Happy New Year!

Hey guys!  Hope you had a wonderful holiday season!!  I'd just like to give a quick FIRST update.  Kickoff is a week from tomorrow and everyone is psyched for it!  We're all patiently waiting for the game, and while we wait the Game Design Committee (or GDC) has given us a little clue as to what the game will be.  Every year the GDC releases clues to stir up conversation in the FIRST environment.  This year, the first clue was a picture of Little Eva, the singer of locomotion.  Although there has been a lot of speculation on what this could mean, I have two favorite ideas.  One is that the correlation between locomotion and the game is that our robots will be towing something.  Possibly a cart?  Anyways, that's an idea that a lot of people believe.  I also have a long shot idea.  On the robotics forum "Chief Delphi", there was one person who posted an idea that everyone kind of disregarded.  He said, "EVA can also stand for Electronic Video Assistant. Couldn't it be possible that it has something to do with robot vision? they've been trying to get teams to do more with vision for awhile now, maybe we're required to do it in endgame or something. Or better yet, earlier people were mentioning a major game change before end game but after auto, maybe the screen darkens in front of the drivers and they have to use their vision code to see what's going on."  I really think this statement has some merit.  There has been discussion in FIRST about wanting to make the game more interactive, making teams utilize video feedback.  Granted this idea is a long-shot, and we won't know until the game comes out, but I think it has potential.  So any FIRST-ers out there reading this, comment and let me know what you think!  I'd love to hear ideas :)  Until kickoff, happy waiting!

Information from: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88030

Seiman's Award

Every year there is a competition where high school students can enter innovations that they have created for a chance to win $100,000.  This is a competition where great minds come together.  This year, the winners were two junior boys who worked together to create a voice-recognition algorithm.  This algorithm allows computers to "hear" the voice of a speaker and interpret the emotion being portrayed.  It utilizes frequencies and previously defined voice clips in order to determine what emotion the speaker is feeling.  It is currently very accurate in deciphering happy and sad, but still struggles when emotions like fear and anger are added into the mix.  The pair has big plans for this new technology.  One use they have in mind is at call centers, where extremely upset customers can be identified and sent to a real person more efficiently.  Additionally, they have plans to make a watch for autistic children.  In their minds, these watches will read what the speaker is portraying and display a face on the screen that will match the emotion.  The inspiration from the two boys came from the movie iRobot, where a robot identifies fear in its user and acts to protect the person.  The two students that can be credited with this amazing innovation are Matthew Fernandez and Akash Krishnan. 

Information from: http://www.npr.org/2010/12/08/131913220/Team-Wins-Siemens-Prize-For-Speech-Analyzer

Team Paragon Updatesss :)

Hey everyone!!!! So there's not too much going on at robotics now, just trying to get ready for the season.  Everyone is getting their last bit of hours in for travel requirements, and as always, the focus is fundraising, fundraising, fundraising!  Last week was a good week, but we need to keep it up.  So I'm asking everyone who sees this to come to our first annual pancake breakfast.  It is from 8-11 am December 12th at the Elks Lodge in Windsor, on Deerfield Ave.  It is $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for Seniors (not the high school kind) and kids under 12.  It's sure to be a blast!  Come and support Team Paragon in our fundraising efforts! :)

Nanotechnology!!! IBM Nanophotonic Chip

The world of nanotechnology is totally cool!!!  Obviously over the past few decades there has been an enormous jump in the world of computer technology, hence the need for a project on the race for technology.  IBM has made a great deal of jumps in the world of technology, and this is yet another great move forward.  The idea of connection through light has been tossed around some, but IBM has revealed a gel-silicon chip that uses light to send signals.  Although the technology to implement this new innovation is lagging in production, it is soon to come.  The great thing about this technology jump is that it is pressing for more to come.  It is challenging innovators to keep up, which is huge in the race for technology.  Because, no matter how much of a competition it is, the race for technology is all about working together and different countries pushing one another to find the next big thing.  In the end, everyone benefits.  These chips in particular are expected to begin shipping next year, and will very much increase the speed of computers for the future.

Information from: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-12/ibm-unveils-nanophotonic-chips-could-lead-exascale-computing-revolution

Oh mannn!!!

It's been so long since my last post.  Sorry guys!!  I am proud to announce that this blog will soon be advertised on the Team Paragon official website: http://team-paragon.org/.  Because of this, I will be giving a lot more updates on the team and its progress.  Over the past few weeks, Team Paragon has been working on a variety of projects.  We have a new lathe, which is possibly one of the most exciting things to happen to the team in quite some time.  Also, we have been working on a new prototype chassis for the upcoming season.  This year, we made a metal chassis, a first for the team.  It is wonderfully lightweight and will be highly adaptable for the game.  We are working on updating our website and cleaning up the site.  As far as upcoming events go, we will be holding a Holiday Pancake Breakfast at the Elks Lodge in Windsor on December 12th.  The tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and children under 12.  We invite anyone in the area to join us for this fundraiser!

