The Appliance
of Science
by Peter Smith
The Northeast Robotics
Club ( www.nerc.us) has
held a very successful
event every February in
Harrisburg, PA and this
year, they partnered with
the Franklin Institute
Science Museum (www2.
fi.edu) to add a second
major event.
The First Annual Franklin Institute Event
The Institute is a modern, hands-on type of museum situated in the
center of Philadelphia. It houses many
large exhibits in a bright modern
building which also includes an IMAX
cinema. It is, in many ways, an ideal
venue for a robotic combat event with
a regular audience, excellent facilities
with good food, easy parking, and
best of all, its own, custom-built
arena. It even has a high wire bicycle
running up above and across the
foyer (Figure 1)! The first event was
held on Saturday, October 20th.
Teams traveled from as far as
Canada and Colorado, and those
driving had a most unpleasant trip as
the weather the day before was a
constant rain covering much of the
East Coast. Luckily, the rain had
stopped by Saturday morning as it
was necessary to get into the venue
before the 7.00 AM deadline. The
early start was required so that the
event could be completed in one day.
All teams made it in time and passed
64 SERVO 04.2008
