- MASER-DC -

Welcome To

MASER-DC

Mentors Advancing STEM Education & Research
We are a group dedicated to working on complex projects that would otherwise be too advanced for students in Bladerunners & Illusion. MASER consists of college students who also mentor the high school and middle school student in Team Illusion in hopes they will follow in their footsteps

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About Us

About us

We are the only program in the area dedicated to helping college and high school students learn crucial technical skills such as engineering, public speaking, formal presentation web design, team work, enabling critical thinking and scientific publications. We design and operate autonomous vehicles that drive in various terrains, educate high school and college students all disciplines about autonomous vehicles, and inspire/mentor K-20
Mentors Advancing STEAM Education Research Inc. taps into an underutilized pool of highly qualified retired federal researchers in the Washington,D..C. area to accelerate the technical and professional development of high-potential, underserved undergraduates in areas such of Modeling and Simulation, Augmented Reality,Neuromorphic Computing, Sensing and Autonomy.
Working in a dedicated makerspace, MASER students who successfully complete the two-year program will gain a head start in patenting/publishing through collaboration with role models.
MASER students will also serve as near peers to high school students from comparable backgrounds on robotics and capstone research projects. MASER Inc. sponsored research has been showcased annually at the DC Convention Center as Autonomy Robotics Technology and Sciences (ARTS in Anacostia).
We have two FIRST robotics clubs and showcase our activities.
🔴 Bladerunners Team 6893 🔴
🔵 AirTigers Team 8197 🔵
We are a non-profit registered with IRS.

Our Goals

Our goal is to encourage students to pursue careers in computer and automotive engineering through the development and continuous operation of artificially intelligent autonomous vehicles.

What We Do

We are the only program in the area dedicated to helping college and high school students learn crucial technical skills such as engineering, public speaking, formal presentation web design, team work, enabling critical thinking and scientific publications.

Events

FRC Competition, Girls Who Code, IEEE Gala, Maryland Day, National Engineering Week, Science Showcase, Sea & Space Expo, Sigma Xi, USA Science Festival, Washington Academy Sciences, AOC Annual Meeting, and more

Join us on Slack

What we have

Hardware

We have hardware consisting of NVIDIA Jetson TX2, AGX Xavier and Quad1080 (GPU cores used for autonomous vehicles). We also have Zedboard Qualcomm ADAPT and other FPGA cores for the work on modeling autonomy. Other hardware include innovative sensors (Phased array radar, LIDAR ….).

Software

ANVEL Simulator
Simulates real road environment with instrumented sensor panel. Robot Operating System with Gazebo generic simulator for rapid prototyping: We have built a FIRST Robotics Simulator for the robotics team.
Solidworks:
Computer Aided Design (CAD) Program used to make virtual 3D models and simulate conditions that need to be considered while designing the robot. Our latest robot was designed using Solidworks, and the simulations enabled us to save time by producing probable outcomes that would show us how practical our ideas, which would have taken weeks to find out through trial and error.
BrainOS
Designed to assist in development of new projects in commercialization process. Helps large teams communicate with each other and make complex projects easier to understand by simplifying complicated software that are easier to work with. Additionally, it is compatible with Arduino, C++, Python, and other popular languages to maximize ease of use

Arduino/Stenbot Rover

The Stenbot Rover is a small model car that can be programmed with Arduino tools. This allows the software team to test out code in a smaller, controlled environment while main robot is still under construction.

Data Analytics

MASER uses Intel Data Analytics Tool (DAAL) NENGO, OPENAI, CAFFE, a deep learning machine

Bladerunners FRC 6893

Washington DC Girls Only Robotics Club

What is FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)?

FIRST is an acronym for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” Every January at “Kickoff,” a new game is unveiled for the robots to play against each other. Teams of high school students around the world then scramble to build a champion robot within the six-week “Build Season.” Then local, regional, and international tournaments showcase all the awesome robots, and you cheer your team’s bot to victory.

Who Are Bladerunners?

Bladerunners was formed in 2017 to support girls in the DC and Prince Georges county and it has won the Rookie All Star at the District FRC events. These clubs have rallied to the FRC challenge with intense brainstorming, planning, building, wiring, programming, and test driving. Along the way, students have learned critical thinking and marketable job skills. Students are mentored by undergraduate students and other Mentors from MASER.

Where and When?

The Bladerunners meet 5 – 9 p.m. Monday Wednesdays and Fridays at the Wagner Gym across Doctors Community Hospital on Good Luck Road. Saturdays from 9-6pm during the Build Season Jan-Feb 2019.

How much does it cost?

There is no membership fee. Typically families might pay for a team shirt, as well as transportation to and from competitions, meals, and a team shirt. If we make it to the international competition, there may be additional travel, food, and accommodation cost.

Learn more about Bladerunner FRC 6893

Mentor: Dr. Vijay Kowtha
Bladerunners & Illusion Makerspace at the College Park, Capitol Tech.
|| Wagner Gym: 8401 Good Luck Road Lanham, MD 20706 ||
+202-423-0034
vskowtha@gmail.com

IEEE

Mentor of MASER-DC