Robotics

The New Generation Play Tool - Smart Toys

2008-09-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

What does a smart toys do, and how does playing one affect your child? Parents today are concern about the development of their children especially brain development. As a result, they tend to find brain-building toys that ‘claim' to help to boost the level of intelligence. When there is a demand, there will be a supply. Now stores are filled with various ‘smart toys'.

So, what is a smart toy? In a nutshell, a smart toy incorporates some level of computer technology that could respond according to the child's actions and can even identify the child's skill level, hence could adjust the game accordingly. A robotic dog that just walks and barks but not in response to anything the child does is not considered one of the educational toys.

In addition, smart toys tend to enhance play by interacting with the child through ‘open-ended' play suggestions that allow the child to step in to define the play scenario. For example, a smart ambulance toy may say, ""Help is needed over there,"" suggesting a rescue play pattern without dictating play. Since the child is not told what to do is free to use their imagination to continue the play, thereby sparks the child's creativity.

Gone are the days when children satisfied themselves with simple games of hopscotch or tag. Heck, there are practically no more ""simple toys"" in the toy market nowadays wherein it’s slowly being dominated by more and more complicated contraptions. From toy PDA electronic models to enhanced walkie talkies, children nowadays have more discerning taste when it comes to their playing pleasure. So in an age wherein cellphones and digital cameras are just all too common, what’s really the buzz about the wonders of a robot toy? What makes a robot toy tick? And probably, most important, what makes a robot toy click? To put things simply, an electronic robot toy is an extremely sophisticated piece of technology especially for children who have always been used to playing with either plastic, wooden or plush toys.

Things are indeed a changin’ nowadays, a robot toy is practically what each and every kid, well boys that is asks for in his wish list. Starting with the very hip and ultra high-tech robot toy, Robo Sapien which promises to be a whole more than just a simple robot toy. A smart robot toy like this actually tries to break the mold ordinary plastic robot toys that only has blinking lights and beeping sound effects. Robot toys that are available in the market today are far more sophisticated than that especially since they’ve been able to make these robot toys more interactive. A very important factor when it comes to ensuring its saleability in this rapidly changing world of toy commerce.

Video games have been a common staple when it comes to electronic toy gadgets for children, however these cannot be considered as a robot toy. The once popular Tamagotchi may look and feel like a video game but it is actually in fact a robot toy as well. What’s differentiates the Tamagotchi from being a video game you might ask? Well for one thing, video games are just electronic role playing mind games wherein you have a specific goal or task that must be taken care of while a robot toy like the Tamagotchi is actually highly dependent on the interaction between the Tamagotchi and the user. The Tamagotchi is actually a simulation of what is supposed to be of an animal, just like ordinary toy robots which are mock-ups of human beings while a video game is merely an audio visual device that is used to play games.

There are actually all sorts of robot toys available in the market today, from highly sophisticated, not to mention, costly, Robo Sapien to outdated Tamagotchis to high tech robot toy pets that have caused quite a stir even in Japan wherein people don’t really have that much time to take care of a real dog. Robo pets have been creating a lot of buzz in the toy market because of its highly innovative design and almost life like actions, Robo pets usually comes in either a pet dog or a pet cat. It can play fetch, run, heel, even bark at you.

This robot pet has certainly come a long, long way from the old wind-up robot toys that used to be every kid’s fancy. Come to think of it, not only children are getting into the whole robot toy craze, with many grown adults now getting more and more hooked to the highly sophisticated robot toys in the market. Considering that adults do have the spending power as compared with children who are still reliant on their parents’ mercy, toy companies are also trying to come out with robot toys that can be appreciated by adults as well.

About the Author:

Find best toys and many useful information about toys and robot at this toy directory.

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Hobby Electronics Robot Kits

2008-09-07T00:43:00.000-07:00

hobby electronics, robot kits
Robotics has become part of our daily lives. From toys to home appliances, it has taken over the problematic mechanisms of the amenities that we grew accustomed to. Aside from that, robotics provides challenging activities where we can develop important skills. It can even help us sharpen our research, critical thinking and problem solving skills by honing our mechanical, electronic and software capabilities. It can be a form of are since it allows us to build useful objects from simple parts. With the use of hobby electronics robot kits, we can explore, fix and put components together and learn much more about robotics.

Hobby electronics robot kits are provided to help us hone our skills by doing simple to complicated repairs and modifications on robot components. For instance, we can use these kits in assembling or fixing damaged toy robots. Although the task is quite challenging, it will be a lot easier if you have the right kits. Often, robot toys are designed to roll, walk or climb around your house. Depending on the design configurations of the kit that you choose, you can either make the toy have a built-in brain or remote controlled operations. Either way, going through the process of assembly or conversion will be fun as the kit provides everything you need to get the job done.

There are actually a number of kinds of hobby electronics robot kits, which are fitted for specific uses. For example, programmable robotic kits provide experienced technicians and engineers or even hobbyists with tools that are usually applied on robotic research. For high school and college projects, this type of kits very helpful in deeply involving the students in the efforts of mastering important mechanics, electronics and software development skills. On the other hand, BEAM robot kits are ideally used in using ingenious robotic designs since they are not fitted to work with an external power and do not involve programming. Just like in other tool kits, soldering components is common among robot kits since soldering is essential in the assembly of robotic components.

At the rate by which robotics continuously develops, more and more children as well as adults have been amazed by its wonders. Its applications have significantly improved our way of living. A classic example is the robotic dog. If you happen to be allergic to the real animal, then a robotic animal pet can be an exciting option. Voice activated appliances are now brought to the homes of millions of Americans. As they are simulated to do certain tasks with a specific command prompt, the problems that are faced when preparing and cooking food, cleaning the house or washing clothes will be things of the past. If you can't afford a robot yet, then you can start small. Make robotics part of your hobby and build a prototype of your own. By having the right hobby electronics robot kits, you can easily assemble, repair or modify problematic robotic parts and be an engineer at your own right.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about hobby electronics robot kits, please visit Robitics Kits Online for current articles and discussions.

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How To Build Your Own Robot

2008-09-05T01:36:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in robots, or you like robots, or if you just love them, we thought you might like to have a look at this link. Its part of the BBC site in the UK, and its a free interactive workshop where you construct a robot, have fun, and learn a lot about robotics.

We keep going back there! Give it a try.

Wow Wee Robotic Green Dragonfly

2008-09-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

dragonfly, robot, robot toy

This is a delightful toy, suitable for all ages from 6 to about 95 or over! Wow Wee Green Dragonfly Robot FlyTech Dragonfly is the world’s first radio-controlled flying insect. With its’ ultra-light, dual-wing design and “high-flex”, crash-resistant structure, the dragonfly is an easy-to-fly aeronautical marvel. Use the dragonfly indoors or outdoors, controlling its speed, direction and height with the 2 channel digital proportional remote.

iRobot Roomba 560 Review

2008-09-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

The Roomba 560 lives up to all expectations. Life happens in busy homes, and keeping up with accumulating dirt, dust, pet hair, crumbs, and debris can be a daily challenge. The iRobot Roomba 560 is a member of iRobot’s newest generation of Roomba Vacuuming Robots. With dramatically improved navigation, cleaning coverage, vacuum pickup, particle filtration, and scheduling capabilities, the Roomba 560 picks up amazing amounts of dirt and debris from your floors with the touch of a button--so you don’t have to.

Decision Theory Robotics

2008-09-01T04:12:00.000-07:00

By Ian Pennington
Robotics is basically the study of how to make robots, the procedures and controls. The lessons included are about mechanics, electronics and computer programming. On mechanics the parts and their relationship to each other are observed, on electronics the effects of using batteries and electric power are analyze and on computer programming, the robot control management and strategies are explored. The so-called decision theory robotics lies on the third division of the study which is computer programming.

In decision theory robotics, the algorithm and information programs are very significant because these are programmed into the robot so that whenever they get fed with information through the use of transistor s and receivers. Once the robot gets feed with algorithms, it will perform the specific actions programmed for that kind of algorithm. The robot's response capacity solely depends on the program that it has meaning it is always under the control of humans. Robots can do so many things, but this is all because of human ideas and intelligence.

