Between the Lines

Bunnies + Robots = BunnyBots 2017

It is at time of the year again and the annual BunnyBot event. If you are located in Portland Oregon and have kids interested in robotics or STEM then you should plan to attend Saturday December 9th. http://team1540.org/bunnybots/ The BunnyBots competition is a game for FIRST FRC Robotics teams to get ready for FIRST 2018 competition season kick off in January. Teams use their robot to score points and gather stuffed rabbits on the field and have great deal of... Read more →

Most Popular Speaker at Autodesk University 2017

The most talked about and lined up for speaker at Autodesk University 2017 was, well a real speaker this year that you could build yourself. At Autodesk University, a group of attendees participated in a Product Innovation Platform track organized and designed by Autodesk’s Garin Gardiner. Participants designed the speaker starting from the speaker body in Autodesk Fusion 360 and the circuits in Autodesk Eagle as well as generating the CNC G-code to machine the parts. Those that were not... Read more →

The Future of Making at Autodesk University

Normally at Autodesk University you attend to see and learn from great speakers, but in this case you get to make an awesome custom speaker. In the Product Innovation Platform track you will get to go through each step from the beginning electrical design in Autodesk Eagle to the product design and machining in Fusion 360 and at the end of the track you will get to assemble and take your custom CNC machined wood enclosure speaker. Here is a... Read more →

Fidget Spinner in Fusion 360

Fidget Spinners are all the rage, whether you love or don't care for them, they are here. A couple weeks ago at the Autodesk Lake Oswego Oregon office we held our annual Kids at Autodesk Day, where employees brought their children to work where we have several activities for them planned. One of those activities was designed and led by Garin Gardiner. Garin developed and led a class to walk the kids through the design of a fidget spinner and... Read more →

Throwback Thursday VR

Back in the 80s and 90s with the Autodesk Cyberspace Developers Kit. Read more →

FIRST Robotics World Finals

This weekend hundreds of teams from around the world will descend on Houston Texas for the FIRST Robotics World Finals. This year the finals will be split into two cities, Houston this weekend and St Louis next weekend. The team I have worked with for 2 seasons now that use Autodesk Inventor and Fusion 360, Portland’s own Catlin Gabel high school Team 1540 Flaming Chickens will be there competing. You can watch the video feeds over the web. https://www.firstchampionship.org/watch-live The... Read more →

FIRST Robotics FRC PNW District 3 Competition Friday & Saturday

FIRST Robotics FRC competition season has started with week 2 competitions happening this week. Here in the Portland Oregon the Pacific Northwest District 3 has have 40 teams competing from the Pacific Northwest including the team I volunteer with Team 1540 Flaming Chickens. Autodesk is a proud supporter and sponsor of the PNW District and the big regional PNW Championships in April in addition to every student and teacher worldwide gets free Autodesk software. Autodesk’s Greg Fallon Vice President, DLS... Read more →

Designing More than Robots - The JuiceBox Project

For almost two seasons I have have had the pleasure to work with an amazing and inspiring group of young high school students involved in the FIRST Robotics competitions at Catlin Gabel in Portland Oregon. The FIRST Robotics Team 1540 the Flaming Chickens are also looking for ways they can make the world a better place using technology and design. One recent example that has been the project they worked on with the Catlin Gabel InvenTeam to solve a local... Read more →

FIRST Robotics FRC STEAMWORKS 2017

Details of FIRST STEAMWORKS 2017 Robotics Game Revealed And they were off as of just over a week ago on January 7th reading the game rules, discussing strategies, and then talking about design of their robot to best compete this year. This is my second year participating with Team 1540 Flaming Chickens. Last year among the thousands of teams they made it to the World Finals. Team 1540 already has their design all designed in one week and sourcing parts... Read more →

BunnyBots is this Weekend in Portland Oregon

Update 12/16/16: “We have had to reschedule BunnyBots from Saturday Dec 17th to Friday December 30th. There's just too much snow, ice and hazards especially for teams pulling trailers long distances. The 30th is our last backup day, though, if weather causes us to cancel the event on that day then we'll have to cancel BunnyBots for the year.” Come have fun and see some amazing high school kids who designed and built some robots at BunnyBots competing between the... Read more →

Aerial View of Lake Oswego Oregon Autodesk Office

I recently purchased and received my new personal UAS/UAV a DJI Mavic. This little drone folds up and can be easily packed in my backpack or camera bag and has many advanced technologies like obstacle avoidance and several automated flight modes like follow me and follow terrain. II t can go 40mph and has a radio range 4.6 mile range however FAA rules require visual one of sight which is definitely not that far. The camera is not as good... Read more →

The Future of Making Things - Robotics

This is a really great video featuring my Autodesk colleague and team mate Maurice Conti, Director of Applied Research and Innovation providing a glimpse at how robots will augment and collaborate with humans in the future. A couple other team mates gave a cameo in the video like Evan “Robot Lover” Atherton, Heather “Robot Tamer” Kerrick, and David “Robot Whisperer” Thomas. Read more →

Hands-On CNC Training at Autodesk University

The very first Fusion 360 CNC full day hands on training will be held at Autodesk University for AU attendees to register to take. The training will be led by by John Saunders from NYC CNC. Learn how to create your custom CAM toolpath in Fusion 360 followed by hands on machining using the Tormach 440 machine. Read more →

Girls Generation Robotics Competition

This past Saturday local school Catlin Gabel hosted a robotics competition for PNW regional FIRST Robotics teams where only girls would be the robotics challenge team drivers and pit staff. Teams used their robots and a competition field from last seasons Stonghold competition. Despite the big storm outside, the gymnasium was packed with hundreds of team members, parents, and teachers, volunteer mentors, and FIRST Robotics regional personnel. What an awesome and inspiring event for not just girls, but everyone that... Read more →

