Friday fun: Polar bears destroying a BBC nature show's spy cameras

GIZMODO recently posted this article on how some remote controlled spy cameras faired against some very curious polar bears. Below is the video from the article:



Here is the original BBC article on the polar bears vs. the cameras. I doubt any of my robotics projects, or Arduino weather station will encounter any polar bears, but the video does make me consider what my projects might face out in the real world.

Happy New Year everyone ~ Jim

BigDog Beach'n

Here's another video from BostonDynamics featuring the BigDog robot. This time the BigDog is strutting his stuff on a beach in Thailand:



Imagine working on a robot such as BigDog and then going to some exotic beach to test it out. Talk about dream jobs! Cheers ~ Jim

Friday fun: Boston Dynamics BIGDOG Robot

If you are in any way interested in robotics then you have to check out this video from boingboingvideo of Boston Dynamics BIGDOG Robot:



The BIGDOG is designed for military use and is one of the most advanced quadruped robots out there. It's a pretty interesting concept, and the Boston Dynamics and BIGDOG links provide a lot more information.

Have a great weekend ~ Jim

GPS: A back seat driver with an Off button

For the last few days I have been testing out (read: playing around with) my Garmin Nuvi 265WT GPS that I recently purchased. The unit I purchased was a refurbished system that was available at well below the price listed on the Garmin site. My primary reason for purchasing this particular model was primarily due to the price since I was looking for something just to experiment with. I am more interested in getting the actual coordinates of where I have been on my road trips, and using those coordinates for my Google Maps projects, than having a device provide directions to those locations.

On my first time out with the Garmin Nuvi 265WT I decided to just go out blind without reading the manual. I packed the GPS along when I went on a work related trip, and used it on for the return trip home. This would not have been the smartest thing to do if I were relying solely on the GPS to get me home, but because I knew the way home this was not an issue. The first thing I immediately found annoying was the female voice that was selected by default and was constantly being drowned out by the road noise inside my truck. Even when the the noise was low, the voice was at a frequency where my tin ears could barely make it out. I decided that once I got home I would change the voice to something which I could hear (and which I have since done). Also the GPS was apparently configured for a destination point located near Tacoma, and the device kept trying to steer me back to Tacoma as I drove on to my home in Bellevue. Having this device constantly tell me to take a turn even when I didn't want to reminded me of having a really annoying back seat driver in the truck Fortunately for me this back seat driver has a volume control, and an Off button.

I read the manual prior to my second time out with the GPS, and this time I found the device (with the new voice) more useful. Having programmed the device with my home address I took off for a short trip to Snoqualmie Pass. Once I reached the pass I took an exit, and turned around to head home. Prior to getting back on the freeway I stopped and took a reading with the GPS and then set it to guide me back home. The device worked pretty well though at 70 MPH some points of reference seemed to come up a little too fast for it to alert me in time. The one major problem I encountered was when I decided not to take the exit the GPS had determined I should take and instead stayed on the freeway to an alternate exit. As it turns out the exit that the GPS originally selected for me runs parallel with the freeway for some distance, and because of the accuracy of the device it continued to provide me directions as if I had taken the exit even though I hadn't. It wasn't until I was passed the exit that the GPS determined I was still on the freeway and recalculated the new route.

As I said at the beginning of this post my primary reason for getting a GPS was to provide coordinates for locations I list on my Google Maps, and not for finding my way. I can see certain situations arising where I may have need of the GPS to provide a point of reference before I break out the maps, but for me at least I can never see a GPS replacing common sense, a good map, and the occasional getting out of the car and asking for directions which given the person you are asking can make road trips all the more interesting. I don't believe this line of thinking qualifies me as a Luddite because I do embrace technology; it's just I don't want technology smothering my sense of adventure and discovery by doing all my thinking for me.

One thing I need to do more research on is how can I readily transfer coordinates from the GPS to my computer. So far there doesn't appear to be a way to transfer the data via the USB cable that came with the GPS to my computer. Also I have yet to get an Flash card to store data with, and even if I do I am not sure I can sneakerware the data over to my computer. Maybe this can be a future project of mine?

