Question 1: How did you get involved in the LEGO Robotics Group of Ann Arbor?

It was all Jona's fault. If he had just left me alone none of this would of ever happened. But noooooo!, he just had to show me the latest robot design he was working on. Then of course there were the hyperlinks to cool robot sites in my e-mail. The guy is like a LEGO pusher seeking out would be addicts. Well I got the okay from the wife to ask for the robotic set for Christmas (2001) and the rest is history. Thanks a lot Jona!

Question 2: What do you do for work? How does this work effect your robotics?

I get paid to specify, manage, design, develop, maintain, and support hypothetical systems a.k.a. I am a software engineer. These skills transfer quite easily to programming the brick. Someday I would like to take it a step further and start messing around with the firmware, but for now NQC and the GUI will have to suffice, at least until I install leJOS.

Question 3: So far, what has been the most challenging aspect of robotics and why?

Hmmmm ... well since I pretty much only have the introductory set (and whatever my daughter and the other club members will let me barrow from their collections) my bots have been very minimalist. I try to make up for what I lack in pieces with some clever programming. I have been eyeing the accessory set for sometime and will probably break down and buy it before Christmas, otherwise it will definitely be on my list this year. There is only so much you can do with two touch sensors and a light sensor.

Question 4: Out of all of your creations, which made you feel the most satisfaction when it was complete and why?

Well, since I have only entered one competition so far, my first sumo bot was very satisfying to build and program. Unfortunately the host's IR tower failed during the day of the competition and I was unable to tweak the program. My design concept for the stair climbing competition was also satisfying even though I never completed the bot. Someday my day will come and I'll win that coveted place a top of the heap, but it is the act of creation that will always be the underlying theme to my satisfaction.

Question 5: What if any inspiration do you use when it comes to starting a new robot?

I usually approach the creation of a new bot with some idea in mind on how to solve the challenge. During the prototyping phase I am often inspired to approach the challenge from a somewhat different or altogether different angle. I love the fact that LEGOs makes it so easy to rapidly prototype multiple solutions to a problem, admittedly within some pretty ridge constraints (which I think adds to the challenge).