What’s Dextre doing?

Your daily gratuitous Dextre (from APoD):

What’s the world’s most complex space robot doing up there? Last week, Dextre was imaged moving atop the Destiny Laboratory Module of the International Space Station (ISS), completing tasks prior to the deployment of Japan‘s Kibo pressurized science laboratory. Dextre, short for the Canadian-built Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator, has arms three meters in length and can attach power tools as fingers. Behind Dextre is the blackness of space, while Earth looms over Dextre’s head. The Kibo laboratory segment being deployed during space shuttle Discovery’s trip to the ISS can be pressurized and contains racks of scientific experiment that will be used to explore many things, including how plants brace themselves against gravity, and how water might be inhibited from freezing in cells under microgravity.

Walk the line

A robot (yes, shocking, I know) has achieved a new world record: for walking.  Here it is, the Cornell Ranger robot:

 

Doesn’t look like much, does it?  A walking saw horse.  The eyes and shoulder pads are purely cosmetic.

However, from CyberneticNews.com, we get this:

We’re not sure what brand of batteries it was using, but the Cornell Ranger robot just kept going and going April 3 when it set an unofficial world record by walking nonstop for 45 laps — a little over 9 kilometers or 5.6 miles — around the Barton Hall running track.

Developed by a team of students working with Andy Ruina, Cornell professor of theoretical and applied mechanics, the robot walked (and walked) until it finally stopped and fell backward, perhaps because its battery ran down. “We need to do some careful analysis to find out for sure,” said Greg Stiesberg, a graduate student on the team.

 

Here’s a short video of the spectacle. It’s a funny one.

 

ASIMO

ASIMO stands for “Advanced Step in Innovative MObility”.  It’s a robot designed and constructed by the Honda Motor Company to demonstrate what an advanced autonomous biped
can do.  For a million bucks (or a $166 000 yearly lease) one can be yours.

It’s a fully autonomous little dude, able to perform logic-based tasks (not entirely unlike what out NXT robots are supposed to do).  It all depends on the programming.

Well this one can do something special: conduct a symphony.  From Computerworld:

Jill Woodward, a spokeswoman for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, said she hopes having Asimo conduct a song in the sold-out May 13 concert will spark interest in science, technology and music among adults and children.

“It’s an interesting marriage of technology and culture,” said Woodward. “He’s being programmed [to conduct the orchestra]. The musicians will have to follow him and do what he says. It will be interesting to see if he has, shall we say, a different take on the piece.

Now personally, I’d attend.  But mostly to see cellist Yo-Yo Ma,  Oddly enough, he won’t be conducted by ASIMO.

By the way, ASIMO may sound like Asimov (as in Isaac Asimov), who developed the three rules for robots.  But there is no relation.   It’s all just a big coincidence.

NXT tutorials

I sense a disturbance in the force.

While there are some of you that know a thing or two about programming the NXT Brick, I am sure that there are some more of you who are flailing away hoping that magic will happen, and your robot will do as you command it.

Arthur C Clarke, who just recently died, said that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.

I’m not seeing much “magic” in the classroom lately.

And so, we have some tutorials to watch, and we’ll do that over the next few days. But in case you want to come back to them, here is the link:

Easy peasy.