Acetio | Blogma

I think it's more about the vision system than the servos controlling the hand, but either way this is a very accurate robotic hand that can throw and catch and perform other similar tasks, very quickly. It makes me think that just as the day Deep Blue finally beat Kasparov ten years ago, at some point in the future we'll have robots beating us at darts - although they'll have to do it after 3 or 4 pints of beer.

More at the Sensor Fusion Project

This is similar to something I tried to sketch out once. My drawings also had a rubber tongue and lips so that the thing could create vowels and consonants. Of course, I never even tried to build it. This thing not only works, but the stainless-steel frame is quite beautiful.

Little Wheel is a very cute game that is more like interactive fiction than a real game since the puzzles aren't difficult at all. Great "2.5-D" animation and robots.

I don't have any idea what the Japanese text says, but this is a model of a robot, I'm guessing about a foot tall.
It comes in at least two sizes. 1/12 scale and 1/20 scale

The rust and dirt are what make it cool.

http://moderhythm.blog26.fc2.com/blog-entry-1145.html



Read about the mesicopter, or look at images. It's a wee helicopter.

I don't keep with robotics as much as I used to, back in the day when my main hobby was soldering transistors and little capacitors on BEAM-style solar-powered robots.

According to Mitsubishi, Wakamaru was designed by Mr. Toshiyuki Kita, who patterned the robot after a growing child. The name "wakamaru" derives from the childhood nickname of Minamoto Yoshitsune, a twelfth-century Japanese Samurai who engineered military victories that enabled his brother Yoritomo to gain control of Japan. The name is associated with "growth" and "development," the company says.

Wakamaru uses face recognition to identify up to ten people, including two that considers "owners." It uses speech recognition technology to identify 10,000 Japanese words. Speech synthesis capabilities include voice modulation and using gestures when speaking. It recognizes names given it by users, Mitsubishi says.

A panoramic top-of-head camera enables Wakamaru to identify its position in the house according to the ceiling. This camera also allows the robot to face others when speaking to them or being spoken to.

Wakamaru's claimed battery life is two hours, after which the robot returns to its charging station before power fails completely. It maintains Internet access and communications capabilities while charging, Mitsubishi says.

I like to analyze things, but just as the oyster needs a grain of sand around which to produce a pearl, I need some structure to focus my ramblings.

When I was a kid I played Dungeons and Dragons a couple of times.

The game was okay, but the parts I enjoyed were coming up with characters and drawing maps.

Appropos of nothing, how would a robot do if it landed in D&D land?

Characters in D&D have six attributes that define their health, strength, etc.

The values can range from 3 to 18, by rolling a die three times.

December 31, 2003

Conspiracy Laid to Rest

I did something today.
I made coffee from previously-used grounds.
Experts say this would yield sour, bitter, terrible coffee.
In fact it was fine. It was weak, but not bad.
The idea came to me from having used a French press for my coffee for a long time. Often I leave the grounds swimming in water for up to 15 minutes before I depress the plunger.
Drip-coffee is based on the premise that coffee should have as little contact with water as possible.

Terms of Venery (Collective Nouns):

- A group of unicorns is called a blessing. (how often does that happen?)
- Twelve or more cows (kine) are known as a flink.
- A group of frogs is called an army.
- A group of rhinos is called a crash.
- A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
- A group of whales is called a pod.
- A group of ravens (or crows) is called a murder.
- A group of larks is called an exaltation.
- A group of owls is called a parliament.

So, once we begin hunting robots for sport, what shall we call a grouping of them?
- A 'can of robots'?
- A 'bismuth of robots'?
- A 'bottle of robots'?
- A 'leet of robots'?

Most of my ideas come from my amusement at the image of a small container full of struggling robots - eager, in their way, to get out, but too stupid to know how.

But, robot-hunting could be a lucrative endeavor in the near future. Get some woods and some hillbillies and toss in a robot. Everyone wins!