Speaking of projects, I have decided that Python should be the language I should focus on learning at the moment. It appears to be relatively easy to learn, and I can use it to develop applications for many of my projects. I will also be starting up my studies in HTML and CSS again, and incorporate both in to my projects as well. Maybe I can use all three to build interfaces for my weather station, and robotics projects? I've been pricing equipment for the weather station, and also looking at how I can deploy it without brining down the wrath of my home-owners association. I don't expect to be moving as fast with the weather station project as I will with the robotics project. Speaking of the robotics project, it got a little sidetracked over the weekend due to my playing with the GPS, but I am hoping to have some more pictures of it in a week or two. If I can use my camera to take some video of it moving around, then I may finally have something to put on my YouTube channel.

Yes, I have a lot on my plate and I expect I won't get as much done as I want to, but I have to keep plugging at it and keep learning.

Cheers ~ Jim

Robots, Rockets, and Road Trips.

NOTE: This post is long and may ramble a bit. My primary reason for this post is because I need to put my thoughts down about my interests and hobbies, and the projects involving them. I believe this blog is as good a place as any to put my thoughts down, since I can readily access it to help stay focused. Also I am hoping that those who have similar interests or experiences will comment back and share their thoughts with me about the projects I now plan to work on. OK, so here I go.

Like many geeks, I have a lot of projects involving my interests, and hobbies that either never get started or are now stalled. Because of this I started thinking of creating a single project that will link all of my interests and hobbies, and I really haven't come up with anything aside from blogging about those interests and hobbies, and even then I will be posting on several different blogs. I can say though that after all my brainstorming I do have a short(er) list of projects that will help me stay focused on my goals and help me to continue to improve my skill sets.

Besides computers and networking technologies, embedded systems and robotics, I also have interests in sciences such as astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, and geology. On top of all that I have to add my newfound sense of wanderlust and I have to throw in the occasional road trip. With all that to work with I just cannot see a single all encompassing project, but who knows, maybe some day something will click.

Now as I previously stated I have narrowed down my list of projects, and here are my thoughts so far:

• Blogging and web sites: Not only will I be posting updates about my projects on various blogs of mine, but I will also be working to improve my HTML programming and other web related skills including content management to not only improve my skill set, but also improve my web sites which are in sorry shape at the moment. Once I improve my HTML skills I should be able to create web interfaces for some of my projects so I can display data from meteorological instruments or other networked sensor arrays. I also hope that my writing and editing skills will benefit from my blogging. I have even gone so far as to pick up a copy of English Grammar For Dummies because over the last 30 to 40 years my grammar skills have really slipped. Lastly I will continue to post photos on my blog and sites, and hopefully my photography skills will improve and my photos will be more interesting and less off-kilter.
• Computers and networking: This is not a project, but a fact of life. If I am going to move forward with any of my projects I have to broaden my knowledge of computers and networking. Not only do I need to maintain and sharpen my Windows skills, I also need to ramp up my understanding and use of Linux and UNIX (BSD) because some solutions will require the use of those operating systems. As for networking I need to better understand how to design and manage networks to handle data from various projects, and this must include a better understanding of wireless technologies.
• Embedded systems: I have two primary areas of interest here. One is networked sensor arrays, and the other is network appliances for managing data from those sensor arrays. The projects I am thinking of here will also involve my interests in meteorology, oceanography, and geology. I thought of ways to involve my interest in astronomy, and the only thing that came to mind would involve CCD imagery and that is just too expensive for me at this time. I do have some prior experience with sensors (accelerometers, and thermal switches) and that will be helpful in moving forward with my work with sensors. The first area of interest I want to design and build a sensor array for will be meteorology. Basically I plan to design and build my own weather station. Why a weather station? Well for starters there are plenty of resources available for me to start off relatively cheaply and with a minimal learning curve. Not only will the station be gathering meteorological data, but it will also present that information to the Internet. Yes, I know this has been done many times over, but to me this is a fun and interesting project, so that is why I am doing it. After the weather station is up and running I will then take what I learned and apply it to designing and building monitoring platforms for collecting oceanographic and geological data. These will be more long term projects though, so I am not outlining them here. Along the way I may end up working on a few side projects such as getting my Ethenut board up and running or modding a Linksys NSLU2. While the latter is only a mod, it's a cool mod that I have been wanting to do for some time. Finally I will need to improve my C programming experience to effectively develop the embedded systems I am planning, and for me that is definitely a good thing. Some may say that some of what I am doing here does not really qualify as embedded systems, but to my understanding these projects are embedded systems or at least involve embedded systems so that is why I am listing them here.
• Robotics: I have been wanting to work (play) with robotics for some time now, an now that I have a LEGO NXT kit and I need to get cracking. There are plenty of resources and books for the NXT, so just like the weather station I should be able to get moving fast. Once I have a decent foundation in robotics with the NXT I can then move forward with other more complex robotics kits or even develop my own robot. Who knows, I may even incorporate the data gathered from the sensor arrays I develop in to my robotics projects or vice versa.
• Astronomy: For over 40 years now I have had an interest in astronomy, but never really pursued it. I finally decided now is the time for me to get off my duff and actually follow through and start pursuing my interest in earnest. I created the Cloudymidnights site and blog to not only keep my interest in astronomy when I am climatically challenged (which happens a lot in the Seattle area), but also to convey information to others interested in astronomy including the visually impaired and disabled who may want to pursue an interest in astronomy. I also have my Colas For The Cosmos project where I trade in Coke Rewards points to get telescopes or binoculars to give to disadvantaged children. I have gotten in a few viewing sessions with other people's telescopes, and I am hoping that in the near future I can purchase a decent telescope to get in some viewing on my own time. I also want to explore some low end radio astronomy projects, but those are down the road a bit.
• Road Trips: OK, I don't plan to go ripping around the countryside like Barry Newman did in Vanishing Point, but I do plan to get out and see the country more, and in the process go to places that are linked in some way or another to all of my interests. I may head off to museums such as the American Museum of Radio and Electricity in Bellingham, or the Museum of Flight or Pacific Science Center in Seattle, and other local and not so local museums or facility of interest to a geek like me. I can also visit local aquariums such as the Seattle Aquarium, and Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, and maybe, just maybe drive down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in CA. And then there is the observatory road trip I have been planning for years, but never been able to to take. For practical reasons I may have to break the trip up in to smaller legs, but I do want to visit observatories such as the one at Goldendale, Washington, as well as the observatories at Mount Wilson, Palomar and Griffith Park in California. There's also the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson Arizona, and complex of observatories on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, though the latter really can't qualify as a road trip until I get to Hawaii and then make my way up the mountain. There are many other sites of interest that I can visit and have not listed, and those of you reading this post are welcome to make suggestions if you want. Needless to say there is a lot to see out there, and while I may not be able to see everything, I sure am going to try and have fun while doing so. And to add even more geekiness to the road trips I picked up a copy of Hacking Google Maps and Google Earth, and I plan to incorporate even more maps in to my blogs. The book requires that I be familiar with HTML, and Javascript, and that it would be beneficial to have experience with scripting languages such as Pearl, and SQL databases such as MySQL, and this all fits in perfectly with my other projects. Also I recently picked up a refurbished GPS unit, and I plan to list the exact coordinates of many of the remote places I visit, so others can find them too. Many of the locations I listed for photos on my previous road trips were best guesses, but now I will have exact coordinates to use for the locations.

OK, so there it is. It is more of an outline than an actual list of clearly defined projects, and it is definitely long and rambles a bit, but for me this post is helping me move towards some long term and cherished goals. Several things I will need to consider will be the cost of doing all this and time involved. I am going to have to do all of this on the cheap and in my free time, and while that does present limitations it will also present opportunities to improvise and work around those limitations. I may be starting late, but I am at least starting and moving forward.

Feel free to post a comment if you want.

Cheers ~ Jim

PS: One footnote to the Road Trips section: I am happily reading John Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley - In Search of America", and I have to say it is a great read.

LEGO Robotics: Two good examples of biped walkers.

While poking around YouTube I came across two good examples of bipedal robot walkers using the LEGO NXT on MoveToDecaf's YouTube Channel.

The first video is of a biped robot named Little Joe:



The second video is of an un-named walker using the rocking motion of the controller for movement:



This is definitely inspiring me to get off my duff and start making more progress with my LEGO NXT system. I am don't think I will build a walker, but I hope to post a video of a rover of mine on this blog some day.