Ideally, every algorithm associated to a fixed or preset program should be expressed whenever the info was sensed by the robot. But sometime there are chances that the accuracy of the decision theory between the algorithm and the set up program fails. When this happens, the robot will be totally malfunctioning it will make actions not in relation to the operation that is being asked for or at worse cases, the robot will lose his capacity and get paralyzed. In such cases like this, help coming from robotics and programming experts are needed for they are the only ones who could understand the complexity on the robot.

The use of decision theory robotics have played significant role in our society today, because in almost everything that we do, we use some simple robots or devices that works because of this theory. We are just unaware but the cellular phones and other device that we are using are one example of this. We should value the things that these simple robots are doing for us for they make our life better and easier. They'd been taking care of the things that human should be doing, they speed up the pace of life of every individual.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about decision theory robotics, please visit New Robotics Kits for current articles and discussions.

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RF Robot Kit

2008-08-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

By Ian Pennington
From simple robot kits, average are made and from average superior robot kits like the rf robot kit are created. The simple or beginner robot kit is actually all about mechanics, the average kit already involves mechanics and electronics, and superior robot kits combines mechanical, electronics and programming. When you buy them, being "kits", their package includes the parts, the tools and the manual that indicate how the project should be made or assembled. The rf robot kit is not anymore for kids because it requires analytical thinking, more logical process and long robotic experience. Kids especially those that are just aging seven years old should start from the basic, they should first try the beginner's kit, and when they become experts they can try average level kits up to the time that they qualify to do superior level kits.

The Rf robot kit is a superior robotic project that is really intriguing and exciting to do. It involves the use of transmitter and receivers that contribute a huge factor in program management of a robot project. Usually numbers play a significant role in rf robot, it determines the direction, the speed and extent of location to head on. A particular number has a specific value that could be translated by the robot into an action or performance. This is not mainly intended for kids but also created for adult's hobbies and recreation. If a kid intends to make an rf robot, he must assure himself that he has all it takes to be called robotics expert because rf robot kit is very difficult to so many complexities. Some kids who are really passionate about robotics and has high intelligence level could make an rf robot.

Because of the complex steps involve in assembling the rf robot kits, it is suggested to be a group or family project where in several minds could work together. Some say two minds are better than one so what more if it is a group, the rf robot kit branded as very complex will become very easy in this case. Same thing will happen if this project will be worked out by a family; every member will take part on finishing the project by sharing ideas and thoughts.

Every person or group that will try to solve a rf robot kit could gain personal development. If he done the project by himself, his analytical skills, intelligence and logical thinking will surely be increased, and if he work on it with a group, he could share his idea and at the same time also gather ideas from others. If you want to get one for yourself or for your family, kits are already available on your local stores.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about rf robot kit, please visit New Robotics Kits for current articles and discussions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Pennington
http://EzineArticles.com/?RF-Robot-Kit&id=1364392

Robot Kits For Kids

2008-08-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

By Ian Pennington
Usually male kids love to play with robots because it is gives reality to the robot games and movies that they admire on television. Although most robot movies demonstrate fighting and power exhibition, it is still proven as good toys for kids. Its complex styles and complicated parts have the power to trigger learning and mind advancement to the child. As early as seven years old, robot kits for kids could already be introduced to your child. This wll not just make your child aware of robotics but it will also make him wise, resolve complicated problem and analyze what to do.

To begin your child's learning about robotics or robot building, you can get him a beginner robot kits for kids. The kit is the complete set of a particular robot kit project that includes the all the needed parts, tools and the instruction necessary for part assembling. On the first robotic study of your child, he could learn some important mechanical and electronic parts, how mechanical systems are put together and how to handle simple hand tools. On his first try, it is also important that you still provide supervision because he might have some question and difficulties regarding the parts and the assembling process, you should still be their to guide and show him the right way to do things right.

After your child is done with his first robot kit and you see his passion to learn more, you could introduce higher level or advance robot kits for kids that already involve programming. In this stage he could learn the basic about electronics and computer programming allowing him to analyze things better. He could know how electricity work, its effect to things and the power that it has to manage things. As long as your child has the passion for robotics or robot building continue nurturing it by providing him different and kits and project to work with, and best give him additional reading and references related to robotics. Through this he could develop his interest and expand his knowledge and awareness since analyzing, mechanics, electronics and programming is part of our daily tasks.

On the negative side, the disastrous characters of robots on movies shown on television of could also influence your child's behavior but still that depends upon the training and discipline given by the parent to his child. Through proper explanation and enlightenment of the right things to the child will effectively avoid this situation. Although robot kits for kids bear a tag that it is "for kids" it could also be enjoyed by parents and adults. Actually, you and your child could work together making a robotic project because it will improve both of your knowledge and at the same time develop child and parent relationship.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about robot kits for kids, please visit
Robotics Kits Online for
current articles and discussions.

2008 Trends in Robotic Underwater Technology

2008-08-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

By Lance Winslow

It looks like the Russians and the Americans are breaking new records under our seas as they go deeper and discover more and more unique things. While NASA studies other planets, asteroids meteors, suns and moons, we have yet to discover or document over 1/2 of the surface of our planet, which lies under our giant oceans.

So what have we found? Several new species for one thing and we have erased previous thought to be known facts about underwater volcanoes. It appears much of those old research papers must now be re-written with new theories attached.

We have discovered enormous formations underwater that we did not believe possible made of known elements of our periodic tables and compounds that defy our current knowledge.

Robotic Unmanned Underwater Vehicles have made great advances this year both in the private sector and the public sector, as well as the military. The private sector uses these subs for exploration, research and underwater infrastructures like cables.

University robotics, science and engineering departments are working on all sorts of ROVs, UUVs, and mini-submarines for nearly any type of use such as:

Environmental Remediation and Monitoring

Oceanography Research

Underwater Mapping

Underwater Geology

Port Security

Oil and Natural Resource Exploration

Net-Centric Warfare Exploits

Sea Life Study

In fact, just about anything you can think of having to do with such underwater robotic technology has made strides in 2008 and many who study this area of science and technology, as well as many futurists believe this is the tip of the iceberg and we will continue to see new innovations each and every year.

Manned submarines have also broken records this year:

http://www.physorg.com/news136528653.html

"Lance Winslow" - Online Blog Content Service. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Robotics Kits

2008-08-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

By Jason John

Robot is a term with which almost all of us are quite familiar with. But most of us are unaware about the technical insights or aspects about these wonders of electronic trade. A robot is defined as "reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator", designed to move materials, parts, tools, or specialized devices through various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks. It has a mechanical body and an electronic nerve system to drive it.

But the robot cannot perform task on its own. It does not have brain as we human being do. So how does a robot work. Here is the answer. For a robot to do something as desired and useful, we need to program it with some kind of intelligence. This can vary from hardwired logical circuits implementing some low-level reflex code to microcontrollers. In an advanced robotics systems, the control system can go up to neural network control systems running on powerful microcomputers networked together.

When someone decides to build a robot, the first thing that he would need is a robotic kit. Now the question arises what is a robotic kit. Well a robotic kit is your blueprint and comprises of all the tools and parts that a person would need for building a robot.

Robotic kits are available online along with manuals and robotic books which are of great help in building a robot. These robotic kits are available in various dimensions, depending on the customer's requirement.

The robotic kit includes the mechanical parts required for building a robot like metal or plastic parts, mechanical components & electrical motors. It also includes a manual which helps in building the robot. Robotic books are of great help and an added advantage to those interested in this field. Such books have all the latest updates about robots.

In Advanced robotics systems, the control system can go up to advanced neural network control systems running on powerful microcomputers, networked together. To be able to build a robot, a person needs to understand and learn all the aspects of above mentioned fields. Robotics is not a hobby, it requires skills, dedication and lot of hard work. Besides the obvious - mechanics, programming, and electronics, there are the less obvious skills of diligence and genuine curiosity.

Some of the robotic parts are:.

Sensors: which detect the state of the environment.

Actuators: which modify the state of the environment.

Control System: which controls the actuators based on the environment as depicted by the sensors.

The most developed robot part, in practical use today, is the robotic arm and it is seen in applications throughout the world. It is used to carry out dangerous work such as dealing with hazardous materials. It used to carry out work in the medical field such as conducting experiments without exposing the researcher.

