Happy New Year

Happy New Year from the crew at Boston Dynamics. Incredible technology!

And yes, I do love them all!

When they say robots are made for "dull, dangerous, and dirty" jobs - I didn't know they meant "Dirty Dancing."

Merry Christmas from R.U.S.

Merry Christmas from Robotics Under the Stole. I found this great gif in April and saved it for Christmas. I hope you find something robotic under your tree this year.

Conjunction Doodle

 

See - https://g.co/doodle/zb9rsyd

Under the Tree

 What every good boy or girl wants for Christmas!

Realistic and Interactive Robot Gaze

From Disney Research Hub - (saw this on IEEE Spectrum) - This video describes the development of a system for lifelike gaze in human-robot interactions using a humanoid animatronic bust. We present a general architecture that seeks not only to create gaze interactions from a technological standpoint, but also through the lens of character animation where the fidelity and believability of motion is paramount; that is we seek to create an interaction which demonstrates the illusion of life.

Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Over 50 years ago, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission changed our world and ideas of what is possible by successfully landing humans on the surface of the moon⁠—and bringing them home safely⁠—for the first time in history. This Google video Doodle celebrates this moment of human achievement by taking us through the journey to the moon and back, narrated by someone with firsthand knowledge of the epic event: former astronaut and Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins. 

Tomorrow's Gospel (Matthew 25:14-30) is a parable about God leaving us in charge of resources to be used wisely for good purpose.  Let's not let fear keep us from making bold choices!

Robots at Work

Robot art by a 1st grader at Godly Play today at Grace Episcopal School. This robot, according to the artist, “catches cats that run away.” ❤️

Happy Halloween 2020 from R.U.S.

 Happy Halloween 2020 from Robotics Under the Stole! 

and not strictly robotic, but shared with love... 

How it's Made

 In my opinion, Parallax, Inc. makes the finest, most beautiful boards in the industry. This is amazing.

From the Forbidden Planet Aisle at Walmart

 

Today, we stopped a Walmart to get some groceries for our son. There it was - The Walmart Christmas sales catalog! As I made a quick look through, "what to my wondering eyes should appear?" THIS!

UPDATE: Snagged one on the Forbidden Planet aisle at our local store! It is worth every penny. Great sound and lights, walks, talks, and wiggles. Even the box is really cool. Photos and video below...

Scantily clad Anne Francis,1950's alien women, and Leslie Nielson BEWARE!

Order yours - click here.

UPDATE: Sending one of these to my roboticist pal, Carol Lynn Hazlett - Trick or Treat!

Intel's OpenBot

Intel's OpenBot wants to make robots out of smartphones. Read about it here at IEEE Spectrum.

If you’d like an OpenBot of your own, you don’t need to know all that much about robotics hardware or software. Just click on the link.

Poimo Portable Inflatable E-bike

Here’s an update on the Poimo portable inflatable mobility project we wrote about a little while ago; while not strictly robotics, it seems like it holds some promise for rapidly developing different soft structures that robotics might find useful.

Latest P2 Live Forum from Parallax

Team OZ has been kickin' it for a long time!

 

An Open-Source Bionic Leg

An Open-Source Bionic Leg - Full story here at IEEE: Spectrum.

Bittle - Palm-Sized Robot Dog

Rongzhong Li, who is responsible for the adorable robotic cat Nybble, has an updated and even more adorable quadruped, Bittle, a palm-sized robot dog, that's more robust and agile but only costs around US $200 in kit form on Kickstarter.

Looks like the early bird options are sold out, but a full kit is a $225 pledge, for delivery in December. The Kickstarter page for Bittle is here.

Petoi's site is here.

Story from spectrum.ieee.org/

Floor Exercises

 Incredible programming! 

Pictorial Ohm's Law

 We are all familiar with this...

but, have you seen this?

Welcome!

 

Parallax SumoBot WX

There's a new BlocklyProp connoisseur ready to play: the SumoBot WX! Released by Parallax in August 2020. Sold in a two-pack at https://www.parallax.com/product/32134 with tutorials at http://learn.parallax.com/tutorials/series/sumbot-wx-tutorial-series The SumoBot WX is programmed in BlocklyProp and uses the FLiP Multicore Microcontroller. 

NASA Launches Its Most Advanced Mars Rover Yet

This week NASA's Perseverance Rover was launched to Mars. Perseverance and the Ingenuity helicopter are expected to arrive on Mars early next year. Can't wait to see what this robot accomplishes. What an achievement!

