Archive for May, 2008

Doughnut, Ice Tea and Some Live Typhoid Bacteria.

Published
by
Fingel
on May 27, 2008
in Science
. 0 Comments

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention my next travel destination Nicaragua can be a pretty germy place. Along with a few other immunizations, I was prescribed an oral vaccine for Typhoid Fever sold under the name Vivotif Berna. It was not easy to get a hold of. When I went to my doctor in hopesVivotif Berma to get a prescription, she insisted that she had never heard of it and hinted that I must be mistaken in it’s existence. I sat in the doctor’s office for nearly 45 minutes while she made phone calls but eventually she did return with a prescription paper in hand. “You learn something new every day” She told me.

I headed over to Bi Mart to get the prescription filled. They told me it would take only 15 minutes, but ended up taking over an hour. The pharmacist finally called me to the desk and not only did he have the pills but also a huge book with tiny print. “So lets see what we have here” he said as he squinted at the page. “The pills must be refrigerated at all time. You are to take one every other day with cold water 1 hour before a meal. Make sure you don’t chew or break the pills.” I’d never heard instructions like these before. “Those pills are alive, huh?” I asked. “I suppose they are. So go home and stick them in the fridge. Have a nice trip.”

The fact that it was 100 degrees outside and I had to walk 2 miles to get back to my room worried me a little. I didn’t want the lil’ buggers to wake up but I’ve already taken 1 and I feel fine so far. However,  If I don’t post for a few days, assume the worst.

The Incredible Adventure of SOURC at Botfest ‘08

Published
by
Fingel
on May 18, 2008
in technology
. 0 Comments

As I sit here in the car, it seems as if I have been on this trip for days, although it has sparsely been 34 hours. I’m looking out the window at a hilly green expanse dotted with cows, old farm houses and strip malls. Ahh, the I-5 corridor south of Portland. Quite a contrast to the giant skyscrapers and twitching robots that have been the focus of my attention up to 3 hours previously. I am returning from the Southern Oregon robotics club’s trip to Portland for BotFest ‘08, and what a trip it has been.

I met my fellow roboticists in SOU’s physics classroom on Friday, which was yesterday, with a bag of clothes in my hand and my computer on my back. The triple digit temperatures outside promised an extremely uncomfortable trip, possibly dangerous to my sanity, but I didn’t care. I was on my way to mybotfest portland first robotics competition after all, and I had been looking forward to the trip all week. I was pumped and ready to go. The 5 of us who arrived on time waited in the classroom for half an hour for stragglers, and then we were off.

I tried to enjoy the 5 hour car ride even after listening to the System of a Down cd for the 5th time in a row. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, despite our sweaty backs and tortured burger king filled digestive tracts. The burning freeway air trapped us at mercy of our Kia Sedona’s climate control system, fastened permanently between boiling and freezing. To be fair, there was a temperature dial on the thing, but we couldent figure out how to use it for hours, and once we did, nobody seemed to remember it was there. Fanally, the horrible funny-because-they-arent –funny jokes and painfully nerdy converstation, came to a close once we pulled up to the Dunes Motel, our home away from home for the night.

AGGH! The wireless internet didn’t work. You could practically hear the nerds wail in despaired unison down the dark motel hall. Maybe it was a good thing, because we had to wake up early the next day and it was already 1am.

We woke up in the morning and met at the van, all of us except for one. The missing roboticist was instead rushed away by two wailing ambulances because of low blood sugar. He was released four hours later. Not the morning we had imagined, but still a promising morning nonetheless.

Finally, to even our own disbelief, we made it to BotFest ‘08 at the Children’s Museum in Portland. The floorbotfest portland was packed full of 15 year old kids rushing around our ankles. Robots butted heads in the sumo competitions, became hopelessly lost in the mazes. One humanoid bot tried to start a conversation with me as I walked by. A flock of agitated Pleos cried out for attention in one corner of the madness. Pockets of men conversed around the floor furiously taking notes about each other’s machines. “Transistor”, “Microcontroller” and “C plus plus” could be heard over the noise of servos and and screaming.

Finally, we felt as if we were home. The first event that we entered was the medium sized sumo bots. Silver dragon did alright by beating the robot that was beat by everyone. After that, it was all downhill. Bluedragon never even had a chance, he was swept off the rink like dust. SOURC did fare slightly better in the line following challenge, Twitch was one of 3 robots that actually finished the course. One 3rd place ribbon for us.

