Science Tee

stroboptics shop
Hey, I made this shirt and offer it for sale at Cafe Press. You should get one now!

Update: This listing has long-since disappeared from Cafe Press. The price was so high that I couldn't afford to buy one.

Personal Portable 3D Printer

Personal Portable 3D Printer
A new 3D printer is coming onto the market. Apparently it's a breeze to operate, and only costs $1500.

If we couple this technology with vision technology that allows you to import physical objects into the software - scanning technology, if you will - then we have a system that can reproduce objects.

Imagine the carnival novelty: get a 3D portrait in thermoplastic. Remember those vacuum form machines at fairs? They'd manufacture a novelty idem for you in real time, using automated machinery. This would do that one a step better, by allowing you to create from physical input. Of course, you could still print out novelty items: License plate frames, eyeglass frames, toys, models and so on.

Manna not From Heaven

Manna is the name of a management program that debuted on May 17, 2010, according to this fictionalization from Marshall Brain.
Manna debuts in a fast food restaurant. All the employees wear wireless headsets, and Manna resides on a PC under the former manager's desk. Manna replaced the manager and his assistants. All day long, Manna issues voice commands through the headsets, and the wearer performs the tasks, then says, "ok." Each task is simple, like, "Walk toward the trash receptacle. Open the cabinet. Remove the trash bin." and so on.
Manna saves Burger-G $250 million in its first year. Soon, all businesses that can, are running Manna. Manna organizes the workers at a superstore so that they never even see each other. All to boost productivity.
Thus, these minimum wage earners become the eyes, ears, and hands of the robotic future.

http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

Science Carnival

I volunteered to be the chair for the PTA's math and science night. Since last year's Art Festival was so successful when it was done on a Saturday, we moved our math and science night to a Saturday too.
My motivation for volunteering was that I really dig this hands-on science stuff. I even have a website devoted to it but I really don't seem to make enough time to do much of it these days. Well, this sort of forces my hand!
I have a long list of activities I am busily getting ready. Part of the work involves digging equipment out from storage, and refurbishing it. For example, I have a Van de Graaf generator that I bought on Ebay several years ago. When I first used it, it worked great. Scarily great, in fact. But the rubber belt soon self destructed, and the thing has been sitting in its box ever since.
So, not being able to track down a manufacturer for the machine, I am making a belt. My first attempt wasn't that good: I pieced a belt together from several strips of latex rubber. But the machine kept discharging every time one of the joints went across the rollers. So now I am attempting to make a new belt from a bicycle inner tube. At least this belt will only have one joint. I'll report on how it works, as well as updating the progress on all the other activities I have planned, including the solar marshmallow roaster.

atnmbl: The Autonomobile is Coming

I've been wondering for a long time why the GMs and Chryslers of the world are so clueless about roboticizing our vehicles. Are they just stupid? Or are they locked into an irrelevant mindset, unable to think outside the box-on-wheels?

I think it's too late for the Big Auto industry. But there is plenty of opportunity for creative designers and engineers, to integrate new technology to create something that the public really wants, and that can improve the quality of life for all of us.

An example is this: atnmbl.

It's an encouraging design exercise for an automonous vehicle. The designers started by completely revisiting the driving experience. Think of all the things you can't do while driving: reading, sleeping, cooking a meal, enjoying a cocktail, playing a video game, logging onto Facebook, and much more.
Their conclusion was this: during driving, your entire life goes on
hold.
Then they started asking, what SHOULD the driving experience be like? Their conclusion was that not having to drive would be the biggest improvement of the experience.
Once they determined that driverless driving was a design goal, they researched the state of technology. Programs like DARPA's Grand Challenge have shown that, with GPS, machine vision and the latest sensor suites, the task of driving CAN be handled automatically. The proof-of-concept has been done, the earliest (very expensive) prototypes have been built and tested, and now it's just up to Moore's Law to make it affordable.
So, given that driverless vehicles are both desirable and possible, what would one actually look like?
Design firm Mike and Maaike (pronounced MYY-kuh) reached the conclusion that an automous vehicle would look more like a dwelling than a teardrop, or an insect, or a crouching tiger. They came up with a vehicle they call atnmbl, short for Autonomobile. The atnmbl has panoramic windows, an entertainment center, and a wide, comfy couch suitable for up to seven passengers.


The atnmbl not only focuses on efficiency of task, it redefines that task. If you aren't having to put your life on hold to drive, then speeding dangerously to your destination is not important. Acceleration and top speed requirements are reduced, because they just aren't important anymore.
What's important is that you are free to go about your business while you travel. You don't even have to worry about parking; the atnmbl can drop you off at your destination, and go park itself. Or, it can go take someone else somewhere. This eliminates the biggest waste that cars represent: vast parking lots filled with cars that are used twice a day.
If you own your atnmbl, you can offer it for hire at a price that is automatically negotiated for you. Or, you can just hire one by TXTing or calling from your cellphone.
Some models might be equipped with a microwave, so you can warm your breakfast on the way to work. Some might be equipped with a self-cleaning bath/shower, so you can drag yourself from bed directly to your commute. Or you could hire a long-distance sleeper model in the evening, spend a few hours enjoying the entertainment, retire for bed, get up and shower in the morning, and step out at your destination fresh and ready to go.
Some people will simply SEND an atnmbl to pick up their groceries for them; without drivers, and being completely solar-powered, it will be cheap to do so. Your children will be able to travel in perfect safety without you, because there's a reliable driver built into the vehicle.

Some features:

• fully electric powered plus solar assist
• driverless navigation via GPS, Lidar, radar, accelerometers
• wrap-around seating for 7
• voice recognition and remote for real-time control/ input
• large display for info, searches, browsing, communication
• open-source software with downloadable apps for carpool and car-share
through social networking, pre-loaded trips, city tours, virtual
drivers, etc.
• live trip info on mini display
• electric door, standing height entryway
• electronically tinted windows
• all wheel drive with motors in each wheel
• very few mechanical parts (drive by wire)
• bar

DIY 3D Printing Uses low cost materials

Mark Ganter, Duane Storti and Ben Utela, from the University of Washington Department of Mechanical Engineering in Seattle, Washington, have developed a low-cost replacement for the materials their 3D printers use. AND, they've published their recipes.
Now materials costs drop from as high as $30 a pound to mere pennies. The result is that the UW has been able to open its rapid-prototyping shop to a wider variety of projects.
What's the new material? Powdered clay, mixed with sugar, maltodextrin or sometimes PVA. The fabjects are fired in a kiln just like any ceramic material.
Check out the recipe if you've built or are considering building a 3D printer.

Hacking YOUR Future

You click in the areas you want to work, such as "People" "People and Data" "Ideas" etc. and it helps find the appropriate career for you.
It says I'm supposed to be a snail farmer, or maybe an earthworm or (stretching it,) frog farmer. Wow! It really picked up on those hidden desires!
Here's the link: http://www.act.org/wwm/index.html