What a busy few days!
*whew* Have I been busy over the last few days. I don't even remember when I last updated this, so if I repeat myself I'm sorry. I'm sure all 6 of you who read these will really be upset -- especially considering that most of you are related to me anyway.
The last few days were spent at the Taipei International Robotics Show, a massive trade-show for all things robot. It was mostly industrial/factory level robotics (conveyor-belt barcode readers, automated forklifts, manufacturing robots, etc...) but there were some consumer-level things as well. Five of the teams from FIRA had our own booth for TIROS, an invitational humanoid robotics competition that was very similar to FIRA, but with fewer events (no wall-climbing, sprinting, nor lift-and-carry), and fewer teams. And a much tighter timeline.
TIROS was a lot of fun. We had huge crowds of people watching every event, cheering us on, and going "aww" when a robot would fall over or just miss. Way more interesting with an audience watching. It was also less stressful since we'd already ironed out most of the kinks at FIRA the week before.
Unfortunately, like at FIRA, when the pressure was on we buckled a little. The weight-lifting, basketball, and obstacle run events did not go so well for us. But we got first-place in penalty kick, thanks entirely to Chi Tai, and clocked the best individual time in the marathon/relay. Unfortunately because the relay teams were seeded 1/4 vs 2/3 we lost the relay on day 2. Stupid slow robot holding us back. It was almost a photo-finish though. Pretty epic.
Yesterday Mrs Wong, the wife of a professor who was visiting Winnipeg earlier in the year, met us at TIROS. Derek had arranged to stay with them for a few days while he did the tourist thing in Taipei, and she graciously extended an invitation to me as well. I was quite surprised, but accepted since she seemed quite insistent.
This morning we checked out of our NTUT dorm and officially parted ways with the last of the TIROS teams. We had a lot of fun going to the night markets with them, and spent most of yesterday evening walking around Danshui, the waterfront district in the north of Taipei where Chi Tai grew up. It reminded me a lot of downtown Vancouver; mountains, skyscrapers, and ocean.
Mrs Wong's daughter (whose name I unfortunately forget right now) met Derek and me at the MRT station to lead us to their place. Once there we dropped off our luggage, did some much-needed laundry (yay for clean socks and shirts!), had lunch at a dumpling place just around the corner, and then took the bus to Elephant Mountain with Mrs Wong and her daughter.
Elephant Mountain was pretty spectacular. We could see the entire city from there (somewhat lost in a smoggy haze). Took LOTS of pictures, including a couple in a Game Knight shirt.
After that we took a cab to Taipei 101, the second-tallest building in the world. Derek and I paid to go up to the observatory, where I took many, many more pictures (to the point where my camera battery was in the red). Then we took the train back to the Wong's, changed into clean shirts, and had a late dinner of beef noodle soup at another place just around the corner.
And that brings me to right about now. After dinner I borrowed the Wong's internet connection, uploaded all the pictures from today to Photobucket, and wrote this.
Now I think it's off to bed. Tomorrow morning the Wongs are taking us to go to some hot springs nearby. Should be interesting!
The last few days were spent at the Taipei International Robotics Show, a massive trade-show for all things robot. It was mostly industrial/factory level robotics (conveyor-belt barcode readers, automated forklifts, manufacturing robots, etc...) but there were some consumer-level things as well. Five of the teams from FIRA had our own booth for TIROS, an invitational humanoid robotics competition that was very similar to FIRA, but with fewer events (no wall-climbing, sprinting, nor lift-and-carry), and fewer teams. And a much tighter timeline.
TIROS was a lot of fun. We had huge crowds of people watching every event, cheering us on, and going "aww" when a robot would fall over or just miss. Way more interesting with an audience watching. It was also less stressful since we'd already ironed out most of the kinks at FIRA the week before.
Unfortunately, like at FIRA, when the pressure was on we buckled a little. The weight-lifting, basketball, and obstacle run events did not go so well for us. But we got first-place in penalty kick, thanks entirely to Chi Tai, and clocked the best individual time in the marathon/relay. Unfortunately because the relay teams were seeded 1/4 vs 2/3 we lost the relay on day 2. Stupid slow robot holding us back. It was almost a photo-finish though. Pretty epic.
Yesterday Mrs Wong, the wife of a professor who was visiting Winnipeg earlier in the year, met us at TIROS. Derek had arranged to stay with them for a few days while he did the tourist thing in Taipei, and she graciously extended an invitation to me as well. I was quite surprised, but accepted since she seemed quite insistent.
This morning we checked out of our NTUT dorm and officially parted ways with the last of the TIROS teams. We had a lot of fun going to the night markets with them, and spent most of yesterday evening walking around Danshui, the waterfront district in the north of Taipei where Chi Tai grew up. It reminded me a lot of downtown Vancouver; mountains, skyscrapers, and ocean.
Mrs Wong's daughter (whose name I unfortunately forget right now) met Derek and me at the MRT station to lead us to their place. Once there we dropped off our luggage, did some much-needed laundry (yay for clean socks and shirts!), had lunch at a dumpling place just around the corner, and then took the bus to Elephant Mountain with Mrs Wong and her daughter.
Elephant Mountain was pretty spectacular. We could see the entire city from there (somewhat lost in a smoggy haze). Took LOTS of pictures, including a couple in a Game Knight shirt.
After that we took a cab to Taipei 101, the second-tallest building in the world. Derek and I paid to go up to the observatory, where I took many, many more pictures (to the point where my camera battery was in the red). Then we took the train back to the Wong's, changed into clean shirts, and had a late dinner of beef noodle soup at another place just around the corner.
And that brings me to right about now. After dinner I borrowed the Wong's internet connection, uploaded all the pictures from today to Photobucket, and wrote this.
Now I think it's off to bed. Tomorrow morning the Wongs are taking us to go to some hot springs nearby. Should be interesting!