Feb 28, 2021
Atari at the Science Fair: Scott Ryder: Atari-Controlled
Robot
Here's an article from The Fresno Bee (Fresno, California) dated
April 15, 1982: "Science proves Fair game to young minds".
"Joseph Paul Ogas, 17, has designed a cheaper way to manipulate
material beneath a microscope. Garey Nishimura, 13, has evaluated
the relative flammability of several household fabrics. Theirs were
the big winners among the 693 projects that filled the Fresno
Convention Center Exhibit Hall for this year’s California Central
Valley Science and Engineering Fair.
"There were other interesting projects that didn’t win big [such
as]
'The Effects of Birth Control Pills on Plants,' and 'Determining
the Correlation Between Canine Howling, Cockroach Activity and
Earthquake Prediction'."
And later -- in the article's final paragraph, the reason for this
interview: "Runners up [included] Scott Ryder, a sixth-grader at
Ayer Elementary School: "Can an Atari 800 Control a Robot With
Software?"
Can an Atari 800 control a robot with software? And if so, why did
an awesome Atari-controlled robot only earn a runner-up award at
the Science and Engineering Fair? I talked with Scott to find
out.
This interview took place on February 21, 2021.