Hacking Music (Video)
Electronic music, especially hand-made electronic musical instruments, may not be "robotic" in the strict definition of the word, but they are still fascinating and a lot of fun, as we found out Sunday night.
Check out this hand made music video we took at the event for a small taste of what it possible.
Robot Investment Needed BEFORE Disasters Happen
Major events, especially those that capture tremendous public attention because of the potential damage to the environment like the recent Gulf Oil Spill, often highlight the need for more investment in robot research and development that can provide practical clean-up solutions. After potentially catastrophic disaster occurs, it's way too late to realize that we should have developed the technology years in advance.
At the same time, depending totally on the companies, like BT, that are focused on maximizing profitability by exploiting an oil deposit is very high risk since their management priorities often turn out to be heavily weighted towards the decisions that will help them achieve their goals while minimizing the risks.
Some pundits have suggested that a portion of any oil lease, or related government licenses given to private companies, be dedicated to the development of preventative and emergency response technology. At a time when our leading universities and research facilities are struggling to find funding for even the most basic robotic research projects the need for investment of this type is abundantly clear.
SeaSwarm - Robot swarm to clean-up oil spills
A good example might the the MIT SeaSwarm project - the type of work that, had it been actively developed and in place prior to the Gulf spill, may have gone a long way towards containing and mitigating the disaster. According to a Forbes article: "Their newest project, a swarm of robots called SeaSwarm, proposes to skim the ocean surface and remove oil. The robots use "a photovoltaic-powered conveyor belt made of a thin nanowire mesh to propel itself and collect oil," MIT said in a statement. The first prototype was successfully tested in Boston's Charles River in August, and it responded well to the water's changing surface."Related links:
MIT SeaSwarm - Forbes article
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Originally uploaded by Lenny&Meriel.
RoboExotica 2010 Festival Dates Announced
The Roboexotica 2010 Festival dates are set for December 2nd-5th in Vienna. If you're into robots, and are of legal drinking age, this is one event absolutely not to be missed.
Here's how the Roboexotica organization website positions this totally unique annual celebration featuring robots contributing to improving life in a meaningful way -
Roboexotica
Cheers! Roboexotica will take place in Vienna December 2-5, 2010. Until recently, no attempts had been made to publicly discuss the role of cocktail robotics as an index for the integration of technological innovations into the human Lebenswelt, or to document the increasing occurrence of radical hedonism in man-machine communication. Roboexotica is an attempt to fill this vacuum. It is the first and, inevitably, the leading festival concerned with cocktail robotics world-wide. A micro mechanical change of paradigm in the age of borderless capital. Alan Turing would doubtless test this out."All It Takes is Money and Skill…
Want a Millennium Falcon, a Tie Fighter, or even a Death Star? All it takes is a little money, and some origami skill.
Check out this amazing and very inspiring origami design work by Won Park.
Recent Comments