It's Alive! ~ During the initial development of the Novag Robot Adversary chess machine we
used
stepping motors to drive the arm's shoulder and elbow movement.
But, to
save costs, in the production model we switched to analog DC
motors.
The switch in drive motors had an unexpected benefit -- instead of the
previous jerky and mechanical movement one associates with a robot, now
the arm moved fluidly and with a strangely lifelike grace.
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Far
From Any
Possible Madding Crowd ~ Installing a weather station on top of
Alaska's 5,629 foot Mount Thoro,
I am struck by the majestic beauty of
the surrounding peaks of the Alaskan Range, the awesome presence of the
20,320 foot Denali just to
the west, and the profound silence of this place. But after
working at
minus 12 degrees for nine hours, nothing sounds better than a bowl of
hot
clam chowder.
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