A Swedish programmer, Hans Andersson, has used a Lego Mindstorms NXT kit to develop a robot to solve Sudoku puzzles. The robot first scans the puzzle and uses an optical sensor to map out the puzzle's pre-set numbers and blank squares. The robot scans one line at a time, inching forward a little after each line is scanned.The blurry scanned image is then converted to a black and white binary image to improve the sharpness of the picture. A threshold value calculated by Otsu's Method is used to determine whether each pixel in the image is white or black.
The Otsu Method algorithm classes pixels as either foreground or background, and then determines the optimal threshold that minimizes the intra-class variance. Pixels below the threshold are set to black, and those above are set to white. A thinning algorithm is then used to convert the resulting image of each digit to 1-pixel wide lines. The digits are then examined for features such as their width, and the number and direction of tips on the digit. The digit six, for example, has one tip, which points to the right. Following this procedure for each digit, the robot identifies all the pre-set numbers in the puzzle. Once the puzzle is mapped, the robot solves it and fills in the blank squares. A recursive backtracking algorithm would normally be used to solve puzzles such as Sudoku, crosswords, or other puzzles in which the solution has several candidates. The method carries out a systematic examination of all possible solutions, and abandons and does not re-visit any that are eliminated. The Lego Mindstorms processor is too slow to use a backtracking algorithm and it does not allow for recursive functions, so Andersson had to make sure the calculations were optimized. The result is a little robot that can solve Sudoku puzzles and get them right every time, and in only a few minutes.
This is the Smart Measure Cup. It's a simple, great idea—a measuring cup that displays precise volume on a backlit LCD complete with unit conversion. So great, in fact, that it's been rebranded and picked up for manufacture.[Yanko Design]
If you’re a stickler for proper law and order, then the Laser Parking System ought to be right up your alley. This $30 device ($25 if you search for a cheaper source) is instaled in your garage to help you park - it uses the integrated motion sensor to know whether a vehicle is approaching or not, kicking off the Laser Guided Parking System to “shoot” a bright, vertical laser beam from a mounting location so that you will be able to park in the same spot every time without fail. Too bad they don’t use this in driving tests…
If you want to own a certain automobile coming from the next Transformers movie, then the polished motorcycle concept tossing amidst two and three wheels (apparently) with the mere touch of a button can be your next potential deal. Considering the highway route, it is accessible via three wheels but on jammed roads the entire commuter chalet swivels, elating the third veer (that sprouts blades) in the air, hence keeping the framework steady likewise in an airliner tail. The seating in the compartment stay erect when it turns, so munchies can stay in their cup receptacle. Designed and developed by student Seyyed Javad Ghaffarian for Car Design News 2008 design contest, the twisty vehicle concept is aptly christened as the Magic Tricycle. It is an indication that its march towards touching reality would be no less than a magic. I doubt if anyone gives a second thought before buying one, the day it hits market.
Are you sick of hearing loud music, dont worry here is an interesting concept waiting for u, SNAP it off earplugs. With the Snap It Off earplugs, these are easy to carry in your wallet since they are stored in a credit card-sized housing. Would be cooler if the concept came with some sort of Bluetooth connectivity integrated, as it would then make for a highly desirable pair of wireless headphones as well.
If you are simply not satisfied with the battery life battery life of your new iPhone 3G, you do have a few options. You could try and maximize it, or you could pick up some battery packs like the iPhoneck. Sure it extends your iPhone 3G by a whopping 2-inches, but it can also fully charge your phone in 90 minutes. The iPhoneck will be available in August for $43.
Well we have seen the combination of an umbrella and the torch in one of my earlier posts, now its turn of bluetooth that's combining with the umbrella. Have you ever operated you cellphone while its raining, i know the answer will be no, here is one smart idea for that. Now with the bluetooth enabled umbrella you can answer your calls and even this umbrella has a FM integrated in it, so you can also listen to the radio .
The CPR Pad could potentially save the lives of many, if and only if it moves beyond the concept stage. This design is meant to be applied to the patient’s chest during an emergency, where the monitor/aid will show how to push the chest correctly, giving out a click when you do it right. A flashing light will ensure that a proper rhythm is maintained, making anyone able to perform CPR without having to read through first aid manuals or doing it wrongly.