Journals :(

So we have to do journal entries for our senior project.  Like a lot of them.  Luckily, my blog posts pretty much cover that area.  I'm writing my research paper this week, so things are pretty crazy.  Here are a few of my journals that I wrote for the senior project class.

9/1/10:

                Today was the first day of the senior project class.  I sat and listened, and understood that it will be as bad as everyone says.  Despite this, I’m psyched!  I really cannot wait until I can get started on my project.  I already have articles prepared for my blog.  I spent a lot of time researching things that interested me, and got a lot of information on new technologies.  I’m not really sure how it’s going to work, but I know that it will turn out well.  I’m very passionate about robotics, so this is definitely going to be a blast.  I’m glad that I’m planning on working alone.  I’ve heard so many horror stories about one person not pulling his or her own weight.  I don’t work well with people who don’t hold their own.  It is much too frustrating.  This class seems like it has a lot to offer, though.  I will definitely make sure to stay on top of my work.  A lot of people have described this time as homework time, but I will be sure to actually work on my project while in there.  It is a valuable block that will allow me to finish my project in plenty of time.  In reality, I shouldn’t have to do much at home.  For that, I am very grateful.  I have high hopes for this project, and I definitely think it will be successful.

9/17/10:

Last night I finally made my blog.  After much anticipation, this was a load off my chest.  I started by making myself a new email, something I desperately needed to do.  Then I signed up for blogger.  This was a much shorter process than I expected, so it went pretty quick.  Then reality hit.  I have a blog, and I have to keep up with it every week.  It was a little nerve-racking I’ve got to say.  The worst part was probably choosing a name and a web address.  I was so scared that I would pick the wrong thing, or something that just didn’t make sense.  I changed my mind probably 30 times and finally decided on Senior Project- Technological innovation.  I chose the URL as www.robotlifesp.blogspot.com, and I think this is fitting.  In hindsight, I may not have used this exact wording, but I think it does the job.  As far as entries go, I wrote an introduction about myself.  I thought it was important to explain why I was doing the project, as well as give a little bit of insight into who I am.  I don’t have any followers yet, but I’m hoping to get some soon.  I put my link up on facebook in hopes of getting the word out.  As soon as I put in some research-based entries, I will be sure to advertise it elsewhere.  I’m very excited to get started on this.  I still have to familiarize myself with the layout and whatnot, but I’m not too worried about it.  This blog is the perfect senior project tool.

Clean Energy Race

My senior project is really based around the question "How can society keep up with the growing world of technology?"  My research question is "What is the United States' position in the global technology race and how can today's youth be prepared to help boost our position in the near future?"  Since my research paper is due November first, it just might be time to get on the researching of this question.

I decided to look at the clean energy race and got some interesting information.  Although America has been leading in this race for quite some time, China is quickly catching up, and has the potential to surpass us in the near future.  China has declared itself the leader of clean energy in the world.  It put laws on the coal plants that state they install technology that will prevent sulfur dioxide from going into the atmosphere.  China has taken other measures to make sure they remain ahead in the race, making other countries look to them for help.  Now this is taking money away from the U.S, putting us even more in debt.  The U.S. is trying very hard to keep up, but judging by the rate of acceleration in China, they will soon surpass us. 

Despite the economic deficit we are facing, new jobs are also being made.  Chinese companies are coming to the US, supplying jobs for our citizens.  The real reason the US is falling behind is because we have not made it as far by means of clean energy.  We need to step our research up in order to keep up with the rest of the world.

Information from: http://washingtonindependent.com/100503/in-clean-energy-race-with-china-both-countries-come-out-ahead

Senior Projectttt

So some of you may be wondering what senior project is. In my school, all students must complete something called "Service Learning" from 6th to 11th grade.  In senior year, though, things change a little.  All seniors must complete a community service project that focuses on an issue in the world and does something to better it.  Many students do walk-a-thons, concerts, seminars, and other events like those.  I wanted to do something a little different.  Originally, I wanted to build a playground at my school, but I couldn't think up a good reason behind that one except my constant wish to go outside in the middle of class.  My teacher made a blog and one day during class she announced that it would be a great idea to use as a senior project.  I jumped right on thta, and I knewimmediately what I wanted to do it on.

