RCOC Values
Building robots is a fun activity; but for me there are also high ideals that guide my efforts. Helping others to succeed, encouraging experimentation, sharing knowledge, making learning fun, building friendships and inspiring a community of enthusiasts are all desires that focus my passion. Four inter-related disciplines that are foundational for this effort are summed up in the acronym RCOC:
R
Repeatability: this blog exists to serve other robot enthusiasts. That means I will try to refreign from using odd, one-of-a-kind or hard-to-obtain parts. Any person of average intelligence and strong desire should be able to reproduce anything posted here. I will do my best to assist anyone having technical issues.
C
C.O.T.S. (Commercial Off-The-Shelf (products)): robots will be built using generic parts from major vendors where possible (like McMaster Carr, Digi-Key, SparkFun, Pololu, Servo-City). Ideally, each part or a similar one should be available from multiple sources.
O
Open Source: everything is disclosed: electrical, mechanical drawings, source code and parts lists to enrich the community. That also means that everyone is encouraged to contribute to the knowledge base.
C
Competition: to promote creativity and excellence, non-destructive competitions will take place that will cultivate more robust, flexible and effective designs.
If you want to be a part of this community, contact me and join the E-mailing list (and not miss postings).
James the Quack
My other stuff (kayaking, plant ID, sea beans, etc.) [Link]
