AVRbased Robotic Modules

Grok Headline matches for AVRbased Robotic Modules

PNI Sponsors Local Robotic Vehicle Team:
Desert Field Test of Robotic Vehicles
Offers $2 Million Prize

PNI Sponsors Local Robotic Vehicle Team:
Desert Field Test of Robotic Vehicles
Offers $2 Million Prize 12/17/2004 06:40 PM
Cobalt Horizons announced that PNI Corporation will support its efforts to win a $2 million prize in a Defense Department research and development initiative aimed at advancing robotics technologies for future military use. The initiative, known as the DARPA Grand Challenge, is a field test of fully autonomous ground vehicles to be conducted in the Mojave Desert on October 8, 2005. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is offering the $2 million to the vehicle that completes the course the fastest within a 10-hour period. [PRWEB Oct 20, 2004]

SAS Modules I 0.1.0

SAS Modules I 0.1.0 12/03/2003 07:34 AM
Modules for the Site@School content management system.

SAS Modules I 0.0.12

SAS Modules I 0.0.12 11/18/2003 10:21 AM
Modules for the Site@School content management system.

Tivo VLC modules

Tivo VLC modules 03/26/2005 04:46 PM
Tivo VLC modules first release

E-Xoops Modules

E-Xoops Modules 01/02/2004 07:17 AM
Welcome

Unrealircd modules

Unrealircd modules 01/25/2004 04:13 PM
updated modules

XML 4 Merge Modules

XML 4 Merge Modules 09/19/2004 05:52 PM

from components to modules

from components to modules 01/11/2004 07:52 AM

Right now I'm refactoring/rebuilding the user interface of a new release coming out soon (oh right... Note to self: talk about that) and I'm facing the fight against "sticky" APIs. Or, in more technical terms, their coupling.

Ideally, a certain component set that is self-contained (say, and HTML component) will be isolated from other components at the same level. This makes it both simpler, easier to maintain and, contrary to what one might think, often faster. While I was at Drexel, at the Software Engineering Research Group, I did work on source code analysis, studying things like automatic clustering (paper) of software systems, that is, creating software that was able to infer the modules present on a source code base using API cross-references as a basis. Since then I've always been aware (more than I was before that, that is) of the subtle pull created by API references.

The holy grail in this sense is, for me, to create applications that are built of fully interchangeable pieces, that connect dynamically at runtime, thus avoiding compile-time dependencies. In theory, we have many ways of achieving this decoupling between components or component sets; in practice there are some barriers that make it hard to get it right the first time. Or the second. Or...

First, the most common ways of achieving component decoupling are:

1. Through data: usually this means a configuration file, but it could be a database or whatever else is editable post-compilation. This is one of the reasons why XML is so important, btw.
2. Through dynamic binding: that is, references "by name" of classes or methods. This is useful mostly with OO languages, as you'll generally end up dynamically allocating a superclass and then using an interface (or superclass) to access the underlying object without losing generality (and thus without increasing coupling).

Achieving decoupling in non-UI components is not too difficult (the data model has to flexible enough though, see below). But UIs are almost by definition something that pulls together all the components of a program so they can be used or managed. The UI references (almost) everything else by necessity, directly or indirectly, and visual components affect each other (say, a list on the left that changes what you see on the right).

In my experience, MVC is an absolute necessity to achieve at least a minimal level of decoupling. Going further is possible by using a combination of data (ie., config files) to connect dynamically loaded visual components removes the coupling created at the UI level, but that is difficult to achieve, because it complicates the initial development process (with dynamically loaded components bugs become more difficult to track, the build process is more complex, etc.) and development tools in general deal with code-units (e.g., classes, or source files) rather than with modules. They go from fine-grained view of a system (say, a class or even a method) to a project, with little in between. We are left with separating files in directories to make a project manageable, which is kind of crazy when you think how far we've come in other areas, particularly in recent years.

The process then becomes iterative, one of achieving higher degrees of decoupling on each release. One thing I've found: that the underlying data model of the application has to be flexible enough, be completely isolated (as a module) and relatively abstract, not just to evolve itself but also to allow the developer to change everything that's "on top" of it and improve the structure of the application without affecting users, etc.

Yes, this is relatively "common knowledge", but I'm a bit frustrated at the moment because I know how things "should be" structured in the code I'm working on but I also know that time is limited, so I make some improvements and move on, leaving the rest for the next release.

Final thought: Until major development tools fully incorporate the concept of modules into their operation (and I mean going beyond the lame use of, for example, things like Java packages in today's Java tools), until they treat a piece of user interface as more than a source file (so far, all of the UI designers I've seen maintain a pretty strict correspondence between a UI design "form" and a single file/class/whatever that references everything else), it will be difficult to get things right on the first try.

MORE Blog modules!

MORE Blog modules! 07/07/2004 12:55 PM

Imagine my shock and delight as I trolled through Roland Tanglao's page yesterday and discovered Flickr's 'Zeitgeist!

It's YA blog gutter display module - picking up where Laszlo's Photoblox leaves off. Now instead of having to build XML files of your slide show/photo album - it takes the images directly from your Flickr collection - PERFECT!

