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Archive for February, 2006

LEGO Chooses Mindstorms Community Developers?

Posted on February 28th, 2006 in Latest News
ImageJason Striegel over at BlogCadre, has given us a the first news in a while about LEGO’s Mindstorms Developer Program According to Striegel, LEGO sent out a email that reads:

Thank you very much for your interest in participating in the LEGO(r) MINDSTORMS(tm) Developer Program. We are very sorry but unfortunately you have not been selected to take part in the Program. Over 9000 fans sent in their applications and it was extremely difficult selecting 100 people only.

As of yet, there is no other news of others receiving this email. Stay tuned.

Update: Striegel also pointed out the URL for requesting notification when NXT is ready for pre-order.

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Ticks beware: RC Truck Hacked for Pest Control

Posted on February 28th, 2006 in Latest News
ImageTicks are a health hazard to humans and pets alike. Yet few spray pesticides indiscriminately in tick-infested areas, primarily out of concerns over environment and cost.

Justin Woulfe and his fellow students at the Virginia Military Institute came up with a novel solution. They hacked an RC truck, upgraded the drive motor to 11W, the batteries to 12V NiMH, and added an Atmel AVR ATmega8. The resulting robot, dubbed Tick Rover, was then sent out to comb the lawn.

The ticks that jumped onto the comb and were exposed to localized Permethrin, zapping the insect without leaving any chemicals behind. Environmentally it is much safer. But what about the cost?

At $500 a pop, Woulfe doesn’t expect consumers to purchase the machine. But pesticide companies who invest in it could charge less for running the robot — about $75 per acre — than they now charge for spraying, which costs about $85 per yard.

Not too bad for a first generation prototype. The IEEE thought so, too, and rewarded the effort.

The students earned an undergraduate research grant to fund development, and wrote a paper on the device which won first place in the Virginia Mountain Section of the annual IEEE Student Papers Contest, and then won second place in the IEEE Region 3 contest — one of the 6 regions in the country.

For more information, see the first and second field test results, Woulfe’s paper, and this article on Wired.


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The NXT STEP – Lego Mindstorms NXT Blog

Posted on February 27th, 2006 in Hobbyist
ImageRecently, Jim, over at The NXT Step blog let me know he’d added GoRobotics.net to his blogroll. Since we don’t currently have a blogroll, the "nxt" best thing is to give him a shout-out in a post! The NXT Step is now on my feed list. It’s a great site for information about about LEGO’s up-and-coming Mindstorms NXT kit.

Jim’s blog also alerted me to another great NXT site by Filip Verhaeghe, BNXT.

Great sites, Jim and Filip.


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Monday Housecleaning – Load of Links

Posted on February 27th, 2006 in Latest News
Well, February is almost over and I feel like doing some house-cleaning. So, here goes.

First up is RoboSapiens, a "docu sci-fi feature film". It, "is a character based feature documentary on the robo-adventures of Mark Tilden, Canada’s most notorious and internationally famous robot scientist."

And speaking of Tilden, here’s a 5 page interview with him. In it he talks some about WowWee’s 2006 robot lineup.

Next is more on the SeaBED AUV that we recently blogged about having explored an ancient shipwreck.

Did you know that the Pentagon, "has set up a special unit complete with robots to conduct forensic tests in the event of a nuclear attack on the US"? Now you do.

And lest ye haven’t seen it already, how about the giant, car-lifting, snow rescue robot from our buddies at Tmsuk? Or these creepy moving mannequins?

And those of you that are suckers for LEDs like I am. Here’s three nifty links.

And last, but not least, finally some Roomba hacking instructions, complete with pictures and schematics!



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InTouch RP-6 Medical Telepresence Robot

Posted on February 27th, 2006 in Latest News
ImagePopulations in developing nations are aging, putting increased demands on healthcare systems. This has been said so much as to almost become cliché. The fact is that healthcare is in need of automation technology, and robotics companies are answering the call.

One such company is InTouch Technologies. It has only been around for a few years and has yet to complete its website. Still, InTouch has been making waves by fulfilling a vital need. Its product, RP-6, let’s doctors visit patients remotely.

The RP-6 is InTouch’s sixth generation remote presence droid. Controlled by a webcam and joystick, it requires broadband access both at the hospital and at the doctor’s desk. Commands are then sent from a server to the RP-6 over WiFi. This communication link is reliable and impressive enough to earn Cisco’s Growing with Technology Awards.

The droid itself stands 5 feet, 5 inches. Having wheels limits the RP-6 to flat surfaces, though the drive system is reasonably efficient. It manages to squeeze an 8-hour runtime from a single charge.

RP-6’s head is a combination LCD panel and video camera. The head can tilt and pan, at a range of 116° and 170° respectively. Once pointed at the object of interest, the doctor can look closely by using the camera’s 12X optical zoom.

Hospitals can rent the RP-6 for $4,000 a month, or buy it outright from InTouch for $120,000. Last year, my local Detroit Medical Center picked up ten of these units. This month another unit found a home at Baltimore’s Sinai Hospital. This is a robot on the move.


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