Computer programmers, engineers and all those folks attached with the computer industry are aware of open source software and its associated benefits. Open-source softwares allows programmers to modify the existing code based on their needs and even redistribute modified versions with or without attribution depending upon the open source software license agreement. With open source hardware, engineers will be able to copy, modify existing open source hardware designs. This will remarkably reduce the time engineers spend in reinventing the wheel. Not only that, engineers would be able to redistribute those modified designs under open source hardware license. This is an excellent idea but it will take some time to gain maturity. The core of open source hardware statement is:
Open source hardware is hardware whose design is made publicly available so that anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the design or hardware based on that design.
The future open source hardwares will be designed using materials, components, infrastructure, processes etc. that are available readily in the market especially in the open source software or hardware domain. The open source hardware logo is not final yet. Maybe we will see some changes in the upcoming years.
The era of Autonomous Fighting Machines (AFM) started long time back but now it has gain significant perfection due to advancement in A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), Robotics, Superior-Smaller-Processing (SSP) Chips, lighter weight motors, batteries etc. Most of start-up material for such projects are easily accessible in the market, google and it's just the matter of putting it together. Electrical Engineers from different universities have already designed great products. One such product is BigDog.
It was developed back in 2005 by Boston Dynamics in collaboration with Foster-Miller, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station. The project was funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This robot is known to be the most advanced rough-terrain robot on the face of the earth. To read more about BigDog visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BigDog. You will find 100s of closely related examples on the same topic on Google and YouTube. Now let's come to the point of whats holding all these robots back? The answer is battery. Since we haven't developed a better battery yet so here comes era of Cyborgs.
Cyborg insects: This is an example of human's mercy-less face and courage to put it on YouTube as a pride or achievement, instigating others to embark on such mercy-less projects.
In a white paper, GE endorsement of ZigBee hurts Wi-Fi Alliance and I do not understand why? I guess Wi-Fi Alliance did not like the GE's Power Consumption Data over 24-Hour Period analysis as shown in the picture. Before I give my perspective, let's look at Wi-Fi Alliance response, they mentioned that in the test, GE used the 10 years old Wi-Fi protocol chip (b standard) and on the other hand GE used the older ZigBee protocol chip. Had GE used the latest WiFi 802.11n standard and latest ZigBee protocol chip, the results would have been totally different. A spokeswoman for the ZigBee Alliance responded that the technology has the ability to "securely transfer data at very low power rates." I think, both technologies have a different domain e.g. you will not use ZigBee to stream HD Video signal because it is not meant for this purpose. Similarly, using WiFi 802.11n standard for developing smart appliances which require less data intensive communication, will be a over kill as WiFi 802.11n standard are far more expensive and far more powerful for this task. It's like killing a housefly with an army tank. Dooes not make sense. ZigBee has far longer range than WiFi limit of 300 feet line of sight or normally 100 feet. To me it looks like folks at Wi-Fi Alliance has lot of time!
Netduino is an open source electronics platform using the .NET Micro Framework. Visit http://netduino.com for details. This is a excellent solution for engineers and hobbyists. As shown in the picture, it designed for easy breadboard use and later PCB fabrication. It is having a Atmel AT91SAM7X512 32-bit Atmel 32-bit microcontroller having Speed: 48MHz, ARM7 with the Code Storage size of 152 KB and 64 KB RAM. It is having 48MHz speed. It can be programmed via RS232 serial port like BASIC Stamp 2 or via 3.3V USB-TTL cable like Arduino Nano. Another good feature is that it can be powered via 9V alkaline battery.
Developed at the Biorobotics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, a snake robot (Snakebot) demonstrates how it can climb a tree and look around. In all the videos and images of this kind of robot you will notice that they will not show you the tail-end of this snakebot. This is because that the viewer will loose it's interest. Such robots are practically of zero value if they are not powered with energy source like what was shown in IRON MAN movie. The energy source that is having a small foot print, light weight and last for years. So until such energy source is developed such devices are not more than IRON MAN movie and fun to watch. Enjoy the video at URL.
LDR (light dependent resistor)also known as photoresistor is a resistor whose resistance decreases with increasing light intensity. It is used in electronic circuits as a light sensor. Read more about LDR at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoresistor. As shown in the circuit diagram above there is a variable resistor used right above the LDR to adjust the threshold of light intensity at which the relay will turn ON. Since mechanical relay is used in this circuit therefore we cannot used this particular circuit for high speed switching application but it excellent for having automatic light dependent intensity out-door electric light switch. Another application of this circuit will be to have automatic night light.
PCB123 is everything you need to design and order your prototype printed circuit boards. 145,000+ parts in the library. Two-, four-, and six-layer support with soldermask and silkscreen. Real-time parts pricing and availability as you design. Organizations such as MIT and Purdue University, research institutions such as Sandia National Labs and the US Naval Research Lab, and businesses including Intel, Hewlett-Packard, and General Electric use PCB123 Design Software.
The secret here is the weight which keeps it from falling and becoming unhygienic. "DEWS is an upstanding toothbrush that incorporates a weight within its rounded handle base to keep the bristles away from dirty surfaces."
TouchLight is microsoft technology and was developed by Microsoft Research employee Andrew D. Wilson. It was made known to the public in late 2005. Still far away to be available cheaply to general public but wait for few years, it will be like any other electronics product.
Maximum Memory Supported: 8GB - 64bit. Processors Supported: Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core 2 Extreme, Intel Core 2 Quad. The one I am using is Intel Core 2 Quad with 3Ghz. Built-in RAID 0, 0 + 1, 1, 5, JBOD. The on-board RAID is not hot-swapable and hot-spare. These two feature are highly recommended for mission critial system. PCI Slots: 3, PCI Express X1 Slots: 1 and PCI Express X16 Slots: 1. It has VGA, DVI and HDMI port as well.
03/19/2011
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