Another win for integration! Aren't built-in constructs fun - once you KNOW they're there?

Then I found a post by Stewert Butterfield on it. This all happened while I was down and off-line (fighting malware), so my apologies to Stewert and the rest of the Flickr team.

Great job guys and gals!

Now my Flikr photos get sent to this coolio checkerboard, puzzle display (even if it's done in Flash - it's still cooolio - the Flickr people are Flash masters.....)

My only request is for a larger and even largest size. I can get over 50%-60% more display space in my gutter! I hate wasting space.

Here's Stewert's post.....

Rukus Industries CMS modules

Rukus Industries CMS modules 06/16/2004 10:10 AM
Welcome to the project site!

Childsplay 0.70 (Game modules)

Childsplay 0.70 (Game modules) 06/08/2004 05:23 PM
A suite of educational games for young children.

Payroll Perl Modules

Payroll Perl Modules 01/19/2004 04:16 PM
Payroll 0.6 released

Childsplay 0.71 (Game modules)

Childsplay 0.71 (Game modules) 06/29/2004 12:23 PM
A suite of educational games for young children.

Jon's Python modules

Jon's Python modules 04/11/2004 12:04 PM
jonpy 0.06 released

MOM FAQ: NetIQ AppManager Modules

MOM FAQ: NetIQ AppManager Modules 04/11/2004 05:02 PM

InterBase 6 Merge Modules

InterBase 6 Merge Modules 09/11/2004 02:15 PM

Installed Perl Modules in RSS

Installed Perl Modules in RSS 07/09/2004 08:32 AM
Another interesting use for RSS for your delectation and pleasure. This one is for Perl coders, and is proving deeply useful. Installed Perl Modules in RSS. Automatically listing which modules you have installed yourself, and linking to their documentation. Very...

Gutter modules redux

Gutter modules redux 07/22/2004 01:30 PM

Julian Bond has submitted a great idea to the LazyWeb - I guess assuming that one Ben Hammersely will jump through the proverbial hoop and hack it right up - with some of those sexy shell scripts he and Danny O'Brien love to talk about.

Here's Julian's idea......

Imagine a block in the margin of Joi Ito's weblog.

Last update: 9:23am.
Location: Geneva Airport.
Listening: Monkey Radio.
Last seen in IRC: Channel #joiito 1m43s ago.
Phone: On a call.
Last Meeting: Davros.
Next meeting: Supernova.
Mood:Inspired

That sounds like to me - a lot of what MeNowDocument could handle, with new kinds of micro-content inside of it, with new kinds of collaboration inspired by it.

It also reminds me of a contest we tried to do with CMP back in '95-'96 "Where's Barlow?".

All in all - I'd say blog gutter stuff is coming into it's own. Credit Jason DeFillippo with much of this. His Blogrolling.com (now owned by Tucows) was the first service I ever saw which utilized this idea of blog gutter 'stuff'.

I was so inspired - I came up with a wh ole strategy for Jason.

So now we have Tribe Cast, Ping.net, Blogshares, Technorati, Laszlo's BlogBox and various forms of RSS feeds.

Isn't life getting interesting?

Oh yah - and Google AdSense.

Kernel Modules that Lie About Their
Licenses

Kernel Modules that Lie About Their
Licenses 04/27/2004 11:54 AM

Payroll Perl Modules 0.7

Payroll Perl Modules 0.7 07/30/2004 07:21 PM
A Perl API for calculating payroll taxes.

Payroll Perl Modules 0.8

Payroll Perl Modules 0.8 08/12/2004 10:17 PM
A Perl API for calculating payroll taxes.

Linux: the GPL and Binary Modules

Linux: the GPL and Binary Modules 12/08/2003 04:38 AM

Modules drop in for v1.2 Bluetooth

Modules drop in for v1.2 Bluetooth 06/17/2004 05:09 AM
Electronics Talk Jun 17 2004 9:52AM GMT

Ask the Robotic Psychiatrist

Ask the Robotic Psychiatrist 04/19/2004 12:20 PM

Robotic wheelchairs

Robotic wheelchairs 05/27/2004 11:02 AM
BoingBoing reader Roland Piquepaille says,

Traditional wheelchairs used by the elderly and people with severe disabilities have some limited functions and flexibility. Their users often need help from nurses or relatives. Several teams are currently at work to develop robotic wheelchairs to overcome these limitations. For example, researchers from the University of Essex and the Institute of Automation at Beijing are developing the RoboChair.

RoboChair will be equipped with a vision system and a 3G wireless communication system. It will be able to avoid collisions and to plan a path. Meanwhile, Professor Ray Jarvis of Monash University’s Intelligent Robotics Centre in Australia, is building another robotic wheelchair which will help people to travel off the beaten track (PDF format, 1 page, 131 KB). His prototype system combines robotic navigation with a four-wheel drive. It automatically ad apts itself to the user’s capabilities and takes control when needed. You'll find more details and a picture in this overview. Keep in mind that there are still major issues to solve, such as security and costs, before these robotic wheelchairs become available.