For Knowledge of God’s Creation

For Knowledge of God’s Creation - One more prayer from the Prayers and Thanksgivings section of The Book of Common Prayer and in honor of the launch of the Mars Perseverance Rover this day. This is prayer number 40. For Knowledge of God’s Creation, on page 827. God help us to seek and find you in all places.

NASA Science Live: Perseverance Mars Rover & the Search for Ancient Life

Sad News for the World of Robotics

Such sad news...

IMHC in Pensacola

IHMC (Institute for Human & Machine Cognition in Pensacola, Florida is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System and is affiliated with several Florida universities. There website is here. 

Current active research areas include: artificial intelligence, cognitive science, knowledge modeling and sharing, human interactions with autonomy, humanoid robotics, exoskeletons, advanced interfaces and displays, cybersecurity, communication and collaboration, linguistics and natural language processing, computer-mediated learning systems, intelligent data understanding, software agents, expertise studies, work practice simulation, knowledge representation, big data and machine learning, as well as other related areas.

IHMC faculty and staff collaborate extensively with industry and government to develop science and technology that can be enabling with respect to society’s broader goals. IHMC researchers receive funding from a wide range of government and private sources. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, NSF, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, NIH, IARPA, DOT, IDEO, Raytheon, IBM, Microsoft, Rockwell Collins, Boeing, Lockheed, and SAIC, among others.

Some day I want to go on a tour. Today, I visited at the there new building (right next to their old building).

Flex Gripper

Carol Lynn Hazlett's Flex Gripper adapter for the Parallax Gripper is looking really good. This grew out of a Zoom meeting discussion with Eric Ostendorff, Ken Gracey, Carol, and me.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

Blind date on a Forbidden Planet?

Catapult Robot for Ping Pong Basketball Uses BASIC Stamp 2

This great project was featured in the latest Parallax Newsletter. Be sure to watch both videos - the one introducing Dr. Nickols in hyperlinked below as the "must-see video."

The popular BASIC Stamp 2 module continues to be used in college mechatronics and high school programming courses. Educational customers Frank Nickols and Julian Potter of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the United Kingdom created a robot which calculates the trajectory of a ping pong ball to repeatedly catapult it into a basket. This project covers many learning objectives of an engineering class: mechanical systems and design, manufacturing with jigs, mathematical modeling and CAD, mechanical structures, electronic controls, real-time programming, robotics, and machine learning.

Dr. Nickols has been teaching with Parallax microcontrollers for over 20 years at universities in the United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Brunei, and Hong Kong. This must-see video introduces Dr. Nickols teaching approach which combines practical engineering, business, and communication. 



Great stuff!

Erco's Figure 8

Something new for Erco... (Eric Ostendorff, Carol Lynn Hazlett, Ken Gracey, and Nikos Giannakopoulos all got one of these RoverCs from Carol Lynn - Roy Eltham got his own).

Beat y'all to it! I also did this with the Parallax FLiP, but lost the video! Ugh!

I will re-shoot later. My FLiP set up for the RoverC is still temporary and I have to take all apart to remove the batteries.



UPDATE: As promised, here it is with the Parallax FLiP.

Sushi Bot

Saw this today on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Cool robot!

Parallax's S3 is on Sale!

If you are looking for a great introduction to robotics, I honestly believe you can not do better than Parallax's Scribbler 3 (S3). It is used by students in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and universities. It has more features and sensors in this "ready to use" package than you can imagine. It is hacker friendly, and allows for endless ways to learn and experiment. What is more, it is on sale now. Wonderful online learning resources are available for free from Parallax (as always). Search here at Robotics Under the Stole for "S3" to see what I've done with mine! See here - https://www.parallax.com/product/28333

From the Parallax Newsletter Today

Wireless Programming of the S3 Robot Using the WX Module Above, we pointed out that the Scribbler 3 Robot is for elementary and middle school students, but that wasn't true! Customer Whit Stodghill (author of Robotics Under the Stole - The Notes of a Priest and Roboticist) has almost every product we've made, including a Scribbler 1, 2 and 3! Mr. Stodghill created a Tiny Tutorial to show how the S3 Robot can be programmed wirelessly from BlocklyProp with our WX Module. We've posted that video on our YouTube Tiny Tutorial Playlist. See the Wireless Programming Video on YouTube

Boxes of P2s

Incredible news from Chip and Ken Gracey, and Parallax. The P2 chip is Parallax's latest and greatest custom designed silicon chip. Congratulations to all. For those who have never taken a look, you would not believe what Parallax Forums' members are doing with these chips! Take a look at forums.parallax.com Go to the P2 section.