The key components of robots have the ability to perform repetitive tasks in a precise manner. Robots can be either industrial or domestic depending upon the type of function they are required to perform. On a general note robots have found their application in many fields such as Commerce, home security, medical field ,industry, transportation& military etc. See here more information on Robotic Kits/Robotics Projects.

What You Should Know About Servo Motors

2008-08-26T00:43:00.000-07:00

By Samuel Circton

Servo motors are used in robotics and tend to be on the smaller side for that purpose. The circuitry is usually built into the product that you buy, and one of the greatest benefits of the product is the amount of power that it is able to put out. For example, if it is a smaller engine, it will often have a smaller motor. The amount of torque is consistent with the size of the motor.

One of the keys of a servo is that it has an output shaft. With this shaft, it can be positioned with a coded signal that is sent. Sending the same signal will keep the servo at exactly the same position. If a signal is changed, this causes the angle of the servo motor to change.

Servos can be used in many different fields other than robotics. Oftentimes they are used for radio controlled airplanes. A servo motor has a wide radius and can travel anywhere from zero to one hundred eighty degrees. The motor is smart enough to know how much power to apply. If there is a larger distance to travel, more of the engine power will be used.

The control wire is used to help determine the angle at which the servo motor turns. A pulse is sent through the control wire, and the length of the pulse will determine the angle the servo motor changes. The normal time for a pulse to happen is every twenty milliseconds. A shorter pulse will cause the servo motor to change its direction under ninety degrees while a longer pulse will cause the servo motor to change its direction more than ninety degrees.

Hopefully this article on Servo Motors has given you more of a background, which can help if you are looking to buy one in the near future.

Long ago, Samuel Circton learned just how important Los Angeles RFID product are to a manufacturing business. Using Orange County factory automation, the experts at Pacific Technical Products were able to install California proximity sensors and Los Angeles servo motors to help his company run smoothly. Now, he recommends PTP to anyone looking for Riverside California servo control system.

Computerized Home

2008-08-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

By Nick Kater

Home automation, also referred to as "domotics", refers to the construction, actuation and/or application of automated systems of the home, all geared at maximizing and enhancing the comfort, security and convenience of an individual home user.

These systems touch on such areas of the home as security, multimedia, robotics, lighting, inter-communication systems, etc. The systems are basically remote controlled and self - activating, where the idea is to minimize on human control or interaction and maintenance of the ideal home environment as programmed into these systems.

Practical application of some of these home automation systems may, for example, include in such areas as automatic control of room temperature and lighting, detection of fire, water and/or gas leaks, automatic switching on and off of home entertainment systems, intruder (burglar) detection systems and robotic application systems where robots get to perform manual home tasks such as cleaning around, running petty (physical) errands around the house, etc. Not so common applications may include plant watering, pet feeding, pool heating and face recognition systems.

Home automation also has lighting control systems which allow the home owner to control not only the lighting but also lighting levels of a house. These systems, with the help of a touch panel and an inbuilt processor, allow homeowners to trigger lights or other devices like fans, usually the entire house at once. Some more advanced lighting systems are able to detect human presence in a room and change the settings to personal preferences.

Security control systems such as CCTVs and motion detectors are becoming common in many homes. These home automation systems detect very minute changes to the surroundings by use of radio or infrared technology and warn the homeowner of possible intrusions. These systems can also be set up to turn on at certain times of the day and night automatically.

A common application today is in intercom technology. A user interacts with the system via a microphone and a speaker. Some advanced systems can recognize individual voices and act accordingly, based on how they have been programmed. These systems have proven to be very secure and effective in keeping away intruders.

Home automation systems however, like any other comfort appliances or systems, may have their down or negative sides. For example, some of these technologies employed in their construction may have harmful ray emissions such as laser beams, radio waves, etc. These home comforts have also led to reduced human contact resulting in anti-social behavior.

Home automation is about comfort, convenience and security. This comfort and security comes with a heavy price to pay. Installation and maintenance of some automated systems is very expensive. These costs are invariably high and therefore out of reach to most people.

However, it is expected that as more people come to appreciate technology and its convenience in people's daily lives and as individual incomes continue to rise, home automation will be a more common feature of many homes worldwide. They not only save on time but also give people a sense of security.

If you are searching for home automation companies, you should definitely try out:www.MileHighAutomation.com, they are definitely one of the best companies out there in the field of home automation.

June 2508 by James Bhumi - A Strong New Voice Has Emerged in Speculative Fiction

2008-08-24T00:04:00.000-07:00

By Chuck Gregory

It is not uncommon for authors to share their vision of the future using a novel as their platform. It is somewhat less common for that vision to be carefully projected, based on the writer's understanding of science and/or politics. It is far less common - in fact quite rare - for such a vision to resonate with the ring of truth. Such a vision has James Bhumi created.

The scientific developments in this book feel possible. They seem to be logical if frequently surprising results of research that is being performed today. Certainly it is difficult to predict with any accuracy what direction may be taken as gifted students and scientists study new concepts; just look at what's happened in the last 500 years to get an idea of what might change. Yet despite a number of paradigm shifts over that time our science today at least has its roots in the science of 1508. A look at history can be one of the best ways of understanding our current situation, be we looking at politics, military capability, environmental issues, or virtually any other topic.

Beyond the hard science, James Bhumi has looked at politics and especially economics, particularly as they are affected by an intriguing breakthrough in biology. He posits the abandonment of research into longevity, because of certain inherent problems. Not least of these is the increase in an older and more complacent population that serves as a drain on humanity rather than pushing it to new levels with the sometimes foolish but always energetic fervor of youth. This is on the surface radically different from the view frequently expressed in science fiction that long life brings wealth and innovation, as well as heartbreak as generations of loved ones fade into the past. Proponents of that view are many, including the esteemed Poul Anderson who was always one of my favorites. However Bhumi makes his case forcefully and logically, and most important of all he has fun - and so does the reader. And there is something else that he's proposed as an alternative direction for research, i.e. as a direction that was taken by visionary scientists in what to us is still the future.

I can tell you that his radical concept is not based on artificial intelligence; in fact he, or his alter ego who is the protagonist in the novel, believes that will never happen, that it cannot in fact happen. He does expect the continued development of computers and robotics to produce incredibly competent servants capable of independent action that oftentimes appears to be intelligence; but he does not anticipate a sudden (or for that matter protracted, like David Weber's Dahak) 'wakening' of machine intelligence. No, his 'valets' are tools that handle many of the tasks we today must perform ourselves, not intelligent beings in their own right.

Some of the developments in Bhumi's future landscape are exciting and wonderful, while others are depressing. All are presented with humor and a true appreciation of humanity with all its quirks. Most of the story takes place during a one-month period 500 years in the future, at which time Raemon Teeler has traveled to Mars to visit and perhaps join the thriving colony there. Teeler's lectures at the University serve as one of the mechanisms for Bhumi to let the reader know what's happened over that 500 year span between June 2008 and June 2508. Another method for presenting that information is the inclusion of an old friend who trades intuitive and intellectual insights with Teeler, who is himself extremely intelligent and at the same time practical - two abilities that unfortunately do not always go together.

There are some fascinating females too. I think I fell in love with at least two of them! The discussion of asymmetrical ways of thinking between women and men was as amusing as it was enlightening. I may not agree with it, entirely, but then I am just a man.

Bhumi has some interesting insights into the continuing polarization in the distribution of wealth. Where many of us are concerned and angry about the erosion of the middle class and the increasing power enjoyed by the super-rich, he posits that the mechanism is economically necessary to spur change. He feels that any society which has melded its citizens into one 'class' has lost its incentive for change, that such a society will inevitably stagnate. Further, if every member of a society is rich, then every one of them will begin to feel poor!

Despite turning many of our favorite notions on their heads, Bhumi makes sense. His book is carefully structured, with a bit of mystery to go with the science and romance. He calls it 'prospective fiction' because it is so strongly based on what can happen. It's a good term for it.

This is an exciting and funny book. I'm actually reading it a second time and I rarely do that; I want to see how much I missed. Not to mention that I want to find clues that would have led me to be less surprised at certain events! I know the clues are there because I know the author prides himself on consistency and on being fair to readers. But like Agatha Christie he enjoys hiding the clues and making us work to see where the story may go.

June 2508 is a fascinating work of fiction. I highly recommend it.