FIRST Robotics Team Event Girls Generation October 15

The events are starting for FIRST Robotics teams here in Oregon with a great event "Girls Generation” just over a week away on October 15th. My Catlin Gabel Team 1540 Flaming Chickens are hosting this event at their campus in Portland www.catlin.edu/map. Only girl team members may drive the robots and be in the pits.Teams will be playing using last years competition robots from Stronghold. I hope you will join us at the event and see how much fun it... Read more →

AR, VR and MR - Oh My

Learn about AR, VR and MR and the impact it will make for all of us from Autodesk Brian Pene Director of Emerging Technology, Office of the CTO. Five Ways AR and VR Will Improve Our Current Reality http://autode.sk/28WjqhN In recent years, technological advances, coupled with a proliferation of affordable hardware and software, have made immersive technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) more commercially feasible than ever. A flood of investments into these new... Read more →

The Next Phase in Robotics - Collaboration

The robots are coming and they are not all evil but will help us make things and augment our capabilities at solving other challenges facing the world. Maurice Conti Director, Applied Research and Innovation, in the Autodesk Office of the CTO and colleague was interviewed by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for a nice article on robotics and the research Autodesk is doing in the Applied Research Lab. Human Augmentation: the Next Phase in Robotics http://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/human-augmentation-the-next-phase-in-robotics Prominent, respected public figures... Read more →

Fast Cars and Generative Design

Back in May of this year I had the pleasure to be in the hot and beautiful Southern California desert at Trona Pinnacles near Death Valley with a group of engineers, scientist, champion Baja 1000 champion race drivers, car builders, mechanics, designers, cinematographers, technologists, and more for a historic off road race car project test for a generative designed car, the Hackrod. The Hackrod was designed by Autodesk Dreamcatcher using design input and performance data from many types of sensors... Read more →

Giving a Hand

Yesterday many big hearted employees in the Autodesk Lake Oswego Oregon office took time to assemble 3D printed Phoenix prosthetic hands designed using Autodesk’s own Fusion 360 in the e-NABLE Buildathon. The hands are destined with a personal card for children in war torn Syria by e-NABLE. Autodesk employees around the world donate their personal time year around and Autodesk whole heartily supports this and matches the time and donations and also has a philanthropic foundation with the Autodesk Foundation... Read more →

BattleBots Watch Party at Autodesk with Robots, Fun, and Prizes!

Don’t miss the chance to meet two BattleBots, Bronco and Mega Tento, in person(robot) at Autodesk’s First Annual BattleBots Watch Party! On the heels of last year’s wildly successful TV reboot of BattleBots, the world’s premier robot sporting event, bots and humans alike will assemble to watch the show’s Season 2 premiere. Come join us at the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco—the birthplace of robot combat—to watch the BattleBots rumble while enjoying food, drinks, robo-swag and fun activities. You can... Read more →

How to Make an Autonomous Go-Kart by Autodesk CEO Carl Bass

Join Autodesk CEO and Chief Maker extraordinaire Carl Bass for a live Instructable session on how to build an autonomous go-kart at the Maker Faire Bay Area. Carl, his son and some friends have rigged their electric go-kart with the guts of a drone, and now it can be driven remotely. Check it out in person at MakerFaire Bay Area 2016! Carl’s session: http://makerfaire.com/maker/entry/55314/ Read more →

Congratulations to FIRST Robotics World Champion Teams

This weekend over 600 teams of high school students competed in St Louis Missouri for the FIRST Robotics 2016 world championship. FIRST 2016 Winning Teams: Team 120 – Cleveland's Team Team 330 - The Beach Bots Team 1086 - Blue Cheese Robotics Team 2481 - Roboteers Congratulations to all FIRST participants, students, mentors, schools, teachers, volunteers, parents and sponsors. See you next competition season! Read more →

Autodesk PNW FIRST Robotics Championship was this Weekend

Autodesk sponsored the recent Pacific Northwest FIRST Robotics Championship for high school students held from Thursday to Saturday last week at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in sunny and unseasonably warm Portland Oregon. There were 64 high school teams participating from the Pacific Northwest states of Alaska, Oregon, and Washington that had won local district competitions to compete in this event. In addition to the students, parents, mentors, judges, there were many Autodesk employees volunteering at the event. What an amazing... Read more →

A New 3D Printer Heading to the International Space Station

Autodesk partner, friends, and Fusion 360 users Made in Space sent the first 3D printer designed for space 2011 is again sending a new updated 3D printer up to the International Space Station this Tuesday, March 22nd at 11:05 pm EST. Keeping with the long tradition of crazy NASA acronyms the 3D printer is named the “AMF” for Additive Manufacturing Facility. Made in Space is the cutting edge on additive manufacturing in space and it opens up many possibilities to... Read more →

FIRST Robotics Competitions PNW Wilsonville District

The high school FIRST Robotics team I have been working with this year participated in the PNW (Pacific Northwest) Wilsonville District competition this past weekend in Wilsonville Oregon. Team 1540 Catlin Gabel got into the later rounds with their robot Zuko (designed in 3D using Autodesk Inventor) making it to the elimination rounds and ultimately winning the 2016 Wilsonville District Chairman's Award. Wilsonville District Competition Results http://frc-events.firstinspires.org/2016/ORWIL What a great event packed with energy and gracious professionalism. Congratulations to all... Read more →