RoadNarrows LLC
2006
Volume 2
LOVELAND, COLORADO, 6 November 2006 -
RoadNarrows LLC becomes a distributor of robotic products manufactured by GCtronic of Switzerland. GCtronic, in collaboration with École Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne Autonomous Systems Lab, developed the new and popular e-puck wheeled robot.
RoadNarrows looks forward to its new and expanding relationship with GCtronic. Our customers in the U.S. and Mexico will have more robotic options from which to select for their specific applications.
e-puck
LOVELAND, COLORADO, 1 October 2006 -
K-Team has released their new Khepera III (K3) robot line which is now available exclusively in the U.S. from RoadNarrows. The K3 is bigger and more powerful than its predecessor, the Khepera II, as the base robot now operates using a DsPIC 30F5011, has a swappable battery, and has 5 configurable Ultrasonic sensors and 10 IR proximity and ambient light sensors. It is designed to have a KorebotLE stack for easy expansion of robot peripherals and 802.11b wireless communication with a compact flash card. The Korebot's Familiar Linux environment provides a standard, powerful programming environment. Without the Korebot, the base robot is easily controlled using a simple serial interface similar to the Khepera II. A serial BlueTooth module will be available soon to allow PC-to-K3 command and control using your favorite programming environment on your PC. The K3 robot is also supported under Webots(TM) by Cyberbotics.
Feature Summary:
LOVELAND, COLORADO, 21 September 2006 -
RoadNarrows LLC was selected by the Colorado Software & Internet Association as one of companies to represent Colorado at the 2006 DEMOgala held on the evening of September 21, 2006.
The 2006 DEMOgala was the showcase event and banquet that capped Colorado's Tech Week held September 18 - 22, 2006. Tech Week is a statewide event that high-lights technological breakthroughs in business, academia, entertainment and sports with five days of demonstrations and events. The week long event is hosted by the Colorado Governor's Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
RoadNarrows Booth at the 2006 DEMOgala. (Left to right: Rachel Knight and Kim Wheeler)
The CSIA DEMOgala Selection Committee chose the final DEMO companies from an initial list of over 150 outstanding innovators. Congratulations to the final selected companies on becoming part of an elite group representing Colorado and the IT industry.
Congratulations RoadNarrows LLC.
LOVELAND, COLORADO, 24 July 2006 -
RoadNarrows and K-Team sponsored prizes for the Human Robot Interaction and the Scavenger Hunt competitions at the 2006 American Association of Artificial Intelligence Conference held on July 16 to 20 in Boston, Ma. The prizes were the Korebot LE single board computers for robotics.
At the conference, RoadNarrows and K-Team also demonstrated their line of research and educational robots and accessories to participants. The RoadNarrows/K-Team booth was well attended. RoadNarrows representatives gained insight into the current needs of customers and discussed future product directions for the robotics field.
RoadNarrows/K-Team Booth at the AAAI Conference. (Left to right are: Robin Knight and Sarah Knight from RoadNarrows, Pierre Bureau from K-Team)
LOVELAND, COLORADO, 23 May 2006 -
Kim Wheeler has been invited to speak at the 20th anniversary celebration of the McGill Centre for Intelligent Machines on May 26th, 2006. CIM is a research centre of McGill University locatated in Montreal, Canada.
An excerpt from CIM's mission statement states:
“CIM is to excel in the field of intelligent machines, stressing basic research, technology development, and education. CIM seeks to advance the state of knowledge in such domains as robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, computer vision, systems and control theory, and speech recognition.”
The title of Ms. Kim Wheeler's talk will be:
“Memoirs of a Geek: A McRCIM Graduate Starts Her Own Robotics Company”
LOVELAND, COLORADO, 22 May 2006 -
Some images from the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. The ICRA conference was held in Orlando Florida from May15-19.
RoadNarrows and K-Team had a shared booth at the conference.
RoadNarrows & K-Team Booth
LOVELAND, COLORADO, 22 May 2006 -
RoadNarrows & K-Team Booth
Some images from the World RoboFest 2006 Championship. The competition was held in Southfield Michigan on May 13th.
Both RoadNarrows and K-Team were sponsers of the event.
RoboFest Competition Floor
LOVELAND, COLORADO, 6 May 2006 -
Kim Wheeler attended a workshop of the Technology Student Association at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. on May 5th to 6th. The workshop focused on robotic competitions for middle school and high school students to foster excitement and competencies in science, technology, engineering, and math. The workshop also addressed issues to make robotic curriculums available to students from all economic backgrounds, and to appeal to different cultures and both genders.
Ms. Wheeler was one of the framers of the workshop to form curriculum standards.
"TSA is a non-profit national student organization devoted to teaching technology education to young people. TSA's mission is to inspire its student members to prepare for careers in a technology-driven economy and culture."
LOVELAND, COLORADO, 29 March 2006 -
Yesterday, K-Team released a low cost version of the KoreBot robotic development board - the KoreBot Light Edition. The KoreBot LE is fully compatible with the existing KoreBot software and hardware extensions.