SpaceX Success!

SpaceX successfully launched today from Cape Kennedy with NASA astronauts for first launch since 2011 and the end of Shuttle missions. Space exploration in the next best thing to robotics. 😀 Doing both things together is the best, of course!

RoverC and FLiP

With the help of Roy Eltham (Parallax Forum friend and programmer extraordinaire), we finally have some success controlling M5Stack's RoverC with the Parallax FLiP microcontroller using BlocklyProp code. Here are some photos (of a temp setup) and a couple of videos showing it work.

Servo Cover!

My friend, Carol Lynn Hazlett, snags ANOTHER Servo cover. Congratulations!

The Short, Strange Life of the First Friendly Robot - IEEE Spectrum

The Short, Strange Life of the First Friendly Robot - IEEE Spectrum - An  incredible article by Yulia Frumer about Japan’s Gakutensoku, a giant pneumatic automaton that toured through Asia—until it mysteriously disappeared. Wonderful research!

Fastening ideas about robotics and human beings. This article is a real fit for this blog. Thank you, Yulia Frumer. 

P.S. I am going to try to correspond with the author and try to get more information.

UPDATE: I got a very kind reply from Dr. Frumer. Looks like she may be contributing more at IEEE Spectrum. I look forward to her articles.

All-Girl Robotics Team Make Low-Cost Ventilator with Car Parts

All-Girl Robotics Team in Afghanistan works on low-cost ventilator with Car Parts! A great story shared by Barnabas Robotics from N.P.R.

Veteran NASA Astronauts and SpaceX

I love this story. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first to fly SpaceX's new spaceship on the historic test flight to the International Space Station.

Basketball Hoop Won't Let You Miss

From IEEE Spectrum Video Friday - This Robotic Basketball Hoop Won’t Let You Miss. Thanks, Evan Ackerman, Erico Guizzo and Fan Shi. Very interesting project from Stuff Made Here.

Wireless S3 Programming

In this video I demonstrate how to wirelessly program the Parallax S3 robot using the Parallax WX WiFi Module - DIP using BlocklyProp.

WALL-E Hawaiian Shirt with Guest

My wife saw this shirt on Facebook from a company called LOX Prints. It was labeled "WALL-E AD 1135 Vintage Hawaiian Shirt." Only one problem - it's $49.95 on sale! Cool though.

Drone Hummingbird

In the mountains of Mexico, a spy hummingbird drone ventures into the heart of a breathtaking monarch butterfly swarm. Incredible!

May the Fourth

May the Fourth message from R.U.S.

Always Watching...

Desktop companions.

Hello from Home

Hello from home! With the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders in Louisiana, you might think lots of "roboting" is going on - but this priest-roboticist has been making Facebook/YouTube videos, making memes, and leading Zoom Virtual Worship, and meetings to keep my congregation connected and praying. So here is a just a little image to say hello. Maybe some roboting soon.

Virtual Roboic's Meeting

A Zoom meeting of robotics' pals. We missed our friend Nikos!

Package from Rocklin!

Nothing like a package from Rocklin to brighten a lengthy stay at home! It’s Monday, but I’m saving it for my birthday this week...

I’m gripped in suspense to open it up!

Palm Sunday

The Parallax S3 leads the Palm Sunday procession and plays "All Glory, Laud, and Honor!" Programmed using BlocklyProp - Code is here - http://blockly.parallax.com/blockly/my/projects.jsp#35904

Note: This was originally posted on March 24, 2018.

Printed Flexure Gripper

Here is a really nice 3D printed flexure gripper by Amy shared at her YouTube Channel - Amy Makes Stuff. Hat-tip to my friend Eric, erco, for sharing this on the Parallax Forums.

S3 Gripper Hack

The master, Eric Ostendorff (erco), does it again. Simple, inexpensive, and VERY clever. 

Eric says on the Parallax Forums in a post titled "Poor Man's One-Servo Gripper Arm" - My first guilty pleasure project of the shutdown...

Ken CNC'ed a gorgeous gripper like this a while back, asking who'd be interested.

I commented at the time that it was beautiful but not unlike these $4 eBay grippers:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/183429399842

I've had a pile of these forever and finally had an hour to slam something together today. VERY rough, but you can probably see the potential. It's all just foam taped to an S3 and [the] first test [was] mindlessly oscillated by a servo tester. Why is it at the back, you ask? Because of the tailwheel, it would tip forward at the front.

Hopefully I get more time to play with this soon, but that's all for today. 