Cheers ~ Jim

The ultimate air cannon robot from Vex Robotics

A friend recently sent me a link about what has got to be the ultimate air cannon robot, and I just had to post about it!

Check out "Air Cannon Looking for Targets (Video)" from ROBOTS DREAMS!

The robot was produced by Vex Robotics, and this thing is just freaking awesome! Once you view the video in the article showing all the mechanical aspects of the robot then move on to the videos of this thing shooting. Here's a picture of the cannon from the article:



This has got to be the ultimate in cubicle warfare, but you wouldn't dare use it would you :)

This is definitely inspiration for me to get moving with my little NXT robot project, and then move on to bigger and better robotics projects. I'll definitely checking out both ROBOTS DREAMS, and Vex Robotics for lots of ideas and more great articles ~ Jim

Fonts, colors, and weight with CSS.

I didn't get a lot of reading done over the last week, but I did dive back in to Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML and got going with Chapter 9. It is slow progress, but progress none the less. It's great learning how to set fonts, colors, and weight with CSS. It will be nice once I get done to finally apply this stuff to my sites. Yeah, I know, once I get done. This seems to be taking a long time, but given the dynamics of everything that has happened in the last few months, I think I am doing quite well.

As for getting started with the robotics, I decided to go through the NXT manual and familiarize myself with everything instead of just loading the software and trundling along getting lost. Hopefully by next weekend I'll have a little bot running around. I'll post some pictures if I get something running.

Catching up for the week.

I have been really busy over the last week, so I have not had a chance to post here until now.

Work is going great! I am settling in and I am making good progress and learning a lot. I would like to say I have been making the same progress with my HTML studies, but just haven't had time to sit down with the Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML book lately. I am hoping get in so study time over this weekend. Even though I have a job, I still want to develop and improve my skill set, and I definitely need to clean up my web sites. I also will continue to develop my interest in web accessibility.

I am going to drop the Apache, PHP, and MySQL studies for now, and start up with C# shortly. Studying C# will not only help me at work, but also may be beneficial with my robotics work using Microsoft Robotics Studio (MRS) from what I have been told. I will be using the Lego NXT system to start with because it can be used with MRS and it's easy to work with.

Given that it's now "that season" in the Seattle (cloudy, rainy, dreary) I'll be taking my astonomy interest inside and play with some of the free astronomy programs that come with Ubuntu as well as working with the Astro Link Blog and the Cloudymidnights Blog. I'll also be playing around with my CoCo, though I'll be posting more about that on the 8-Bit Retro Computing Blog.

I think I'll be busy for quite some time. Cheers! :)

Catching up.

Wow! I missed a weeks worth of posting to this blog. I have been buried with my job search, and really haven't had time to do much else besides some cleaning.

I had to put my web design studies on hold last week, but I will be getting back to them now. I haven't lost my focus in the pursuit of my goals, just a weeks worth of time due to a very hectic schedule. I will get back in the swing of things this week.

Now that my place is more organized, including my SOHO network, I now can move forward with more aspects of my studies including running at least one dedicated web server. I'll also be able to dive into a few other projects like my Lego robotics system, and my retro-computing.

Things are moving along, maybe not as fast as I would like, but I am seeing progress.

Dealing with disappointment and moving forward.

Friday evening I found out that one of the positions I interviewed for last week went to someone else. Needless to say I was a little disappointed, but that's life and I have to keep moving forward in my job search and studies.

One thing I did yesterday to help get my mind off the disappointment of not getting the job was to go on a cleaning binge.

Not only did the cleaning binge help me deal with Friday's disappointment, it also helped clear out even more stuff that I don't need, and in the process I got better organized so I can move forward with my job search. Getting organized will also help my studies in web development as well as some personal projects (robotics, and retro-computing).

If you have been following this blog for any length of time you may be wondering how much stuff I really have stashed at my place. The simple answer is "way too freaking much"

I am a geek, and like many geeks I have more than a passing interest in way too many things. I have been making good use of my time off from work to refocus my life and priorities, and it is starting to pay off.

Some times you just have to take the disappointments in life, and use them to motivate yourself to better things, and that is what I am doing.

I'll have more on my studies and and possibly other topics in the next blog entry.