mcX’s posterous

When he was a kid, Greg Schroll used to daydream about a soccer ball that could redirect its course while rolling. As a mechanical engineering student at MIT, he built a spherical robot that can do just that. Other spherical bots roll as a result of a pendulum inside that constantly shifts the sphere’s center of mass. But that design is limited, Schroll says. “Most people have a disclaimer saying their spherical robot can’t climb steep inclines or stairs. My goal was to overcome that limitation.”

MBED looks like a pretty cool Arduino upgrade!

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MBED is a low cost, low barrier to entry ARM based microcontroller development platform. No software, no dongles, no licenses, no ICE. All you need is a USB cable and an internet browser. The C++ development environment is hosted online. To test your firmware you drag and drop the .bin file onto the MBED device and it's installed and ready to go.

In this video I've used MBED to give my Big Mouth Billy Bass (BMBB) a brain transplant. He used to sing and dance along to Bobby McFerrin ("Don't worry be happy") and a cover of the Talking Heads ("Take me to the river"). Pretty entertaining, but what if you could download new audio clips and new movements? What if BMBB could get his new songs and choreography from a microSD card?

MBED provides C++ libraries to interface to all of the microcontroller features (A/D, D/A, timers, digital I/O, PWM, etc.) and made it a snap to write a .wav file player to play the sound and use the PWM outputs to control the motion.

Enjoy the video, and go to http://mbed.org to learn more about MBED.

Sounds awesome!

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The Golden Rules of Cargo Ship Travel

* Be prepared to make your own fun. There are no programmed activities, aside from the odd safety drill.
* Go before you're too old. An upper age limit of 70-80 years is common as there is no doctor on board and plenty of stairs.
* Check that your travel insurance covers freighter travel.
* Be flexible. Schedules can and do change frequently. You may need 2-3 ships to reach your destination.
* Book in advance. Cabins are limited and the most popular routes can be sold out months ahead of time.
* Forget about working in exchange for your passage. Modern union rules mean this is no longer permitted.
* Take a good supply of seasickness pills. While not very common, rough weather can occur, sending tables, chairs, and your stomach flying across the room.

OpenFrameworks is getting better and better!

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Zach Lieberman's been working with the Virtual Magician on Magic Projection 1.0, an OpenFrameworks-based projection system for interactive magic shows. Very cool!

Lovely.

* The Web revolution is hitting the real world. “We are entering a new manufacturing age,” said Anderson. “I’ve been thinking about being analog and the world of manufacturing.”
* Manufacturing businesses are utilizing a lot of the techniques pioneered on the Web.
* Tools of production are being democratized. Exhibit A: 3D printers will now run you $750. Anderson has one in his basement. Laser cutters and circuit boards can all be designed in your basement using world class industrial technologies.
* If you want scale, a Chinese factory will work with you where ever you are. “I can click a button and make robots in a Chinese factory move,” said Anderson. “These factories want to work with smaller companies because there’s the flexibility to do so and higher margins. You have access to the same factory as Sony.”
* Anderson chronicled Local Motors, which walks you through designing and building a car. Can this business scale?

Wow, I can't wait to get one!

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The eZ430-Chronos is a highly integrated, wearable wireless development system based for the CC430 in a sports watch. It may be used as a reference platform for watch systems, a personal display for personal area networks, or as a wireless sensor node for remote data collection.

Based on the CC430F6137 sub 1 GHz RF SoC, the eZ430-Chronos is a complete CC430-based development system contained in a watch. This tool features a 96 segment LCD display and provides an integrated pressure sensor and 3-axis accelerometer for motion sensitive control. The integrated wireless feature allows the Chronos to act as a central hub for nearby wireless sensors such as pedometers and heart rate monitors. The eZ430-Chronos offers temperature and battery voltage measurement and is complete with a USB-based CC1111 wireless interface to a PC.

Key Features:
- Wearable development tool
- Internal CC430 memory available for data storage
- Integrated 3-axis accelerometer for motion sensitive control
- USB-RF access point for PC communication and automation
- Low cost system at $49
- Integrated pressure sensor for altitude measurement

Sounds awesome! Where can I buy one?