June 2508 by James Bhumi (reviewed by Chuck Gregory)

Format: 5.5 x 8.5 Paperback
ISBN: 978-1432700454
Cover Price: $14.95
Also Available: Ebook Edition $8.00
Pages: 344
Category: Fiction/ Science Fiction
Published by: Outskirts Press, Inc.
Publication Date: 12/18/2006 (On Sale: 01/01/2007) [Posted in error as Dec 9, 2006 at Amazon]
Novel website: http://www.June2508.com

A long-time reviewer and editor, I love to read. When I have time, I share my opinions with others. My tastes are varied but lean more toward fiction than nonfiction. I've often found writers are less afraid of the truth when they write fiction. I appreciate that.

How Computer Graphics (CG) Changed Special Effects in Movies

2008-08-23T00:03:00.000-07:00

By Saju Asokan

The introduction of computer graphics can be claimed as one of the very few industry refinements that has caused almost zero negative effects. The days of fabricating huge casts and models to make a six legged creature, that would make the audience scream are far gone. CG revolutionized the field so dramatically that our expectations and benchmarks have been quadrupled in a time-frame of couple of years.

If you spend some time during your weekends to watch some old thriller titles, you would get nothing but boredom, from those special effects that kept you at the edge of your seat, a couple of years back. What makes this tremendous change in the special effects industry in such a short span of time? Nothing but the magical entry of computer graphics into the special effects industry.

Special effects in olden days: The special effects in olden days were sometimes referred to as camera techniques. During those days, computers had no role in the industry that we see today. Most special effects movies with human casts would do some stunts with an alien or a monstrous creature. Either they would make a full sized model of the creature with the aid of robotics and hydraulic systems or would create a small scale model and magnify it while mixing up the scene. Usually a combination of these techniques was used in olden days.

How computer graphics revolutionized the field: Computer graphics really became a magic wand for the movie director. lets see how:

• Limits imposed by real world models are gone: Before its introduction, a movie director how ever creative he is had so many limitations. The special effects he could incorporate into a movie were limited by the robotic creatures, whose movements were obviously limited by the hydraulic machines that powered them. Keep in mind that the robotics field was not as developed during those times as it is now. In the case of computer graphics, the models are modeled using a graphics workstation. All it takes is a team of skilled graphic designers and powerful workstations to render the scenes. The physical restraints got almost completely dissolved.

• Cost has been dramatically reduced: In the olden days, budget had been a significant constraint since, the monstrous models created for movies used to cost a fortune. These models were crafted with robust devices and the drive train that powered them would be highly sophisticated, so that they would appear as real and their movements as fluid as possible. Due to this level of sophistication, the expense for the creation of such models always turned out to be high. With the introduction of computer graphics, the cost of creation of a model could be limited to the hiring cost of a team of graphics professionals, a farm of fast computers for rendering and experts to control the work flow. The physical models created could be brought down to the minimum.

• Minimal wastage of resources: In the past, the models created for a movie would cost a significant share of the whole budget but if the movie happens to be not a sequel, the models might not find a reuse in the future at all. This would be nothing but a pure wastage of money and resources. Since, in computer graphics, nothing much exists physically, no wastage of real physical resources occur. If a CG model ever needs to be altered, all it takes is the effort from the part of a graphics professional.

• Time saving: The fabrication process, used for the creation of physical models was time consuming. The process would demand time for the setting and fixing of joints irrespective of the availability of human labor. But in the case of computer graphics, the more the number of skilled workforce the production team has at hands, the faster the work will get done.

• Far superior reality: With the advent of the latest animation and modeling software, the scenes are getting so realistic that it is hard to distinguish. The presence of latest composing, mixing and editing software, makes it a cakewalk to blend special effects scenes with the usual cast shots.

The introduction of computer graphics can be claimed as one of the very few industry refinements that has caused almost zero negative effects. The days of fabricating huge casts and models to make a six legged creature, that would make the audience scream are far gone. CG revolutionized the field so dramatically that our expectations and benchmarks have been quadrupled in a time-frame of couple of years.

My website provides 3d graphics tutorials on 3d modeling and animation softwares like 3ds max, maya etc.

(The website provides comprehensive and step-by-step tutorials on 3DS Max and also provides comprehensive articles on Technology, Spirituality and Relationships).

Unraveling the Genius of Nicola Tesla

2008-08-22T00:02:00.000-07:00

By Bill Knell

Nicola Tesla is as much man as he is legend. Born into a Serbian family during 1856 in what used to be the Austrian Empire, Tesla became a modern Merlin by inventing all sorts of amazing contraptions, providing the electrical power necessary for an economy increasingly dependent on it and creating an electronic revolution based on his theories and ideas. Considered the father of Alternating Current (AC power), the means to distribute it and the AC motor, he also demonstrated the first use of wireless communication in 1894 and made the impossible possible.

Tesla is credited with taking theoretical ideas and making them into practical projects and useful inventions. Many consider his work to be the birthing table of remote control, computers, robotics, radar and other modern marvels. Tesla became the father of most twentieth century technology. Apart from his own genius, Tesla had the good sense and intelligence to build on the work of others. While attending the Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague during 1880, he was heavily influenced by the work of Ernst Mach. Mach was a physicist from Austria that studied and photographed spark and ballistic shock waves.

Nicola used his time at University to read as many books about physics, engineering and related subjects as he could. Said to have a photographic memory, he didn't just memorize the books; he interpreted them to his own advantage. These interpretations came to him as sudden inspirations in the forms of flashes of light which took shape into pictures in his mind. Tesla believed that anything he could imagine or picture in his mind, he could design and build. During his later years, Tesla proposed the idea of a thought photography machine which could capture things like his own inspirational flashes on film.

A friend of Tesla was witness to one of his inspirational flashes. Tesla was walking through a Belgrade park in 1882 and talking with him when Nicola stopped dead in his tracks and was silent. His friend thought that he was having some sort of an attack, seizure or stroke and encouraged him to sit down on a nearby bench. Tesla regained his composure, but would not sit down until he walked over to a children's play area and drew plans for his AC power distribution system and motor in the sand. Committing them to memory, he later copied them on to paper.

After moving to Budapest, Hungary, Tesla worked as chief electrician to the first telephone company there and invented a phone amplifier which led to the development of the first loudspeaker. In 1882 he moved to Paris, France, to work for the Continental Edison Company. After expressing a desire to move to the United States and work for the Edison company there, Charles Batchelor wrote a letter of recommendation to Thomas Edison which stated, "I know two great men and you are one of them; the other is this young man." However, this was anything but a match made in heaven.

A number of his biographers claim that Tesla was offered $50,000 to redesign Thomas Edison's inefficient electric generating system. After working seven days a week and almost twenty hour days for quite some time, Edison delivered an improved system to Edison and came to claim his reward. Thomas Edison reportedly said, "Tesla, you don't understand our American humor" and refused to pay him anymore than the base wage of about eighteen dollars a week that he was receiving at the time. After asking for a raise to twenty-five dollars a week and being refused that amount, Tesla parted ways with Edison. Part of the problem was that Edison believed in Direct Current and could not accept Tesla's AC poly phase design.

Tesla dug ditches for a time to survive while he developed the brushless AC induction motor, the Tesla Coil and single node vacuum tubes which allowed the development and use of X-ray technology in the medical field. He demonstrated his induction motor to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1888 and soon went to work for George Westinghouse in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where the company labs were located. Westinghouse liked his ideas about poly phase systems which allowed transmission of AC power over long distances.

In 1891, Nicola Tesla became a naturalized American Citizen and established his own laboratory in New York City. Patents for his poly phase power system were granted in 1891-1892 while he continued to work on improvements and innovations for power generation, magnetism and the invention of radio transmissions as a means of remote control. He was eventually able to generate one million volts of AC power, an amount undreamed of at that time. But that was just the beginning. What he really wanted to do was to create a system by which generated power could be wirelessly transmitted.

The first fruits of his genius were displayed to awe struck crowds at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. With the cooperation of and financing provided by Westinghouse, Tesla illuminated the entire Chicago exposition using his AC power system and twelve 1000 horse power two-phase generators. Electrically-powered water fountains were featured throughout the fairgrounds. Tesla had his own exhibit which featured marvels like his Egg of Columbus (or Tesla Egg). It was an egg made of copper which used principles of the rotating magnetic field and an induction motor to make it stand on end. His switching disc (which created high-frequency AC power) and other devices were also on display.

