I Am Mother - Netflix

Yikes! But of course, I have to see this...



"Mothers need time to learn." I Am Mother premieres June 7

15 Fabulous Vintage Snapshots Of Robots

You can see the whole blog post and all the photos collected by Robert E. Jackson here - https://flashbak.com/15-fabulous-vintage-snapshots-of-robots-415451/, but this photo is my favorite!

Between the photos are some great quotes from sci-fi writers. Two of the best are these classics...

“Whether we are based on carbon or on silicon makes no fundamental difference; we should each be treated with appropriate respect.” — Arthur C. Clarke, 2010: Odyssey Two Space Odyssey

 “The Three Laws of Robotics:
1: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm;
2: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law;
3: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law; 

The Zeroth Law: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.”
— Isaac Asimov, I Robot 

Note: The Zeroth Law was added later, making Four Laws

If we are going vintage, here is my vintage blog logo. This is based on an old cover for R.U.R., or Rossum's Universal Robots. See my previous post - https://roboticsunderthestole.blogspot.com/2016/05/rur.html

Franklin Robotics Tertill

Franklin Robotics Tertill - see https://www.franklinrobotics.com/ Here is the Kickstarter video.



LOVE the name!

Artificial Intelligence

Thanks, Son Nguyễn for posting...

This is the Droid You're Looking For!

From the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution Facebook page.

In 2007, the US Postal Service turned 400 standard blue mailboxes into Luke Skywalker's trusty droid R2-D2 and StarWars fans visited them across the country. You can visit one now at our Udvar-Hazy Center: s.si.edu/2VMR4mz #Maythe4thBeWithYou #StarWarsDay Cool!

Still delivering important messages!

Life Long Learning

My friends at Parallax have been very busy lately – not only with new products, but with new opportunities to learn and train as educators and as STEM, coding, and robotics' enthusiasts.

They’ve recently launched the Parallax Learning Institute - https://www.parallax.com/education/teach/parallax-learning-institute, and added lots of professional development courses (one is surely near you!) - https://www.parallax.com/education/teach/professional-development,  and https://www.parallax.com/events.

(These links are under the “Teach” tab at www.parallax.com)

You’ll see 15+ courses listed as of now and a bunch more coming from Parallax and their education partners. Parallaxians Andy, Miguel, Julia, Kate, Stephanie, and Ken will be booked around the country with these courses next year. They’ve got four great courses to choose from! 

I hope to attend at least one near me. How about you? 

May the 4th Challenge

My response to Ken Gracey's May the 4th Challenge on the Blockly for Microcontrollers Facebook Page. See the previous post here. No droids were harmed in the making of this film.



Update: The winners of the May the 4th Challenge have been announced by Ken.

IHMC's Atlas Stepping Out!

IEEE Spectrum posted this on Video Friday. See here. By the way, IHMC is located in Pensacola, Florida.  

This is some insane skill from IHMC’s Atlas, walking over wobbly bricks and planks barely wider than its own feet. And check out how it puts one foot directly in front of the other, which makes it much more difficult to balance.

Atlas humanoid robot (DRC version) walking across narrow terrain using autonomous planning. The robot senses the terrain with LIDAR and builds a map of planar regions. A path planning algorithm plans footsteps across the planar regions to a goal location, specified by an operator. The robot is currently about 50% successful over this type of terrain. We plan to increase the rate of success by adding balance using angular momentum and by better considering joint ranges of motion. Narrow terrain is difficult due to the need to do some "cross-over" steps, which are tricky due to limited range of motion in the hip joint, and also due to having a small polygon of support when one foot is directly in front of the other. Control, Perception, and Planning algorithms by IHMC Robotics. Atlas robot built by Boston Dynamics. Walking recorded on May 1, 2019.

May the 4th Be With You!

From Ken Gracey and my friends at Parallax.

May the 4th Be With You! http://blockly.parallax.com/blockly/editor/blocklyc.jsp?project=99924 Sure, a bit early, but a reminder to show us what you've got, Blocklyheads!

Ken even called me out, commenting... "Oh my, a nerd-tastic event in front of our eyes. Challenge you Carol Lynn Hazlett, Nikos Giannakopoulos, Thomas Whitfield Stodghill III, and Eric Ostendorff.