Feature Summary:
Announcement: 24 November 2006
RoadNarrows LLC is delighted to be one of the first U.S. companies to begin sales and support of the MANOI AT01 humanoid robot in the North American market. The MANOI AT01 is manufactured by Kyosho of Japan, which is well-known in the radio-controlled vehicle industry. The MANOI robot provides an excellent base for research and education programs in humanoid robotics. The unique artistically designed shell will also attract and inspire a diverse set of students.
Disconntinued.
Announcement: 15 November 2006
RoadNarrows LLC begins sales and support of the Kondo KHR-2HV humanoid robot. Kondo Kagaku Co.,Ltd of Japan provides hi-tech goods and services for the Japanese market. Its KHR-2HV robot provides an excellent base for research and education programs in humanoid robotics.
Despite its lower retail price, the KHR-2HV has improved with more robust servos and joints over its successful predecessor, the KHR-1. RoadNarrows has discontinued sales of the KHR-1, but will continue support of the KHR-1 for its customers through 2007.
Announcement: 1 September 2006
RoadNarrows LLC has hired Ms. Lori Kuykendall as a contract employee for the position of office assistant. Ms. Kuykendall will have a wide and varied range of office repsonsibilities key for the growth of RoadNarrows.
Announcement: 1 September 2006
RoadNarrows LLC has hired Mr. Ian Bernstein as a contract employee for the position of engineering intern. Mr. Bernstein will work on various RoadNarrows robotic products including wheeled and humanoid robots. Mr. Bernstein is a full time engineering student at Colorado State University.
Announcement: 1 June 2006
RoadNarrows is one of the sponsors of the Colorado State University team that will compete at the RoboCup Search and Rescue World Championship to be held in Bremen, Germany from June 14-18, 2006. The CSU team of engineering students designed and developed the Good Samaritan Robot which won second place overall in the U.S. Open held in Atlanta, Georgia in April this year. The Good Samaritan also won the "Best Mobility" award. By excelling at the U.S. Open, CSU earned a spot at the World Championship.
Good luck CSU.
Announcement: 9 May 2006
K-Team and RoadNarrows will have a booth this year at the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation to be held in Orlando Florida from May 15-19.
The theme for this year's ICRA conference is "Humanitarian Robotics".
Announcement: 9 May 2006
K-Team and RoadNarrows LLC is one of the sponsors of the World Robofest 2006 Championship competition to be held in Southfield Michigan on May 13th. RoadNarrows will be present at the competition to provide support.
Robofest provides an environment for students to gain interest and knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Announcement: 19 April 2006
Robin Knight from RoadNarrows spoke at the bi-annual meeting of the Northern Colorado Rockies Venture Club Wednesday night April 19th at the Hilton Fort Collins. Mr. Knight presented the current strategic goals to grow the company and the estimated concomitant funding required to achieve those goals while obtaining a return on investment.
Announcement: 4 April 2006
Congratulations to The Virtual Commandos, a rookie robotics team from Loveland High School and Surrey High School in North Dakota, who competed in the regional FIRST Robotics Competition in Denver on March 31st and April 1st. From a field of 48 teams, they finished first place which entitles them to a spot at the national event in Atlanta, Georgia on April 27 to 29th, 2006.
RoadNarrows LLC is proud to be one of the corporate sponsors of this local team. Best of luck in Atlanta!
Virtual Commandos Home Page
National FIRST Robotics Home
Colorado Regional FIRST Robotics Home
Announcement: 29 March 2006
Sarah Knight and Amanda Whitney of Centennial High School, Bakersfield California won first prize in the High School Mathematics and Computer Science category at the Kern County Regional Science Fair. More than 120 schools participated. Ms. Knight and Ms. Whitney investigated Optic Flow algorithms controlling a robot to hunt, chase, and ‘capture’ simulated insect prey. The algorithms were implemented in Python, operating within the RNR Fusion robotic application. The robot used was a Hemisson robot donated by RoadNarrows LLC. In May, 2006 Ms. Whitney and Ms. Knight will compete at the state level in Los Angeles, California.
Announcement: 14 March 2006
RoadNarrows Robotics is collaborating with Gadget Arts of Broomfield, CO to design and manufacture custom components to augment the existing and future RNR robotic lines.
The first custom product is a simple connector that allows the rotation of the Hemisson Linear Camera to the vertical position. (See the RNR Link below.)
www.gadgetarts.com
Store: Manufacturer discontinued.
Announcement: 9 March 2006
RoadNarrows and K-Team are sponsoring prizes for Robofest 2006 to be held on May 13, 2006 at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan. Robofest is a computerized robotic constest for grades 5 - 12. The students design, construct, and program the robots. The robots must be fully autonomous. Robofest was started in 2000 and has grown to over 160 teams.
Announcement: 15 January 2006
RoadNarrows becomes a member of the Colorado Software and Internet Association. The mission of CSIA is to “foster innovation and a positive growth environment for the technology industry in Colorado.”