Finally, we learn how to use Google Glass

There is a lot of buzz around Google Glass, but most of us know surprisingly little about how to use it.  This little video gives you a quick overview.
Now, if I had one, I'd totally know how to use it.  Google, you can send me one anytime you like.

Why don't we make squishy robots?

Most robots are made of metal or plastic.  They are solid, hard devices.  Occasionally someone will make a robot that is covered with a soft skin, but underneath they are all made of rigid components.  What would happen if you made an inflatable robot?  You could use pneumatic power, valves and pumps to make it move.  This is exactly what Saul Griffith is working on and it is quite interesting stuff.  Take a look at the video from the Solve For X conference.

By the way, this is also the guy who wants to use kites to generate power.  Another cool idea - shown in the video below.

Will it float?

Today we are playing the game show "Will it float?"  Given various cans of soda, which will float and which will sink?  Watch the video to find out.

My favorite line, [about ingredients on food] "Why do they list the amount of sugar in grams?  Because we're Americans and it doesn't mean anything to us."

Wearable technology is the next step after mobile gadgets

PBS did a nice little piece on the "future of wearable technology."  My only real problem with this clip is that it is really about present wearable technology, not so much the future.  Everything they show is being done now.  The only think that makes it the future is that I don't have my Google Glass yet.  The technology is today, not tomorrow.  Tomorrow we'll have subcutaneous displays and direct nerve interfaces.
I do believe in the power of ambient technology (as described in the clip), but I think even connected watches are steps in that direction.  Meanwhile, my favorite view of the future of wearable technology is this, now four year old, vision created by the folks at the medialab.

What technology do you want to wear?  ...and more importantly how will we keep all the batteries charged?

Precision formation kite flying - who knew?

We've brought fancy kite flying to your attention before here at Digital Diner.  This time, instead of indoor flying, we return the kites to their natural state, out in the wind.  However, this time we see teams of precision flyers coordinating to create physics-defying displays of kite flying goodness.  This video was filmed at the 27th Rencontres Internationales de Cerfs-Volants à Berck, a large kite festival in France.

Just makes me want to go fly a kite.

The BeagleBone Black looks pretty nice!

Many of our readers who like to build their own gadgets enjoyed the article that I wrote last year describing the advantages and reasons to use the Arduino, Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone for your projects (In fact I'm happy to report that it was picked up and reposted by Make Magazine - cool!).  Each of these gadgets has its place, and we use all three here at Digital Diner.

Today things space changed a bit in this space.  The new BeagleBone Black development board was announced.  It is a significant upgrade from the previous BeagleBone for half the price ($45).  In particular, it now includes a 1GHz processor, HDMI video output, 512MB RAM and 2GB of built in flash storage all for $45.  

The addition of video output (HDMI) makes it much more directly comparable to the Raspberry Pi.  From a specifications perspective, it seems to beat the Raspberry Pi on almost all fronts with the exception of price.  Even that is too close to call though since the Raspberry Pi requires that you buy and external SSD card which will eat into the $10 difference in price.  The new BeagleBone includes 2GB of onboard flash storage so no SSD card should be required.  At this point, for pure performance, the BeagleBone Black looks pretty sweet.  Still, the Raspberry Pi has a vibrant community that may be difficult to match for a while if you are looking lots of example code and sample projects.  BOttom line is that its hard to go wrong because both platforms are great, so we all win.

For more info see BagleBone Black web page, or the articles here and here.

I've attempted to update the chart from my original article below.  BeagleBone Black is the last column:

Name	Arduino Uno	Raspberry Pi	Raspberry Pi	BeagleBone	BeagleBone
Model Tested	R3	Model B rev1	Model B rev2	Rev A5	Black
Price	$29.95	$35.00	$35.00	$89.00	$45.00
Size	2.95”x2.10”	3.37”x2.125”	3.37”x2.125”	3.4”x2.1”	3.4”x2.1”
Processor	ATMega 328	ARM11	ARM11	ARM Cortex-A8	ARM Cortex-A8
Clock Speed	16MHz	700MHz	700MHz	700MHz	1GHz
RAM	2KB	256MB	512MB	256MB	512MB
Flash	32KB	(SD Card)	(SD Card)	4GB(microSD)	2GB +microSD
EEPROM	1KB
Input Voltage	7-12v	5v	5v	5v	5v
Power		3.5W (700mA)	3.5W (700mA)	1.5-2.5W (300-500mA)	1-2.3W (210-460mA)
Digital GPIO	14	8	8	66	65
Analog Input	6 10-bit	N/A	N/A	6 12-bit	7 12-bit (1.8V)
PWM	6				2
TWI/I2C	2	1	1		1
SPI	yes	1	1		1
UART	1	1	1	6	3
OS	Arduino Bootloader	Linux	Linux	Angstrom, Ubuntu, Android, QNX	Angstrom, Ubuntu, Android, QNX
Dev IDE	Arduino Tool	IDLE, Scratch, Squeak/Linux	IDLE, Scratch, Squeak/Linux	Cloud9/Linux	Cloud9/Linux
Ethernet	N/A	10/100	10/100	10/100	10/100
USB Master	0	2 USB 2.0	2 USB 2.0	1 USB 2.0	1 USB 2.0
GPU	N/A	VideoCore IV	VideoCore IV	N/A	SGX530
Video Out	N/A	HDMI, Composite	HDMI, Composite	N/A	HDMI
Audio Output	N/A	HDMI, Analog	HDMI, Analog	N/A	HDMI

Flying without fuel is cool!

