Spirit

Regular readers know that xkcd is may favorite comic. It's reliably both intellegent and funny. Today's comic, however, is also a little heartbreaking.

Voltron is Dead. Long Live Voltron.

It seems that the rights to make a live-action adaptation of Voltron have expired, leaving that project dead. Unfortunately, like a zombie, Voltron: The Motion Picture is rising from its own grave; another batch of ambitious-but-unoriginal producers is planning a big-screen adventure staring the compound robot. What makes these guys different? They plan to focus on the "human spirit" of which Voltron is the "personification." Yes, because a story about a robot made of other robots will certainly be a character-driven drama exploring what it means to be human and documenting the triumph of mankind's spirit.

Say it with me: Who ordered that?

Do they Plan to Call it Blade Runnerz?

It appears that the folks behind Eagle Eye are trying to get a sequel to Blade Runner off the ground.  I love Blade Runner, but I have no interest in seeing sequel made.

It's Alive, It's Alive: Replacing a Dead Roomba Battery

Recently, after more than a year of good service, our Roomba robot vacuum cleaner stopped working properly. It would reverse out of its dock at the scheduled cleaning time, then immediately play the "I'm tired" music and return to its dock. This behavior indicated to me that the battery pack wasn't holding its charge, and a search of the internet revealed that many Roomba and Scooba owners were experiencing the same problem. Apparently, iRobot was cutting corners with the OEM batteries.

The internet also showed us that the battery pack was composed of 12 sub-C-sized 3000-mA-hr NiMH batteries and a thermistor wired to 3 connectors. I thought about buying some higher-capacity batteries and rebuilding the pack using the existing temperature sensor, but then I came across this item for sale. It offered slightly more capacity than the stock batteries and was cheaper to buy than I would pay for the same batteries, retail, plus it included a new thermistor. Thus, I decided to purchase it. Then I saw this pack, which offers 40% more capacity, and I knew I had to get it.

The new pack arrived last night, and we set about modding the Roomba. The major problems with this operation were unscrewing the odd, triangular (not Tri-Wing) screws that hold the battery case on---this ground-down Tri-Wing screwdriver wasn't a perfect fit---and pulling apart the glued-shut case. After Alison took care of de-casing the battery, I set about soldering the connectors onto the new pack while watching Top Gear. (I guess I should have said "whilst" watching Top Gear.) We charged the robot up overnight---the new pack takes 1.4 times as long to charge---and this morning, the Roomba vacuumed the floors without hesitation.

So, not only have we fixed the instant-fatigue syndrome, but the robot can now clean for 40% longer than it could when new. I'd call that a successful repair.

I Think They Meant "Luge"

Alison and I have been quite happy with our iRobot Roomba Scheduler vacuum-cleaning robot. That's why, when I learned about iRobot's upcoming Looj gutter-cleaning bot, I immediately thought, "My mom needs that." That way, she won't ask me to clean the gutters every single time I visit Atlanta. If only there were a robot that would make her stop telling me that my hair is too short.

As Long as Michael Bay isn't Involved

Apparently, Warmer Brothers has purchased the film rights to the 1980's transforming-mecha series, Robotech, which is the series that introduced me and a lot of people my age to anime. What's more, Tobey Maguire's production company will produce the film, and Maguire is considering staring* in it. I'm not sure what to think of this move. In many respects, Robotech was superior to the similarly themed Transformers,** and it was certainly better than Voltron, but Transformers made such an awful film, I have to worry. Maybe, if Michael Bay isn't allowed anywhere near the set or the editing room, things will work out.

* I can only guess that means he's interested in playing Rick Hunter.
** The singing was not one of them.

The New Robot in Town

iRobot's Roomba robot vacuum cleaner has been redesigned, and the new model looks to be just as hackable as the first.

And I'll Form the Head!

Thanks to the craptacular-but-successful Transformers adaptation, New Regency is moving forward with the Voltron film I mentioned a few months ago, with an eye towards making it a franchise. If Transformers is their inspiration I'm going to have to vote against this film being made.

Movie Review: Transformers (2007)

(This review contains no significant spoilers.)

Alison and I saw Transformers a few weeks ago. Here are my thoughts.

What I liked:

• It was great fun to see my childhood toys up on the big screen, albeit in modified form.
• The visual effects in the film were spectacular.
• Peter Cullen turned in a solid performance as the voice of Optimus Prime.
  
• A surprising amount of backstory and motivation was given to the main human character, Sam.

What I disliked:

• Many plot points were just stupid.
• All the "science" in the film was ridiculous.
• The dialog, especially Prime's, was melodramatic.
  
• The film was very self-serving, from a species point of view. By this I mean that (a) the main character was human rather than an Autobot, (b) a human gets to save the day, and (c) there were many cases in which Prime or another Autobot expresses admiration for humans. Ugh.
  

Overall, I give it 4.0 out of 10.

Form Blazing Sword!

