Smart Stool robot listens to you babble… Then tells the rest of the room

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Monday, October 15th, 2007

A lot of whispering goes on in museums. Ever wonder what that couple across the room is talking about? Well, whether you have or not, if you’re sitting on a Smart Stool you’ll get to hear all about it.

The Smart Stool is actually a robot in a box. It uses an Apple iBook to record the conversations of anyone around it. It won’t wait for a new occupant, either — thanks to wheels turned by cordless drills inside, the Smart Stool can cart itself around and snoop. It will even playback whatever conversations it’s recorded to newcomers, hoping to spark some interesting discussion. With all of the other things people tend to talk about at a museum, I’m sure those conversations will be interesting indeed.

LOL! Well, it’s bound to lighten up the mood of a museum at least… XD

Link.

Posted in: News, Robot News.

Japan 2007 RadiCon PlaModel Show with Robots

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Monday, October 15th, 2007

Here are some of the really cool looking robots that I like from the flickr photoset!

Pretty blue bot, master of the chin-ups!

MANOII!!! PF01 ;D

MANOIs! *squee* KYOSHO! *squee*

Shiny red robot!!

It’sa me, Mario!

Check out the photoset on flickr here!

Link.

Posted in: News, Robot News.

Math Holding You Back?

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Monday, October 15th, 2007

I saw this post on /. today:

“In high school I failed two out of three years of math classes and eventually dropped out of school completely. I earned my general equivalency diploma as soon as was legally possible and from there went on to college and beyond. That was many years ago and my most basic algebra, trigonometry, and geometry skills are slipping away at an alarming rate. I’m looking for a self-guided course covering the equivalent of 4 years of high school mathematics including calculus. My math skills are holding me back. How can I turn this around?”

This interests me as I always feel that I’m on a different wavelength than everyone else in math… For example: In all reality there’s NO such thing as a perfect sine wave. The generator for AC could have some chips in it, therefore making miniscule arcs in the wave. Nothing can be perfect!

Why bother learning all these different graphs, what use will they be in creating robots? Does the world really depend on you being able to draw a step graph? I can understand parabolas, since half of it relates to acceleration in physics. I can’t wait until we start Deductive Logic and 3D things. At least those make sense to me!

Link.

Posted in: News, Other News.

Wind to Light

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Monday, October 15th, 2007

Meant for the urban environment, “Wind to Light”, an installation by Jason Bruges Studio utilizes 500 mini wind turbines to generate power to illuminate mounted LEDs on the top of the turbines. The result is a cloud of light that emanates from the ground as weather and wind patterns shift over time.

Jason Bruges Studio – Link

I’ve always wanted to do something like this! I’m going to look around more to see if they explain how to make one of these… if they do, I’m going to make REALLY awesome ones with prettyful designs!

Link.

Posted in: News, Tech News.