Tag Archives: cornell

Cornell student’s graduation cap sports super-bright LEDs that attendees control from the web

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Cornell student's graduation cap sports superbright LEDs that attendees can control from the web

At university graduations, students often deck out their academic regalia with glittery text and other shiny objects to help family members identify them among the crowd. As you might expect, the design sophistication can vary depending on the youngster's major, but at Cornell this year, one scholar clearly stole the show. Jeremy Blum, the proud new owner of a master's degree in electrical engineering, one-upped his classmates with Control my Cap, a WiFi-connected headpiece that packs 16 350mA high-brightness LEDs. Blum installed four red, green, blue and white LEDs in a clear light diffuser attached to his stock grad cap using a 3D-printed holder. He then embedded a Raspberry Pi computer and a $20 Adafruit LCD module with keypad within a wrist-mounted holder he printed with a MakerBot Replicator. Finally, a simple mobile site served as an interface for attendees, who could submit colors for the cap to display. We bet his professors are very proud.

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Source: Jeremy Blum

Eyes-on with Cornell University’s laser tag dunebots (video)

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Eyes-on with Cornell University's laser tag dunebots (video)

Cornell University may be the host of the Cornell Cup competition, but that doesn't mean it can't bring its own robots to join in on the fun. This year, students brought along a few bots, dubbed dunebots, outfitted with all-terrain wheels and equipped with laser tag turrets. The rugged rig features a pair of cameras, a dustproof and water resistant chassis, air intakes capped with filters, and other custom components for suspension and steering. Not only does the team plan on releasing code and documentation for the project, but the hardware was designed with modularity in mind, so others can build their own modified versions.

Taking the robot into battle requires two pilots armed with Xbox 360 controllers: one directing where it travels, and another aiming the turret and firing. Driving the buggy over the web is also possible, though it takes a few seconds for it to react. The group also baked in voice controls, to boot. If you're not watching the car duke it out in person, you can even tune in over the web and watch a live video stream from one of its onboard cams. Its top speeds haven't been firmly nailed down, but the team says the bot was running at approximately 35 percent of its full potential, since it was deemed too fast for conference attendees. Hit the jump to catch us talk with the effort's Computer Science lead Mike Dezube, and to see a dunebot in action.

Gallery: Dunebot hands-on

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NY approves Cornell Tech’s applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island

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DNP Cornell Tech's plan for an applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island has been approved

While Cornell has given its researchers the resources to build spider-like robots and move Pong paddles with the power of the mind, students more interested in the software side of engineering have not been getting as much love. That's about to change, however, with the recent City Planning Commission approval of Cornell Tech, a project to build an applied sciences campus on New York City's Roosevelt Island. Now the next step would be to get a blessing from the City Council. After all is said and done, we'll hopefully see the 12-acre site break ground in 2014, the campus opening its doors in 2017 and a full build-out by 2037. As they await their new home, Cornell is holding classes for aspiring computer whiz-kids at Google's Chelsea campus, where we're sure they'll get an inspiration or two. To see what else Cornell Tech has in store, check out the source link below.

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Cornell Tech

Cornell scientists 3D print ears with help from rat tails and cow ears

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Cornell scientists 3D print ears with help from rat tails and cow ears

Science! A team of bioengineers and physicians over at Cornell University recently detailed their work to 3D print lifelike ears that may be used to treat birth defects like microtia and assist those who have lost or damaged an ear due to an accident or cancer. The product, which is, "practically identical to the human ear," according to the school, was created using 3D printing and gels made from living cells -- collagen was gathered from rat tails and cartilage cells were taken from cow's ears. The whole process is quite quick, according to associate professor Lawrence Bonassar, who co-authored the report on the matter,

"It takes half a day to design the mold, a day or so to print it, 30 minutes to inject the gel, and we can remove the ear 15 minutes later. We trim the ear and then let it culture for several days in nourishing cell culture media before it is implanted."

The team is looking to implant the first ear in around three years, if all goes well.