Despite his successes, Tesla found himself stuck in the middle of an electrical power war between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. The DC verses AC dispute nearly bankrupted both parties and generated a lifetime of rivalry, revenge and retribution. As a favor and sign of support and appreciation to Westinghouse, Nicola released him from his contract in 1897. That allowed Westinghouse to forego the payment of a huge amount of royalties due Tesla for use of his patents. The conflict never slowed Nicola down. During this time he invented a spark plug for gasoline engines and laboriously researched radiation. That work lead to a better understanding of cosmic rays and, later, the development of a directed energy weapon.

Tesla had high hopes for an idea he had concerning remote-controlled weaponry which lead him to file a patent for the first wireless radio transmission system. In 1898, he demonstrated a radio-controlled submarine style boat and remote-controlled torpedo system which he tried to sell to the U.S. Military. The boat actually had an early radio signal detector and logic gates. It was his first Teleautomaton or robotic vehicle. Tesla demonstrated it at Madison Square Garden and told those that attended, "You see there the first of a race of robots, mechanical men which will do the laborious work of the human race."

Some would argue that Tesla's time in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was the best and worst of times for him. He arrived there in 1899 and told reporters he was building a laboratory to work on the wireless transmission of telegraph signals throughout the world. However, he was actually more interested in the wireless transmission of power using the earth as a conductor and wanted to use his Colorado facility to experiment on and perfect a system that could do just that. Tesla successfully transmitted wireless power to receiving devices in the area, but also managed to blackout the entire city of the Colorado Springs and set their only power generator on fire. Nicola later replaced that generator at his own expense which healed a large rift between himself and the local population.

During his time in Colorado Springs, Tesla managed to wirelessly light over 200 lamps that were twenty-five miles away from his lab. He also developed practical versions of many of his theoretical ideas to link power and radio transmissions into one transmission and receiving system. While working on all this, Nicola interpreted odd clicks that he received in numerical order as the radio transmissions of aliens from nearby worlds. Many believe it was merely the result of space noise or a misunderstanding of the new technologies he was using. Others aren't so sure. It's been sadly reported that many prototypes of some of Tesla's greatest and most amazing inventions were lost after he closed the lab in 1900 and sold its contents to pay off debts. The lab building was eventually demolished.

After leaving Colorado Springs, Tesla managed to get a grant for $150,000.00 from notorious financier J. Pierpoint Morgan to build his famous Wardenclyffe facility on Long Island. Tesla devised an amazing wireless system to link the world through telephone and telegraph transmissions, which also had the capability to instantly transit photos, moving pictures and electronically generated text to global receiving points. Worldwide politics, government meddling, budget overruns and funding fears caused the premature shutdown of his Wardenclyffe project before it could be completed.

During the period of 1900 until the end of World War One in 1918, Tesla became the fall guy for blame on many fronts. His failure to file patents for some of his best inventions caused distrust among financiers and lead some in the government to believe he was signing secret agreements with foreign governments not sympathetic to American ideals and policy. In 1917, the Wardenclyffe facility was seized and destroyed by U.S. Marines sent in by the Federal Government. They believed the place was crawling with German Spies and might be used as a weapon against Americans. There was never any truth in that accusation. It's more likely that local, state and federal politicians just didn't understand what he was trying to accomplish and didn't want the responsibility of having to explain any disasters or large scale power failures his project might cause.

Tesla was a patriotic American that refused to sell inventions to foreign powers that might have given them an advantage over U.S. forces. He was also notoriously inept when it came to handling money and many of the patents he had might never have been filed at all except for the constant badgering he received from associates and colleagues that helped with the paperwork. Apart from his own lack of concern for his own financial stability, Tesla made a lifetime enemy when he crossed electrical currents with Thomas Edison. Many believe that Edison used his status as a native born American and reputation as an inventor to turn government authorities and venture capitalists against Nicola.

The first sign of enemies working behind the scenes against Tesla was an action by the U.S. Patent Office which reversed its decision to award Nicola the patent for radio. Instead, they awarded it to Guglielmo Marconi who filed his own patent papers months after Tesla. Despite the fact that Tesla's oscillator was the very basis for Marconi's patent and was well known throughout the world by that time, the U.S. Patent Office called the idea that Marconi knew about Nicola's oscillator "absurd." Nicola should have filed his patent for radio much earlier, but his lazy attitude toward paperwork cost him dearly and never allowed him to regain the patent during his lifetime. It wasn't until after his reported death in 1943 that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tesla's radio patent declaring him the actual inventor of radio.

After Tesla's claims that he had communicated with extraterrestrials and word spread about some of his more exotic inventions including a 'death ray' based on his work with and research of radiation, plasma energy and X-rays, reporters began to portray Nicola as a mad scientist. Comic books and cartoons followed suit by naming a villain after him. However, many in the scientific and engineering communities considered Tesla a visionary and few doubted his intellect. Able to speak at least eight languages fluently, the soft-spoken genius with a flair for scientific showmanship ingratiated himself to almost everyone that met or saw him in person.

Shortly before his death in 1931, Thomas Edison admitted that his greatest mistake was developing Direct Current, instead of using Tesla's Alternating Current ideas and means of power distribution. Tesla was less generous. After Edison died, he pointed out that Edison had a contempt for book learning that cost him dearly in terms of productivity and the time it took him to develop inventions. Tesla felt that inspiration was important, but no more so than possessing the knowledge that can only be learned by studying the work, theories and discoveries of those who came before. Tesla's own major flaw was inventing things that were so futuristic they were often misunderstood, ignored or feared by people that lacked the vision he possessed to appreciate them. Tesla once said, "The present is theirs; the future, for which I really work, is mine."

Nicola Tesla envisioned a future in which people communicated, exchanged information and traveled at light speed. He believed that his own amazing inventions would be the catalyst that would help bring the people of the world closer together. Generally opposed to war, most of the futuristic weapons he invented were designed as a means to prevent worldwide conflicts instead of propagating them. He imagined and spoke about energy weapons that could destroy whole fleets of ships and planes while they were still hundreds of miles away from their targets. He felt such devices would prevent the further development of war machines and weapons because the use of these things would become ineffective, rendering them obsolete.

Tesla was able to produce a laser beam and, like a few other forward thinking inventors of his time, had already begun working on a directed energy weapon by the early 1900s. Some have blamed his work in this area for everything from the sudden explosion of ships to the still unexplained Tunguska blast in Siberia. In 1937, Tesla granted an interview to a New York Times reporter to explain the invention and development of his infamous Death Ray. Nicola said that his weapon "will send concentrated beams of particles through the free air, of such tremendous energy that they will bring down a fleet of 10,000 enemy airplanes at a distance of 250 miles from the defending nation's border and will cause armies of millions to drop dead in their tracks."

The death ray may or may not exist and might have been little more than a flash of inspiration in Nicola's mind when he described it. Many of Tesla's inventions were based on theoretical ideas and were a constant work in progress. However, this doesn't mean he did not built prototypes which worked in the laboratory. He allegedly built a small working model of an anti-gravity air ship which operated on energy transmitted to it through the air. This ship could operate inside or outside of the atmosphere and resembled a flying saucer. Nicola's ideas and inventions involving new sources of power caused shockwaves, figuratively and literally.

While working at his office located at 46 Houston Street in Manhattan, Tesla returned to an earlier interest he had in waves and resonance which was originally ignited by the work of Ernst Mach. Nicola believed this might be another source of power that had been previously ignored by those who didn't bother to look into it. As a result, he built a small device that became known as Tesla's Earthquake Machine. More an experiment that was part of his resonance research than a device, Nicola tested it in 1897. Nothing happened when he first turned it on, so he fell asleep after hours of exhaustive work. While asleep, the device began causing vibrations akin to an earthquake. It's said that if a police officer had not broken into his office and woke Tesla up, the device might have destroyed most of lower Manhattan and sank the Brooklyn Bridge.

