A pardon we beg from all of our bot-tastic readers and Twitter-followers for such a prolonged absence! Our two week adventure turned into four times that, packed full of traveling, family and investigations into prospective opportunities for future Bots 4 Tots development. To be certain, though, our minds were never far from the world of robotics!

One of our adventures took Don and I to Science World at TELUS World of Science in Vancouver, British Columbia. There, we were delighted by the robotic band in the Our World exhibit; we brought it to life for our enjoyment purely by alternate energy sources FTW! Also, we visited Science World’s Omnimax Theatre where we viewed the very well-executed and touching film, Roving Mars. Robots in space get me every time.

But wait, there’s more! Our good friends at Luscious Layers, who have kindly provided cupcakes for our participating Bots 4 Tots youngsters in the past, have asked for our help in roboticizing (I just made that word up. Take that Merriam-Webster.) cakes. Yes, you read correctly. Robot cakes. Boosh. We started where most burgeoning hobby electronics projects start: we lit an LED. In our first cooperative project, we effected a very impressive cake that included lit LEDs as part of the sky-motif decoration. It is a rather extraordinary design because all you need to do is insert the LEDs into the cake and they will light up, and furthermore you can cut a slice including an LED out of it and the slice will come out cleanly and the LED will turn off as the slice separates from the rest of the cake. Can you guess how we did it? Hint: we did not electrify the cake.

And then there was Halloween, quite possibly our favorite day of the year. It turns out that this is also true for our friends at Luscious Layers; they decided that this “All Hallows Even” was the perfect opportunity to take our epicurean madness to the next level. Behold: the Arduino-animated, palatable-yet-programmable, raucously-raspberry-filled-red-velvet Zombie Cake from Beyond the Grrrraaavvve! Where will we go from here? Only time will tell.

Last but not least, we have also been spending a good deal of these past two months discussing the future of Bots 4 Tots. Don and I have decided to make some exciting site and program changes, which I will post more on in the very near future! We are also in the midst of planning our upcoming Winter 2009 auction (featuring the always awesome Bunk Bots), the specifics of our planned Winter 2009/2010 workshop sessions, and lots of other good stuff to ensure that kids will be building robots well into the new year. Thanks to all of you who have helped and are helping to make Bots 4 Tots a successful program!

As we mentioned earlier this year, Bunk Bots has kindly offered to donate a hefty shipment of its snuggle-tastic robots for our 2009 Winter Holiday Auction. We just received the box-o-bots, and to put it incredibly lightly, we are psyched! Click the picture above to check out all the awesome automated personalities Bunk Bots has plush-itized! Thank you for your contribution, Bunk Bots! On a side note, Don and I entered the contest we mentioned in the comment section of this post, and Don won the Spok Bunk Bot!!! Read on to see his entry and the prize!

We were so surprised to find that Don’s Spok Bunk Bot was sent along with a friend, a Night Vision Pinch! Click above to see the specs for Night Vision Pinch… he likes the ladies!

About the contest, the toy site www.plasticandplush.com asked the following question on April 06, 2009:

“Star Trek or Star Wars? And why?”

Here’s Don’s entry, a winner if I ever read one (by the way, he didn’t just come up with this on the fly, folks… this is his concrete belief):

“This is actually very simple. Though I realize fans of both have solid platforms for debate – Star Trek fans extolling the virtues of 24th century technology and Star Wars fans touting the universal influence of the force, for instance – there is one element that sets one apart from the other on a scale of merit.

And her name is Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway.

Not satisfied to enter into drawn our Star Trek moral debate or over-blasted Star Wars capital ship combat, Kathryn Janeway has a simple solution to any problem, no matter the complexity:

Point the ship at it and go. If possible, set the auto-destruct while doing so – if not, no biggie.

She is the wild card. She will see your Aluminum Falcon and raise you 700,000 metric tons black coffee fueled death wish.

You have a star destroyer? No issue, she has 2 tricobalt devices and she can deploy them while the ship is 4/5 of the way into your command console.

It’s pretty hard to use the force inside of a warp field breach – and that breach is only a command code away.

Oh, and she has removed the need for a first officer to back her decision. She tore that part out of the ship.

Remove Janeway and I think you have a 50/50 shot in any SW -VS- ST:WTF match.

Fact: She has not been removed, and will not be removed until she blows up her ship and your emperor with it.

Bonus: She once spent an episode arguing with HERSELF as to which one of her got to blow up her ship.

Double bonus: She lied and blew her own ship up before she got a chance to.”

Oh. Em. Gee. 

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank two very special contributors: Bunk Bots, the home of the awesomely stuffed robot, and the cool new web comic Robot in the City!

Think Robots are just for adults? Think again! Bunk Bots and Bots 4 Tots both agree that robots can and should be a part of a child’s life from as early on as possible, and Bunk Bots is redefining what that means by making their robots crib-capable! They come pre-programmed to love and be loved!

But they’re not just kid stuff- oh no siree! If that were the case, I wouldn’t want a million of them. I mean, who needs a couch when you have a kiddie pool full of Bunk Bots? Seriously.

Oh, and while I am posting pics of our new friends, you just have to check out my favorite Robot in the City comic. It begins like this:

Go check it out! We love this little guy, and cannot wait to follow the comedic adventures that will undoubtedly ensue between he and his gal pal, Elite!