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Source: Cornell Chronicle

Researchers turn to 19th century math for wireless data center breakthrough

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Researchers turn to 19th century math for wireless data center breakthrough

Researchers from Microsoft and Cornell University want to remove the tangles of cables from data centers. It's no small feat. With thousands of machines that need every bit of bandwidth available WiFi certainly isn't an option. To solve the issue, scientists are turning to two sources: the cutting edge of 60GHz networking and the 19th century mathematical theories of Arthur Cayley. Cayley's 1889 paper, On the Theory of Groups, was used to guide their method for connecting servers in the most efficient and fault tolerant way possible. The findings will be presented in a paper later this month, but it won't be clear how effectively this research can be applied to an actual data center until someone funds a prototype. The proposed Cayley data centers would rely on cylindrical server racks that have transceivers both inside and outside the tubes of machines, allowing them to pass data both among and between racks with (hopefully) minimal interference. Since the new design would do away with traditional network switches and cables, researchers believe they may eventually cost less than current designs and will draw less power. And will do so while still streaming data at 10 gigabits per second -- far faster than WiGig, which also makes use of 60GHz spectrum. To read the paper in its entirety check out the source.

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Researchers turn to 19th century math for wireless data center breakthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Wired  |  sourceOn the Feasibility of Completely Wireless Datacenters (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Fabricated: Scientists develop method to synthesize the sound of clothing for animations (video)

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Fabricated Scientists synthesize the sound of moving clothing, but you'll still need the Wilhelm Scream

Developments in CGI and animatronics might be getting alarmingly realistic, but the audio that goes with it often still relies on manual recordings. A pair of associate professors and a graduate student from Cornell University, however, have developed a method for synthesizing the sound of moving fabrics -- such as rustling clothes -- for use in animations, and thus, potentially film. The process, presented at SIGGRAPH, but reported to the public today, involves looking into two components of the natural sound of fabric, cloth moving on cloth, and crumpling. After creating a model for the energy and pattern of these two aspects, an approximation of the sound can be created, which acts as a kind of "road map" for the final audio.

The end result is created by breaking the map down into much smaller fragments, which are then matched against a database of similar sections of real field-recorded audio. They even included binaural recordings to give a first-person perspective for headphone wearers. The process is still overseen by a human sound engineer, who selects the appropriate type of fabric and oversees the way that sounds are matched, meaning it's not quite ready for prime time. Understandable really, as this is still a proof of concept, with real-time operations and other improvements penciled in for future iterations. What does a virtual sheet being pulled over an imaginary sofa sound like? Head past the break to hear it in action, along with a presentation of the process.

Continue reading Fabricated: Scientists develop method to synthesize the sound of clothing for animations (video)

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Fabricated: Scientists develop method to synthesize the sound of clothing for animations (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 23:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhysOrg  |  sourceCornell Chronical  | Email this | Comments

Cornell students build spider-like robotic chalkboard eraser out of Lego, magnets, fun (video)

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Robotic Eraser

While you were trying to pass Poetry 101, Cornell seniors Le Zhang and Michael Lathrop were creating an apple-polishing Lego robot that automatically erases your prof's chalkboard. A final class project, the toady mech uses an Atmel brain, accelerometers for direction control, microswitches to sense the edge of the board, magnets to stay attached and hot glue to keep the Lego from flying apart. As the video below the break shows, it first aligns itself vertically, then moves to the top of the board, commencing the chalk sweeping and turning 180 degrees each time its bumpers sense the edge. The duo are thinking of getting a patent, and a commercialized version would allow your teacher to drone on without the normal slate-clearing pause. So, if designing a clever bot and saving their prof from manual labor doesn't get the students an 'A', we don't know what will.

