Thursday, March 28, 2013

Mensa Speech: Robots for children with Autism

On 3/23/13 I was invited to speak at the Mensa Regional Gathering in Dayton, OH. http://www.dayton.us.mensa.org/index_files/RG.htm  It was my first time at a Mensa event and my first time publicly speaking about how robots can be used to help children with autism and other special needs.

You can download a copy of my presentation from J2RScientific.com

I brought my Gold J2 robot which is a prototype of a new type of J2 which I'm going to call the "J2 Action+"  It's a standard J2 chassis with articulated arms and addition electronics including a Bluetooth link and a wireless camera.  I hope to have more information about this robot model and pricing on www.J2RScientific.com soon. 

I also prepared a rather lengthy PowerPoint presentation.  I had an hour and half to speak and I must be more of a talker than I thought because I ended up going over my time and did not get to show everything I wanted to in as much detail.

It sure was a fun time.  Everyone I met was very nice and welcoming.  I received good feedback on my presentation.  I got the sense that everyone understood all of the robotics design concepts I brought up, even my thoughts on a new robot/artificial intelligence frame work.  I'm accustom to needing to cover topics from the prospective of audiences that need more general background information on robotic concepts.  I believe I could have presented information at a much higher level.  When giving a presentation it is hard to gage where your audience will fall in their background knowledge.

In short, the Mensa gathering was a delightful experience with a group of people who are funny, witty, interesting, knowledgeable on a wide range of topics and were very welcoming and friendly. 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Robot Combat League on SyFy

The Robot Combat League on SyFy Tuesday Nights at 10pm (EST) is a really awesome new show.  It features full humanoid size robots which were all prebuilt by the same robot designer.

http://www.syfy.com/robotcombatleague

The robots are given to teams of two who then have to pilot the robots in a combat arena to fight them.  The teams are pitted against each other in elimination style matches. 

My favorite team is Team Crash fighting the robot named Crash.
http://www.syfy.com/robotcombatleague/crews/crash

The team features Intel engineer Dave Shinsel who also built the Loki robot.  http://www.dshinsel.com/ one of the most sophisticated hobby robots in the world.  It also features his daughter Amber.  Team Crash lost the first robot contest on the show and had to fight an elimination match; thankfully they won their match after a broken arm on Crash.  My fingers are crossed they win every match!  Go Dave and Amber!!

I love the show and the concept of the show.  However, to achieve the fighting effects in the shows I perceive that the robots are all built with certain physical design limitations that allow them to break more easily in certain sports.  The robots use hydraulics which no doubt carry a lot of force, but the sparks produced during hits appear to be from placed explosive charges.  Each robot seems to have "sweet" spots where if hit correctly will render the robot a pile of junk. 

I don't think the show is "fake" but the added theatrical effects of the robots fighting take a little of the sense of magic away.  It would be like watching a magician do a card trick but you know how the trick was done.  But I understand the added theatrics keep the non-robot builders watching.  It does seem like a real life "Real Steel", which is totally awesome.  The robot builders behind it all should feel very proud.

What would be really awesome is if it turned into a real sport where teams built their own robots to fight.  I know that already happens in robots wars, but fighting full size humanoid robots is totally different. 

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Takes a licking

I hate when my robot breaks!  I walking by my newest robot a prototype of a new J2 robot model and blammo, my gold J2 hit the floor and busted. 


He looked so cool in pieces all sprawled out I had to take a picture.  It reminded me of when Johnny Five was smashed and beaten up in the movie Short Circuit 2. 

Not to fear though, this Humpty-Dumpty story has a happen ending.  My gold J2 did go back together and again and none of the Kings horses had to be called. 

Friday, March 8, 2013

King of the Nerds

Who watched this season's King of the Nerds on TBS?  http://www.tbs.com/shows/king-of-the-nerds/

Well I got hooked on it half way through.  My favorite nerd was Virgil, I wish he would have lasted longer/won.  But the cast featured a neat collection of nerds including a NASA scientist.  It had a little something for every nerd.  I heard they will have a another season and I'm looking forward to it. 

But in the mean time....

I crown this guy King of the Nerd Keyboardists http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRCQmNMOqUY 

How can you watch that and not want 12 keyboards?