May 31, 2011
Elkaim++
My wife and I welcomed our son, Avi Caleb Elkaim, into the world this past weekend, at 7lbs 9oz, and 19 1/2 inches long. Mother and son are both doing very well.
Here is The Family Elkaim, on 28-May-2011.
Future posting will be very light for a while.
Very cool Bernoulli pads on Mobile Robot
ICRA, the IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation, is always a big conference for showing off cool new toys and methods for robotics. It is very difficult to get a paper there, and I am hoping that I can get one in for next year.
In the meantime, check out this very cool video of a robot with Bernoulli pads climbing across several different surfaces. Bernoulli pads work by sending a high speed jet of air out of the pad that generates a low pressure. This tries to suck the pad down to the surface. What is very cool is that the pad makes no contact with the surface.
The video for your enjoyment:
The short article is here, courtesy of the IEEE Automaton Blog.
May 1, 2011
And this is why I spend so much time teaching...
A boy looks out over the table of robots from my Introduction to Mechatronics class, presented at the "Day by the Bay" alumni event this past weekend.
And this is why I spend so much time, effort, and care with the students teaching them how to do this, for this exact moment. Because in about 10 years, that little boy in going to be interested in knowing how the world works, and willing to study hard to gain mastery over the subject matter. And because some day, that will be my own son(s), looking across the table and wondering how it works, and being inspired.
Many thanks to Carolyn for letting me use the picture.