Hello world ? (a quick about me)
This is where I’m going to put some of my personal projects and a slightly more personal version of my other, more professional (supposed to be anyway) blog robolog which is essentially an online logbook for most of my activities (that I’m not having to hand in to be marked) at UWE where I study BEng(Hons) in Robotics Engineering and am in my first year.
Topics I am studying include practical electronics, robotics, AI, Engineering Mathematics, Computer programming (so far C) and other interesting stuff that I get involved with as part of the “Hack Space” society that I am also involved in with some of my class mates where we work on our own robotics project outside of the scope of the course. Here is a video of me and the first robot I built (from a pack) up the pub shortly after he came to life.
My intention is to keep an accurate log of the stuff I get up to on robolog and then bring that information over here to have a bit more fun with and explore in a bit more of a down to earth, approachable format where we have fun and push things to the limit and probably blow some stuff up every now and again (by mistake obviously).
I would love to connect and share ideas with other people so I am going to work on making this website as interactive as possible, where we can all ask questions and develop our knowledge further.
On a side note, I have ADHD and will also probably talk about that a lot. I was also a bomb disposal search operative and served on operation Herrick 8 in 2008 where my search team conducted the longest search operation carried out by British Forces since WWII, so I am also very interested in counter IED technology. There’s even a book detailing the operation called “Desperate Glory” written by Sam Kiley who came out on ops with us and was with us for quite a bit of the tour.
A good example of the sort of tech that I’m interested in working with would be a non-linear junction detector or ground penetrating radar and am considering developing technology when I leave university to help private search companies carry out their operations.
I am aware that I am only in my first year however, so I am currently reigning in my enthusiasm and keeping myself grounded with my ideas of what I want to do with my qualification. I may decide to drop working in counter IED technology as soon as I progress a bit and am introduced to new ideas as at this time my expertise lies in finding bombs and I am naturally drawn to working in that area, so we’ll see.
Aside from being a paratrooper in the British Army I also managed a paintball centre for two years upon leaving (as my “decompression” job). I left that job to work on the doors because I wanted to challenge my aggression (which I had traditionally found was a bit of a problem in my life) and I did that for 3 years (to no avail). Then, after working as an operations controller for Nationwide Platforms I decided that I needed to go back to find out why I was so bad in school. I completed an Access to Higher Education (Pure Maths, Engineering maths and Physics) which is a condensed Level 3 (A Level) qualification that you can get in one year to get into uni. I completed that course and successfully accepted onto the Robotics course at UWE where I am now.
Roughly 4 weeks ago (at the time of writing this) I was diagnosed with ADHD which was quite a pivotal point in my life. It explained my aggression and my quickness to anger and my inability to keep track of what I’m doing from moment to moment. It gave a justifiable reason to why I struggled to “keep pushing on” in all of my jobs (including the army) and why I locked myself away from society for the last 10 years for fear of being arrested or being out drinking and snapping or something and seriously hurting someone.
Luckily, with the newfound clarity of my “non-neurotypical” condition (knowledge is power) I am beginning to understand my weaknesses and implement processes (along with other support) to gain control of my life. Before I was wondering around in the dark, unable to navigate my surroundings and the diagnosis, along with the new medication I’m taking (Xaggitin XL) I feel like, for the first time in my life, I am in control.
The next step is to reverse the British Army’s “occupational therapy” (paratrooper style) and mellow out my mind a bit with therapy seeing as I’m still quite immersed in the whole “we’re at war and there is an enemy that wants to kill us and I will smash all of them myself with my eyes closed” mentality that I’ve still got going on and that is in the pipeline. The point of all this is that, as you can see, I’ve got a lot going on and have had a lot going on and both worlds are still prevalent in my life and this blog isn’t just going to be about robotics – is what I’m trying to say!
But it would be super cool if you connect with me on facebook, Instagram or YouTube; and follow along as I begin my quest to take over the world.