Back in school, a lot of discussion was being thrown around about using video cards to process the RC5 crack. Only thing was the processor may not be all that much faster than a computer processor. It would have depended on how close the graphic optimizations were to the code-crack algorithm.
Re:I like the wooden better
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· Score: 3, Interesting
He's using RC servos and lots of microcontrollers because he has to provide a PWM signal for each servo. That enables him to set a grayscale level instead of on-off. Nitinol 'muscle wire' is a little more difficult to set to a length other than 'short' (spring tension brings it back). Also, the servos will stay in one spot even when they are receiving no PWM signal. A nitinol wire would need constant PWM to hold a position against the return spring.
Granted, he probably could do with less microcontrollers and a creative strobing scheme to activate rows of servos in turn. But that would be difficult to get right, and might not be as responsive.
Re:Multi-Channel motion control
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· Score: 5, Interesting
$8,000 dollars for the servo motors alone, the cheapest I can find. I'm sure if you were ordering 900 you could get a discount. The rest of it looks like about 450 feet of aluminum tubing, 10,800 feet of wire, some black paint, about 32 microcontrollers, a PC, and a video camera. And of course, 900 chrome-plated balls, which I'm not sure where to find. Really cheap plastic stick-shift knobs?
Wasn't cheap, but probably less than a new car. Not counting labor, of course.
Re:very cool
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· Score: 2, Informative
Pneumatics would be one way of doing it, but servo valves are expensive and that's a lotta tubes!
I'm positive they used RC airplane servos with a rod from the bellcrank to the ball. That's how they got such fluid and fast motion. You can pick up servos from Servo City for less than nine bucks each. They are pretty simple to control with a microcontroller as well. I'm impressed with the wiring behind the display...what a nightmare!
And it's also a minefield that can be taken out with radio jamming. You'd have to jam a pretty large area though, or else they can just fire where there is no signal.
It's also a minefield you can get through by driving through quickly (too much lag between detection and shell impact). Just change directions occasionally so they can't project your location.
Are you kidding? Our politicians are only green with envy that this did not take place in America, so that they could claim credit for it.
The whole point of this excercise was to find a way to get stem cells for research. Apparently they think this method is quite likely to work.
Do you remember a little thing about stem cells? Wasn't there a little spat or two about it? This is a huge breakthrough which can allow both sides to be happy. Although the human-embryo stem cell proponents do lose some face, because there really was another way to get the stem cells.
I think the point of this article is that when there is more liquid surface area, it absorbs more greenhouse gases! The effect is that the ice cap is not only a temperature buffer, but a gas buffer. In the context of this article, the real question to ask is: "What is the ratio between surface area uncovered by global warming, to the temperature effect of gases absorbed by the additional surface area?" In other words, does the exposing of the water area counteract the factor that caused it? That would be very interesting to know.
I believe displays that use this technique already exist, but couldn't you print a transparency with a special dot pattern, and place it over the laptop screen? The dots would be arranged so that the parallax from your eye spacing would block the pixels that the other eye can see. Laser printers have much more resolution than LCD screens, so you could adjust for the changing viewing angle from the center to the edges of the screen. You'd have to be able to control the distance from the mask to the screen pretty accurately, and there would be pretty much only one viewing position.
That's because ostensibly it's for designing a house, which means you have to consider more than just the visible dimensions of a room.
It's not a great tool, but at least they got that right. I use AutoCAD for everything I do, but then I have to use it at work so I'm pretty quick with it.
I have one of these ideas every week! And so I work on it, get disillusioned, and put it on the back burner (which isn't turned on). Sometimes it's actually someone else's idea, and they're the one that gets disillusioned. Just last week I had a random guy contact me about prototyping something, and we discussed specs for a few days, but apparently he got cold feet.
Oh well. A lot of us have the ability to do practically anything. The real key is being able to stick to it once you start. Thomas Edision has that famous quote, which I won't bother quoting because you all know it already.
Mods, do me a favor please and pop this one down to 4 again. I prefer my other +5 question much, much more. Thanks! You're closest thing to an "Edit" option I've got, buddy!
No, Bush personally came to my house and took my job away. I shook my fist at him while he did it, but there's only so much you can do while a Secret Service agent has his boot on your neck. I was told my job was going to given to Bush's cash-loaded oil buddies in Texas, because they collect 'em or something.
Really, it was a nice experiment. Other tactics turn up many more promising leads, but this one mostly gets people who are interested in the idea and want to know if it works. I guess nobody wants $1000.
