Activities
Mostly Monthly Meetups
Our meetups are generally scheduled for Friday evenings, beginning around 18-19 o’clock, and often end at dawn. The first part usually consists of demonstrations and playing with many interesting robots, discussing behind-the-scene secrets with creators, and take some pictures. Then come the presentations, two at most, not longer than half an hour each. After this, guests usually go home, and “hardcore” members remain who continue the work on an ongoing project, generally with the aid of some pizza.
Workshops
Members are forming groups which work in one of the workshops. Many members have smaller workshops at home, the Association has two at the moment, with the third one being built now. It will be an 85 sq.m. workshop which will partially replace the existing two. We have a 3D printer, CNC mill, many desktop and handheld tools, soldering stations, power supplies, and plenty of parts like nuts and bolts, electrical parts, various kinds of glue, wood stuff, and everything needed for work. Furthermore we have resources for projects, for example Raspberry Pis, STM32-s, Arduinos, servo motors, and similar stuff. When we start building something at 1 am, we really need everything at hand, because there are no shops open 🙂
Events
We regularly show up on public events like Researchers’ Night. Our station is very popular due to the reason that everything can be touched and tried out. We always prepare with games which makes us popular (primarily, but not exclusively) among younger generations. We find it important to get “everyone” closer to robotics, and to pass on the view that with today’s technology anyone can easily build and program hobby robots. These events make people and robots tired alike, since sometimes we have to spend 10 hours on foot, and robots have to operate this long, with no pause. Not all parts tolerate that, so we face some surprises every now and then, but that’s what robotics is like.
Membership
Guest
A guest is not a member of the Association, but visits a meetup organized by it. Guests have to pay an entrance fee of 1000,- Ft, in return they get a “coin” with the logo of the Association. If later on a guest decides to join the Association, then for every coin he’ll get 1000,- Ft off the membership fee, so practically gets the entrance fees back, and visited all meetups for free in retrospect.
Supporting member
A supporting member pays 12 000,- Ft membership fee per annum, and accepts the rules and regulations of the Association. He can participate in projects ran by regular members, but can’t start his own project. Supporting members can use the workshops of the Association to any purpose, but only in the presence of a regular member. Also supporting members can’t be elected for members of the board or chairman, but they can vote for candidates.
Regular member
Regular members pay 60 000,- Ft membership fee per annum, but before that they have to apply for membership. Their application is subject to voting by existing regular members. A regular member can use the facilities of the Association individually, and can start projects. Since this is a big responsibility, for newcomers it is recommended to have an existing regular member supporting the new candidate, or to join the Association as a supporting member first, and get known with other members. Also regular members can be elected for members of the board or chairman.
Honorary member
An honorary member is the same as a regular member, but he doesn’t have to pay a membership fee. An honorary membership is offered by the board of the Association to persons and organizations greatly contributing to the work of the Association or setting forth a great example for members, and thus inspiring them.
Company membership
Companies can become members of the Association too. They pay the same membership fee as regular members, and have identical rights, the difference between individuals and companies is that a company can be represented by any employee of it, both on meetups and during votings. If more people are willing to participate from one company, then the company can get multiple memberships which are going to be grouped together. Membership fee is to be paid after actual number of individuals.
Regulatory bodies
General assembly
The Assembly elects the board of the Association for 1 year. Therefore the Assembly must take place at least once a year where the current board informs members about the results of the past year, the financial situation of the Association, about incomes and expenses. After that new candidates are appointed into the next board (members and a chairman), then present members vote. Supporting members can cast a vote too, but they can’t be appointed.
Board
The board has at least 3 and at most 10 members, including the chairman. They all must be regular (or honorary) members of the Association. Their assignment is for 1 year, then they have to report their results and activites to the members. The board must make sure that the goals of the Association are met, necessary amount of meetups are organized and held, and ensure that projects are properly supported in accordance with the rules of the Association.
Data
Official name (in Hungarian): Robotépítők Magyarországi Egyesülete
English name (not official): Hungarian Robot Builders Association
Location: Bartók Béla út 152/h, Budapest, 1115-H
VAT registration number: 18788372-1-43
Registration number: 01-02-0016247
Bank account number: 16200151-18533725-00000000
Bank: MagNet Bank
This post is also available in: Hungarian