Always thinking ahead, Nicola Tesla believed it would soon be possible to built anti-gravity, teleportation and even time travel devices. Some believe that these ideas lead to his involvement with the infamous Philadelphia Experiment. That experiment allegedly began as a project to demagnetize ships against sophisticated German Mines attracted to the magnetized metal in naval vessels. The stamping procedure that was part of the ship building process caused the magnetism which was could also be detrimental to electronic devices on board and effected the performance of new technologies like radar. Because of a need to develop devices that would use sound detection as a means to protect harbors against unauthorized submarine entry, and the need to develop cloaking technology to protect military vessels against detection by enemy radar, those two goals were added to the original project.

Physicists, mathematicians and engineers from Princeton University were allegedly brought on board to develop the technology necessary to achieve project goals which the military felt could all be worked on at the same time. Their work would begin at the Institute For Advanced Study located at Princeton University in New Jersey and conclude with testing at the nearby Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania. The institute was the academic home of scientific luminaries like Albert Einstein, John Von Neumann and Robert Oppenheimer. All worked on government projects during World War II and much of their work remains classified.

Despite the availability of talent from Princeton, people like John Von Neumann who allegedly worked on the Philadelphia Experiment were much younger and less experienced than Tesla. They did not have the knowledge possessed by him when it came to exploiting and controlling powerful electromagnetic fields or understanding resonance and sound waves. It's generally believed that the development of technologies needed to accomplish the goals that were a part of the Philadelphia Experiment would not be possible at all without knowledge and abilities.

According to some who claim involvement with the Philadelphia Experiment, Tesla was not a team player. He felt that the projects were moving too fast and that others involved were making errors in judgment in terms of their theories, ideas and expectations, especially when it came to the degaussing and stealth radar field experiments. It didn't take Tesla long to realize that many of the younger academics attached to this project had secretly considered manipulating powerful electromagnetic fields to not only create a stealth field against enemy radar, but also attain complete optical invisibility of the vessel in question. Tesla did not oppose the idea, but he felt they were going about it in the wrong way and should have informed the military liaisons of their intentions.

Tesla's greatest complaint against how the degaussing, stealth radar field and invisibility would be accomplished may have involved placing the generators needed to create the power necessary for these tasks aboard the ships. He felt that the energy could just as easy be transmitted to the target in question. In fact, that would allow the effect to be used on most any military vessel, weapon or aircraft. A whole fleet of ships and planes could be protected from a single power plant located on a barge towed by a ship. It would also allow for the delicate adjustments needed to maintain and control the necessary fields. Such control, he argued, would not be possible with a huge power plant located on each ship.

Tesla was correct in his assessment of the flaws he detected in the version of the technology being developed for the Philadelphia Experiment by the Princeton Academics. However, he probably didn't realize that even long after his death, the giant shadow of Thomas Edison was still exerting pressure on Nicola's work. Some of those that worked for Edison on early experiments with radar were now involved in a separate attempt to develop what was hoped to be a powerful new radar system for U.S. Ships. That system required huge amounts of power. Like Edison, his protégés had no faith in Tesla. They doubted his ability to create a workable system to transmit the amount of wireless power needed to run their radar and still power the stealth and optical invisibility devices.

The Princeton Academics tried to keep Tesla in the dark as much as possible, but he was far more intelligent than they were and saw through what were trying to do. When he allegedly got wind of the involvement of some of the old Edison Company researchers, he realized what was happening and quit the project in 1942. His departure spelled doom for the Philadelphia Experiment. The first experiment in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard brought mixed results. The ship involved became radar and optically invisible shocking Navy and other Military Officers viewing the test. Although the ship was safely degaussed without harming any of the electronic equipment on board, the same could not be said of most of the test animals involved. Animals were brought on board to test the results of the technology on living things. Many were badly burned or seemed to partially melt into the wooden deck and metal of the ship.

After making some adjustments and still ignoring Tesla's recommendations, another test was ordered. This was a sea trial with a crew on board. During this phase of the experiment, the ship again became degaussed, radar and optically invisible. However, technicians lost their ability to control the on board generators causing effects similar to those experienced by the animals during the first experiment and worse. Crew members were burned and some faded into the deck and superstructure of the ship. Others became invisible, transparent and a few just floated away.

Without Tesla's knowledge and ability to control such new and powerful technologies, the experiment never safely achieved the desired results. Instead, it went awry during later attempts causing a number of even more bizarre and unexpected results than the first shipyard or subsequent sea trial attempts. These included contact with Aliens, the opening of space/time portals and resultant time travel experiences. None of these new discoveries could be taken advantage of or developed in time to help with the war effort, but they were hardly something that the military would ignore for long. After the war, the military took another look at the original experiment and formed a committee of officers from the Navy, Marines, Army and Air Force to study what happened and develop a new program that would become the basis for future experiments involving space/time portals, time travel, mind control, teleportation and the manipulation of psychic powers. Tesla may have been an important part of their plans.

Shortly after his death in January of 1943, the FBI raided Tesla's hotel room and offices. They removed a number of items including the entire contents of his safe. Most of Tesla's papers were declared Top Secret. In an strange and still unexplained move, many of Tesla's personal items and papers that were not considered a threat to national security were almost immediately sent back to his homeland (still occupied by Nazi forces at the time) by the U.S. Government. They used a special diplomatic Courier who flew into enemy territory and landed in an American military transport aircraft with Tesla's personal possessions on board. Many of these items are on display in the Nicola Tesla Museum in Belgrade and most of the personal papers are now apart of the Museum's archive. His ashes are also kept inside a golden sphere at the Belgrade Museum.

Despite the fact that the U.S. Government claims that Tesla never actually worked for them, the return of his personal items to the country of his birth by U.S. authorities during wartime and events at his funeral seem to suggest otherwise. His casket was covered with both an American and Yugoslavian Flag during the funeral. However, his casket was covered solely with an American Flag while being carried into and out of the Cathedral of St John The Divine by pallbearers which included several high-ranking members of the U.S. Military. The real question is whether or not Tesla actually died in 1943. Some witnesses claim to have seen Tesla working on later incarnations of the Philadelphia Experiment and other projects as late as the 1950s. Technically speaking, that would put him well into his 90's during that time unless time travel was possible.

Tesla's life is not an open book and probably never will be. Even now the U.S. Government recently felt it necessary to state almost seventy years after his death that the FBI is not now and never has been in possession of his death ray. That is a narrow statement that isn't fooling anyone. The FBI searched his premises after Tesla's death and seized what they considered to be of importance. That doesn't mean they actually found a working death ray machine. It's more likely that plans and notes about that and many other inventions he had yet to build were confiscated. If a death ray was later built, that task would not have been accomplished by the FBI.

Circumstantial evidence indicates that Tesla's relationship with the U.S. Government was a tempestuous one at best and certainly allows for all kinds of guess work. For example, during the building of his Wardenclyffe facility on Long Island, a number of underground tunnels were constructed. These were to be used for various purposes involving his energy distribution system and are said to have extended for many miles in all directions. Though most are blocked off or cannot be easily accessed, many of these tunnels still exist and may have been used for experiments involving more updated versions of the Philadelphia Experiment in the area of and under the infamous Montauk Base. Witnesses have claimed for years that the old radar and military facility known as Camp Hero has been used for government projects involving time travel, invisibility, mind control and psychic powers.

It's important to understand that Tesla probably thought of and envisioned technologies that he knew most people in his day would not be able to comprehend or accept. His projects were almost always multi-faceted and it's almost impossible to guess what he might have really been up to during various projects. I believe that he did achieve time travel and that the U.S. Government may have used his own inventions and work against him. It's possible that the activation of the Wardenclyffe facility could have caused some sort of catastrophe or might have hindered future government experiments involving their projects at Montauk. If so, they could have sent someone back in time to stir up enough doubt about Tesla to cause the authorities responsible for national security in those days to close down and destroy Wardenclyffe.

While all this may sound like wild speculation, when it comes to Tesla, no speculation is wild enough. Anyone that takes the time to study this genius, his theories and inventions will soon discover that he led no ordinary life and caused changes in our world that have yet to be fully seen or appreciated. Just the fact that most grade school students learn all about Thomas Edison, but may never even hear the name of Nicola Tesla during their courses of study, speaks volumes. And it's not just all about secrecy. Nicola Tesla is not a subject for the lazy learner. He is a phenomenon and force of nature and it could easily take a lifetime to understand even a small portion of what he was trying to accomplish.