Can you do a little thought experiment for us? I think it would provide some insight into your understanding of your opponents and the issues.
I want you to play devil's advocate for a moment, and imagine yourself in turn as the candidate for the Democrats, Republicans, and Green Party. What would your issues be, and what tactics would you use to gain the governorship?
Probably a tall order, but I think it would really highlight your grasp of the issues and political climate.
1. If you won the election, would you honestly push for a 100-square-mile surface area solar panel array? Do you have any idea of the amount of expense, energy, and emissions required to make that amount of solar panels?
2. Why do you continually attack Bush and supposed administration policies in all of your literature? Wouldn't it make more sense to discuss the intentions of candidates who are actually running for governor of California? If the current governor of California cannot prevent Bush from influencing the state, how would you?
I'd certainly be impressed if it managed to cross China without being shot down.
Hey, you work for a communist superpower, you're flying a state-of-the-art fighter, and you've been doing it so much that you're actually bored. What better way to add a little excitement then gunning down an innocent robot? (Or maybe just flying by really really fast.) Doesn't hurt that it's from an opposing capitalist nation, whose citizens have enough money and access to technology to build such a device.
That's right Communist China, my grandmother can build a cruise missle that can reach you from here!
After several thousand years of persistent research and development, we have finally upstaged the carrier pigeon. Too bad that, in the meantime, radio was developed.
Seriously though, it's a great accomplishment. Sure, the military or decent-sized corporation could and have done this without breaking a sweat. Yet the general public has an important role here: pushing technology further ahead. It isn't futile to do things the leaders have already done, because it forces them to keep innovating that much more. Inspiration for all the hobbyists out there!
I didn't actually want this to go to +5! It's not like I thought about it at all. It just seemed that the term "logic" was a little sensational considering it's only a NOT gate.
It's nicely done, but not the breakthrough that means quantum computers for all. It is, after all, only a NOT gate. I barely consider NOT as a logic function...more like half a function.
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Back in school, a lot of discussion was being thrown around about using video cards to process the RC5 crack. Only thing was the processor may not be all that much faster than a computer processor. It would have depended on how close the graphic optimizations were to the code-crack algorithm.
He's using RC servos and lots of microcontrollers because he has to provide a PWM signal for each servo. That enables him to set a grayscale level instead of on-off. Nitinol 'muscle wire' is a little more difficult to set to a length other than 'short' (spring tension brings it back). Also, the servos will stay in one spot even when they are receiving no PWM signal. A nitinol wire would need constant PWM to hold a position against the return spring.
Granted, he probably could do with less microcontrollers and a creative strobing scheme to activate rows of servos in turn. But that would be difficult to get right, and might not be as responsive.
$8,000 dollars for the servo motors alone, the cheapest I can find. I'm sure if you were ordering 900 you could get a discount. The rest of it looks like about 450 feet of aluminum tubing, 10,800 feet of wire, some black paint, about 32 microcontrollers, a PC, and a video camera. And of course, 900 chrome-plated balls, which I'm not sure where to find. Really cheap plastic stick-shift knobs?
Wasn't cheap, but probably less than a new car. Not counting labor, of course.
Pneumatics would be one way of doing it, but servo valves are expensive and that's a lotta tubes!
I'm positive they used RC airplane servos with a rod from the bellcrank to the ball. That's how they got such fluid and fast motion. You can pick up servos from Servo City for less than nine bucks each. They are pretty simple to control with a microcontroller as well. I'm impressed with the wiring behind the display...what a nightmare!
Yeah I hadn't considered the bot gun being right in visible range. And the point about the jammer is pretty valid. Guess EMP is the only way to go!
And it's also a minefield that can be taken out with radio jamming. You'd have to jam a pretty large area though, or else they can just fire where there is no signal.
It's also a minefield you can get through by driving through quickly (too much lag between detection and shell impact). Just change directions occasionally so they can't project your location.
Do you really think that's possible? I mean, it's a rabbit egg. And some skin.
It's all very confusing. I'd have thought taking the human egg out of the equation would make a big difference.
Are you kidding? Our politicians are only green with envy that this did not take place in America, so that they could claim credit for it.
The whole point of this excercise was to find a way to get stem cells for research. Apparently they think this method is quite likely to work.
Do you remember a little thing about stem cells? Wasn't there a little spat or two about it? This is a huge breakthrough which can allow both sides to be happy. Although the human-embryo stem cell proponents do lose some face, because there really was another way to get the stem cells.
