Photos from MUP/MDP meeting in Atlanta

1. Soren was using Steve's Bluetooth control to have some fun with the small tribot. Just a side-note: The Bluetooth control also had PONG loaded on it... I'm not kidding. Apparently Soren and Paal are not very good at the game :) Mark (from California) and I could only watch as the head of the Mindstorms NXT division demonstrated his driving skills...

2. Bryan, Soren, and Paal... you can see Soren using the large wheel on the control. Depending on whether he was controlling Bryan's robot or Steve's robot, the wheel had a different effect. Soren was having so much fun with it, he wouldn't let go of it... (see picture #4).

3. Paal had his turn... at one point he had the small bot doing 360's... just spinning in place like crazy, but not going anywhere. It was fast and care had to be taken not to drive it off the table. Steve and Mark watched (Steve kept saying "you break it, you're buying me another...").

4. It was a good visit with Soren and Paal... they're good guys and really enjoyed themselves. It came as no surprise that these 2, working for a toy company, still laughed and had fun with the robots. They asked a lot of questions - and Paal told some funny stories. Apparently, many of these LEGO leaders refer to important decisions by giving them names based on the location they were when the decision was made. Bluetooth is referred to as the kitchen-in-California decision. Paal tells us that's where they were when Bluetooth was given the go-ahead.

5. Peter (from South Africa) was our unofficial spokesman for the FLL. He made sure that Soren and Paal heard his concerns and praises for both the RCX and NXT in the competitions. I enjoyed meeting him and hearing about his work with the students in South Africa.