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. 

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. 

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. 

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?

Daniel's new robot

Today my youngest brother-in-law Daniel built a robot with a little help from Heather and I.  His robot used the old body and clothes from my dissected "David" robot.  The head is a Halloween skull I had previously decorated as Terminator Endoskeleton Head.  The arms are made from plastic wire guard links removed from a server terminal rack mount system.  The linked plastic pieces let the arms move.  The main body is two plastic containers.  The legs are wood.  After much debate, work, re-work, undoing and redoing the hands are simply small blue mittens.  :-) 

After building and playing with his robot I asked him what he was going to name it.  He said, "Good Idea.  I'll name him Skeleton". 

The build was fun.  Seeing Danial make choices in the design and use his creativity was awesome as his ideas came to life.  Seeing his joy when he asked if he could keep him and take him to his house with him and my answer, "Yes, he's your robot", was the best.  :-) 

Happy Roboting!  And remember, there is no right or wrong way to build a robot.  If you are having fun, you are doing it right!

In Other News

My friends at www.RobotBASIC.org have released their new robot kit for a low introductory offer. http://robotbasic.org/6.html The robot is build to go along with their RROS chip.  What they offer is unique I think because you can't program the chip in a traditional microcontroller way like the Ardiuno or Basic Stamp.  Their RROS chip is pre-programmed with software for a preset interface options.  Normally with a Basic Stamp type microcontroller you could pick any of it's 16 i/o pins to be an input or an output.  With the RROS chip, each pin is assigned to something or an optional something.  For example pin 1 might be set for either sonar or IR sensor, and so on. The nice part is it is designed to work with their RobotBASIC program which is free.

I find it interesting in its design and concept.  It does not match up with my design interests in robotics right now but I wish my friends at RobotBASIC very good luck with their kit.

And in other news....I really need to try to watch the TV show 60 Minutes more often.  They often cover interesting subjects like March Of The Machines from this last Sunday on 1/13/13.  The video can be see here: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50138922n  This article says the A3 or Association of Advancing Automation was not happy with the 60 Minutes piece.  http://www.roboticstrends.com/consumer_education/article/60_minutes_robotics_segment_stirs_controversy/?utm_source=RobTrendsWeekly&utm_medium=email

I'd didn't see anything wrong with the piece.  What do you think?

Robot Vs. Tiger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbpXw95WbHE If it had a J2 Laser I bet the cat would have chased it.

And incase you missed it, CHARLI The Robot Gangnam Style:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmeJvkN4ntI  "Oppa is Gangnam style.......Eh- Sexy Lady oh oh oh oh"

Red J2 Out the Door

The customer's finished J2 in a custom red paint scheme was shipped last week along with a bonus, the new J2 Laser. 

The J2 laser consists of a bracket, a micro servo, a 5V red dot laser module and connecting wires.  The new laser module will be an option for J2 robots or available as a separate module from www.J2RScientific.com