A senior project needs to reach out to the community, which I'm doing by donating all the advertising proceeds to Team Paragon robotics for their build and competition season.  It also needs to meet a certain  number of our "Expectations for Student Learning".  I'm doing this by advertising, writing, and I will even have some French posts!  :)    We have to write a research paper and journal entries, which go hand-in-hand with this project.  My posts are really the journal entries of my project, so that part is taken care of.  As for the research paper, my larger question is "What is America's status in the global technological race and how can the youth be properly prepared to excell in the future?"  All of the different aspects of my blog willl help me in finding the answer to this question.

So that's the dreaded senior project in a nutshell.  It is often the determining factor in a student's graduation, so I'm lucky to have found one that I know I can complete.  If you have any questions feel free to comment.  I'd love to answer!

Sorry Guys!!!

Sorry I missed last week!!!!  I got sicker than I expected, so I didn't touch my computer.  Anywho, I wanted to tell you about my absolute favorite (recent) innovation.  It is something that was designed by a mentor on my robotics team (Team Paragon!!!) to help organize our robot during build season. 

So.  My favorite innovation (other than like a cell phone or something, but I'll get to those later) has to be the "Electropneumaquarium" (mainly Generations II and IV).  The electropneumaquarium is a lexan box that holds all of the electronic and pneumatic parts of the robot.  The "electro" comes from the fact that it holds all of the electronic components of the robot.  The "pneum" is because it also hold the pneumatics (the compressor, better know as the "Framptonizer", and other pneumatic components).  And the aquarium is just because generations I and II were clear, square boxes that looked like fish tanks. 

This innovation is great for many reasons.  One, keeps the wires from looking like spaghetti.  "Spaghetti wires" are something that are very common among FIRST robots, mainly because there is little time to spend on making when there is a robot to build.  Also, this design makes build season a lot more effective.  It normally takes about a week and a half for the mechanical build team to give the electrical subgroup the possible dimensions for the fish tank.  They tell us where we can put it, and we design the case based on these dimensions. The third and possibly most important benefit of the  electropneumaquarium is  the safety it provides for the electrical components of the robot.  Instead of being in the trail of sawdust and metal pieces, the wires and precious C-RIO are protected in a controlled environment.  This makes sure that nothing will be damaged in the chaos of build season.

I am proud to say that Team Paragon's own Mr. Susca came up with this great idea, and we have improved it every year.  It's accessibility is wonderful.  We can take it out of the robot and return it in less than 30 seconds with it's quick disconnects and pins.  It makes for great building and repair!!

Nanowire skin!!!

Something that is really interesting to me is the whole world of prosthetics.  I recently found an article on new artificial skin technology while completing a project in my biology class.

The article is about new technology in artificial skin made out of nanowires.  Engineers from the University of California, Berkeley, have been working on finding a more realistic skin that can be used with prosthetics in order to make daily activities more normal for those who have lost limbs of any sort, especially hands.  This new skin is made of semiconductor nanowires, allowing for more sensitivity to touch.  The skin is the first to use inorganic single crystalline semiconductors.  They operate on low voltage because of their inorganic nature.  The single crystalline structure makes them very flexible.  These are two things that have not been achievable in the past. 

Also, the "printing" of this structure is much easier than it has been in the past.  It can be rubbed onto the desired surface as well as "printed" onto the material.  This new "e-skin" is highly sensitive, so it can pick up a glass or an egg without breaking it.  In order to live a normal life, these are all things that are very necessary.  It is durable and is almost as effective as human skin. 

Perhaps the best part of this new innovation is its call for more forward movement.  In order for the new skin to work, the technology that will connect the new feelings to the brain must develop.  The goal is that one day all of the technology will work together cohesively and the people who have lost their limbs will be able to live comfortably in normal daily life.

Information from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100912151550.htm

What to say...

This blog is pretty much going to be about the things that I love.  I am a senior and my school requires that every student completes a senior project.  For this project students need to do research as well as community outreach.  This blog will require both.  I will have many research-based entries, but I will also talk about my personal team (especially around build season).

I have been part of FIRST robotics for four years now, and I've loved every second of it.  It has shaped me into who I am today, and I've been blessed with such a fantastic experience.  I was treasurer of my team in my sophomore year, as well as safety captain.  In my junior year I became co-captain, as well as co-spirit captain.  This year I'm doing a little less, as I am just spirit captain.  I love to be part of all aspects of the team, so I think all of those positions have been fitting.

Contrary to common belief, there is more to me than just robotics.  I love to hang out with friends and I am part of my school's SASS club (Student Abolitionists Stopping Slavery).  As any FIRSTer will know, however, robotics takes up a ton of time.  Luckily for me, I love it, and wouldn't trade it for the world.

So that's pretty much me!  Please follow, as I will post something new every week!!  I hope you enjoy it!