Pittsburgh

August 9, 2009 - August 14, 2009

Pittsburgh, PA

Well off I went to Pittsburgh, PA. I had two missions, one to learn robotics from the best and the second to visit Carnegie Mellon's Natural History Museum. So I arrived in Pittsburgh early on Sunday the 9th. I should have gone to the Pirates game which started at 1pm. I thought I could get into my hotel early to get a quick nap, but to no avail. So I walked up and down famous Walnut Street. While the first time was cool the third time became a bore.

So while I had many plans, I eventually got into my room and had an early evening.

The next day I started the RobotC for the NXT class. There were only 12 of us, 3 from Philadelphia area, 1 from Pittsburgh area, 1 from Mexico, 1 from Texas, 1 from Canada, 1 from California and 1 from Jamaica. While that does not total 12, I was not sure where the other folks were from. They were not very social.

The training was held at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Lab. This is a great facility not located ont he campus. It was very cool because this is the facility in which people were making REAL ROBOTS. There was a group in the back working on a ROBOTIC TANK for the us army. It was a armored vehicle that would be placed in hostile areas for recon. But just cool. There were many very cool things.

The training was very tough, but I think it will be very useful. While the training was on the robotic language that is related to C computer language. While there is a more user friendly application to make robots move, this language is how most computer programs are developed. So should we do challenging stuff or easier stuff. I see the merits of both.

The Carnegie Mellon Natural History Museum was amazing. I was led around by Dr. Beard a curator of the facility. I discovered that while looking at dinasors are cool, they are much cooler when placed into context, and Dr. Beard did just that. He was able to tell the story that needs to be be told. Additionally, Dr. Beards work is very facinating and amazing. It was a wonderful treat to be shown the Museum. It was also amazing to view the highlight of the facility the T-Rex. While the T-Rex is interesting, the story that accompanies it and the significance it plays to the Museum and to the City of Pittsburgh was just awe inspiring. I now understand the dedication and professionalism that museums take to care for our natural history. Just amazing.

So over all the trip was very wonderful and successful.