@ mhectorgato -
Here’s a video of the stuff Pete and I brought:
[video=vimeo]44967134
I got the motors all running, but I have some tweaking to do, including wiring up the encoders, to get it running right.
@ devhammer - Is there any footage of the robots in action?
Not that I took. It was fun getting the omnibot running with Gus’ help, but its current level of operation wouldn’t be all that impressive to watch.
It turns out that using the omnidirectional wheels is a little more involved than I realized. You have to ensure that the weight distribution on the wheels is even, and that the speed of each motor is fairly precisely regulated.
I’m determined to get this working more effectively, and once I do, I promise I’ll post videos and technical info to the forums. 
@ devhammer - I don’t recall seeing that bot kit before. Where did you get it?
I believe he got this one: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10336
With wheels like these: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10543
@ mhectorgato -
Correct. Got both from Sparkfun. But given my experience with the fingertech wheels, I may try another set, sold by VEX. They’re about $10 cheaper, but more importantly they’re larger, which seems to provide better performance.
Ah, I see. That explains why it doesn’t look familiar.
On the way back from this on Friday night, we hit the worst. storm. ever. Hit it on rt 301n in bowie < 10 miles from home. Had to literally dodge large flying branches and debris to make it home, plus the nice fallen-tree-slalom. Even got to drive over a tree after finding every other route to my house blocked with debris. Finally justified driving an SUV 
I’ve driven through blizzards and torrential downpours, but this was … unique. At one point, lightning struck so close to the car that all we saw was white and everything lit up inside, and the speakers (which were playing the DVD, not the radio) let out a huge buzz. No hair standing on end, though, so must have just hit nearby.
Ben does not want to ever do that again. heh (although he loved MADExpo)
With all the flying trees/branches (and the small dents they made in my car roof…grrr), and really bad visibility for other drivers, it seemed advisable to keep going and not stay still.
Power still out at home (and may stay that way through the week), and it’s 100 degrees there. Maybe this will get me to finally move my web site and email from my basement and to Azure or some hosting company. 
Winds were hurricane force at 80mph, but it was like a surprise hurricane - zero prep:
Weathermen have a name for everything. My own name for it started with “Crazy” and ended with some words I probably shouldn’t write here
Pete
@ Pete Brown - Glad you are safe. That explains why there was problems at airport and ended up missing the flight.
@ Pete Brown - Wow, Pete. I got the sense from your tweet that it was pretty hairy but didn’t realize just how bad it was.
We were fortunate, in that it seems like the worst of the nasty weather hit to the east of us, so although power was out at our house for around 12 hours, it was back on by the time we got home. Biggest issue for us was having to toss a few things in the fridge that weren’t worth risking after the outage.
Hope your power comes back soon. I know it’s a haul, but in a pinch if you need a place to park for a bit, let me know. I’m sure the boys would enjoy playing with Ben again. 
@ Pete Brown - happy to hear you and the family are ok…
Looks like a cool show, except for the bit about Pete angering the gods…
Y’all are going to be at MakerFaire:NYC too, right??
Probably not. Tough to get T&E coverage for the Gadgeteer stuff, as it’s outside my (our) core area of responsibility. MADExpo was manageable, since it’s within a reasonable drive for both of us, and hotel rates aren’t crazy expensive. NYC is another matter entirely, particularly where hotel rates are concerned.
We’re talking about possibly bringing some of the Gadgeteer goodness to the Norfolk mini Maker Faire in the fall, though.
Pete, I’m glad you made it home safe. I wish you could send some of that rain down our way, though. 110F for most of the past week and not getting much cooler in the next week with no rain in the forecast and none for the past 2-3 weeks. Ugg.
If there is enough interest, I would be willing to organize some kind of informal event for those attending or who are in the area.
Lunch? Dinner? Drinks? Clubbing… forget the last suggestion… wrong crowd…
The right crowed actually. You will be surprised to see what valentine and I did late night after madexpo
I am sure GHI will support such gathering and bring some toys around.
LOL…
While I was writing the comment about clubbing, I was thinking about adding “Clubbing is on if Valen is coming” but I decided not to… Actually, I am not the guy to organize clubbling. Now eating and drinking is another thing…
If somebody organizes something, please make the details public! I’m very-likely driving down from the Boston-area but will probably only be able to make plans a few days in advance…
@ Andrew et al
Thanks. We have a place to stay, and keep trekking back to the house to check on things.
Power is still out. (5 days now, with average temps in 95-100 range). BGE is supposed to be working in our area today, so here’s hoping that they might get to it. I don’t write well in a café on my laptop
And by now, my site has probably been delisted from all sorts of things. 5 days of 404 is more grace than google and most other sites will give you 
Pete