'Get the Message Out' & Western Canadian Robot Games

Hi guys:

The last two days I was at the Western Canadian Robot Games
here in Calgary, which apparently (with its $10,000+ worth of
prizes) is the largest event of its kind in the world (outside of
a Big One in Japan):
http://www.robotgames.com

There I had set up a little booth to show the pBREAKS, an
early 8"x8"x8" working Milford (particleboard wood milling
machine made from plans), some drivers (scratch built
transistor, 5804 drivers, Slo-Syn 230T's, and Gecko
201's). Also showed a friends Kulaga/Mauch DRO circuit
board and Dan Mauch's 3 channel 2Amp circuit board.
(A little free advertising there for Mariss and Dan).

I gave an impromptu talk Friday on CNC & PC's, and was
back by popular demand on Saturday! My half hour talk
extended to 2 hours with more people coming in all the time
(which was a good sign)!

In the next booth was http://www.solarbotics.com , another
robotics kit manufacturer in Calgary. They are dealers for
the Sherline machines, and had a bunch there. They even
donated a mill to the Games for silent auction! I used their
cnc-ready mill in my talk to explain various things.

- - -
While the kids were into the robotics, the 'Dads' and Grampa's
were very surprised to learn that homebrew CNC is very
much feasible. There were a number of CNC machinists
who came by, and they also had never heard of such a thing.

Once 'discovered', there was a wide ranging interest - from
glass cutters to pcb millers to woodworkers and even 'industrial
automation' applications where they had been previously been
quoted prices too high to be feasible. One guy in particular had
an automated 'roughing cutoff' application where he employs
someone all day to advance material a certain amount (from long
stock) to +/- 1/4" and hits a button - whereupon the saw
cuts the material, turns off, and retracts. He'd just need 1
stepper with a rubber wheel, 1 solenoid, and a simple DOS
program to read a file and advance the stepper appropriately.


It seems to me (as a group) we should try to 'get the message out'
a bit more. Certainly being at the WCRG, and other events
like NAMES, PRIME, and Cabin Fever helps. Last year at
Arlington (North of Spokane) at the EAA homebuilt aircraft
fly-in, I also gave an impromtu talk on homebrew CNC. It seems
like there is a huge appetite out there, if they only knew!

Doug Fortune
http://www.cncKITS.com