Behrend Collegian VOLUME XLVIII Hero I Joins By: Ann Wennski Everyone has seen or heard about Behrend's new robot • Hero I. It was purchased from Area Computer. Hero I is approx imately 19 1 / 2 inches high, 14-15 in ches wide and weighs about 76 lbs. It has a body on wheels, a head with 'eyes' and an arm with a wrist and a gripper (hand). Hero I can detect light, sound, an object in its path, and motion up to 15 feet away. It can pick up small items with its gripper, which can open up 3 1 / 2 . inches. For in Behrend's Campus stance, Dr. Robert Pierce of Behrend College, who is working with the robot, said that the robot will be programmed to pick up a cup of coffee and tell you its temperature. Hero I also has a voice which is made by a Speech Synthesizer. This synthesizer will generate 64 phonemes (speech sounds), which are then linked together through a computer program. It's vocabulary is unlimited. As Dr. Pierce put it, "It is an excellent piece of engineering it brings STATION RD., ERIE, PA. 16563 Optional Meal Plan Offered For Commuters By: Cindy Stipancic Scrambled eggs, chicken cosmos, and Italian spaghetti with meatballs! Yes, residence hall students have the pleasure of en joying three meals a day, seven days a week, at Dobbin's Dining Hall. But what about commuters? Do they have the opportunity to en joy that third chicken cosmo sandwich, delicately seasoned and garnished with shredded lettuce and tomato? together many human charac teristics such as sight, hearing, and sensing motion. We have a lot of fun with it." . The robot can be internally pro grammed with the Assembly language, for those of you who know your computer stuff, or it can be programmed with a teaching pendant which is plugged into the computer. It is then given instructions through switches on the control. When the plug is removed, the robot will remember it's previous instructions. It was not programmed when it arrived on campus. Dr. Pierce and one of his students, Eugene Dolli, who is a Physics Science major here at Behrend, have been work ing on the robot to program it for the 'Engineers Week Show,' which will be held at the Erie Civic Ceitter in February. It's memory consists of chips which can hold up to 2,000 words. The robot's scanner can read as many as 32 memory chips, thus a memory of 64,000 words at one time! .Hero I is basically an educa tional robot, but will also be used for research. It will be used here at Behrend as the basis for two new courses in Robotics Software and Robotics Hardware. These courses will be offered in approx imately one year. Right now it is basically used for publicity. More robots, both educational and industrial, will be coming to Behrend in the future. The Student Government Association is sponsoring a "Name the Robot" contest to also bring. publicity to Hero I. To enter the contest, you must obtain an entry blank from the R.U.B. by November 11. You may enter as many times as you wish. The winner will receive a 12" black and white television. The winner of the contest will be announced on Tuesday, November 15, at the Cub's home opener at half-time. Yes! Commuters do! And "Ikhrend is the only com monwealth campus which offers the optional meal plan," states Mike Ryan, head of Food and Housing. A food . service meal plan is mandatory for residence hall students,- but non-residence hall students have some options for food service while they are on campus. There are three meal plan options for the non-residence hall student. They are: Option One: Elect to par ticipate in the residence hall meal plan. Your meal card admits you to 21 meals per week. If you plan to eat more than 50 percent of your meals on campus, this is your best option. Option Two: Pay cash for any meal you elect to eat on campus. You may select any combination of hot or cold foods in the Gorge Cafeteria or you may purchase guest tickets for an "all you can eat" meal at Dobbins. Option Three: New for fall semester 1983! Food Service Coupons. Food service coupons can be purchased in blocks of $25.00 SGA Schedules Packed Term! By: Ed McCloskey The Student Government Association is currently busy with quite a few undertakings. Among them is the Name the Robot Con test. The S.G.A. is sponsoring a contest open to all students to choose a name for the robot that is used in the Division of Science, Engineering, and Technology. Entry forms can be secured at the RUB desk and returned by November 11. The winner, an nounced at the first home basket ball game, will receive a portable television. Along with the Omicron Beta Kappa Society, the S.G.A. is co sponsoring this weekend's 24 hour Dance Marathon for the benefit of the American Heart Associa tion. The dance, starting at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, November 11, will feature Damien Steele and Blue Plate Special. Prizes will be awarded to the dancers throughout the 24 hours. November 13, 1983, will be the second 'Sunday with the Times' presentation. Sunday's speaker, Dr. Paul Rosenfeld, will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the RUB TV Lounge. The S.G.A. is also-busy trying NOVEMBER 11, 1983 from the Housing and Food Ser vice office located in Dobbins Hall. They ban be used as cash in the Gorge Snack Bar Cafeteria, or can be used to purchase guest meal tickets for meals at Dobbins. The advantages of the coupons are by paying in advance. They are handy when. you want to eat on campus and are short of cash, the flexibility of using them for the meals you want and the 10 percent discount you receive on food purchases because you only pay $22.50 for a $25.00 booklet. Residence hall students can even purchase these coupon booklets which enables them to use the coupons in the Gorge Snack Bar-pizza shop, which operates Sunday through Thurs day from 8:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. So, if you're hungry at night for a large, thick pizza, but don't have any money, you can simply use the coupons that you purchas ed in advance. Anyone interested in the op tional meal plan or in purchasing food service coupons, should call or stop by the Housing and Food Service office at Dobbin's Hall, extension 230. to establish a Traffic Appeals Board. This group, consisting of resident and commuter students and the Dean of Student Affairs, would assist students who believe that they have been punished un necessarily for a traffic violation or citation. Students have received from their advisors, the S.G.A., Infor mation Sheet on Instructional Evaluation Forms. The goal of the information sheet is to better inform the student body both on the process of tenure and promo tion and the value of student input in this process. A follow-up article pertaining solely to the impor tance of the Instructional Evalua tion Form will appear in the next edition of the Collegian. Looking ahead, the S.G.A. is planning a conference for area College Student Government Associations to join forces of communication, to discuss the needs of students, and to plan, perhaps, a multi-school sponsored activity. The S.G.A. meets on a weekly basis on Tuesdays at 6;00 p.m. in the Reed Seminar Room.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers