28

Jan

DAvinCi’s Revival

I came across this article on IEEE Spectrum today and I was pleasantly surprised to see DAvinCi mentioned in Prof.Kuffner’s presentation (slide 17).

Cloud Computing and Robotics

Prof.Kuffner’s Presentation -
Cloud Enabled Robots

DAvinCi started with the grand vision of providing intelligence cheaply to a horde of heterogeneous service robots and we made good progress in identifying the underlying technologies and in deploying a SLAM demonstration on a single node Hadoop cluster. We were the only group that existed publicly at that point and I believe we were one of the first to publish the concept of using Cloud-computing for Service Robots. My interest in DAvinCi has been resparked and I’m glad that players like Google have finally taken notice. I look forward to more efficient use of computing ahead.

479 days ago Short URL Comments

Research/Robotics/Technology

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13

Oct

Helium is so desired, and is being wasted at such a rapid rate, claims Robert Richardson (a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, whose research was on helium), that a single helium-filled party balloon ought to cost about $100.

Source: http://www.sciencebuzz.org/blog/running-out-gas-helium

I’m looking for alternative lifting gases. Suggestions?

Thinks

20

Sep

LEO10 in the news

A hearty congratulations to my students for making the media with their recent accomplishment at the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition held in Michigan in June 2010. They placed 8th out of 48 teams in the design challenge during their debut.Their robot is featured in the front, while my robot Rio is in the background. You can also see our humanoid, HOAP-3 in the edge of the picture. The team members are Dev Chandan (team lead, mechanical), Hitesh Dhiman (software, ROS expert) and Ankit Sachdev (electronics, embedded systems). The picture was taken in my lab.

This is impressive on two counts -

1. The LEO10 team consisted of just 3 rookie members. Most teams have an average of 8 to 20 members.

2. This is the team’s first robot. Most teams have existed for atleast half a decade.

Given this precedence, I’m excited about the upcoming year’s design and I wish the team the very best.

To read the full article, click on – NUS team’s Robotic Turtle is no slouch

Alternative link

609 days ago Short URL Comments

Design/Research/Robotics/Technology

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02

Sep

Rio 2 – The Holonomic Telepresence Robot

Rio has been constantly evolving in its application and is currently been outfitted as a Telepresence robot for remote surveillance, patient care, elderly and child monitoring applications. While the fundamental technology behind Telepresence robots are equivalent to web-conferencing, the real challenge lies in delivering enterprise level QoS. We are now evaluating methods for data compression on the fly to minimize latency, increase video resolution and to improve the controller frequency.

627 days ago Short URL Comments

Design/Research/Robotics/Technology

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17

Jun

A robot’s birthday

Quite possibly my fastest fabrication to implementation for a full fledged autonomous robot. Rio, our holonomic robot, works; flawlessly too.

It was fabricated (mechanical and PCBs), wired, tested and ready to go in less than 12 days, quite a miracle given the failure rate in robotics, the lead time for procuring parts in Singapore and the paperwork involved.

Here’s Rio all wired up and good to go.

Don’t stare at the wheels too long, they make your head spin. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upio7feAY6w)

703 days ago Short URL 2 Comments

Design/Research/Robotics/Technology

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15

Jun

Rio, DAvinCi @Robocup 2010

We’ve been working hard to complete the beta version of Rio just in time for Robocup 2010, which is being held in Singapore from June 19 to June 25.

Just the holonomic version of Rio will be on display – it’ll demonstrate its resourcefulness in guiding “visitors” in a demo environment. Do drop by the A*STAR Booth for quick chat.

706 days ago Short URL Comments

Design/Events/Research/Robotics

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14

Jun

A 12 year old boy, Dre, moves from Detroit to Beijing with his mother. He gets beaten up by a gang of Chinese bullies who’re also students of an agressive form of Kung-Fu. Mr.Han (Jackie Chan) teaches the boy his style of Kung-Fu to ward off the bad guys at a major tournament. The underdog wins as expected.I liked every bit of it, except the name.

Why is a movie about a kid who learnt Kung-Fu called Karate Kid?

Thinks

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28

Apr

The Evolution of Rio

I never imagined that I would be going through so many iterations of Rio. And these are just from the Alpha prototype to the Beta. Also, I could not accommodate the countless other versions that superseded the Alpha. I need to employ Agile methods in my design planning and fix elements of the design in short iterations.

754 days ago Short URL Comments

Design/Research/Robotics/Technology

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28

Apr

12 things I’ve learnt at the Founder Institute

It’s been a while since I wrote and the Founder Institute is to blame. I’ve been intensely refining my ideas to formulate a viable high growth business plan. My plan is still under wraps, but it sure will be a high growth business.

A few takeaways from the sessions so far -

  1. Most important question for evaluating an idea – How big is the market and who is the biggest player, how much are they worth?
  2. Confused customers do not pay
  3. Your customer should be able repeat your message
  4. Carefully understand the difference between a prospect and a customer. A customer pays
  5. Figure out if your offering is a Vitamin or a Painkiller. Painkillers are always easier to sell.
  6. Execution is key. Read Scott Belsky’s Making Ideas Happen.
  7. Focus on your customer to make better products. Focus on the competition for new products. (Steve from PropertyGuru)
  8. Deconstruct.
  9. Niche markets!
  10. Keep it simple
  11. Order of importance. Customers > Employees > Shareholders
  12. Focus. Focus. Focus.

I’ll add more in the weeks to come.

754 days ago Short URL Comments

Entrepreneurship

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28

Mar

The Terminatrix: Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize

The best explanation for the inexplicable.

Source: http://www.slowpokecomics.com/strips/terminatrix.html

785 days ago Short URL Comments

Thinks

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