Continue reading Cornell students build spider-like robotic chalkboard eraser out of Lego, magnets, fun (video)

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Cornell students build spider-like robotic chalkboard eraser out of Lego, magnets, fun (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceYin Yang Robotics  | Email this | Comments

Sign language translator turns gestures into spoken letters, makes for a better world (video)

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By far one of the greatest challenges of sign language has been to translate it for everyday folk that wouldn't know where to begin a conversation with the deaf. Cornell University engineering students Ranjay Krishna, Seonwoo Lee and Si Ping Wang -- along with some help from Jonathan Lang -- used their final project time this past semester to close this gap in one of the more practical solutions we've seen to date. Their prototype glove uses accelerometers, contact sensors and flex sensors to translate complex finger gestures from the American Sign Language alphabet into spoken letters: after converting hand positions to digital signals, the test unit both speaks out the resulting letters and sends them to a computer, where they can be used for anything from a game (shown in the video below) to, presumably, constructing whole sentences. Along with being accurate, the Cornell work is even designed with a mind towards how it would work in the real world, as the glove and its transmitter are both wireless and powered by 9-volt batteries. We hope that the project leads to a real product and an extra bridge between the deaf and the rest of us, but in the meantime, we'll be happy that at least one form of powered glove is being put to the noblest use possible.

Continue reading Sign language translator turns gestures into spoken letters, makes for a better world (video)

Sign language translator turns gestures into spoken letters, makes for a better world (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSign Language Translation (Cornell)  | Email this | Comments

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: self-driving cars, solar parasols and the ultimate DIY Iron Man suit

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Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

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What seems more futuristic: flying cars or self-driving cars? They both sound a bit like science fiction, but they're both getting closer to becoming a reality. In the latest chapter of Google's efforts to develop a car that uses video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to navigate through traffic, the state of Nevada just granted Google the world's first license for a computer-controlled, driverless Toyota Prius. Meanwhile, this week we also checked in on the PAL-V (which stands for "Personal Air and Land Vehicle"), a two-seat hybrid car and gyroplane that runs on gas, biodiesel or bio-ethanol. In other transportation news, the Texas Central Railroad floated a plan to build a $10-billion bullet train that would run between Houston and Fort Worth, and Toyota officially unveiled its second-generation 2012 RAV4 EV, which features a Tesla powertrain.

We also saw green technology cropping up in unexpected places this week, like the $1-billion ghost town that will be built on virgin desert land in Lea County, New Mexico to test emerging green technologies. Construction on the ghost town is set to begin in late June. Milwaukee native Bryan Cera invented Glove One, a 3D-printed glove that doubles as a cell phone. And in Tokyo, participants heaved 100,000 LED lights into the Sumida River as part of the 2012 Tokyo Hotaru Festival. Although it certainly looked cool, that's a lot of LED bulbs to literally dump in the river, and it raises some questions about e-waste. GE found a more practical use for LEDs, unveiling a new LED light bulb to replace the 100-watt incandescent.

Continue reading Inhabitat's Week in Green: self-driving cars, solar parasols and the ultimate DIY Iron Man suit

Inhabitat's Week in Green: self-driving cars, solar parasols and the ultimate DIY Iron Man suit originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 21:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cornell students steer Pong using brain waves, can’t quite play during naps (video)

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Cornell brain wave PongWe here at Engadget are always fans of brain wave experiments, and so we were delighted when two Cornell University electrical engineering students, Chuck Moyes and Mengxiang Jiang, wrapped up a final project using brain waves in the best way possible: playing Pong. Their experiment links a baseball cap full of EEG-scanning electrodes to a computer, letting the cap wearer control a paddle using Alpha or Mu waves. Depending on the waves you use, you can move the paddle either by changing your concentration level or by thinking about moving your feet. You won't rack up a high score while napping (or with a teammate narrating over your shoulder), but with a budget under $75, it's hard to find fault. You can grab the source code below, and check out a video of Jiang and Moyes' handiwork after the break.

[Thanks, Chuck and Mengxiang]

Continue reading Cornell students steer Pong using brain waves, can't quite play during naps (video)

Cornell students steer Pong using brain waves, can't quite play during naps (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBCI, source code (GitHub)  | Email this | Comments