Bowes Museum Swan Automata

A few years ago the Science Museum had a nice Robots exhibition. Whilst the modern robots were interesting the most fascinating thing was the "writing boy" C18 automata. They had also had the Bowes' Swan for a while but I missed it. With my daughter up in Durham I promised myself a trip, and finally saw the swan play on Sunday. I's a bit of a "blink and you'll miss it", I guess its less than a minute but the movement of the head and neck as it looks around and then drops down to "catch" a fish is wonderful. All driven by clockwork and a toothed brass disc.

The other really neat bit was the "water". This was a series of glass rods, each with a different "screw" spiral on the outside, all being rotated giving a wonderful impression of flowing water.

Well worth a visit (and the Museum also has a well known painting of Napoleon), and I'd certainly go again and be more ready for the short duration of the animation. It plays at 2pm every day.

Robots everywhere - latest from US projects

A couple of neat videos I came across today that show just how fast robotics are evolving.

First off the formation flying insect like nano-quadrotors from the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. Here is pretty menacing formation flying mode:

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-airborne-robot-swarms-complex-video.html

And here trying to win our hearts playing the James Bond theme.

Second DARPA's BigDog support robot - looking just like a robotic mule.

At this rate I woudln't be surprised if the US Army has more robots than soldiers by 2030 - particularly if you also consider their Avatar project - http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/01/army-virtual-reality/?utm_source=Contextly&utm_medium=RelatedLinks&utm_campaign=Previous

***Imported from old blog***

Two New Robots with Smart Phones for Brains

The first bot is great - an iDock which turns your iPhone into a bot, but the second is so spookily like the butler bot from Caprica its uncanny.

http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=754&channel=computing

***Imported from old blog***

RoboThespian, the original robot actor

http://www.robothespian.co.uk/

Be great to get one of these hooked up to an SL avatar!

***Imported from old blog***

Video: The MoD challenges schools & colleges to compete for robotic defense contract | Technology | guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2008/aug/15/grandchallenge

Video report from the Guardian on the MOD Grand Challenge which was won by Team Stellar/Cranfield using a mix of robotic aircraft, helicopters and mini-tanks.

***Imported from old blog***

Diaspora***** - Greg Egan

This is the second Greg Egan book I've read. The first was Permutation City and that was excellent and the first book in which the idea of copies/upload/personality constructs (PC) made some sort of sense. With Diaspora Egan goes well beyond that, 150 pages in its an excellent book. Even though written nearly a decade ago it visualisation of a future for humanity is far better than most modern SF authors, and it should be quoted as much as Snowcrash when it comes to talking about virtual worlds. The opening chapter describing the "birth" of a new PC, and that PC's first interaction with external data streams, and then its avatar and its virtual world home are superb.

For the record, and it doesn't include any spoilers, Diaspora identifies a future only 100 or so years out when humanity has post-signularity fragmented into about 4 different "species" (compare with the BT future evolution chart I posted a fortnight or so ago):

- Statics - organic, unmodified humans (i.e. us)
- Exhuberants - organic modified humans, whose modifications range from cosmetic to the extremes to cope with hostile environments such as the sea and space
- Gleisner robots - "uploaded" and (I assume) digitally evolved humans who live in mechanical bodies
- Polis residents (I don't think he gives them a name as the story is from their point of view) - uploaded and digitally evolved humans who live in virtual worlds (although those worlds have feeds of the physical world, have agency in it through robots, and can step out into it through Gleisner robots.

***Imported from old blog***