Posted on October 7th, 2011 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
You have probably heard about IBM’s “Watson” computer winning a million bucks playing “Jeopardy” on TV. Now the Big Blue champion is turning to health care. Watson will listen when a patient describes their symptoms, and then help the doctor reach the correct diagnosis. (Bob recalls that something very similar was done around 30 years ago, using a computer to diagnose a patient’s illness. The study found that the computer’s diagnosis was far more accurate than doctors’. This does not necessarily mean that doctors are stupid,
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Posted on September 24th, 2011 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
From the mid 19th through the 20 century, America was the world leader in technology. Perhaps the most important driver of those advances was kids who liked to take apart clocks. They took apart other things as well, of course: toasters, radios, automobile engines, etc.
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Posted on August 4th, 2011 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
TheRobotReport.com. The July issue has the latest on 3D Printing — plastic bikinis.
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Posted on January 17th, 2011 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
The Kinect sensor is Microsoft’s response to the success of Nintendo’s Wii machine. That has a motion sensitive controller and the game responds to its movements. With the Kinect and an Xbox 360, the game responds to your movements. This has led to some very interesting new developments. Several smart young tech types have already figured out how to use the Kinect to draw in 3D, create 3D videos and control robots with their body movements. We went to YouTube.com and watched Tomoto Washio transform himself into Ultra Seven, a Japanese superhero. He appeared to be shooting a stream of sparks and flames wherever he pointed his hand. He could also appear to detach a crescent from his hat, throw [...]
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Posted on October 22nd, 2010 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
An unusual robot hand could pick up things as delicate as raw eggs or as heavy as steel balls, without pausing for re-programming.
(CLICK UNDERLINE BELOW HEADING FOR MORE.)
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Posted on October 10th, 2010 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
Googe’s self-driving car has already racked up 1,000 miles. Meanwhile, an unmanned boat monitors water quality in the Gulf.
(CLICK UNDERLINE BELOW HEADING FOR MORE.)
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Posted on October 8th, 2010 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
This video from New Scientist shows a device that lets the partially paralyzed walk again. Shown is Amanda Boxtel, who lost the use of her legs 18 years ago in a skiing accident. The device, an exoskeleton called “eLegs” from Berkeley Bionics, is expected to cost $100,000 when it hits the market 2011. Smart Planet lists a few competing devices, including the ReWalk from Argo Medical Technologies, the Honda Stride Management belt and bionic legs from Rex Bionics.
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Posted on September 19th, 2010 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
These are the new modern marvels. The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) was held in Chicago this September, where it’s held every two years. We went, we saw, we were awed. What did it teach us? That more and more manufacturing jobs will be done by robots, and that very few people will be required to help. This show is definitely all about high tech: Lasers that engrave detailed images into any surfaces. They can be as large as eight feet across, or so small you need a microscope to watch the work in progress. Other laser equipment can fuse small pieces together in configurations that cannot be molded or manufactured in any other way. In short they can make [...]
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Posted on July 9th, 2010 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
This book shows you how to make LEGO toy trains, robots, and creatures.
(CLICK UNDERLINE BELOW HEADING FOR MORE.)
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Posted on June 19th, 2010 by Bob and Joy Schwabach
Robots in Malibu, California use sonar to bring distressed swimmers to shore.
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