Regular Meeting Minutes
Nov 2, 2007, 10:30AM
1. Welcome and Announcements
a. Room Update
2. Presentations:
a. PARTS Executive Elections %G–%@ Roger Ray
b. "Quantum Robotics for Teenagers" -- Prof. Marek Perkowski
3. News Reports
a. Show-and-tell
1. The 2-year term of club officers is about to end. We are seeking nominations and volunteers for:
a. President
b. Vice-President
c. Secretary
d. Treasurer
2. We need to get started on PDXBot 2008. Anyone interested in leading the planning and organization should contact Roger Ray.
Room Update
The room we are using in the PSU engineering building is now officially scheduled for our use. This should reduce the conflicts we've encountered recently. This also means that the building will be open on our meeting days. Various scheduling bugs have been resolved. However, we need to reschedule the room each quarter.
We are also now an oficially sponsored organization through the PSU Engineering department.
We will now be billed $40 per month for the use of the room. In order to meet this cost, we will need to budget for this expendature. The attending club members discussed the possibility of raising dues.
Election update
We need nominees for new club officers.
We currently have one nominee for president -- Robert Shearer. Make nominations!
Officer roles:
Treasurer. Maintining nonprofit status. Collecting dues. Maintaining the bank account. Making expendatures for the club (co-signed by the President). Mark estimates about 15 hours of work in this role the last two years. "It's an easy way to do a little thing that is necessary for the club."
VP. Backup for the president in organizing meeting. Webmaster -- maintains the internet presence.
Secretary. Attend meetings and take notes for the webside. Maintain the membership roles, provide name-tags and sign-in sheets at the meetings. Record club membership applications
President. Plan and lead meetings. Logistical planning. The primary public face of the club.
All executive team members have the opportunity ("a good excuse") to interact with others in the robotic community as a representative of the club. This can be a good chance to make contacts in the field. The PDXBot events are also an opportunity to interact with industry leaders, vendors, and the public to promote robotics as an educational
Students from Fort Vancouver High School attended the meeting to discuss their robotics work and competition in the Science Dethalon (www.sciencedecathalon.com). The club was very successful this year, competing against teams from across the country. The club is seeking sponsorship to cover the costs of their activities.
"Quantum Robotics for Teenagers" -- Prof. Marek Perkowski
Prof. Marek Perkowski is the director of PSU Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, and long-time PARTS supporter,
Prof. Perkowski works with high school studuents on robotics development. His students have been highly awarded in their activities, and have made advancements in robotics technology.
Quantum Braitenberg Vehicles
These are normal robotics of typical size, using normal sensors and effectors, but model a quantum-based controller.
A typical Braitenberg vehicle couples simple sensors (such as light sensors) to effectors (such as wheels). The organization of the sensors and affectors will produce robots with different behavors. In one configuration, the robot may travel toward a light source, another configuration will make the robot avoid light. Prof. Perkowski's students have developed braitenburg vehicles in Lego Mindstorms using various sensors and control strategies.
Compared to traditional Binary logic, quantum computers have distinct advantages in speed and power consumption. Operations on quantum computers can be reversible also, enabling unique logic functions. Quantum computing also creates entanglement behaviors that constrain the outcomes of probabalistic comutations. There are also advantages in combining quantum computing with classical computing.
Prof. Perkowski may return to discuss his other research. If you would like to contact Prof Perkowski or volunteer in his programs, send mail to him at mperkous@ee.pdx.edu.