Robotic Bartender Joins the Team

Mr. Tispy the Robotic Bartender joined the TechnoGecko Mutant Vehicle crew in 2019 and camp on Playa. Who do we thank? The TechnoGecko Waterloo camp members cooked up the idea and brought it to life a few weeks leading up to the burn. It came on playa and served burners aboard the TechnoGecko like a champ.

Downside, still needed a human to check IDs. Upside, drinks were perfectly mixed all night long with over 30 drinks to choose from and no complaints from the bartender!

What’s inside Mr. Tipsy? Some secret sauce plus repurposed everyday items including an iPad and camel-back bladders.

LIDAR Underway

DiscoFish touted its driverless capabilities and the hope was for TechnoGecko to follow in its footprints, to also be fully autonomous on playa. But, this creature is lot more complicated. The first year of TechnoGecko on playa we used a remote to drive it around playa. Being able to drive it from the ground and not need a driver seat was a cool first step, but we wanted a hands-off experience with cutting edge technology. We wanted more.

Developing way-point technology for one vehicle is tricky enough considering all the obstacles at Block Rock City: acidity, uneven surface, lack of roads or markers or any kind, dust storms, pitch darkness, tons of bikers and walkers, and destinations with obstacles of all sorts between. But, to develop it for multiple modules that can split apart, come back together, move around things, all synchronized and at the same time safety maneuvering all that the playa will throw at it is a tall order.

Luckily, Neils joined our team and is an expert with the technology. He hopes to set an example on playa for what those LIDAR best practices are.

This year he is developing out the back end which will be necessary to operate all the vehicle modules simultaneously as we continue to complete and add more over the next few years. Since we have two modeules this year on the TechnoGecko there will be a basic way-point technology between the creature and its destination but the code will be there if more sophistication is applicable.

Neils jumped right in, got the LIDAR basics setup and the interface for setting destinations and targets ready to go. Over the next few weeks he will continue to test, build, code, and generate everything to get the TechnoGecko autonomous on playa in Black Rock City.

All Electric Art Car - No Gas & No Engine

Many of the TechnoGecko crew (formerly DiscoFish crew) have a background in energy including solar, battery, and electric. DiscoFish used gas and an engine so it only made sense for the next vehicle to put the existing skillsets to use and be all electric.

TechnoGecko uses car batteries and interfaces to make it move. We have engineers on the team that specialize in battery integration into our custom chassis, frame, and design schematic. Luckily, everyone was up for the challenge.

We did a bit of testing before we mounted the system into the “Robot Head” - the module developed during the iRobot themed event at Black Rock City, NV.