Justin Marks, the screenwriter penning the potential He-Man movie I just posted about, is also writing a big-screen adaptation of Voltron. I feel terrible expressing an informed opinion about this project, but I hope the Lion Voltron/GoLion is the incarnation chosen.

Why Does He Need Lips?

The guys over at Jalopnik are righteously indignant that the latest trailer for Transformers shows that the film incarnation of Optimus Prime has lips. I must say I share their indignation; I mean; he doesn't even need a mouth, let alone oddly protruding lips. This flick is looking worse all the time.

Dyson To Field Roomba Terminator

It looks like Dyson is preparing to go toe-to-toe...um, wheel-to-wheel...with iRobot using the DCO6.

Xbox xBot

Need a robot to play all those tedious video games for you? Well, here you go.

Robot Review: iRobot Roomba Scheduler

Well, Alison and I finally broke down and bought a Roomba. The Roomba, for those of you living in a cave for the last 4 years, is a small-disk-shaped robotic vacuum cleaner brought to you by the same people who make the military PackBot. The Roomba moves around in a somewhat random fashion and eventually covers the entire floor. The robot has sensors that tell it when it has hit a wall, is going over a drop-off (such as a stair), or has run into one of the infrared "walls" used to keep it away from anyplace you don't want it going. The circular planform means that the Roomba can turn around in its own length to get itself out of trouble, and the low height means it has no trouble scurrying under couches and such. Ours, specifically, is the Roomba Scheduler, which allows you to set up---you guessed it---a cleaning schedule; the robot will automatically set out from its home base at the appointed time, clean until it gets "tired," then follow the IR signal back to its base and recharge. All you have to do is empty the dustbin, and the latest version even tells you when to do that. Neato!

The actual vacuuming is pretty good, though not spectacular. I'm sure the Dyson does a much better job, but you still have to push the Dyson around. If you find that the Roomba isn't cleaning as thoroughly as you'd like, just add another cleaning cycle to its weekly schedule. Done!

Overall, I give it 8.5 out of 10.

Now I just need to get a Create to futz around with.

I, For One, Welcome Our New Lego Overlords

I encourage you to check out this video of an amazing automated Lego car factory. Note that the colors of the various colors can be selected.

iRobot Gets Create-Ive

It looks like iRobot, makers of the very popular Roomba and Scooba lines of household robots, have taken notice of all the hacking of these machines that's going on. Since these robots have mature drive and sensor systems, they make great platforms on which to build one's own robot. So, iRobot will soon release the Create, a new model that is essentially a Scooba stripped of the cleaning equipment and loaded up with connectors to which all kinds of sensors and actuators can be attached. Here's a good write-up from Robot Magazine. Groovy, eh?

I, for One, Welcome Our New Robot Overlords

You might enjoy this interesting article about one researcher's work on software that generate "new ideas on the basis of existing ones." It's pretty cool.

I Robot, You Robot, We all Robot for iRobot.

Today, two pieces of news about iRobot's famous and profitable line of disk-shaped home-cleaning robots hit the interweb. That's right, two:

• First up: Some clever guy has hacked his Bluetooth cellular phone to enable him to control his Roomba with his cell phone. Neat, eh? I'd like to point out to Alison, who won't let me disassemble the Roomba we are planning to acquire, that this project doesn't require taking the robot apart; it's done using a Bluetooth interface that plugs into an existing serial port on the Roomba.
• Next: My favorite magazine is reporting that iRobot will be producing a new robot called the Dirt Dog. The D'Dog, as I'm inclined to call it, is to the shop vac what the Roomba is to the regular vacuum cleaner. Now, if I just had a real workshop, I'd be all over this.
  

Robots in Disguise

Fans of the Transformers seem to grow ever more alarmed about the upcoming film each time more information leaks out. Most recently, said fans appear to be unhappy with the drawings of Megatron's Cybertronian form that have just appeared online. Die-hard fanatics are most outraged that Megatron is an "alien jet" rather than a gun, as he was way back in Generation One and the original TV series, but I'm not surprised; toymakers Takara and Hasbro are shy about marketing handguns or rifles in this day and age. Most of the other objections to Megatron's design---and to the designs of all the Decepticons and Autobots---center on the baroque anime-like styling. I'm not offended by that; I guess I'm not a real fan.

By the way, Megatron's earthly form has not shown up on the interweb yet. Time will tell what that will look like.

More Than Meets the Eye

Those in our readership who are nerds and where born between 1970 and 1980---which is pretty much all of you---are probably curious to know exactly how Michael Bay is going to ruin the upcoming Transformers movie, which is creatively titled Transformers and should not be confused with 1986's Transformers: The Movie. Although many fans were gratified to learn that Peter Cullen will be reprising his original-series role as the voice of Optimus Prime...I mean, Optimus Prime---and I must say I agree with that move---they were shocked, shocked that Bumblebee is going to be a 2009 Camero rather than a Bug---which frankly doesn't bother me. Anyway, I can't tell you how, precisely, the ruination will occur. I can, however, point you to these descriptions of the Transformer characters in the film and to these images of some of them, which look pretty good.