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iCODE Students Finish Year at UMass Boston
Students in Machine Science's NSF-funded iCODE program built their own GPS devices, MP3 music players, wireless text-messaging devices, and wireless robot controllers at a two-week summer camp during July on the UMass Boston campus. Students built each device using a new modular development system, and wrote C code to create customized user interfaces. The GPS devices displayed real-time latitude and longitude data, while the MP3 players featured inputs for file selection, play and pause, fast forward and reverse, and volume adjustment. The wireless projects featured radio frequency transceivers with a range of several hundred meters. In addition to their project work, students spent an afternoon geocaching at the Blue Hills Reservation, and went on a boat cruise of Boston Harbor. Many thanks to Deborah Boisvert and her staff at the BATEC program for their help with the camp.

STREAM Workshop Features iSENSE Technology
Fifty middle school and high school science teachers from eastern Massachusetts convened at iRobot headquarters in Bedford, MA, on June 26, for a demonstration of a new educational technology jointly developed by Machine Science and UMass Lowell. The Internet System for Networked Sensor Experimentation, or iSENSE, enables students to collect real-world scientific data and then share that data over the web. The system includes a handheld data-logging device, together with a web site where students can upload their data, retrieve data sets from other users, and create dynamic visual representations of data, using mapping and graphing tools. The iSENSE data logger, called the Portable iSENSE Network Point, or PINPoint, features built-in temperature, light, sound, and acceleration sensors, as well as a jack for connecting external probes. The system is designed to assist teachers and students in developing science projects with topics ranging from human health to environmental science and energy conservation. The iSENSE demonstration was one of four presentations at a two-day workshop, organized by UMass Lowell, on using Robots to Teach Science Technology Engineering and Math (STREAM).

GEARS and Machine Science Team up to Offer Robot Controller
GEARS Educational Systems LLC of Hanover, MA, and Machine Science have released a new controller board - the GEARS Robot Controller (GRC) - which provides complete autonomous control of GEARS' line of high-powered robots. Based on the ATMega168 microcontroller from Atmel, the GRC has 18 input/output ports for reading analog and digital sensors, and controlling motors and pneumatics. The GRC also features a network connection that allows users to add expansion modules, such as motor controllers, relays, GPS receivers, LCDs, wireless transceivers, and keypads. Each module will come equipped with its own independent processor, allowing efficient multitasking. This will greatly simplify the integration of new hardware, and provide straightforward software controls. GEARS is a market leader in robotic platforms and curriculum for education, with products in use at more than 100 colleges and universities around the country.

Robot Sumo Grows for Fourth Straight Year
Nearly 100 students competed in Machine Science's annual Robot Sumo Tournament on Saturday, May 23, at the Museum of Science Boston. This marked the fourth straight year of growth for this popular event, which brings together competitors from after-school engineering programs in Boston, Lowell, Lawrence, and Lynn. Kevin Chan of the John D. O'Bryant School in Roxbury claimed top honors, narrowly edging out Julian Rojas and Odom Lim from the James Daley Middle School in Lowell. A total of 40 robots were entered, displaying an impressive range of designs and strategies. Prizes were awarded to the top tournament finishers, as well as competitors whose robots were especially creative or thoughtfully programmed. Many thanks to the Museum of Science and UMass Lowell for helping to make this event a success.