Coffee and eggs the recipe for robot technique

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has funded some strange projects in its work to develop new technology for the United States military. But perhaps none quite so strange as using coffee grains to pick up an egg.

DARPA provided some of the money for a newly published study involving researchers at universities in Chicago and New York and the iRobot corporation (who produces the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner). They’ve produced a robotic arm which, rather than having a claw-like device at the end, has a balloon filled with coffee grounds.

The device works because the surface of coffee grains changes under pressure. As Hod Lipson, one of the researchers explained, ” When they are not pressed together they can roll over each other and flow. When they are pressed together just a little bit, the teeth interlock, and they become solid.” Rice and sand have similar qualities but are heavier.

That’s the reason why vacuum-packed coffee feels much more solid than when the grains are loose. That effect is recreated in the robot by air being sucked out of the balloon. This effectively “solidifies” the balloon, holding its shape and allowing it to hold on to any object it was surrounding.

There are some practical benefits to the device, beyond simply being awesome. It works well even with objects that human aren’t able to handle such as coins (which are fiddly, particularly when laid down) or eggs (which need a relatively precise and controlled degree of grip to avoid messy results.) While the robot might seem an over-engineered solution when you think of the “hassle” for a human to pick up one such object, it could make a major difference in assembly lines such as egg packing or coin sorting.

The researchers also say the technique could be used for handling sensitive objects as part of a bomb disposal team’s work. Though I must admit I’d be tempted to drop the bomb just to smell that freshly roasted coffee goodness (albeit with a rubbery aroma.)

The results of the study have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The researchers say there’s no reason why the device couldn’t be manufactured commercially right away.


ORCS! – The Movie [Video]

They are savage, bestial and barbaric. They are mythical, medieval, and warmongering. They are monstrous, sadistic creatures devoid of human emotion…They are ORCS! Hordes of rampaging orcs! And they’re here to kill us all! The fate of the world is left up to two park rangers. Can they defend us?

Ohhhhhhh, so that’s where all those unemployed orcs went after Peter Jackson was done with the LOTR movies…

[Via Topless Robot]

Sayonara to the Sony Walkman

Last year I wrote a celebratory article to mark the 30th anniversary of the first Sony Walkman going on sale. Today I write with a heavier heart as I bring you the sad news that the last cassette Walkman has left Sony’s Japanese factories.

The company has now revealed that it has not made any new units since April and will not be doing so in the future. In other words, once retailers’ current stock goes, that’s it for the Walkman cassette player in Japan. Conflicting reports suggest the company may license the brand to Chinese manufacturers for sales to customers in developing markets.

The final sales count for the cassette Walkman is around the 220 million mark. The entire range, which included digital music players, has sold 385 million units so far. As a comparison, the iPod range is believed to have hit 260 million in April this year, the point at which the last cassette Walkman was made.

The Walkman range did manage to outsell the iPod range in Japan this August, though that’s partly because of potential iPod buyers waiting for new models.

For memories of the Walkman in more happier times, check out our 30th anniversary piece from last year. And for a complete history of the models, check out Walkman Central, which includes some Sony portable cassette players from before the Walkman brand launched.

All that remains is to compile a 90 minute mixtape to honor the fallen technology. I’ll kick it off with Cliff Richard’s Wired For Sound. What’s your suggestion?

How To Make a D&D Cake from Scratch

Birthday time is serious business around these parts. Part of it probably has to do with my love of hobbits, and their rather extravagant interpretation of birthdays. You know, the sort where the guests get the presents, and entire trilogies are begun.

At any rate, my husband turned 29 this weekend, and I wanted to make a cake that would reflect his most beloved geeky obsession: tabletop roleplaying, and more specifically D&D! I had lots of ideas: from a Gamma World inspired cake, to a cake bedecked in dragons. But ultimately I wanted something that was more personal and flexible. I wanted something to represent the way he rolls, if you know what I mean.

The end result? A dungeon-inspired, dice bedecked 9″ chocolate layer cake. And while I certainly haven’t achieved Duff Goldman status, I thought I would share the geeky lengths I went to in order to get some of the details on this cake done. In some cases, it’s a lot easier than it looks!

  • The tiles: I wanted a dungeon tile look. Originally, I was going to use a fondant press (a piece of plastic with ridges on it that impressed a cobblestone look into the fondant). However, my fondant decided to have a mind of its own. Or, rather, the recipe was badly written, and the fondant didn’t hold up as I’d hoped. So: geeky powers of improvisation, activate! I rolled out the fondant, and then cut it into a variety of squares. I placed this over a layer of buttercream, and then painted them with a combination of cocoa powder and Kahlua. The result? My very own stonework.
  • The books: There are two books on the cake, and they’re both made of gum paste. Typically I use fondant for this, but I’d read that gum paste holds up a little better for detail work, takes color better, and dries quicker. You can roll gum paste super thin–perfect for the pages in the grimoire and the name cake. I bound the books by pressing on the gum paste to seal them in place, and tried to make the pages a little ragged for an antiqued look. Then, I used food coloring watered down with alcohol (water will cause the sugar to break down, and doesn’t work well at all) to get various textures. The grimoire got a pentagram, and the name book got the birthday message.
  • The dice bag & chest: Gum paste, again! Except, this time, I required some real girth, and I was out of Rice Crispy treats (these are moldable and great for putting beneath fondant or gum paste). At that point I’d already made more than three trips to the grocery store, and I was not going back. Turned out I had some Quaker Chewy Granola bars in the pantry, and crushed up they worked pretty well. I wrapped a layer of blue gum paste around the granola and as it dried it kept its shape very well. Some gold dust added to the chest gave a shimmery appearance, and I finished off the dice bag with a string.
  • Pile of gold: As a last-minute addition, I wanted to have a pile of gold. So, my dragon failed, but a good D&D cake needs real loot (I did have a scroll, a sword and a shield, but I needed more shiny!). Because gum paste dries really quickly, it’s easy to make very flat, very small items. I poked little holes in a flat piece with one of my frosting tips, and then squished them with my finger to make a couple dozen disks. Then I rolled them in sparkly, edible, gold dust. Et voila! A pile of gold Smaug might approve of.
  • The dice: Okay, so there’s only three. I ran into some issues with the mold casting, because this really was the most intensive of the projects. Food-grade silicon is available at most craft stores, and with it you can make a custom mold out of just about anything. Last year I used it to make skeletons and bones to stick out of cupcakes. But making molds of small, round objects is a lot harder than flat ones. I opted to make two-piece molds, then put them together. Using white chocolate colored red, I cast the whole set. Well, only the larger ones worked: the d8, d10, and d4 just weren’t happy. The chocolate changed shape enough that it just didn’t look right. The good news? The d6, d20 (which I cast from a larger one), and the d12 came out just right. A little icing for numbers, and there you go. 100% chocolate dice, cast directly from my husband’s own.
  • The rest: The cake itself is a recipe from Food Network star, Ina Garten. It’s called Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. I first started making the cake a year ago, and since then everyone in the family has requested the same cake. It’s got a cup of coffee in it, to boot, which really adds to the chocolate flavor, and yet it retains a real softness to it, like box cake but better. I put Kahlua in the middle, which is a coffee liqueur, which also enhances the cocoa deliciousness. I mean, you really can’t go wrong with chocolate and coffee.

Sure, you can buy a cake from your local grocery store. But where’s the fun in that? Once you learn your way around cake baking, it’s endless fun.

Do you have any favorite geeky cakes? I’ve seen some amazing professional ones out there, but I’m fond of the amateurs, like myself!

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