http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/ Musings about robots, autonomous vehicles, and technology en-us 2008-08-12T15:10:21-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000350.html Well, it is not everyday that your project makes EngineeringTV. The gentleman talking is Ken Childress, the marketing guy, and this was filmed down at the AUSVI conference in San Diego earlier this year. Still, that is my boat, and... Autonomous Vehicles elkaim 2008-08-12T15:10:21-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000349.html The NASA Mars lander, Phoenix, has landed on the planet surface and is reportedly in good health and sending back data. NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars today to begin three months of examining a... Historic Moments elkaim 2008-05-27T15:42:07-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000348.html I used to know a few people at Frontier, the builders of the hummingbird unmanned helicopter before it got acquired by Boeing. The project was always very cool, and several novel control techniques were being used on it. I am... Autonomous Vehicles elkaim 2008-05-24T15:24:38-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000347.html UPDATE: This is a fake! Apparently this was a hoax. Too bad, neat idea. Some people dream big, and other dream REALLY big. Artist Erik Nordenankar sent a GPS tracking device using DHL to create a self portrait that literally... GPS elkaim 2008-05-23T15:13:25-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000346.html Well, even though my booth--with the Mechatronics class robots--was quite popular with the under 8 crowd, we did not get mentioned in this NY Times article on the Maker Faire. Nonetheless, it is a good article and captures the flair... Just Plain Weird elkaim 2008-05-14T23:04:53-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000345.html So, everyone and their brother has sent me a link to articles on the upcoming autonomous sailboat races across the Atlantic, and asked me why our boat is not participating. See this article on one of the entries, the Pinta.... Autonomous Vehicles elkaim 2008-05-14T15:04:28-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000342.html With all of the money flowing into the middle east due to high oil prices, they have the luxury of trying some far flung ideas to see how well they will work. Case in point, Abu Dhabi is building a... Practical Engineering elkaim 2008-05-08T18:34:31-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000341.html This self-docking wheelchair is a very nice marriage of technology with necessity. As can be seen from the video below, getting the wheelchair onto its platform from where you are sitting is quite a challenge, and making the process automatic... Robots elkaim 2008-04-28T18:29:15-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000338.html The NY Times has an article on the new rocket racing league, and all the risk that it entails. This had been coming along ever since Jack Norton and Alexander Lippisch experimented with rocket powered interceptors during WWII. The Rocket... Rocketry elkaim 2008-04-17T08:09:30-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000337.html Well, I have been a bit behind in posting anything in a while, but perhaps now with the Mechatronics demo behind me, I will have a bit more time. In the meantime, some very interesting technological feats have happened, and... Space elkaim 2008-04-04T20:52:25-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000336.html So, that time of year is upon us, and the Introduction to Mechatronics class public demo is tonight. Ten weeks of tremendous effort have resulted in 11 robots (10 from the class, and the stealth TA entry in 24 hours).... Robots elkaim 2008-03-12T03:01:36-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000334.html Only three years after the initial DARPA Grand Challenge, where not a single vehicle made it past the 7 mile mark, several teams have succesfully managed to complete the vastly more complicated Urban Challenge. Though I was not present, my... Historic Moments elkaim 2007-11-05T22:47:42-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000333.html About two weeks before Halloween, I asked one of our more enterprising graduate students if he thought that the laser cutter would cut through a pumpkin. The student in question took one look at me and said, "Oh, you... Just Plain Weird elkaim 2007-10-31T21:51:20-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000335.html As the three people who actually read this blog may have noticed, I have not been posting for the past few months. I do, actually, have a good excuse. During that time, I got married! And since our fabulous photographers... Historic Moments elkaim 2007-10-28T22:57:36-08:00 http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000332.html Every once in a while, you see something that restores your faith in humanity, something sublime, illuminating, and so creative as to hold your attention fixed while the world continues to madly swirl around. Click on the image to see... Art of Invention elkaim 2007-07-22T23:52:08-08:00