Well - erco got more time. The proof is in the video!

WOW! Great project Eric! Can the Tower of Hanoi be far behind?

UPDATE: Moments later was this...

Mini Dog Inverse Kinematics

James Bruton, YouTube robotics' guru, walks us the process of how to calculate and code the Inverse Kinematic model for his open-source Mini Dog. His presentations are always concise, but thorough, and incredibly interesting. Watch the whole series. Very inspiring!  

Parallax - Open, but Quiet

Parallax is open, but very quiet. A look at Parallax minimal operations during COVID-19 - take a walking tour with Ken Gracey by clicking here.

I got to visit Parallax a few years back when I returned to California to officiate at the wedding of a friend. Amazing place!

New Wireless Programming Tutorial from Ken Gracey and Parallax

The coolest thing ever! Programming wirelessly using the WX WiFi Module, ActivityBot 360 and BlocklyProp. I have all my robots set up to program this way. Great work Ken Gracey and Parallax.

I love this new gripper! I have a birthday coming up too. Hint, hint.

Restricted to Quarters

Now that we in Louisiana are officially ordered to "shelter in place" by our Governor, this classic Star Trek clip seemed appropriate.

What are you studying while you are restricted to quarters?

Send the Humans Next

Okay, this is cool. From SnorgTees - see here.

Good News Out of Bad!

Might be my first chance to attend a meeting! See here.

My Kind of Curling

My wife is watching Curling tonight on NBC Sports Network - USA vs. Italy. I am watching this...

What Is A Robot?

Here is a wonderful piece from IEEE SPECTRUM by Rodney Brooks - you can find it here.


Editor’s Note: When we asked Rodney Brooks if he’d write an article for IEEE Spectrum on his definition of robot, he wrote back right away. “I recently learned that Warren McCulloch”—one of the pioneers of computational neuroscience—“wrote sonnets,” Brooks told us. “He, and your request, inspired me. Here is my article—a little shorter than you might have desired.” Included in his reply were 14 lines composed in iambic pentameter. Brooks titled it “What Is a Robot?” Later, after a few tweaks to improve the metric structure of some of the lines, he added, “I am no William Shakespeare, but I think it is now a real sonnet, if a little clunky in places.”

What Is a Robot?*
By Rodney Brooks

Shall I compare thee to creatures of God?
Thou art more simple and yet more remote.
You move about, but still today, a clod,
You sense and act but don’t see or emote.

You make fast maps with laser light all spread,
Then compare shapes to object libraries,
And quickly plan a path, to move ahead,
Then roll and touch and grasp so clumsily.

You learn just the tiniest little bit,
And start to show some low intelligence,
But we, your makers, Gods not, we admit,
All pledge to quest for genuine sentience.

So long as mortals breathe, or eyes can see,
We shall endeavor to give life to thee.


* With thanks to William Shakespeare

Rodney Brooks is the Panasonic Professor of Robotics (emeritus) at MIT, where he was director of the AI Lab and then CSAIL. He has been cofounder of iRobot, Rethink Robotics, and Robust AI, where he is currently CTO.

Clean Bots & Care of Others

I was really struck and moved by this photo and post on the Parallax Inc. - Robots for Education Facebook Page. Like other businesses, educational facilities, churches, etc., we are all dealing with the COVID-19 virus. I am especially mindful of my friends at Parallax, my friend, Carol Lynn Hazlett, in Seatle, and all of our friends around the globe like Eric Ostendorff, and Nikos Giannakopoulos. This photo inspired me because it symbolizes the way the Church here in Western Louisiana and the Episcopal Church in the US, and indeed all of us, are or should be addressing this crisis. As our Bishop recently wrote, "We should all take precautions because we are people of love. You see, we do not take precautions merely to protect ourselves individually from infection. On the contrary, if each of us takes reasonable, common-sense steps, we reduce the likelihood that other, more vulnerable members of our community will contract the contagion. We are all in this together." Way to go Team Parallax!

The Light Bulb Just Came On!

I do not know if this is real or faked, but it is certainly in the realm of possibility! Any readers know?

via GIPHY

West Coast Chic

One of my robot-building heroes and mentors, Eric Ostendorff, a.k.a. "erco," sporting his red sea robotics' long-sleeve T-shirt, and holding one of his current projects. Eric and some of his buddies are now officially doing business as invenTOY. Eric's specialty is doing more with less.

Eric makes inventing look easy!

Recycle Bots

We found these "Recycle Bots" at the Natchez Visitor's Center. Very cool!