Umbrella’s aren’t just good for shielding you against rain and the sun, but an improvisation would result in the Light ‘N Go Auto Open Auto Close Folding Umbrella with Flashlight Handle, providing you with some much needed light at night. Turning the thing on and off is achieved by pressing a button on the handle, and LED lights are by no means dim, making them a suitable choice to light up your path when you’re talking a stroll through unfamiliar territory at night. It retails for $25 and is waterproof, ensuring you won’t get electrocuted whenever the heavens open.
Nooka’s Zub watches glow-in-the-dark, they were actually manufactured for Kanye West’s “Glow in the Dark” tour featuring Lupe Fiasco, Rihanna, and N.E.R.D. No idea if these will ever make it out on the open market since West himself purchased most of them. Maybe those who troll eBay 24/7 might catch a whiff, but I wouldn’t put too much hope on that either unless through a catastrophic string of events, West ends up broke and derelict (touch wood).
As far as we know silicon wafers are used in gadgets, but now this is the other case were a new chip is created that can filter out the CANCER cells. This device is created by the students of Princeton and Boston University. The device directs and focuses streams of cells in a liquid, like a change sorter, it then separated regular cells from unusual ones. The silicon wafer is tacked with tiny pillars that catch abnormal cells that are, in the end, potentially cancerous.
Don't you have enough place at the office check this out. Mubai-based Planet 3 studios crams a rooms worth of furniture into a single box. It was named " Out-of-Box " workstation and it can incorporate 2 desks, a decent amout of desktop real estate and a ton of storage space into a fairly compact design that can easily be wheeled from one room to another. The design is still at work and it is expected to cost around $ 2350
A video of the workstation in action is also available. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxc5wnBRCm0
The MediDome drug injector is one neat invention from Christopher Holden, a 21 year old student, and the device is currently going to be patented by his school, Northumbria University in Newcastle. The MediDome aims to do away with the needle and syringe in order to eliminate needlestick injuries, coming in a friendlier and less threatening form factor that won’t send kids (and some adults) scurrying away into some corner of the doctor’s office before a jab is administered.
MediDome uses a universal colour coding drug system - the ring is a different colour depending on which drug is in the pre-filled reservoir. Minimal packaging reduces the product’s carbon footprint, and a large label area contains all necessary information, such as drug name and dosage. The peel off adhesive cover also acts as a tamper alarm - it changes colour if the product has been ruptured or tampered with. A companion product, the Absorption MediDome, works in the same way for drugs such as painkillers and certain antibiotics but without the needle.
Bathsheba Grossman is an artist exploring how math, science and sculpture interconnect. Her work is about life in three dimensions, symmetry and balance, and always finding beauty in geometry. These are three excellent examples of her work. The Gyroid is a triply periodic minimal surface and was discovered by Alan Schoen. The artist then used Mathematica and Kenneth Brakke's Surface Evolver to compute this section of it, adding her own perforations. The Quintrino is a dodecahedral shape with a large and hidden inner volume. Using a variety of modeling techniques and tools the design of these shapes is created using CAD software. The next stage is to get them from a virtual model to a physical object - this is accomplished by direct-metal printing. The design is laid down, one layer at a time, in stainless-steel powder, held in place by a laser-activated binder. You can see the remnants of the layering on the finished pieces and each layer is .004" to .007" thick. The piece then goes into an oven, where heat drives off the binder and fuses the steel powder that was used during the printing process. This produces a porous steel sculpture that's about 60% dense. The next phase is to get rid of the porosity by replacing the airspace that remains in the piece with liquid bronze. To do this the sculpture is heated again, and special stems that protrude from the piece are dipped in a crucible of molten bronze. Capillary action causes the bronze to wick throughout the piece. Impossible as it seems, the end result is a composite metal that's fully dense with properties intermediate between steel and bronze.
Gyroid is a 1 3/8" cube and the Quintrino is 1 5/8" diameter.
Get ready to do wonders with colour. Here is a digital brush with a natural palette! Yes with this you can pick the colour of your hair to make your digital paintings realistic. Or even the pattern of your tie to turn the background very artistic. But how?
I/O brush is the wonder boy. You can use the brush to pick up textures, colours and patterns from anything and then paint it onto a digital canvas. So how does it work?
The inside of brush has a camera, lights, touch sensitive optic strands. When the brush comes in contact with a surface, the optic strands sense it and lights up the bulb. Once the frame is clear the camera takes a snapshot and stores it in an internal memory. And you can retrieve it onto the digital canvas whenever you are ready to paint. The I/O brush is now in its conceptual phase. Surely the artists of tomorrow can make real use of it.
