| Dyson building a robo-vac to compete on Roomba's turf?
If you're willing to buy into this whole "doesn't lose suction" song and dance, Dyson might have a robotic vacuum cleaner in the works just for you. A recent job advertisement on the Dyson website, is seeking a roboticist with "navigation and localization systems knowledge (Kalman filters, SLAM)" and "computer vision experience," which sure sounds like shoe-in for robo-vac development to us. We know they were at work developing the $6000 DC06 a couple years back, but that early attempt at a Roomba-killer didn't itself take life to the best of our knowledge. Of course, by the time they complete this new hire and s/he gets the next robotic Dyson bumping, we could be a good many months (or years) down the road. At very least the "machine vision" bit seems to imply something fancier than the Roomba dumbass-bumparound method, which will hopefully lead to some exciting floor cleaning times, and even more promising hacks whenever this device might possibly make it to market.
M'Aiken Magic earns new honors
"M'Aiken Magic robotics team members from left Alex Scott, Brian O'Sullivan, Randy Peterson and Marshall Mahoney try to pick up points with their robot (1102). The team earned its third straight trip to the Nationals Saturday. By ROB NOVIT Senior writer At the Palmetto Regionals Saturday, that M'Aiken Magic robotics team qualified for the national tournament in a way that demonstrates the high school students' commitment to community as much as their performance on the playing field. The Aiken High School-based squad captured the Chairman's Award, the greatest honor that the FIRST Robotics program bestows even more prestigious than actually winning the regional tournament. The team will make its third straight trip to the Nationals in Atlanta in two weeks.
Tyndall AFB Hosts Robotics Week
The Air Force Research Lab and Material and Manufacturing Directorate will host the 2nd Annual Robotics Week April 30 to May 4. Robotics Week is a week-long event devoted to providing hands-on participation and robotic education to local middle and high school students. This event is also open to home school students. For more information about this program and educational opportunity, call (850) 283-3725. .
Book Review: Radical Evolution : The Promise and Peril of ...
In Radical Evolution, bestselling author Joel Garreau, a reporter and editor for the Washington Post, shows us that we are at an inflection point in history. As you read this, we are engineering the next stage of human evolution. Through advances in genetic, robotic, information and nanotechnologies, we are altering our minds, our memories, our metabolisms, our personalities, our progeny–and perhaps our very souls.Taking us behind the scenes with today's foremost researchers and pioneers, Garreau reveals that the super powers of our comic-book heroes already exist, or are in development in hospitals, labs, and research facilities around the country -- from the revved up reflexes and speed of Spider-Man and Superman, to the enhanced mental acuity and memory capabilities of an advanced species.
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