Are there any avenues to explore for someone interested in electronics
and robotics as a hobby in Boston, MA?  (Clubs, begginer classes,
etc.)

Hello,

The first thing I recommend you do is contact the Museum of Science in
the Science Park, Boston MA:
http://www.mos.org/info/contact.html

Clubs open to the public usually advertise in museums and considering
that the Museum of Science in Boston MA has a good reputation, I am
sure that you will find representatives of the electronics/robotics
community having flyers posted or that the Museum will know about
them.

The courses they offer (in Robotics) seem to be geared more towards
children (but might still be fun!):
http://www.mos.org/learn_more/courses/sort.cfm?sortby=startdate If
they do not have classes that you will be interested in, there is a
good chance that they will be able to point you in the right
direction.

Usually "open" clubs advertise in museums and on university campuses.
I tried finding specific clubs for beginners in the Boston area, but
did not come up with anything clubs that are advertising themselves on
the internet.

I did locate one club for you located in Boston and recommend that you
join their mailing list and ask if they can give you further
direction. They are an organization that are used by many people to
share ideas and information:
B9 Robotics Website: http://www.b9robotbuildersclub.com/

They are not really a beginner club, see the following for some of
their members works: http://www.b9robotbuildersclub.com/photos.html
but should be able to get you in contact with the right people, and
offer you support and tips for getting started.

Perhaps the best thing for you to do is to pick up some books on
Introductory Robotics and then contact museums and universities in
your area for information on joining classes. The tight-knit clubs
that are out there are usually for intermediate or more advanced
people who are looking for support from others with similar skills.

Hopefully this information will help you get started with your new
hobby! If you need any clarifications with this answer, feel free to
let me know and I will do my best to further assist you.

tisme-ga


Search Strategy:

robotics clubs boston
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electronic clubs boston
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Robot Builders Club 
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electronic OR electronics club OR clubs boston
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"beginner robotics" OR "beginning robotics" boston
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Thanks a million for the quick answer.  I have some great info to go on now.

Hi, 

Perhaps you'll find some of the information below useful in
addition to tisme-ga's excellent answer.

I was not able to find any electronics clubs in the Boston area,
however I did find two robotics clubs which aren't too far out of
the Boston area.

The Central New England Chapter of the IEEE Robotics and
Automation Society, usually holds meetings on the second Tuesday
of each month.  Their usual locations are within 40 minutes of
Boston, according to Yahoo! maps.  The meetings are free and open
to the public.  Here is their URL:

http://www.robotics-boston.org/

The Robotics & Automation Society is holding their next meeting,
"Robotics Roundtable and Social Meeting", on December 10 in
Burlington, MA.  See the following link for details:

http://www.ieee-boston.org/robotics_and_automation.htm#dec10

The Nashua Robot Builders meet monthly at the Nashua Public
Library on the fourth Saturday.  Membership is free.  According to
Yahoo! maps, it is approximately 70 minutes from Boston to Nashua,
so it may be too far away to suit you.  However, it is the only
other robotics club I could find anywhere in the area.

http://nashuarobotbuilders.org/

The Boston Public Library has many books on electronics and
robotics which could help you get started.  The URL to their
homepage is

http://www.bpl.org/

And the link to their online catalog is

http://www.bpl.org/catalogs/frame_mbln.htm

Do a subject search for "electronics" and you'll come up with 310
titles.  A subject search for "robotics" reveals 176 matching
titles.

I have had an interest in electronics since I was a little kid,
but my local libraries don't have many good books on the subject.
Since quality text books can be expensive, I turned to online
resources.  There is a series of free online books which are being
written by Tony R. Kuphladt and are part of the Open Book Project.
They are still very much a work in progress, but I am keeping my
eye on them because they look very promising.

http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/electricCircuits/


Additional Links:

TRCY: The Robotics Club of Yahoo
Along with some useful links, TRCY meets on Yahoo! every Wednesday
to chat.
http://members.tripod.com/RoBoJRR/

Robot Cafe.com - Robotics News, Tutorials, Forums, and Links
http://www.robotcafe.com/

Boston Electronics
http://www.boselec.com/index.shtml

Boston Gear
http://www.bostongear.com/


Search Strategy:

Google terms: boston electronics OR robotics club
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Google terms: boston robotics
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Google terms: boston community college
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Google terms: boston public library online
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Best wishes for your new hobby,
bikerman-ga