by Vaibhav Bahadur and Donald Lam | Photo Credits: Donald Lam | Also Contributing: James Lam | 30 March 2014
We paid a visit to the M2 Robotics lab when we interviewed Chim and Rita last semester for their work on the Team HKU Atlas.
Not hidden on purpose but unnoticed by thousands of HKU students passing by every day, the student run lab is hidden behind a turn along the steps from Pokfulam Road to the Composite Building elevators.
A Tour: The lab that never existed
The not-so-secret doorway is usually wide open. No, you are still not supposed to waltz in uninvited.
While the place may seem like a factory, members in the team personalize their space.
Chim Lee explains the Electronics sphere of Robotics. Each circuit board may take upto 5-7 hrs to solder. One Robot has at least 30-50 of such boards which add up to a lot of hardwork and patience.
The team joined the Robocon competition this year. The theme of the 2014 Robocon is parenthood, so all tasks simulate playground activities for children with the help of a parent robot.
The team made exact prop replicas to prepare for the tasks:
A baby robot the team made is required to climb up to the top of this ladder.
Another task: The baby robot is required to walk on the pole walk set from one to the other till it reaches the end.
In this task the parent robot will put the baby on the swing and push it forward. The baby will need to maintain balance.
At the back, is a see-saw that will have a similar parent & baby robots interaction.
By the expression on that box; someone definitely had a burst of creativity and put in some time to decorate the 3D printer in the lab.
Chim Lee attaching together newly printed 3D pieces. The wonder of 3D printing: assembly complete in less than a minute.
We played with this 3D printed clockface.
A software simulation of a quadcopter on the powerful Gazebo software on Linux. Gazebo can do all kinds of robotics simulation, even the DRC Atlas uses it to test run new code.
In a gazebo simulation, the quadcopter detects the impending object and turns around automatically.
When the going gets tough, 24-7 McDonalds rescues the day!
The M2 Robotics lab is funded by the Mechanical Engineering Department. McDonalds takeaway not included.
Vaibhav Bahadur
bahadur.vaibhav@gmail.com
Latest posts by Vaibhav Bahadur (see all)
- A Tour of the HKU M2 Robotics Team Lab - March 30, 2014
- When UBS Holds a Competition - February 5, 2014
Donald Lam
A second year student in Computer Science at HKU. He owns a Nokia phone and is a bit of a Microsoft fanboy in denial.
dlamty@gmail.com
Latest posts by Donald Lam (see all)
- Announcing Girls4Tech @HKU2014 - September 7, 2014
- CloudNG: the ease and power of a personal server showcased - June 17, 2014
- Smartwatches: Not The Next Big Thing Yet - March 22, 2014
