Autobots... Decepticons... Transform!

Well well well. Everybody had experienced being a geek, right. Well, I would say that the peek of my "geekness" age would be by the time I got hooked on the animated series of the Transformers! As a kid, I was addicted to it! They were just plain awesome! So yeah, I decided to post about the group of robots we all love. Transformers!

Originally, I was planning to post a complete list of all the Transformers! Well, it was later that I realized, there is just too many to mention. Well, I then decided to create a list of the ones that were shown on the recent 2007 movie and a small description given by Wikipedia.org. And here it goes!

Autobots

• Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader who comes to Earth to destroy the All Spark in order to end the war.

• Bumblebee. Known as the guardian robot and due to a battle injury, he is rendered effectively mute, and communicates through use of selected playback of radio and television signals.

• Jazz. The lieutenant and is described as having a love of style, with a hip-hop personality.

• Ratchet. The team's medical officer.

• Ironhide. The cantankerous weapons specialist.

Decepticons

• Megatron. The Decepticon leader who crash-landed in the Arctic thousands of years ago in his quest to obtain the All Spark. When he is defrosted, he keeps his original alien jet form out of vanity.

• Starscream. Megatron's second-in-command.

• Brawl. Described as "a very pissed off Decepticon" and always looking for a fight.

• Bonecrusher. His feet are wheels, "skating" as opposed to running. His only weapon is a claw-like scoop at the end of a large telescopic arm.

• Barricade. He is a hunter/scout of the Decepticons, choosing his vehicle mode to easily hide among the humans as a symbol of authority.

• Scorpinok. His machine form is a mechanized scorpion. Scorponok is the only Decepticon in the movie that did not transform, but he is able to dive under sand or other soft landforms.

• Frenzy. A small and vicious spy who transforms into a boombox, and later into a mobile phone.

• Blackout. The first active Decepticon to be seen and is fiercely loyal to Megatron.

I wanted to include all of their pictures, but I guess I'm so limited, as to the fact that I cannot lengthen this post. But well, I'm a geek when it comes to Transformers, and that fact alone makes it possible for me to make another post.

No worries, I'll make sure to update this post if ever I do post another. For the meantime, see ya around!

Learning Robotics Technologies: What, How and Where?

Have the fascination with robots? Want to learn robotics? Well, what are you waiting for, enroll Bachelor of Science in Robot Technology! But wait, do you think your compassion would be enough for you to take this course? Well, think again.
Course: Bachelor of Science in Robot Technology

This degree aims to teach and train students to become professional robot engineer. Their course syllabus would include variety of works with Mathematics and Engineering fields. Their programs would teach and familiarize with computer programming and the key operations of the robots. There are also choices of emphasis on Technology Management if the students wish.

Requirements: Ofcourse to be able to qualify for this course, you would need to be knowledgeable and must have skills with mechanical and electrical algorithms and rules. Well, they actually encourage that you finish a degree first with these fields. They also require that you must posses skills in the following:

• Basic Electrical Engineering
• Applied Electrical Math
• DC and AC Machines
• Programmable Logic Controllers
• Quantitative Mathematical Reasoning

Skills that will be learned with this would include the ability to understand both the physical and the conceptual functions of robots, to be able to formulate and create working machines.

Well, sounds promising. Now, where should I go if I qualify? There are many schools all over the world that caters and offers robot technology and other related courses. But recently, USNews.com has release their top preferred schools for robotics. I prefer Purdue University.

Purdue University. Their freshmen retention rate is at 86%! Got in for the first year? Well, good luck. This university has earned many acclaims (click on the link to see).

In March 2008, Purdue's speech-language pathology graduate program was ranked second and the audiology program was ranked ninth by U.S. News & World & Report magazine. In engineering, Purdue's aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical program was ranked fifth and the civil and mechanical engineering programs were ranked seventh.

Purdue's Krannert School of Management had two programs ranked in the top 10. Productions/operations was ranked third and supply chain/logistics was ranked eighth.

Purdue's School of Pharmacy was ranked ninth.

Graduate program rankings reflect both masters and doctoral programs or only doctoral programs.

Still thinking this is the right direction for you? Go ahead. Enroll. :)

My Top Five Robot Movies

These days where one can make wonders on the big screen with realistic special effects, it seems easier to make sci-fi movies and robot films. My topic today, my top five favorite robot movies. But I sure want to make some twists and I wanted it to be more related to our theme. So yeah, I chose my top five robot movies wherein the robots developed humanity. Here it goes.

5. Wall-E
What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, Wall-E, short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class, discovers a new purpose in life, besides collecting knick-knacks, when he meets a sleek search robot named Eve. Eve comes to realize that Wall-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans, who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home. Meanwhile, Wall-E chases Eve across the galaxy and sets an adventure into motion.

