IEEE Robotics and Automation Society
                       Boston Chapter

                  Tuesday, March 12, 2002
                Informal Discussion: 6:00 PM
                      Program: 6:30 PM

    "It's a game, it's a toy, it's a robotics platform!
                   No, it's MindRover!"

                         Kent Quirk
                   CTO and Game Architect
                          CogniToy


                          ABSTRACT

   MindRover, a computer game by Acton-based CogniToy, is
known as "the Intelligent Robot Simulator." But customers
call it a game. This is a new genre in computer games that
encompasses the depth of play found in strategy games with a
new concept in player control. The player gets to program
the intelligence of robotic vehicles.

   The game has been received with rave reviews from an
extraordinarily broad audience: AdrenalineVault, a hardcore
gaming web site, gave it five out of five stars and said
"only once in a blue moon does a game sweep through the
industry by surprise to take top honors...". And despite the
appeal to hardcore gamers, MindRover also received the 2001
gold medal from the Parents' Choice awards for games in the
12 & up category. Why all the excitement? Because MindRover
is more than just a game; the game is just one facade that
has been wrapped around a powerful, general-purpose robot
programming system.

   Since its release, MindRover has also been used to
support four different commercial and hobbyist robots,
including the Lego Mindstorms RCX. Players can construct a
virtual robot on the computer screen, program it, and
simulate its operation until it works properly. Then they
can download the code into a real Mindstorms robot and let
it go.

   Kent Quirk, CTO of CogniToy and the lead designer of
MindRover, will demonstrate MindRover, show it working with
real robotic toys, and speak about the MindRover robotics
architecture and why it's so powerful.


                         BIOGRAPHY

   Kent Quirk is the CTO, Game Architect, and one of the
founders of CogniToy, based in Acton, MA. A 1982 graduate of
Dartmouth College, in the intervening years he has designed
and implemented software and hardware systems at all levels,
from low-level hardware design, embedded system programming,
and device drivers up to systems programming, databases,
educational software, and user interface design. His client
history includes Intel, Lotus, Hasbro, Nixdorf, GTE, and
others. He has written many technical articles and one book.


                    MEETING INFORMATION

   The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society will meet on
Tuesday, March 12, 2002, at Wellesley High School at 6:00 PM
for informal discussions and for the formal presentation
between 6:30 and 7:30 PM. The group will have a no-host
dinner afterwards at Bertucci's, where more conversations
can take place with the guest speaker. The meetings are open
to the general public, and all are welcome at the dinner
afterwards.

   For more information contact Mike Brenner at 781-271-3806
or the Chapter email address: info@robotics-boston.org
(hotlink: mailto:info@robotics-boston.org).


                         DIRECTIONS

   From Route 128, take either Route 9 or Route 16 west.
From the junction of Routes 9 and 16, follow Route 16
(Washington Street) west past the Wellesley Hills commuter
rail station (within walking distance of the school), then
turn left onto Rice Street. Wellesley High School is on the
left. Parking is available in a lot just beyond the school.

   For a web map showing the location of Wellesley High
School, go to the Yahoo map site at http://maps.yahoo.com/
and enter the following information in the indicated
locations:

    Address:	50 Rice St
    City, State or ZIP: Wellesley, MA

The star marker is misplaced slightly to the south. Imagine
it about 1 cm toward the top of the map at Rice St.

   For more information about our Section and Chapter, visit
our web site at our registered domain URL

             http://www.robotics-boston.org/