Tag: Technology
-
The new Nao is awesome!
Dec 13, 2011 -
Humanoid Robots
Dec 9, 2009I’ve always had a fascination for automation and robotics. The last few years have seen some very interesting developments in Humanoid robots. Honda Asimo, Sony Aibo and Sony Qrio displayed some nifty capabilities early 2000s. Unfortunately Sony stopped the research on the duo in Jan 2006 and Asimo hasn’t seen a new version for some time now. Guess the research cost was trumping the benefits in foreseeable future for these Japanese manufacturers.
Anyway, there’s interesting work happening still. Aldebaran Robotics’ Nao caught my eye. Priced at €10,000, it’s still a research product and isn’t available to everybody. Here are some of my favourites in action.
Nao (by Aldebaran Robotics)
Qrio (by Sony)
Dancing – The steps are synchronized down to msecs!
Toyota’s Humanoid showcasing impressive stability
Motoman
(There’re also the AI/Facial-expressions focused robots. I just covered the ‘motor’ ones.)
-
The Art of Engineering
Ever given a curious thought to what happens when that 220 Volts is plugged into the computer? Here goes:
A basic circuit converts the 220V AC to a 5V DC and feeds it to the Oscillator on the MotherBoard. A wave of electrical pulses that flips about 109 (1000,000,000) times a second is generated. For the uninitiated, the 0’s and 1’s they show in digital/sci-fi movies (‘The Matrix’ et al.), represent these high (1) and low (0) currents. A simple math with these binary bits lets you play those high-action video games!
The latest processors house 45nm transistors — about a Hundred million (and growing) would fit in the size of your thumbprint — each flipping meticulously to load this website you read right now. The advances in Chip production technologies blow my mind!
People are fond of their cool gizmos (iPhones!) and associate them with the “Art” in engineering work. But to me, THIS digital dance is the sexiest aspect of electronics engineering… and I’m a fan of the canvas!