| VIA Announces Pico-ITX Boards
Once again, VIA is shrinking the PC motherboard. First they released the Mini-ITX form factor at 17cm x 17cm which is now commonly used on robots. Next came the Nano-ITX at 12cm x 12cm. The Nano-ITX, while sounding very promising for robotics use, was plagued with delays and when it finally became available was priced out of range for robot hobbyists. Today VIA announced the long rumored Pico-ITX, which is only 10cm x 7.2cm. VIA has managed to shrink everything you need on a PC motherboard down to two chips, a C7 or Eden CPU and a VX700 chip that combines all the I/O functionality. Speaking of I/O, the board has IDE and SATA connectors, 10/100 Ethernet, four USB 2 ports, audio and video ports, and one RS-232. Unlike the Mini-ITX, this board appears not to have an I2C port, so you'd need to add a microcontroller to get some additional I/O for robotics use.
Virginia Tech massacre prompts online remembrances
Students and faculty at Virginia Tech have compiled moving online accounts of Monday's campus massacre.University staff posted live streaming footage from the Virginia Tech convocation, held on campus Tuesday afternoon. They also posted a special section with the latest information about the shooting, the victims and the campus' response.In addition to posting an image of their front page, the school's newspaper staff compiled a photojournalism essay illustrating the events that unfolded around them Monday.As names of some of the 33 victims began to trickle out, it became clear that several respected students and professors from the school's Department of Engineering, Science and Mathematics were among the victims. The department posted a tribute to murdered professors Kevin Granata and Liviu Lebrescu.
Institute Treats First Patient Using Robotic System
The Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute and the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility have treated the first person in the world with an industrial robotic patient positioning system. The device is used to rotate an entire apparatus so that protons aimed at the tumor can enter a patient's body from different directions. The institute says it can use beam angles to treat spinal cord, head and neck and brain tumors in patients in a way that spares healthy tissue.
Source: Inside INdiana Business
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OS Partitioning Solution is designed for multi-core systems.
April 20, 2007 - QNX Secure Partitioning for Multi-Core Processors offers secure memory and CPU partitioning capability for multi-core systems. Users can either lock down a set of applications in fixed partitions or optimize CPU utilization through adaptive partitions. Partitioning technology guarantees CPU time for applications when system is heavily loaded and can also dynamically reassign unused resources from partitions not under full load to those that need additional processing time.
Related categories: Software .
Jin Sato describes his robotic MIBO pet on camera
Long before the NXT kits hit the mainstream, humanoid guru and robot designer Jin Sato was crafting a mechanical pet of his very own from original LEGO Mindstorm pieces -- not to mention the motors, motherboards, and gear trains to get MIBO movin'. Sure, Sato's rendition isn't nearly as smooth and sexy as Sony's AIBO, but we all know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? Going on six years (that's human years, by the way) now, MIBO and his five motors are still making out alright, and although a bit of expected arthritis takes its toll every now and then, it still manages to keep its owner company. So if you're interested in seeing just how MIBO was given life, or if hearing the voice of a renowned robotic genius simply makes you weep, click on through for a world-class lesson in fun.[Via Robots] .
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