The Robots I Love (and can afford) UPDATED

70+ years of robots in science fiction have failed to yield anything
similar in real life. Our movies and books feature human companions,
even substitutes. The robots we have today still resemble machinery
and are best suited to completing singular tasks. Even in the field of
academic robotics we see robo snakes for inspecting pipes and other
non humanlike robots.  It is clear that people won't be "copied" or
replaced anytime soon.

But we do have simple robots that can do work for us which ease our
burdens. These are the robots that are taking hold, filing niches and
being built by the millions. Their simplicity and mass market
application make them affordable.

Our first robot (or the first one I recognized) was the cruise control in our car, able to maintain a constant speed while driving, suitable for ensuring that long road
trips stay on pace and that flatland travel uses fuel efficiently.

Our second robot was the motion sensor light which would faithfully
watch to see if light was required, and then turn it on, ensuring the safety
of people and even the occasional cat.

Our next robots were a pair of dehumidistat that could detect when air
In our house was too moist and activate a fan to vent the humid air. This allowed
fans to run automatically ensuring the health of our house's air
without running too long. This balance helps prevent venting too much
heated air during the winter. So they help us be healthy and save us money.

Perhaps the most obvious robot we have is Roomba a vacuuming robot
whose enthusiasm for vacuuming more than makes up for its wandering
approach. Roomba may only get 85% of the dirt but that is
85% I didn't have to clean, and it isn't always the same 85%, meaning
that repeated runs achieve a higher rate of cleaning. Apart from the
cleaning, Roomba puts itself away when it is finished and recharges
itself so it is ready to clean at the next scheduled time.

Maybe The most primitive of robots is the alarm clock which counts the time
And could wake you up at a predetermined time. Something that is difficult to do yourself while sleeping.

The washing machine is a robot with muscle, vigorously scrubbing our
clothes, rinsing the soap out and then squeezing out most of the water
by spinning. Along with its partner the dryer, these two machines
process many pounds of clothing each week, making our lives cleaner
and healthier.  I regret that in over 50 years we have not observed a
variation on these machines which would allow the dryer to eject its
load into a waiting basket in order to receive a load which would in
turn be ejected by the washer.   I think we have an opportunity here
that we are missing. A laundry processing system where the clothes
enter the chute upstairs and appear clean and dry in the basket
downstairs.


The dishwasher saves us countless hours by washing and rinsing and
drying dishes we would otherwise have to pile and wash by hand. There
is still the trick of getting the dishes in and out but overall it
saves human labour.

The automated lawn sprinkler system can obey restrictive watering
restrictions while keeping your lswn green and in some cases by
monitoring rainfall. Ranging from $100 these systems allow you to
remain on schedule (or in bed) without performing mundane
"hose management".

Thermostats - central or "zone" keep the temperature "right". This
May not be apparent until you try a wood fire and feel the room heat and then
cool beyond the range of comfort.

These robots take an incremental approach to serving us, often unnoticed and understated. These are the robots I love (and can afford)..

Update; lights lights lights lights. 

 Home Depot sells a $30 Leviton light switch that has an astronomical calendar in it. In a nutshell it can accept latitude longitude, time zone and more in order to accurately determine when the sun will rise and set so that your outdoor lights turn on a few minutes before sunset and turn themselves off again when the sun rises. 

And on a slightly sheepish note when wiring the lighting for my garage I didn't put the light switch within reach of the door.  So I installed a $20 motion sensing light switch that "sees" when I am entering the garage and switches on the lights. 

Ok, if you are like me you detest banging your shins in the dark. So I took a radio shack sound activated wall plugin, attached a string of white LED Xmas lights and threw them under te bed. Now when milt feet hit the floor in the morning I am greeted by the soft bite glow from under the bed illuminating my path safely. 

And finally when I get up in the dark winter months, I get dressed in the dark so I don't wake my wife with the light. IKEA sells a wonderfull $18 motion sensing light I have mounted in the closet above the door. When the door opens the small led light comes on for 15 seconds which is just long enough for me to differentiate the different shirt colours in the closet so I make a better choice!

Cheers I hope that helps someone. 

Why the 2010 Olympics are truly "sustainable"

We've heard people say that past Olympic games were "green" but for me the details have always been obscured.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the detail and depth of information provided on the Vancouver 2010 website by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC)

flickr photo credit: TylerIngram 

You can read all about how VANOC worked to make sure the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver / Whistler sustainable.  There is a fairly detailed Vancouver 2010 sustainability report offered which details items like carbon offsets, venue specific construction details, engagement of sponsors and suppliers and sustainability education for the 2010 workforce. I was impressed by the breadth of VANOC's definition of Sustainable;   


"We expanded our program beyond the environmental impacts and benefits of the Games to include the social and economic dimensions of sustainability."


This broader view of sustainability echos what British Columbians heard the Green Party offer in their platform for the 2005 provincial election.  Regardless of who said it first.  It is a brilliant idea to have this "triple bottom line".  Can you imagine what the world would be like if every business had a bottom line that was financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable.  Good job VANOC.

flickr photo credit: TylerIngram

Cheers,

Greg.

Free Videos of Inspired talks by the world's leading thinkers.

If you are like me, for you broadcast TV is almost dead. I don't want to reschedule MY life because some corporation decided the show will air at 9PM instead of 8PM. Also, of the 30 channels that are available on basic cable, only about 2 channels will have compelling content. (if that many) So there is un-compelling content on an inflexible schedule. For favourite tv shows like Lost or the office, I keep seeing re-runs in the middle of the "season". If a season is 24 weeks, there should be 24 shows... The math seems very simple to me. If I miss a show, its GONE. Thankfully, the internet provides some more flexible options in terms of when you watch your "video content".

One such bright light on the Internet which is providing high quality video content that is worth watching is TED.  TED.Com is worth checking out. It has amazing talks available online for free. Most are 20 minutes long, and feature themes like "design" "greener living", "what makes us happy" and more.

[caption id="attachment_249" align="aligncenter" width="280" caption="Ted, Ideas worth spreading."][/caption]

If I can say one thing, it is that TED talks are top quality and very interesting. TED obviously does a great job of filtering who they invite to speak. I find myself sending friends links to TED talks which often strike me as the most carefully thought out, succinct, presentations I've ever heard on the subjects. There are lots to choose from, so if architecture doesn't interest you, "Whats wrong with what we eat", or "Inventions from tomorrow", or "The real difference between liberals and conservatives"might.

I discovered TED quite by accident while using an open media player MIRO  that highlights channels that have free content. So if you enjoy learning and challenging yourself in your spare time, consider TED.

So check out TED. The things I am seeing there