Author: Bill Knell

Author's Email: bek@flashmail.com

Author's Website: http://www.ufoguy.com

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CNC Equipment - Get the Right One For the Job

2008-08-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

By Guy J Morris

CNC machines are used in industrial settings such as factories and schools. CNC, the abbreviation for Computer Numerated Control, first came into use in the 1970s and are used in many places today. They have to be programmed for what specifically you want done, but once they are programmed, they are very easy to operate. Learning how to program CNC equipment and machines usually takes a special schooling.

CNC machines are very expensive and are usually only purchased for industrial use. They are sometimes purchased used for a lesser cost and used for woodworking jobs where you want repetitive cutting. In factories, they are used to drill holes, cut designs as well as give the product a finished appearance. They are time saving and very accurate.

CNC routers are used for drilling holes automatically when you have a large quantity and want consistency. They are great for large jobs where manual drilling would become repetitive and tiresome, thus making errors more common.

A CNC lather is excellent for cutting wood and is often used in the making of furniture pieces. Different models of these [http://www.insidewoodworking.com/cnc/index.html]cnc woodworking machines are available in different powers from fifteen to forty horsepower. This will depend on the type of wood as well as your needs. Some high quality modes operate in several modes from manual to all power, allowing you to custom it to your individual needs for the job.

Milling machines are used in the milling business with Bridgeport being the most common. They are efficient and long lasting but very expensive and are used in small and large factories.

The CNC mill is a large tool that uses robotics and computer programming to assure accuracy. Because of their extreme accuracy, you will often see Bridgeport mills used in the airline business. A programmer will set the specifications for what tools it needs and at what degree and measurement and the CNC will do it all and eject the finished part.

Another form of equipment in the CNC industry is engraving equipment. These are used to engrave glass, stone, wood, metal and almost any material you desire. They are fast and more accurate than it could ever be done manually. They are used for small and large jobs.

CNC machines are very expensive and out of reach for most individuals. Most individuals, however, don't have use for a CNC on a consistent basis. If you are considering purchasing one, you may want to check into refurbished or used equipment. Refurbished equipment is a better option than used because they are usually totally repaired as well as coming with some sort of warranty.

The magazine writer Guy Morris is very interested in themes related to cnc router and cnc router tables. You might see his abstracts on cnc woodworking machines at http://www.insidewoodworking.com

Robotic Volcanic Explorer

2008-08-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

The use of robots promoted unmanned devices when evaluating certain aspects of volcanic activities. At high risk jobs, the development of robots have been very useful as it has controlled the rate by which man is placed at a dangerous situation just to do certain tasks. Man-controlled robots have replaced humans in evaluating bomb site or retrieving bombs, studying deadly viruses or strains of microorganisms or going out in the space. Now, a segment of robotic volcanic explorer has been developed to allow scientists to make thorough studies and evaluations on volcanic activities without putting themselves in great danger. The world has seen great scientists and other great workers die in the line of duty. The incorporation of robots to their high-risk jobs will not only speed up the results but will preserve the people who work hard to keep everybody safe.

As stated in the recent news, the mapping of active volcano sites and evaluations to predict their activities is already done by robots. In a New Zealand-led mission, a state-of-the¬-art underwater vehicle is deployed from a German ship to study the Brothers volcano. As one of the bigger and active off shore volcanoes in New Zealand, Brothers volcano has only been explored from surface ships and man-piloted submersibles. Since the country hosts a number of submerged or submarine volcanoes, they are hoping for the possibilities of discovering mineral deposits or new solutions for the country's demand for energy sources. Also, the scientists want to map the area to be able to predict volcanic activities that may pose great danger to nearby towns. Now, using a robotic volcanic explorer allowed the team to go deeper into the corners of the ocean to thoroughly map the volcano and come up with a high precision study and search for mineral deposits.

Aside from using robotics in mobility, a robotic volcanic explorer also makes use of sophisticated devices which helps the scientists produce a clearer three-dimensional map of volcanic sites. Tuned to deliver accurate and precise measurements, these devices include imaging systems, and pressure as well as temperature gauges, which will help the robot to smoothly navigate from place to place. All of these are highly dangerous when done by humans. With such devices, the need for man to extend his body limits to reach critical areas of his studies will be minimized if not eliminated.

The incorporation of sophisticated devices and the latest robotic technology makes a robotic volcanic explorer a scientist in its own right. At certain projects or any location, its applications will be useful in collected wide range of information at high precision levels. Not only will it save lives while doing explorations, it significantly helps the scientists thoroughly and accurately formulate a new platform of understanding towards certain aspects of volcanic studies. Since the results are definitely of environmental, survival and economic significance, it has become one of today's most important investigative tools.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about robotic volcano explorer, please visit Robotics Online for current articles and discussions.

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How to Make a Simple Robot

2008-08-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

Robots, such as humanoids robot perform like humans and can do things humans do. However, if you are starting out making your first robot, do not think of the complicated, high technology and functional robot. Simple robot will need two wheels and the ability to move forward, move backward, move left and move right. This is the simplest robot you can do, enough to help you learn the basics. Hopefully, through your mistakes in your first robot, you can develop your second robot with more functionality.

What you need in making a simple robot?

· Money - of course you will need money in making your own robot because you cannot create your own parts by now.

· Design plan - again, do not think of a highly complicated design, simple robot needs to be able to move forward, backward and side ways.

· Wheel, this will move the robot.

· Motor, preferably battery operated motor

· Power, the choice of battery is important.

· Cool circuit thingy.

Steps in making a simple robot

Take the design and list the parts, tools and equipment you need.

Find a suitable place to make your robot, this will ensure that you have all you need in one place.

Follow the algorithm for a robot:

Forward, both wheels need to move at the same speed.

Backward, both wheels need to move at the same speed as well.

To move left, left wheel moves reverse and the right wheel moves forward

To move right, right wheel move reverse and the left wheel moves forward.

Attach the wheel; 3" wheel is the best because it will move the robot faster.

Attach the motor; the program will calculate gearing ratios, desired terrain, desired velocity and acceleration, voltage, power consumption and controllability.

Attach the battery to the motor; NiMH is the recommended battery for your motor.

Finally, the cool circuit thingy. Buy one that is already assembled, do not experiment on this one, you may do it on your second robot.

Test, test and test.

Making a robot is not easy; you therefore need a goal to finish the project. Joining robotics competition will help you move forward in your goal. If you do not win, no problem, redesign your robot and join again. It will give you the motivation to finish your robot. [http://www.legalcreditboost.com/free-credit-repair.html]Did You Find this Credit Repair article Helpful? Would you like find out more LEGAL ways to Repair Your Credit Fast? Then Click Here to visit us over at legalcreditboost.com [http://www.legalcreditboost.com/free-credit-repair.html]Get Your Three Free Credit Repair Tips! [http://www.Legalcreditboost.com]Get Your Three Free Credit Repair Tips....www.Legalcreditboost.com!

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Development of Sensor Based Tie Downs For UAVs

2008-08-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

By Lance Winslow

One of the biggest issues of using unmanned aerial vehicles is that they still require a ground support team of humans to take care of them. But why I ask? After all it is much easier to design robotic ground assistants than it is build a tele-robotic unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV.

UAVs once on the ground should be able to park themselves and/or tie themselves down. The ground robots should be able to tie them down, untie them, fuel them up and do preflight duties. Shell Oil company developed a robot that can fuel your car if you are parked in the right spot next to the gas pump, so it's easy to see how robotic ground teams could handle all these things. Why not?

Saving on ground crew training and all the other costs that go with humans in the military could potentially really be a relief to the taxpayer. Better yet, there would be fewer mistakes and human error as each robotic ground unit would have exactly the same software. Am I suggesting robotics for all military endeavors in the future? Well, yes, I guess I am thinking in that direction.

You see, the US military has had such great success with its UAV program, that it makes sense to take all this to the next step and to use that to reduce the costs spent on military endeavors and increase the effectiveness of all operations at the same time. Do, I believe that this will soon happen? Yes, as a matter of fact it's happening before our very eyes as we speak.