After the competition was over came the robot talent show. There were only two entries, an impressive balance bot that was able to stay upright on two wheels like a segway, and a very large remote controlled arm on four wheels that played robot basketball. The judge gave both entries second place because they were so different, though I thought the balance bot should have gotten first because it was a true autonomous robot, and the big arm was RC.

botfest portlandAfter a few hours of mingling, we decided to get pizza and then go home. And that is where I am now. It is pretty much the same drive that we had on the way up, minus the System of the Down. There was enough moaning in the back seat that the DJ decided against it. I’m dirty, smelly and sweaty, and I’ve been doing far too much sitting down. A nice shower and clean clothes sounds better than root access right now!

All in all a great trip, we learned what we have to do to kick butt next time and we are all inspired to make it happen.

I cant wait to kick some 12 year old ass. I don’t care how old they are I will have no pity – Carl

Comment Response: Ocean Fossils at Siskiyou Summit? Say What?

Published
by
Fingel
on May 18, 2008
in Science and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Guy DiTorrice commented on my previous post Southern Oregon Universtity Geology 103 Field Trip:

Interesting to note that some of Oregon’s oldest fossils are found at one of the state’s highest elevations — south of Ashland near Siskiyou Summit! And, that most of the fossils found at the I-5 exposures are from an ocean environment. How did that happen???

It may seem a little strange that oceanic fossils are found so far inland from the ocean. In fact, the last thing you expect to find while going for a walk on Mt. Ashland is a bunch of clam shells. However, there is a reasonable explanation…
Continue reading ‘Comment Response: Ocean Fossils at Siskiyou Summit? Say What?’

Southern Oregon Universtity Geology 103 Field Trip

Published
by
Fingel
on May 15, 2008
in Science
. 1 Comment

On Wednesday Dr. Elliot’s geology 103 class went for a field trip. The main focus was on gathering fossil specimens from various locations. The fossils were all found in the Hornbrook formation, contained within Osberger Gulch Sandstone. The rocks were formed during the Cretaceous, which gives them and the fossils an age of approximately 95,000,000 years.

The interpretation is that the sediments were deposited from a beach or shallow marine environment. The abundance of the shells and the broken state of them suggests a high energy environment, so waves must have been present. By far the most common fossils (and original hard parts) were clams and mussels, but gastropods were also present. One lucky student even found a shrimp.

Dr. elliot and 2 students

Dr. Elliot and 2 other students climbing a tilted bed of sandstone on the side of Interstate 5, just south of Ashland.

nice specimin

A nice collection taken inches away from a fault that dampened and softened the surrounding sandstone making it easier to collect

taking notes

Identifying Fossils

scorpion

One of the many local scorpions we found. We didn’t kill it in hopes that it would die in a depositional environment somewhere and make a nice fossil.

removing a fossil

Trying to remove a fossil from the sandstone.

relic

Relic of time.

Southern Oregon Nightlife in a Nutshell

Published
by
Fingel
on May 11, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Southern Oregon Nightlife

Robots That Will Own You

Published
by
Fingel
on May 6, 2008
in Science and technology
. 2 Comments

We all know that its not a question of if we will be replaced by robots, but when. After looking at a few of these machines, the day may be closer than anyone thought.

Boston Dynamic’s Big Dog

bid dog robot

From Boston Dynamic’s web site: “BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog’s legs are articulated like an animal’s, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule, measuring 1 meter long, 0.7 meters tall and 75 kg weight.”

This thing is as creepy as it is cool. It seems unreal that a machine could exist that appears so lifelike. The only way to really see how impressive it is would be to watch the video. It recovers after being kicked, slips on ice but never falls over, and walks over a pile of bricks. The amount of work put into this dog must be staggering. Check it out:

Robotic Exosuit

exosuit

This robotic exoskeleton designed by Sarcos gives the wearer superhuman strength. Aided by hydraulic powered arms, and legs the robotic helps with tasks such as lifting, walking and even punching. Sarcos says that later versions will include protective armor that will cover the body, and versions that become autonomous once stepped out of.

The Crusher

the crusher

Another one of DARPA’s research projects. The “Crusher” is one helluva vehicle that can handle a wide variety of terrain. The machine can be remote controlled or drive itself autonomously. the thing already has a machine gun mounted on top - it will have obvious uses for the military.

My Little Robozinho

robozinho

Sure, he doesn’t look like much now, but he’ll soon be taking over the world and hes only going to answer to one man - me. Start sending in checks for protection now and you will be spared.