Last week the HRI2016 conference took place right here in Christchurch. The program was a full success and I hope that everybody enjoyed New Zealand. We also had a bit of media coverage:
Governor General visits the HIT Lab NZ
The Govenor General, Jerry Mateparae, visited the HIT Lab NZ on March 9th, 2016. We presented our main research areas to him, including Human-Robot Interaction. Jerry Mateparae seemed to enjoy the performance of our robots, but his Aides-de-Camp looked, well, I am not sure how to read his face. Continue reading “Governor General visits the HIT Lab NZ”
LEGO compatible thrust ball bearing
To rotate an axial load LEGO developed the turn table. For light loads this works great but the friction increases dramatically with heavy loads. This thrust ball bearing uses standard LEGO balls to transform the friction into rotations. This allows the two disks to easily rotate. The balls and an additional rim keep the two disks in place.
A motor can be attached on the inside to power the rotation. Even the smallest LEGO motor is sufficient to easily rotate this 2 kg load. This thrust ball bearing is fully LEGO compatible and even allows studs to be attached to top half. Standard 14.2 mm LEGO balls can be used. The bearing measures 20 studs across and is three bricks high. This should be big enough for even the biggest crane or MOC display.
The 3D data is available from the Autodesk Gallery and GrabCAD.
Portuguese translation of the Godspeed Questionnaire Series available
Carina Dantas provided the Portuguese translation for the Godspeed Questionnaire Series. Please do continue to send me translation and I will put them online.
Interview on Radio Live with Mark Sainsbury
Just finished a radio interview with Mark Sainsbury on Radio Live. They run full hour program on robots and our society.