I think the point of this article is that when there is more liquid surface area, it absorbs more greenhouse gases! The effect is that the ice cap is not only a temperature buffer, but a gas buffer. In the context of this article, the real question to ask is: "What is the ratio between surface area uncovered by global warming, to the temperature effect of gases absorbed by the additional surface area?" In other words, does the exposing of the water area counteract the factor that caused it? That would be very interesting to know.
I believe displays that use this technique already exist, but couldn't you print a transparency with a special dot pattern, and place it over the laptop screen? The dots would be arranged so that the parallax from your eye spacing would block the pixels that the other eye can see. Laser printers have much more resolution than LCD screens, so you could adjust for the changing viewing angle from the center to the edges of the screen. You'd have to be able to control the distance from the mask to the screen pretty accurately, and there would be pretty much only one viewing position.
That's because ostensibly it's for designing a house, which means you have to consider more than just the visible dimensions of a room.
It's not a great tool, but at least they got that right. I use AutoCAD for everything I do, but then I have to use it at work so I'm pretty quick with it.
Getting an EE degree won't solve all of your problems, shockingly.
Does "CS" stand for "Computer Science" anymore? It seems a lot of kids have essentially graduated with "CounterStrike" degrees.
I have one of these ideas every week! And so I work on it, get disillusioned, and put it on the back burner (which isn't turned on). Sometimes it's actually someone else's idea, and they're the one that gets disillusioned. Just last week I had a random guy contact me about prototyping something, and we discussed specs for a few days, but apparently he got cold feet.
Oh well. A lot of us have the ability to do practically anything. The real key is being able to stick to it once you start. Thomas Edision has that famous quote, which I won't bother quoting because you all know it already.
Solar panels on roofs, money on trees...it's all the same to me!
Actually, in 2000 I was in the industry of sleep and schoolwork, and succeeding at neither.
(Well, at least enough to get a degree)
Mods, do me a favor please and pop this one down to 4 again. I prefer my other +5 question much, much more. Thanks! You're closest thing to an "Edit" option I've got, buddy!
No, Bush personally came to my house and took my job away. I shook my fist at him while he did it, but there's only so much you can do while a Secret Service agent has his boot on your neck. I was told my job was going to given to Bush's cash-loaded oil buddies in Texas, because they collect 'em or something.
Really, it was a nice experiment. Other tactics turn up many more promising leads, but this one mostly gets people who are interested in the idea and want to know if it works. I guess nobody wants $1000.
Hi Georgy;
Can you do a little thought experiment for us? I think it would provide some insight into your understanding of your opponents and the issues.
I want you to play devil's advocate for a moment, and imagine yourself in turn as the candidate for the Democrats, Republicans, and Green Party. What would your issues be, and what tactics would you use to gain the governorship?
Probably a tall order, but I think it would really highlight your grasp of the issues and political climate.
1. If you won the election, would you honestly push for a 100-square-mile surface area solar panel array? Do you have any idea of the amount of expense, energy, and emissions required to make that amount of solar panels?
2. Why do you continually attack Bush and supposed administration policies in all of your literature? Wouldn't it make more sense to discuss the intentions of candidates who are actually running for governor of California? If the current governor of California cannot prevent Bush from influencing the state, how would you?
Now now, mods, this was intended to be Funny. I guess it looks different depending on whether you've had your coffee this morning.
Yes, an overbearing personality and insane love of pepper and fast cars, not to mention a penchant for Dalmatian-fur coats.
I'd certainly be impressed if it managed to cross China without being shot down.
Hey, you work for a communist superpower, you're flying a state-of-the-art fighter, and you've been doing it so much that you're actually bored. What better way to add a little excitement then gunning down an innocent robot? (Or maybe just flying by really really fast.) Doesn't hurt that it's from an opposing capitalist nation, whose citizens have enough money and access to technology to build such a device.
That's right Communist China, my grandmother can build a cruise missle that can reach you from here!
After several thousand years of persistent research and development, we have finally upstaged the carrier pigeon. Too bad that, in the meantime, radio was developed.
Seriously though, it's a great accomplishment. Sure, the military or decent-sized corporation could and have done this without breaking a sweat. Yet the general public has an important role here: pushing technology further ahead. It isn't futile to do things the leaders have already done, because it forces them to keep innovating that much more. Inspiration for all the hobbyists out there!
I didn't actually want this to go to +5! It's not like I thought about it at all. It just seemed that the term "logic" was a little sensational considering it's only a NOT gate.
It's nicely done, but not the breakthrough that means quantum computers for all. It is, after all, only a NOT gate. I barely consider NOT as a logic function...more like half a function.