Hasta La Gadget!

Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine sounds like it belongs in a James Bond movie more than it does an Alberquerque research facility. Based on what it can do, that’s not as far-fetched as it seems. What you see isn’t the handiwork of some electric spider — it’s what you witness in the immediate fraction of a second after the Z’s electromagnetic pulse kicks in and forks of lightning burst across the 108-foot distance inside. The pulse in question is key to Sandia’s studies of fusion and the effect of very intense magnetic pressures on materials that normally refuse to change states. Even in 2006, the Z was putting out pressure more than 10 million times that of the atmosphere, and it successfully melted diamond at roughly half that strength. It goes without saying that we don’t want to be anywhere near this kind of energy when scientists flick the switch, but we’re glad to see that something so pretty and deadly can help us understand physics.

[Image credit: Randy Montoya, Sandia National Laboratories]

Filed under: Science

Visualized: Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine erupts in a web of lightning originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Aug 2012 02:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve all seen a Roomba at one point or another, be it picking up debris around our feet in a friend’s living room or chauffeuring a courageous kitty for an entertaining clip on YouTube. Likely far less familiar, however, is iRobot’s gadget-filled Massachusetts headquarters, including the museum-like “cool stuff room” in the lobby. There you’ll find a large variety of autonomous devices, ranging from an early Roomba prototype that subs in a removable cloth for the vacuum to the relatively creepy My Real Baby — an $89 doll that cries for food and offers realistic reactions to tickling. There’s also plenty of industrial and military gear on hand, including a long cylindrical bot used for repairing oil rigs as they continue to operate, a full-size self-driving vehicle and a wall-climbing robot that uses suction cup wheels to ascend vertically. Some of the exhibits are downright creepy, such as a crab-like prototype which an iRobot employee referenced as being “inspired by nature,” though the company’s familiar household gadgets help to balance out the eerie. Sadly, the collection doesn’t appear to be open to the public, though IEEE was granted a tour, which it graciously filmed for your enjoyment — you’ll find that video walkthrough just past the break.

Continue reading Visualized: a look inside iRobot’s gadget-filled ‘cool stuff room’ (video)

Filed under: Robots

Visualized: a look inside iRobot’s gadget-filled ‘cool stuff room’ (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What you see here is arguably be the coolest thing on display at Google I/O 2012 — an 8-foot, 300-pound Nexus Q replica (complete with LED ring visualizer) mounted on a robot arm. This interactive installation called Kinetisphere was designed and fabricated by San Francisco-based Bot & Dolly and is controlled by three stations each consisting of — wait for it — a Nexus Q device and a Nexus 7 tablet. How meta is that? One station controls the height of the sphere, another its angle, and a third lets you pick the pattern displayed on the LED ring. Of course, it’s all carefully synchronized to music for maximum effect.

We spent a few minutes talking with Jeff Linnell of Bot & Dolly about what went into the making of Kinetisphere. As it turns out, there’s a lot more to the installation than a Kuka industrial robot, fiberglass, plywood and steel railing. In addition to using the Nexus Q and Nexus 7, the company combined its expertise in motion control and automation with Google’s Android ADK 2012, Autodesk‘s Maya and even Linux. Take a look at our gallery below then hit the break for our video interview and a lovely behind-the-scenes clip.

Continue reading Visualized: Kinetisphere takes Nexus Q into another dimension at Google I/O 2012 (video)

Visualized: Kinetisphere takes Nexus Q into another dimension at Google I/O 2012 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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