4. A.I. (Artificial Intelligence)
In the not-so-far future the polar ice caps have melted and the resulting raise of the ocean waters has drowned all the coastal cities of the world. Withdrawn to the interior of the continents, the human race keeps advancing, reaching to the point of creating realistic robots (called mechas) to serve him. One of the mecha-producing companies builds David, an artificial kid which is the first to have real feelings, especially a never-ending love for his "mother", Monica. Monica is the woman who adopted him as a substitute for her real son, who remains in cryo-stasis, stricken by an incurable disease. David is living happily with Monica and her husband, but when their real son returns home after a cure is discovered, his life changes dramatically. A futuristic adaptation of the tale of Pinocchio, with David being the "fake" boy who desperately wants to become "real". (by Chris Makrozahopoulos: makzax@hotmail.com)

3. Robocop Series
After Omni Consumer Products (OCP) announced that it bought out the Detroit police department, the department decides to go on strike. Alex Murphy, gets transferred from Metro South to the West. He and his partner, Anne Lewis, track down a group of criminals led by Clarence Boddicker. Unfortunately, Murphy was killed by Clarence's gang. Bob Morton, one of OCP's employees, transforms Murphy's corpse into Robocop, to compete with another employee Dick Jones' ED-209. Robocop's tests are successful. Unfortunately, Robocop rediscovers his memories (when he was Alex Murphy), and now knows he has to find and arrest Clarence Boddicker. He realizes that Clarence is working for Bob Morton's competition Dick Jones. Now, Robocop must stop both Clarence and Dick Jones. (by John Wiggins)

2. Blade Runner
In 2019, humans have genetically engineered Replicants, which are essentially humans who are designed for labor and entertainment purposes. They are illegal on earth, and if they make it to our planet they are to be hunted down and killed. Rick Deckard is a blade runner, or a hunter of replicants. A group of replicants make it to Los Angeles to seek out a way to extend their life span. Replicants have a built in 4 year life span, and this group is at the end. Although he hunts them to the end, the replicants end up teaching the detached Deckard what it really means to be human.

1. The Terminator Series
In the future, Skynet, a computer system fights a losing war against the humans who built it and who it nearly exterminated. Just before being destroyed, Skynet sends a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah, the mother to be of John Connor, the Leader of the human resistance. The terminator can pass for human, is nearly indestructible, and has only one mission, killing Sarah Connor. One soldier is sent back to protect her from the killing machine. He must find Sarah before the Terminator can carry out it's mission. (by John Vogel:jlvogel@comcast.net)

There you have it. Well, can robots really develop feelings? Can they become humans? We can never tell.

Japan's Age of Machines

Japan is the country in which most of us knows that have great expertise in creating innovations, specifically robots and machines.

I chose to make a time line of few of Japan's greatest achievements. Here is my compilation:

1945. The United States dropped the uranium A-bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki is devastated by the plutonium A-bomb "Fat Man" on August 9, leaving Japan to surrender on the war and to start all over from scratch.

1950. Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corp. (or Sony later) develops the G-type, Japan's first magnetic tape recorder.

1952. The debut of Astro Boy, a hero by manga guru Osama Tezuka. He is considered as more than just a fictional character but has become a cultural icon for the country.

1953. NHK begins TV broadcasting!

1955. Sony releases the TR-55, Japan's first pocket sized transistor radio after buying the license for transistor.

1957. Casio releases Casio 14-A, the world's first compact electronic calculator.

1960. Sony comes out with the world's first all transistor television set.

1964. First scheduled service of the Tokaido Shinkansen (bullet train) began.

1966. Middle-class consumers aims to get the "Three Cs" - a car, a color television and an air-condition.

1969. Kawasaki Heavy Industries begins manufacturing Japan's first industrial robot, Unimate 2000, primarily used to weld automotive parts together.

1970. Fujiko Fujio's comic strip about Doraemon, a robot cat from the future, debuts.

1973. NTT started offering fax services in all of Japan.

1976. JVC launches VHS-format video recorder.

1979. Sony releases its portable Walkman.

1981. Fujitsu Fanuc begins using robots to manufacture robot parts.

1982. Compact Discs and CD players go on sale, developed simultaneously by Sony and Philips.

1983. Nintendo releases Family Computer, also known as the Nintendo Entertainment System, bringing videogames to the living room.

1989. Nintendo comes out with portable Game Boy.

1994. Sony releases PlayStation game system.

1996. Nintendo 64, first 64-bit game system, goes to the market; DVD player released by Toshiba and Matsushita simultaneosly.

1997. Honda develops P3, a humaniod robot.

1999. Sony releases the Aibo robot dog.

2000. SoftBank cheif Masayoshi Son surpasses Microsoft's Bill Gates in paper wealth briefly.

These is just a brief summary and I may have left out some details. But if you wanted to add something, just leave out a comment. Thanks!

Sources: Time Magazine, May 2000 issue and Wikipedia.org

Pleo: The World's Smartest Pet Robot

Everyone of us would sometimes long to be a child again. Someone who is carefree. Someone who appreciate life's simple joys. Someone who wants to have fun. Someone who plays TOYS. lol, I don't know with you but I would want to play robot toys again, just like when I was young.

