Jun 10
Jun 09
Jun 07
“If you’re in this room, you’re the best of the best,” Chris Anderson addressed the audience with his customary flair for the dramatic. Complimentary, sure, but not without merit — the former Wired editor-in-chief was speaking to a classroom full of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) developers, a number of whom had been flown out on his company’s dime to take part in DroneCon, the kickoff event for the SparkFun Autonomous Vehicle Competition held in Boulder, Colo. Anderson’s 3D Robotics organized a packed schedule of talks on the subject of UAVs, commencing with his own opening address. He closed his remarks by introducing the concept of the Dronecode Consortium, an attempt to create a governing body of sorts to help create standards for the platforms on which these commercial and hobbyist vehicles run.
Still in its early stages (with only his own company on board, really), Anderson was purposely vague about the not-for-profit pursuit, though the initial stated goal is the creation of a support structure for developers and the “creation of a sustained operating system” and a “framework for deciding which hardware to support.” When we spoke to him after the speech, however, he admitted that “operating system” might ultimately be a little less accurate than “platform” and “ecosystem.” That said, Android is certainly a fair analogy in some respects, given the sort of oversight roles commercial organizations play in both open software scenarios. And with the standard, comes the potential for both commercial and personal projects to build atop it.
Filed under: Robots
Jun 07
Syfy’s robot expert Mark Setrakian on ‘the clicker,’ titanium asperations and the Fortus 900mc 3D printer
Posted in: Today's Chili
Every week, a new and interesting human being tackles our decidedly geeky take on the Proustian Q&A. This is the Engadget Questionnaire.
In this installment of our regular session of inquiry, special effects and robot expert Mark Setrakian (of Syfy’s Robot Combat League) talks tools of the robot trade and cyberspace-augmented memory. Join us on the other side of the break for the full collection of responses.
Filed under: Misc
Source: Distro Issue 94
Jun 07
Jun 05
Soon, we will all be Professor X: researchers demo AR.Drone controlled by thought (video)
Posted in: Today's Chili
Researchers from the University of Minnesota seem hellbent on turning us all into Professor X — minus the hoverchair and Patrick Stewart-ly good looks, obviously. Why’s that, you ask? Well, back in 2011, the team devised a method, using non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG), to allow test subjects to steer computer generated aircraft. Fast forward to today and that very same team has managed to translate their virtual work into real-world mind control over a quadrocopter. Using the same brain-computer interface technique, the team was able to successfully demonstrate full 3D control over an AR.Drone 1.0, using a video feed from its front-facing camera as a guide.
But it’s not quite as simple as it sounds. Before mind-handling the drone, subjects underwent a training period that lasted about three months on average and utilized a bevy of virtual simulators to let them get acquainted with the nuances of mental navigation. If you’re wondering just how exactly these human guinea pigs were able to fly a drone using thought alone, just imagine clenching your fists. That particular mental image was responsible for upward acceleration. Now imagine your left hand clenched alone… that’d cause it to move to the left; the same goes for using only the right. Get it? Good. Now, while we wait for this U. of Minnesota team to perfect its project (and make it more commercial), perhaps this faux-telekinetic toy can occupy your fancy.
Filed under: Robots
Via: SlashGear
Source: Journal of Neural Engineering
Jun 05
It looks like Domino’s Pizza is at it again. A few weeks back they started renting DVDs in Brazil that smell like pizza when they get hot. Now here they are delivering pizza using drones. Maybe the upcoming robot apocalypse isn’t so bad after all. What’s the worst that could happen? Your pizza gets cold in the air? It takes an extreme bank and your cheese and toppings slide off?
I guess a Pizza Hut drone could always fire lasers at the Domino’s drone and scatter your pizza across the winds, causing pepperoni showers in your local weather report. Begun, the pizza drone wars have!
Of course the pizza drone is all a publicity stunt, but the important thing is that it can be done. Screw human contact. Drones can bring you food, and won’t talk back if you undertip them. Though they might kill you.
[via Nerd Reactor via Geekosystem]
Jun 05
In the age of mobile devices and Google Maps, will street signs soon become obsolete? Not if they turn into Points. Points is an electronic directional sign that does more than just point to nearby landmarks. It can act as a weatherman, a news ticker, a Twitter feed and more.
Points was invented by Breakfast NY, the same organization behind the Instagram-printing machine. As you’ll see in the video below, Points has a control panel near its base. The panel has buttons that people can use to select what type of information they want to see. Points updates not just its directional arms but also the choices on the control panel. For instance, the choices in the morning will differ from the selections at night to reflect our habits.
Right now Breakfast NY is offering Points units for rent at events. They’re still working on a weatherproof version that can be sold for permanent installation. Head to Breakfast NY’s website to inquire about renting the sign, learn more about what makes Points work and even interact with a Points sign using Twitter.
I think Points is a very cool product, but I think an augmented reality sign would be more useful and practical. You can’t really expect people to form a line behind Points and wait for others to finish faffing about and gawking at the robot sign so they can use the control panel and find out where the nearest restroom is. Or. They might be prompted to do something drastic like, I don’t know, ask another human being for directions. Now imagine if you had a Points app on your Google contact lens or Apple holo-watch. You say Okay Glass Siri simply think of your question, and your device overlays the answer over the sign or over any surface for that matter.
But all this shallow brainstorming and ranting on my part only emphasizes what impresses me most about what Breakfast NY has done: Points looks like it was stolen from a street in the Tron system, but it’s here and it works.
May 30
Curiosity rover discovers dangerous levels of radiation during Mars transit
Posted in: Today's Chili
While we’ve learned that radiation levels on Mars are safe for humans, actually getting there in the first place remains a problem. Recent results from Curiosity‘s Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) reveal that exposure even while safely ensconced inside a protected spacecraft is dangerously high. Explorers would be bombarded with 466 milliSieverts of high-energy galactic cosmic rays and solar particles during the 253-day transit and the same coming back, with total levels that could exceed NASA’s career radiation limit for astronauts. “In terms of accumulated dose, it’s like getting a whole-body CT scan once every five or six days,” said Cary Zeitlin, a principal scientist from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) who’s the lead author of the findings. A manned Mars voyage isn’t completely out of the question, but it does mean better shielding is necessary before such a trip — much less a future colony — becomes a reality.
Filed under: Robots, Science, Alt
Source: NASA
May 30
Ardumower: The Lazy Man’s Lawnmower
Posted in: Today's ChiliSome students at the LeCroy Career Technical Center have created an automated lawn mower for a national robotics competition. I say they just didn’t want to mow the lawn anymore. But no matter the reason, they have made a pretty cool lawnmower. Having it do all of the work is a nice bonus though.
This Ardumower was made from a motorized wheelchair, a push mower, an Arduino mini-computer, sensors and other parts. First they disassembled the wheelchair, then created the metal frame and then fitted the programmable hardware that allowed them to autonomously or remotely operate it.
They used Google Maps as the coordinate locater, so that they could program the Arduino to cut grass all by itself. They have to work on obstacle avoidance next.
Or if they had about $3000 lying around, they could just go for one of these.
[via DamnGeeky]
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