Online Cortex Thoughts on Science and Technology

Brickengineer announces MATLAB packages for the LEGO NXT Robotics system:

There are now several MATLAB packages for robotics, and specifically for the NXT. One paradigm is to run the code on a PC and have it communicate direct commands to the NXT Brick via Bluetooth or USB. I have found this paradigm to be a bit dangerous since in the event of a MATLAB crash or a miscommunication, the NXT Brick will continue with its last command until ordered to stop. This has the potential to destroy your robot. The paradigm that I prefer to use is to write several programs that run on the brick. These programs take commands from files on the brick that can be uploaded rapidly from the PC. The MATLAB code then is in charge of sending the command files and starting and stopping programs. In the event of a MATLAB crash or communication failure, the software running on the NXT Brick can be designed to terminate gracefully.

Here are the MATLAB packages that I know of. The first two are specifically geared toward the NXT; whereas the last is a general robotics package.

* LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Toolkit for MATLAB and Simulink
http://www.mathworks.com/programs/mindstorms/
* Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB (Release 7.1) (P.I. Corke)
http://petercorke.com/Robotics%20Toolbox.html
* RWTH Mindstorms NXT Toolbox for Matlab
http://www.mindstorms.rwth-aachen.de/

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Posted under Lego, Programming, Research, Robotics, Software

I have begun to use gmail as my universal email account.  I currently have emails from three different addresses converging into my gmail.  It is easy to set up.  Follow the instructions in the tutorial below:

Tutorial: Gmail as universal email

Gmails excellent spam filters outperform those used by the university.  This has saved me a lot of time as I no longer have to go through hundreds of emails a day.  In addition, I can use gmail to send email from any one of my accounts by using the “Send From” drop-down menu.

Easy!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Posted under Internet, Solutions, Technology

The GigaPan EPIC Robotic Camera System takes your camera and uses it to take multiple images from a robot-controlled platform. These are then stitched together to form a single Gigapixel panoramic image.

Here is an example of a Gigapixel image from President Obama’s inauguration.  Special prize if you can find Yo-Yo Ma taking a picture with his camera.

My brother even found WALDO!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Posted under Gadgets, Technology

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke is my all-time favorite novel.
It is an engaging and complex tale of the revitalization of English magic during the Napoleonic Wars.

The novel is writing in the style of the nineteenth century. It is, of course, a work of fiction, but Susanna Clarke paints such a convincing picture of the history of English magic that I left the book half-believing that it all really happened.

The book opens in the early 1800s when practical magic had been forgotten and replaced by theoretical magicians. The York Society of Learned Magicians learn of a Mr. Norrell a practicing magician who stuns them by making statues talk about what they have seen. Mr. Norrell enters the limelight as England’s only practical magician. Meanwhile, Jonathan Strange, who has a natural predilection for magic approached Mr. Norrell in hopes of being taken in as his student. They do not get along well, but Mr. Norrell takes him in—while keeping certain secrets from him.  They eventually become rivals.

The novel is filled with other characters like the Man with the Thistledown Hair, who is a delightful, yet malicious and terrifying fairy. He takes a liking to the Butler Stephen Black and holds him hostage by summoning him each night to the fairy realm to partake in a ball.

As a physicist, I really appreciate this quote from the book “The practice of magic makes the theory so much easier to understand.” (page 280) It reminds me of Arthur C. Clarke‘s “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” from “Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible“, 1961 (and known as Clarke’s third law).

Another favorite quote of mine is: “I have never experienced magic at first hand before. I do not think that I shall be in any great hurry to do so again. It is most eerie and unpleasant. How in the world is a man to know what to do when nothing behaves as it should?” (page 558) I think that I like this because it speaks to the importance of prediction in our ability to understand our world.

The Man with the Thistledown Hair brings Lady Pole back to Life - Portia Rosenberg

The compelling black and white sketches by Portia Rosenberg
The one above shows the Man with the Thistledown Hair hovers over Lady Pole before he brings her back to life.

This book is hopefully being made into a movie.  I hope that they take the time to do it right as it is a fascinating and complex tale.

You can get Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel from Amazon of course!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Posted under Books, Fun

The blog Time! reminds us about the capabilities of Gmail.

The full article is here…

10. Change Gmail’s look entirely with themes
9. Launch video and audio chats, no Skype required
8. Back up your email from any system
7. See all the places where you’re signed in, and remotely sign out
6. Serve as a central, synchronized, smarter contact list
5. Consolidate all your email accounts
4. Help friends find their own Gmail messages or bookmark your own
3. Keep your Gmail account(s) on your desktop
2. Give you total search power
1. Do much, much more with Gmail Labs experimental features

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Posted under Internet