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Erin Kennedy

Erin “RobotZwrrl” Kennedy is an eccentric robot maker and analogue astronaut. She develops robots that address environmental challenges in creative ways through new media art. Erin engages with local environmental stewards of all ages when testing the robots outdoors in public through a hands-on format, allowing them to tangibly see the steps involved in creating and envisioning future solutions. Nature inspires her robot designs, and how they respond to the dynamic environment. Erin's skills span electronics, mechanical design, firmware programming, and fabrication. She unconventionally learned to build robots self-taught online and through mentorship, leading to studies at International Space University. To pursue her ideas further she founded Robot Missions Inc. See her work at: http://robotzwrrl.xyz

Making a Robot Butterfly with an RTOS

Status: Coming up in April 2025!

Making a Robot Butterfly goes beyond aesthetic appeal—it requires managing inputs, outputs, and coordinating them seamlessly. This project is ideal for beginners, as it leverages ESP32 and the accessible FreeRTOS API through the Arduino IDE. In this talk, we’ll delve into code that enables smooth coordination between the butterfly’s flapping wings, lights (outputs), and environmental sensors (inputs)—and relate these to RTOS principles. This creates a responsive and interactive experience with its surroundings. Whether you're an embedded systems engineer, hobbyist, or creative technologist, this session offers valuable insights into breathing life into robotic creatures through embedded programming. https://github.com/RobotGrrl/RobotButterfly/.

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Elemental Robotics and Inspirations from Nature

Status: Available Now

Frogs, mycellium, albatrosses. Unexpected organisms that share similarities with embedded systems! Get ready to embark on a journey through the elements as we will explore robot prototypes that are deployed in terrestrial, water, and wind settings. In these settings, the three organisms will serve as inspiration to describe nature's analogue to the tech behind the robots.

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Live Q&A - Elemental Robotics and Inspirations from Nature

Status: Available Now

Live Q&A with Erin Kennedy for the talk titled Elemental Robotics and Inspirations from Nature

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