(^90) July 2018 raspberrypi.org/magpi
Community
When it comes to robots,
Brian Corteil is a master maker
BRIAN
CORTEIL
Below Controlled
by a PlayStation 3
gamepad, Revenge
is a six–wheeled
A3 class robot
that can cope
with a host of
different surfaces
COMMUNITY PROFILE
f you’ve read The MagPi
before, you’ll recognise
Brian Corteil’s name. From
tutorials and events, to online
discussion and Pi parties, it’s likely
you’ll bump into him with a robot
in one hand and some other mad
creation in the other.
Trained as an electrician, Brian’s
interest in electronics came
into play with the release of the
Arduino and, later, the Raspberry
Pi, after he was able to obtain one
of the first 10 000 Model Bs. By day,
he’s an integrated security systems
engineer, installing service access
control, CCTV, and intruder
alarms. And by night, Brian is a
keen and successful robot builder.
The annual Pi Wars challenge is
where Brian’s robot-making skills
truly shine. In fact, if you were to
ever bump into Brian at his local
Cambridge Makespace, he’d likely
be tweaking his latest robot buggy
or building new track for the main
event. And the time and effort put
in definitely has its rewards, with
Brian taking first place in several
of the pro courses of this year’s Pi
Wars, missing out on overall first
place by a mere one point.
Robotics made easy
Outside of Pi Wars, Brian is also
the head of Coretec Robotics,
responsible for the Tiny 4WD, a
mini robot originally designed for
The MagPi’s ‘Build your own Pi
Wars robot’ feature in issues 51 and
- The success of the robot turned
4WD into a consumer project kit
that avid makers can buy and build
themselves using laser-cut parts,
a Raspberry Pi Zero W, a handful
of electronics, and the Pimoroni
Explorer pHAT. “I have to thank
the salty sea dogs of Pimoroni
for kicking me up the bum to get
Tiny out in the wild,” he jokes
I
COMMUNITY
PROFILE
Category: Robot Maker
Extraordinaire
Day job: Security Engineer
Website: corteil.co.uk/Blog
twitter.com/CannonFodder
core-tec.co.ukBrian