Through the eye of the storm…

The Atlantic Hurricane Season began early in 2007, & by mid-December it was still going. The season officially begins June 1 & ends Nov. 30. That means that for the most part, storms have formed & fizzled between those dates, or they used to.

NASA satellites were watching & providing data from the beginning when Andrea kicked off the season on May 9 when she formed 150 miles northeast of Daytona Beach, Florida. On Dec. 10, 2007, Sub-Tropical Storm Olga formed to the east of Hispaniola.

The hurricane season produced 2 tropical depressions & 15 tropical storms, six of which became hurricanes. That's a little more than average. The storms that became hurricanes were: Dean, Felix, Humberto, Karen, Lorenzo & Noel.

Double Trouble With Category 5 Storms

Of special note, there were two Category 5 hurricanes which led to a "first." It was the first time two Category 5's made landfall in one season. Both storms, Dean & Felix, made landfall in Central America. Hurricane Dean made landfall near Costa Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula on Aug. 21, packing sustained winds near 165 mph. Dean then moved into the Gulf of Campeche to make a second landfall near Tecolutla, with 100 mph winds as a Category 2 storm.

Twelve days after Dean's first landfall, Hurricane Felix made landfall near Punta Gorda, Nicaragua on Sept. 2 with sustained winds of 160 mph. Dean was also noteworthy for another reason, it was the first Category 5 hurricane to make an Atlantic Ocean basin landfall since 1992, when Andrew hit south Florida.

Which Ones Affected the Mainland U.S.?

The mainland U.S. was hit by five storms during the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season. There was one hurricane, three tropical storms & one tropical depression that affected the U.S. Hurricane Humberto made landfall along the upper Texas coast on Sept. 13. Tropical storms that hit the U.S. were Barry, Erin & Gabrielle. Barry came ashore on June 2 near Tampa Bay, Florida. A weak Tropical Storm Erin hit southeast Texas on August 16. Tropical Storm Gabrielle made landfall along the Cape Lookout, North Carolina National Seashore on Sept. 9. Tropical Depression Ten made landfall near Fort Walton Beach, Florida late on Sept. 21.

Humberto Was the Season's Fastest Grower

It only took Humberto 24 hours to go from a tropical depression with sustained winds of 35 mph to a hurricane with sustained winds of 85 mph. There were only three other storms in recorded history that strengthened from a depression to a hurricane in 24 hours: Celia in 1970, & Arlene & Flora 1963. Other storms have intensified faster if one considers the net intensity change over 24 hours. For example, Wilma in 2005 went from a tropical storm to a Category 5 storm in less than 24 hours. That may be the most rapid rate of intensification ever, but starting from tropical storm stage rather than tropical depression stage.

Noel Was Deadliest

Hurricane Noel was the deadliest storm of the 2007 season, as it killed 122 people in the Dominican Republic & Haiti when it passed through there as a tropical storm in late October. News reports indicated 664 homes were destroyed & an additional 15,600 were damaged in the Dominican Republic, while Haiti reported 4,850 houses damaged, 1,075 completely destroyed, & crop losses from floods & mudslides.

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Underwater ROBOTIC fishes

Robotic Scientific researchers from around the world made a robotic fish swim, a synthetic flower bloom, & a giant metallic blimp fly using artificial muscles at the annual Electroactive Polymer Actuators & Devices Conference. Yoseph Bar-Cohen, with JPL's Advanced robotics Technologies Group, chaired the conference, held this week in San Diego.

Artificial muscles -- or electroactive polymers -- are lightweight plastic strips that bend or stretch when connected to electricity. JPL scientists are exploring this emerging & innovative technology to develop “smart” devices that can grab, lift & move objects.

Robotic fishes for lunch anyone??...

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People Are Robots, Too. Almost!!!!

Popular culture has long pondered the question, "If it looks like a human, walks like a human & talks like a human, is it human?" So far the answer has been no. Robots can't cry, bleed or feel like humans, & that's part of what makes them different.Lets look at some conceptions..

What if Robots could think like humans?

