise of course to get used to.

i had been looking at the "tiny wave" and the "futaba" but sadly i dont think i will be able to import either of these.... or can i ???????

has anyone got opinions on what they think or know what is a good robot???? especially when your just starting out?

[limor]

If you want to start with something inexpensive there is Robobuilder and there's the original KHR1 (send email to sales@robosavvy.com about getting it without the 1GHz RoBoard). If you import some exotic Japanese/Korean robot, you are on your own trying to find commercial and online technical support.

If you just want to get some weekend experience with a bipedal please check out the Dagu mini biped

[Traull]

i was looking at the robobuilder for awhile and considered the metal body add on for it but was a bit unsure about which one to go for as the one with leds looks annoying lol but i think is slightly better. and was very intereasted in what software came with it as i couldnt find any help on that.
if its the same as the bioloid or robonova then it would be great and easy to use. any ideas???

[limor]

...... any ideas???

Have you looked at the product page? there are loads of links to eye candy documentation of software and hardware (and i just noticed that it is on pre-Xmas sale already )
http://robosavvy.com/store/product_info ... cts_id/445