| Dennis The Menaced
The trouble with Dennis Haysbert - for a start pretty imposing at 1.93m - is that as he enters the room I feel almost duty bound to stand up and hum Hail to the Chief... Fortunately, I manage to hold back. Blame it on an addiction to the frenetic 24. Haysbert is fixed in my mind as the likeable US President David Palmer - the incumbent of the Oval office who, shockingly, exited from 24, via an assassin's bullet. The show's fans were robbed of a really strong character that day and Haysbert, who is on the promotions trail for his new series, The Unit, admits he wasn't happy with his exit. In fact he was, as he puts it, with some gusto, "pissed!" "Yes, You can write that down, he says, and spells it for good measure. "P-i-s-s-e-d - underline. Exclamation mark in bold!" So, let's just say that The Unit creator, David Mamet, might think twice before killing off Sergeant Major Jonas Blane - the pivotal character Haysbert plays.
Dyson building a robo-vac to compete on Roomba's turf?
If you're willing to buy into this whole "doesn't lose suction" song and dance, Dyson might have a robotic vacuum cleaner in the works just for you. A recent job advertisement on the Dyson website, is seeking a roboticist with "navigation and localization systems knowledge (Kalman filters, SLAM)" and "computer vision experience," which sure sounds like shoe-in for robo-vac development to us. We know they were at work developing the $6000 DC06 a couple years back, but that early attempt at a Roomba-killer didn't itself take life to the best of our knowledge. Of course, by the time they complete this new hire and s/he gets the next robotic Dyson bumping, we could be a good many months (or years) down the road. At very least the "machine vision" bit seems to imply something fancier than the Roomba dumbass-bumparound method, which will hopefully lead to some exciting floor cleaning times, and even more promising hacks whenever this device might possibly make it to market.
Carnegie Mellon to Unveil Internet-Controlled Robots Anyone Can ...
PITTSBURGH, April 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- Carnegie Mellon University researchers will unveil a series of sophisticated robots that almost anyone can build using off-the-shelf parts, plus a unique controller and a set of "recipes" cooked up in the Robotics Institute. The new "bots" which connect wirelessly to the Internet, can be operated from anywhere in the world. The recipes enable the creation of robots in many forms, from a three-wheeled model with an attached camera to a mechanical potted flower loaded with infrared sensors. The system can be readily customized as well. The goal is to make highly capable robots accessible and affordable for college and pre-college students, as well as anyone interested in robots. WHEN: 10 a.m., Wednesday, April 25 WHERE: Center for Innovative Robotics, fourth floor of the Collaborative Innovation Center on the Carnegie Mellon campus.
Tech Business and Entertainment Feature Summary for Week Ending ...
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Mar. 24 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- The weekly news feature summary from the Send2Press Wire Service includes this week: Village Technology's SMRrTRAM people-mover design receives U.S. Patent; celebrities endorse Refunds for Good website to recycle phone tax refunds for nonprofit efforts; and the National Register cites urgent need for mental health care for military service members and their families. Selected News Stories for Week Ending March 23rd, 2007: * to read these and other stories in complete detail, with images, please visit: www.send2press.com/newswire/ * Gorell Again Receives Energy Star's Highest Recognition - Partner of the Year 'Sustained Excellence' Award INDIANA, Pa. - Mar. 23 -- Gorell Windows & Doors has once again been recognized as the only window and door manufacturer in the country to receive the prestigious ENERGY STAR(R) Partner of the Year 'Sustained Excellence' Award.
Bomb-sniffing robots ready for US Army
WASHINGTON: As it increases its use of robots in war zones, the military will begin using an explosive-sniffing version that will allow soldiers to better detect roadside bombs, which account for more than 70% of US casualties in Iraq.
Fido is the first robot with an integrated explosives sensor. Burlington, Mass.-based iRobot Corp. is filling the military's first order of 100 in this southwest Ohio city and will ship the robots over the next few months.
There are nearly 5,000 robots in Iraq and Afghanistan, up from about 150 in 2004. Soldiers use them to search caves and buildings, detect mines and ferret out roadside and car bombs.
The government will spend about $1.7 billion on ground-based military robots between fiscal 2006 and 2012, said Bill Thomasmeyer, head of the National Centre for Defense Robotics, a congressionally funded consortium of 160 companies, universities and government labs.
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