Biologically inspired robots aren't just an ongoing fascination in movies & comic books; they are being realized by engineers & scientists all over the world. While much emphasis is placed on developing physical characteristics for robots, like functioning human-like faces or artificial muscles, engineers in the Telerobotics Research & Applications Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., are among those working to program robots with forms of artificial intelligence similar to human thinking processes.

Why Would They Want to Do That?

"The way robots function now, if something goes wrong, humans modify their programming code & reload everything, then hope it eventually works," said JPL robotics engineer Barry Werger. "What we hope to do eventually is get robots to be more independent & learn to adjust their own programming."

Scientists & engineers take several approaches to control robots. The two extreme ends of the spectrum are called "deliberative control" & "reactive control." The former is the traditional, dominant way in which robots function, by painstakingly constructing maps & other types of models that they use to plan sequences of action with mathematical precision. The robot performs these sequences like a blindfolded pirate looking for buried treasure; from point A, move 36 paces north, then 12 paces east, then 4 paces northeast to point X; thar be the gold.

The downside to this is that if anything interrupts the robot's progress (for example, if the map is wrong or lacks detail), the robot must stop, make a new map & a new plan of actions. This re-planning process can become costly if repeated over time. Also, to ensure the robot's safety, back-up programs must be in place to abort the plan if the robot encounters an unforeseen rock or hole that may hinder its journey.

"Reactive" approaches, on the other hand, get rid of maps & planning altogether & focus on live observation of the environment. Slow down if there's a rock ahead. Dig if you see a big X on the ground.

Behavior-based control allows robots to follow a plan while staying aware of the unexpected, changing features of their environment. Turn right when you see a red rock, go all the way down the hill & dig right next to the palm tree; thar be the gold.

Behavior-based control allows the robot a great deal of flexibility to adapt the plan to its environment as it goes, much as a human does. This presents a number of advantages in space exploration, including alleviating the communication delay that results from operating distant rovers from Earth.

How Do They Do It?

Seraji's group at JPL focuses on two of the many approaches to implementing behavior-based control: fuzzy logic & neural networks. The main difference between the two systems is that robots using fuzzy logic perform with a set knowledge that doesn't improve; whereas, robots with neural networks start out with no knowledge & learn over time.

Fuzzy Logic

"Fuzzy logic rules are a way of expressing actions as a human would, with linguistic instead of mathematical commands; for example, when one person says to another person, ‘It's hot in here,' the other person knows to either open the window or turn up the air conditioning. That person wasn't told to open the window, but he or she knew a rule such as ‘when it is hot, do something to stay cool,'" said Seraji, a leading expert in robotic control systems who was recently recognized as the most published author in the Journal of Robotic Systems' 20-year history.

By incorporating fuzzy logic into their engineering technology, robots can function in a humanistic way & respond to visual or audible signals, or in the case of the above example, turn on the air conditioning when it thinks the room is hot.

Neural Networks

Neural networks are tools that allow robots to learn from their experiences, associate perceptions with actions & adapt to unforeseen situations or environments.

"The concepts of 'interesting' & 'rocky' are ambiguous in nature, but can be learned using neural networks," said JPL robotics research engineer Dr. Ayanna Howard, who specializes in artificial intelligence & creates intelligent technology for space applications. "We can train a robot to know that if it encounters rocky surfaces, then the terrain is hazardous. Or if the rocky surface has interesting features, then it may have great scientific value."

Neural networks mimic the human brain in that they simulate a large network of simple elements, similar to brain cells, that learn through being presented with examples. A robot functioning with such a system learns somewhat like a baby or a child does, only at a slower rate.

"We can easily tell a robot that a square is an equilateral object with four sides, but how do we describe a cat?" Werger said. "With neural networks, we can show the robot many examples of cats, & it will later be able to recognize cats in general."

Also, a neural network can 'learn' to classify terrain if a geologist shows it images of many types of terrain & associates a label with each one. When the network later sees an image of a terrain it hasn't seen before, it can determine if the terrain is hazardous or safe based on its lessons.