Lance Winslow Is the author of the popular military robotics eBook: http://www.worldthinktank.net/pdfs/unmannedvehiclerobotic.pdf

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Development-of-Sensor-Based-Tie-Downs-For-UAVs&id=1410569

Academic Assurances in Artificial Intelligence Research

2008-08-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

By Lance Winslow

Currently there are robotics competitions going on across America and almost every single major university as a robotics program along with degrees in computer sciences, robotics and artificial intelligence. There is no doubt within the next decade that the field of artificial intelligence and robotic androids will come of age. In fact currently artificial intelligence designers are trying to make business decision computers and thus your future boss could be an android. That is to say if you do not lose your job first to a robotic system in manufacturing.

Academia has assured us that we will not have to worry about robots taking over the world in causing Armageddon, but how can we be so sure? After all, right now they're only experimenting and building prototypes. Right now all we see is unmanned aerial vehicles in the military, robotics lawnmowers and those little nifty robotic vacuum cleaners you can buy for your home. But in the future we will have robotic artificial intelligence armies, with no people. Half of the U.S. Automaker manufacturing facilities currently use robotics to build cars. All or most all car washes in the United States use robotics and more and more industries are turning towards robotics and artificial intelligence systems to run things, rather than people.

This is great for shareholders equity and quarterly profits, yet anyone who has been downsized due to the robotics efficiency probably has a different perspective on this issue. Will the human race become slaves to robotic systems? We all know that in every civilization there is a point when government gets so large and has so much control that no longer needs to people at once served. Who is to say that government will not employ robots to cut costs and save taxpayers money? At that point the robots will be running us and what if they decided we are no longer needed. Will it matter then if academia promised us that their artificial intelligent robotic research would not harm us? I dare to ask this question even though I am very pro robotics. Consider this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Academic-Assurances-in-Artificial-Intelligence-Research&id=153977

Academia Robotics Programs Need to Press On

2008-08-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

Robotics is going to be a huge industry in the United States and currently across America kids in grade school, middle school and high school are indeed thinking in advance of this as a possible career. Why? Well simple as there are many contests around the nation going on right now and these kids are getting better and better at robotics. Now consider the ushering in of artificial intelligent household android robots and the future in service businesses and manufacturing with robotics. Can you se why robotics will be so big?

Now then to foster this further American Colleges, Trade Schools and Universities must get busy and increase their science, robotics, artificial intelligence and computer sciences program to keep up with the onslaught of new students and corporate research sponsorships and government research funding to make sure they can keep up.

Academia Robotics Programs will need to triple in size twice or maybe three times in the next decade and a half to keep up with the needs of the World and the Corporate Markets and thus they need to Press On. This would be no time for our Colleges and Universities to rest on their laurels as the human race progresses. Consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online [http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/]Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; [http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/]www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for [http://www.ourspokanemagazine.com/]Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow http://EzineArticles.com/?Academia-Robotics-Programs-Need-to-Press-On&id=211084

Career Opportunities in Robotics

2008-08-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

By Lance Winslow

Have you given much thought to your career path in your future employment? Do you like to tinker with stuff or build new things? The robotics industry is expected to expand by over 3000 percent in the next ten years. It will be very similar to the computer age with its rapid growth rate.

You might wish to consider a career opportunity in robotics and you can specialize in a number of sub-industries such as robotics in automotive manufacturing, robotics in military applications, robotics in space or even robotics in the home. Consider if you will the future of robotic artificially intelligent androids.

Someone will need to build these units, maintain these products and repair them when they breakdown or go berserk. Obviously if someone's artificially intelligent robotic androids tries to kill the house cat it might be time to upgrade some of its software and repair it. Or what if they robotic transportation system device like the robotic truck malfunctions?

There will tons of career opportunities in robotics in the next decade and it might be smart to get in on the ground floor and work for a robotics company, which is growing very fast and they may even give you stock options. If you are thinking of career opportunities in robotics now is the time to make your move and I hope you will consider this in 2006.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow
http://EzineArticles.com/?Career-Opportunities-in-Robotics&id=222665

Nanotechnology introduces Nanorobots (Reproduction) by sharmkan

2008-08-12T00:38:00.000-07:00

Nanotechnology’s invention of nanorobots is theoretical microscopic devices that calculated on the scale of nanometers (1 nm equals one millionth of a millimeter). When fully realized from the hypothetical stage, they would work at the atomic, molecular and cellular level to perform tasks in both the medical and industrial fields that have heretofore been the stuff of science fiction.

In past generations some body identified with cancer may be offered a new option to chemotherapy (the traditional cure of radiation, which kills not just cancer cells but healthy human cells too, causing hair loss, exhaustion, sickness, depression, and a host of other symptoms as well). A doctor enthusiastic towards nanomedicine would give the patient an injection of a particular kind of nanorobot, which would seek out cancer cells and tear down them, dismissing the disease at the source, leaving healthy cells unharmed. The amount of the adversity to the patient will fundamentally be a stab to the arm. A person experiencing a nanorobotic treatment can hope to have no alertness of the molecular devices working inside them, other than fast betterment of their health.

Nanomedicine's nanorobots are actually very tiny that they could with no trouble pass through the human body. Nanotechnology scientists report the external of a nanorobot would probable are constructed of carbon atoms in a diamondoid structure as of its motionless properties and other strength. Super-smooth surfaces would further lessen the possibility of activating the body's resistant system, permitting the nanorobots to go about their business without hindrance. Glucose or natural body sugars and oxygen may be a foundation for force, and the nanorobot would have other biochemical or molecular parts depending on its task.

According to present theories, nanorobots would possess as a minimum basic two-way communication; would respond to acoustic signals; and would as well be able to get power or even re-programming instructions from an outside source via sound waves. A system of particular stationary nanorobots may be deliberately placed all through the body, logging every active nanorobot as it passes, and then reporting those results, permitting an line to keep pace of all of the devices in the body.

Sharm kan is a Copywriter of nanotechnology. He written many articles in various topics.For more information visit: molecular nanotechnology .contact him at sharmkan@gmail.com.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com

Amazing World Of Robot Kits by David Urmann

2008-08-11T04:20:00.000-07:00

Change the way you live with the help of robots which will not only help in cleaning and maintaining your house but will help you with their intelligence.

Fascinated with electronics, then you will be doubly fascinated with the robots. And if you are indeed, then get yourself the robot kits so that you can have an amazing learning experience at your home. With these kits not only you will be able to understand and implement the knowledge of electronics, but after completion of the task you can have the ultimate robotic companion.

But for the beginners, let us understand what is a robotic kit? Technically a robot kit is a special construction kit, which is used for building robots, especially autonomous mobile robots. In all, the kits are a great educational tool that keeps you involved and informed at the same time.

The robot kits are available for all the age groups and there can be many options while selecting it. Beginners can start with the entry level kits to venture in this field. Remember it is always better to understand the complete process and technique involved before you start with a costly kit.

This is just to avoid any accidents in the process. These kits typically consist of structural elements, mechanical elements, motors (or other actuators), sensors and a controller board that controls the inputs and outputs of the robot. Some advanced kits are also available without electronics so as to provide you the opportunity to use your won designed electronics controllers and other circuits.

There are many manufacturers and designers of kits who provide a wide array of mechanical, programmable and various other multifunction kits. The general kits are a combination of mechanical and electronics process with a programmable chipset and can be used widely as great educational tool, whereas the high-end kits are similar.

The only difference being much complexity that can be a product of artificial intelligence, which is incorporated in the robots. These high-end robots take a great length of time to complete and can be taken as a group task, rather than an individual activity.

One of the popular kits is the qfix robot kits. The qfix kits are an excellent educational tool for purpose of teaching robotics. They are widely popular and are commonly used in schools, high schools and mechatronics training in companies. Apart from this hobby robot builders commonly use these kits.

Another popular kit is manufactured by the legendry Lego Mindstorms and consists of mechanical parts, an advanced controller, various sensors and actuators, and a software environment in order to program the constructed robot. In the qfix kits the mechanical parts are made of aluminum and all elements are industry standard. The mechanical elements in these kits include bars and plates, holders for motors and sensors, axes and wheels. Generally, Atmel controllers are used as electronics components.

Mastering this activity can lead you to the competitions that are held at various levels for robot building. This can be the most rewarding experience for any participant to present and display his or her robot.

Help your kid become the next Einstein by getting him a cool new robot kit to make and play with from Robot-kits.com.

Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com

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2008-08-11T04:19:00.001-07:00