Toys have evolve very much like with the pace of technology. As time passes by, and as technology progresses, there is also a rapid development of toys. From the traditional stuff toys, to hand held game consoles and now, interactive robots. Wouldn't you wish these existed in the 90s?

Back in 2006, Ugobe unveiled the yet smartest toy of the generation, Pleo.



Pleo is a robotic toy designed to emulate the appearance and act with the behavior of a week old Camarasaurus, a cute green dinosaur. A Camarasaurus may grow up to 60 feet long when it reaches adulthood, but its just as size as this toy when it was newborn. It was designed by Caleb Chung.

What makes Pleo special is that every individual toy is designed to be different. As the Official Site of Pleo has stated "Every Pleo is autonomous. Yes, each one begins life as a newly-hatched baby Camarasaurus, but that's where predictability ends and individuality begins. Like any creature, Pleo feels hunger and fatigue - offset by powerful urges to explore and be nurtured. He'll graze, nap and toddle about on his own -when he feels like it! Pleo dinosaur can change his mind and his mood, just as you do."

Isn't it great! Your Pleo can have a very unique personality, depending on how you raise it.

What also makes this toy very different and outstanding is that it can convey different expressions and emotions. It can go happy, playful, scared or sad, depending on the awareness it has developed with its companionship with you! Pleo also grows old with you. He starts as a newly hatch, then you can take care of him as an infant until he turns juvenile. And his characteristics would all depend on his experiences as he is growing old, would he be shy or confident or joyful.

So it would be wiser to treat Pleo as special as you could. This toy is also capable to interaction with others, or be it another Pleo. You can go and hug it, cuddle with it, talk to it, listen, shake hands and many more! Plus, Pleos can go bond with each other.

Ugobe has used its Life OS in developing this innovation. Life OS is the complex platform of tools and technologies that enable Pleo's mechanical, electronic, sensory, and Artificial Intelligence systems to interact as a lifelike whole. A Pleo is equipped with a infrared transmitter and receiver, touch sensors all over its body, cameras, microphones and speakers. It is also mobilized with a rechargeable battery, making it very mobile.(Plus, you'll know when you need to charge it because Pleo goes tired!)

Indeed, this is a great step in developing interactive robots and innovative entertainment. Go Pleo!

Astro Boy - The Human Side of Technology

Ever wondered what was Japan's inspiration why they went this advanced in technology, even after their devastation on World War II? You got it right! (Assuming you read the title of this post)

Astro Boy first started as a manga series which was first serialized in Japan from 1951 to 1968. It was then followed by two further series on 1975 and 1980 to 81. He is created by Osamu Tezuka, often reputed as the "god of manga." It was later serialized in the United States under the Dark Horse Comics.

Thanks to the ever helpful Wikipedia, I was able to gather important information.

Astro Boy also saw alot of action in motion. It was made into a television series, and dubbed as the first anime ever made. The beginning of the series was produced by Mushi Productions, which premiered on Fuji TV on New Year's Day 1963, but was eventually moved to the NHK network. It was also the first anime to be broadcast outside Japan. It lasted for four seasons, with a total of 193 episodes. At its height it was watched by 40% of the Japanese population that had access to a TV. In 1964, there was a feature-length animated movie called Hero of Space released in Japan. It was an anthology of three episodes; The Robot Spaceship, Last Day on Earth and Earth Defense Squadron. The latter two were a special treat for Japanese fans since the theatrical versions were filmed in color.

There has been a lot of plans for a movie. In 1962, MBS released an hour and 15 minutes of black and white live action film and since there are limitation on what people can do with a film, the success of the film was out of reach. It was on 1999 that Columbia Pictures has announce the making of the Hollywood version of the comic series.


The Astro Boy feature film version is slated for 2009 from Imagi Animation Studios.

The plot of the series is simple. The story focuses mainly on Astro Boy, a robot created by Dr. Tenma, the head of the Ministry of Science in hope that he would be able to replace his son, Tobio, who died on a car accident. After the realization that the robot would never have emotions, he sold it to a cruel circus owner, Hamegg, who later gave him to Professor Ochanomizu, the new head of the Ministry of Science.

Throughout the series, Astro Boy, fights crime, injustice and evil at the same time struggles with the difficulties of his hopes to be a real boy. The series, whether on manga or on TV, explored issues on morality, responsibility, racism, prejudice, true heroism, and acceptance of loss.

While, on the storyline, our hero is built on pure metal, yet he displays great human emotion, even greater that most of the people on the series. While the story focuses on his struggles as a robot and his wants to be human, the loss, the responsibilities and his limitations, Astro Boy remains loyal and and pure, making him the real picture of the perfect technology. A technology with a touch of humanity.

Indeed, Astro Boy is an existing evidence, that in every technology we make, build or create, we always long for it to have a human side.