Link

Nothing Robotic About Robo-Art

Nothing Robotic About Robo-Art 09/21/2004 06:37 AM
The ArtBots show in New York this past weekend proved that robots can wax artistic, too -- or at least carry out the instructions of their artistic creators. Cyrus Farivar reports from New York.

Robotic Librarian

Robotic Librarian 02/17/2004 10:26 PM
The new Librarian at the Valparaiso University in Valparaiso Indiana will be a Robotic Librarian. The books will put in specially designed metal bins and the students can select any of the obscure books from the internet that they want then the robotic crane device goes fetches selections and drop them to an accessible location for the students to pick up at their convenience. The school hopes to eventually have about 600,000 books in their system for check out. (Other colleges also have installed simlar devices.) The high tech library building will cost about $33 million. I don't think they have such a cool robotic librarian at my old alma matter. :-/

Erotic Robotic

Erotic Robotic 05/16/2004 03:40 AM
JANE PINCKARD -- It's interesting that so many seem to find cold shiny steel arousing. I mean, robots and sex? Robots are, like, the antithesis of the best sex - messy, sweaty, sweet and tasty. BUT - and maybe this is something for Fleshbot to grapple with - there is...

Robotic skin

Robotic skin 07/03/2004 04:42 PM
Interesting article about a new design for "electronic skin" as sensitive to touch as our own:

"Recognition of tactile information will be very important for future generations of robots," says Takao Someya at the University of Tokyo who developed the skin. A sense of touch would help them to identify objects, carry out delicate tasks and avoid collisions. But while a lot of effort has gone into vision and voice recognition for robots, touch sensitivity is still fairly rudimentary.

Our own skin contains a battery of touch receptors that produce nerve signals when pressed. For gentle pressures, the main sensors are tiny bulbs of layered tissue called Meissner's corpuscles. Their behaviour is mimicked in plastics such as polyvinylidene fluoride, which generate an electric field when squeezed and are used to make pressure-sensitive pads for computer keyboards and other touch-triggered devices.

Link (via Beverly)

"Robotic Dance"

"Robotic Dance" 12/20/2003 09:47 PM

Robotic Scientist

Robotic Scientist 01/16/2004 11:02 AM
Robotic Scientist - Scientists created a closed, automated system to conduct simple labor intensive scientific experiments in molecular genetics. The robot creates hypothesis and tests them. Supposedly it works more efficiently (picks less expensive experiments, and fewer of them) then its human counterparts (graduate students in biology and comp sci.). More detailed article in Nature here (institutional access / subscription required). I for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

DIY Robotic Exoskeleton

DIY Robotic Exoskeleton 12/24/2004 12:54 PM
CNET, Slashdot, and Boing Boing are reporting on Carlos Owens, a 26 year old steelworking in Anchorage, Alaska who is building an 18 foot, hydraulic exoskeleton. The soon to be finished unit, named NMX04-1A, will be equipped with a flame thrower and other fun accessories. The CNET article mentions several other exoskeletons both real and fictional that have been inspired since Robert Heinlein invented them in his novel Starship Troopers. Photos of NMX04-1A and a log of construction progress can be found on the builder's website. CNET also has a photo gallery of giant robots in a sidebar.

A MacPython question about modules: the
default OS ...

A MacPython question about modules: the
default OS ... 10/31/2003 07:24 PM

A MacPython question about modules: the default OS X install of Python is in /usr/bin. MacPython gets installed into /usr/local/bin. If a module (say, for instance, the MySQLdb module) is set to install for the default Python directory, how do I get the module to be recognized by the MacPython install? Does that question make sense? Discuss

4:56 PM | Chris Cummer

ZigBee-Ready Modules Now Available from
MaxStream

ZigBee-Ready Modules Now Available from
MaxStream 06/17/2005 07:20 PM
Interchangeable Low-Cost, Long-Range Modules for Simple, Reliable Wireless Integration [PRWEB Jun 13, 2005]

Using XML modules in Perl (O'Reilly
Network)

Using XML modules in Perl (O'Reilly
Network) 07/10/2002 01:42 PM

Simon Cozens' Modules Need New
Maintainers

Simon Cozens' Modules Need New
Maintainers 09/16/2004 07:20 PM
Andy Lester writes "Simon Cozens, the not-entirely-mad genius, has left for God School. He's retiring from the CPAN, and leaving his legacy of Perl modules behind. I've stepped up to take on the task of making sure his 100 modules don't fall into disuse, ...

Replacement for News and Section Modules

Replacement for News and Section Modules 08/12/2004 01:15 PM
Project News

Meilhaus Device Driver Modules

Meilhaus Device Driver Modules 04/20/2004 08:34 AM
Python extension for ME-4000 released

Building Good CPAN Modules

Building Good CPAN Modules 04/14/2005 07:14 PM
Your code is amazing. It works exactly as you intended. You've decided to give back, to share it with the world by uploading it to the CPAN. Before you do, though, there are a few fiddly details about cross-platform and cross-version compatibility to keep in mind. Rob Kinyon gives several guidelines about writing CPAN modules that will work everywhere they will be useful.
Grok Description matches for AVRbased Robotic Modules
GrokA matches for AVRbased Robotic Modules

AVRbased Robotic Modules

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