RobotsConf: Day 1

The first day of RobotsConf, a new conference designed to transform 150 coders into makers in just 48 hours, was inspirational, educational, and exhausting! Attendees heard keynotes from Whurley, and Super Awesome Sylvia (with dad), then rocketed through educational sessions that covered everything from electrons to artificial intelligence. When the educational sessions ended, the doors were opened to the drone room and the robot build area. Excited and inspired attendees immediately started planning and creating robots, some of which can be seen taking shape in the slideshow.

A bot under construction with a custom laser-cut part that includes the RobotsConf logo.

This awesome quadraped was built by Rick Waldron, creator of Johnny-Five, the JavaScript Arduino programming framework for Node.js.

Florida Robots entertained the crowd throughout the day.

Alan from Leap Motion controlling a flying fish with a Leap Motion controller.

@Whurley kicked off the day, challenging the attendees to find the things that the manual tells you can’t be done, and use that as a starting point.

Super Awesome Sylvia & Dad (James) demonstrate their WaterColorBot

Sara Chipps shows how wearables have been a part of pop culture.

Florida Robotics’ life-sized game of Operation – I immediately invited them to exhibit at Orlando Mini Maker Faire!

Elijah Insua built a CNC mill that folds out of a pelican case. He packed the bits, but took the CNC on the airplane!

Super Awesome Sylvia piloting a drone.

Super Awesome Sylvia building a SumoBot.

The awwww factor may be a useful weapon in the SumoBot competition…

Lots of leaning and hacking happening at RobotsConf.

The Spark crew works on a Spark-controlled Roomba.

Zach from Leap Motion works with the DeltaMaker 3D printer on a vase that was sculpted using a Leap Motion and Freeform.

Another SumoBot under construction for Saturday’s SumoBot competition.

Florida Robotics’ Tagi robot entertains the crowd.

You program the Tessel with JavaScript – the language of choice for many RobotsConf attendees.

Ande Gelme customizing a Robot t-shirt.

This robot t-shirt has LilyPad, a battery and LEDs.

Attendees turned the conference center into a huge robotics lab. Any horizontal surface became a workspace!

Mike Greenberg reused a previously printed creeper as a joystick lever.

Curating RobotsConf is a family effort – Laura Williams and son checking out all the robots under construction.

Check back later for the Day 2 pictures which include completed robots, the SumoBot competition, and the RobotsConf Science Faire!