Robotics for Today & Tomorrow

With continuous advances in robotic methods like behavior-based control, future space missions might be able to function without relying heavily on human commands. On the home front, similar technology is already used in many practical applications such as digital cameras, computer programs, dishwashers, washing machines & some car engines. The post office even uses neural networks to read handwriting & sort mail.

"Does this mean Robots in the near future will think like humans? No," Werger said. "But by mimicking human techniques, they could become easier to communicate with, more independent, & ultimately more efficient."

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Diamond-studded 16GB Adamant flash drive

This is probably the most expensive gadget u`ll see all year apart from some robot(think transformer robot).We present to you the latest in unnecessary gadget frivolousness, the adamant (16GB  flash drive).

This limited edition drive will be exclusive to just 50 units worldwide & will feature 16GB of capacity, a diamond trinity on the front (0.15 carats each), a pinch of yellow gold & an elegant black box, that’ll make for a nice paper weight or to show ur grandkids reminding of ur blunder in buying this....!!!.

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The Development Platform robot (lab robot)

This type of robot is a little different than the rest. In research labs, school classrooms, & garages & basements all over the world, piles of mechanical, electronic, & computer parts can be seen motoring around, trying to make sense of their world. Bots of this type are often the least "style" conscious, & often have no shell. The form is usually the lowest priority & often takes the shape of a couple of large disks stacked on top of each other, separated by spacers.The type of simple platform seen in pic above (without other components mounted) is a common sight in university labs & hobby workshops all over the world.

Here, the robot body only exists to allow the experimenter to test out control programs, sensor arrays, & other robot components. Information gained by experimenting on these platforms is often incorporated into more solid, robust robots.

Bots of this type usually have an extremely simple structure made of readily available materials & sport a constantly changing array of hardware.

Embedded Bots
This is the invisible robot, the machine with sensors, brains, and actuators, that doesn't look like a robot at all. Embedded systems is one of the fastest growing areas of digital technology, but its modest, behind-the-scenes (under-the-hood, inside-the-walls) nature means that it's off of most people's radar. And because of their very un-botish nature, we won't really be spending too much time discussing embedded robotics here.

Embedded robots vary greatly in body type, depending on their function and environment. They are usually highly integrated into their world (a new home, the signs and light poles of a highway, the guts of an orbiting satellite), which is why we tend to overlook them.

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Intelligent Humanoid robot (very cool!!)

Hello C-3PO! This fidgety fella from a galaxy far, far away has become the poster bot for our dreams of the humanoid robot (personally, I always get the image of a rampaging Terminator, but then, I'm a perverse sort). Humanoid robots are bipedal, have heads, usually arms, & are often human height (or at least human proportions). These robots tend to be the most complex, have the biggest "brains" (& aspirations of higher intelligence), & spend much of their lives on workbenches with people in white coats cursing over them. These same people in lab coats assure us that this will one day change.The figure above shows the SDR-4X (Sony Dream Robot), Sony's diminutive answer to Honda's Asimo. The SDR looks human-sized in many pictures, but it's actually tiny (23 inches tall).

For robots of this type, brainpower is key. Articulated movement & walking is a huge challenge, as is a robotic vision system that allows such robots to interact effectively with people & their environment. Also, getting all of the hardware required to mimic their makers inside of a human-sized/human-shaped body is a real problem.

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Revolutionary Robo-Critters (Space explorers)

Looking to nature for inspiration in robot design has led to a fantastic menagerie of mechanical creatures. All sorts of bugs, reptiles, fish, crustaceans, & mammals have provided design ideas . Even how these critters behave—the communalism of ants, the swarming of bees, & the flocking of birds—has inspired designs for clusters of robots that function in a similar manner. Robo-critters often have legs, only basic brainpower (instinct-level), & are frequently autonomous (either solar powered or capable of finding their own power source). Many of today's entertainment robots (AIBO, B.I.O. Bugs, iCybie) fall into Robo-critter robot category.

Note:

For robots of this type, weight is often critical. As legged mobility is complicated & fragile, this is often a weakness of the design. Legs are power-hungry, too, drinking up precious battery juice

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