We got to see the Solar Impulse this weekend, and I must say it is truly inspirational.  This is the solar powered airplane that has already been able to fly for more than 24 hours straight.. meaning aside from the issues of keeping the pilot awake, they can stay up as long as they want.   They will be flying the plane from here to New York City starting next month.

The challenge of building a plane like this is to find just the right combination of strength, weight and power to stay aloft without using traditional fuel.  To do this, they created a plane with the wingspan of a Airbus 340 jumbo jet (over 60 meters), but the weight of a small car.  As you can imagine, some advanced materials were required to pull this off.  The fuselage is made of carbon fibre-honeycomb composite  that is essentially two thin carbon fiber layers with what looks like light weight cardboard between them.  Bix is holding a piece of it in the picture on the right.  It is incredibly light and sturdy.

The wings and the tail are covered on top with solar cells (I'm holding six cells in the picture on the left).  Actually, that isn't quite accurate.  I should say, the tops of the wings and tail are made of solar cells.  The surface of the wing is composed of these solar monocrystalline silicon cells that are a mere 150 microns thick so they can be light weight, flexible, generate a lot of power and provide the necessary structural integrity for these jumbo jet-sized wings.  The cells are efficient enough to generate four electric motors humming along while completely charging the batteries.  This allows them to run down the batteries over night and then recharge them without landing during the day.  

There are four main batteries corresponding to each of the four main engines onboard the Solar Impulse.  Each of these batteries weighs about 90 kg (~200 lbs) and make up about one quarter of the weight of the entire plane.

A part of an incredibly lightweight wing rib

The single seat cockpit of the Solar Impulse

The motors on the Solar Impulse are approximately 10 horsepower each, or about the same as the Wright Flyer had back in 1903.  These motors are able to pull the Solar Impulse to its 22 mph takeoff speed and ultimately to its cruising speed of about 40 mph.  During the day, the power produced by the solar panel is enough to fully charge the batteries while it drives the motors enough to allow the plane to climb.  In the evening when the sun goes down, they plan to have enough altitude to glide.  Over a 5 hour period they are able to lose only 7000 ft.  Unlike traditional gliders, they don't do this by seeking thermals.  The turbulents associated with these up currents in the air don't mix well with such a large and fragile ship as the Solar Impulse.

In 2015, they are hoping to circumnavigate the world without using a drop of fuel.  At 40 mph, you can see that this will take quite a bit of time.  Even though the airplane can fly continuously, there is no real autopilot or automatic way of flying the plane and it only has room for a single pilot, so the human becomes the limiting factor.  They will have to land regularly in order to allow the pilot to sleep.  As you might imagine crossing the ocean will be a significant challenge.  It will take about 5 days and nights to fly across the Atlantic ocean.  In order to stay awake for this period of time, both the pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg have special techniques they will employ.  They believe that through self-hypnosis and meditation they will be able to fly continuously for over 100 without real sleep.  The ground crew person that we spoke with about this topic said that they will allow them to have 8 - 20 minute cat naps.

Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg

Both Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg were there when we visited.  Mr Piccard gave a rousing speech about the importance of taking risks and trying things.  He should know.  His father was the first person to go to the bottom of  the Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench.  Bertrand himself has piloted a balloon around the world.  My favorite part of his speech was when he talked about trying go around the world three times.  He said the failures were learning experiences and that a success is a situation where you tried one more time than the number of times you failed.  Cool!  Mr Borrschberg then talked about the technical details of the plane and its planned flight.

Solar Impulse Specs
Wingspan	63.40m (208 ft)
Length	21.85m (72 ft)
Height	6.40m (21 ft)
Take-off speed	35km/h (22mph)
Average speed	70km/h (43 mph)
Maximum altitude	8,500m (27,900 ft)
Solar cells	11,628
Motors	4 x 10hp electric engine
Weight	1,600kg (~3500 lbs)

"For success, it is only necessary to try one tome more than the number of times you fail"

Woohoo! Algodoo is free!

A year and a half ago, we wandered into the small town of Umeå, Sweden.  Unannounced, we knocked on the door of a company called Algoryx, just to tell them that we were fans of their program called Algodoo.  Needless to say, they were surprised to have some silly Americans showing up unexpectedly, but they were very gracious and even gave the kids t-shirts (which are still among their favorites today).

Algodoo is a physics simulation program for kids.  No, that description doesn't do it justice.  Really it is an awesome virtual playground of imagination and exploration for anyone and everyone.  It lets you create a world of 2 dimensional objects that interact in a simulated environment on your screen.  You can build wheels, pulleys and motors, all the way up to fairly complex machines.  One very unique element of Algodoo is that it allows you to simulate fluids and light as well.  You can create a tub of water and let it slosh around.  You can create a prism and lenses and watch white light get split into component colors.  Watch the video above to get some idea of what it can do.

The really big news is that this amazing program is now free.  You can download it for your Mac or PC from the Algodoo website.  There is no reason not to get it and amuse yourself for hours (you will).  As if that wasn't enough, Algodoo also announced an iPad version of the program.  It is available for 99¢ (introductory price) on the app store right now.

Trust me on this one.  Download it for your computer or iPad today.  You'll be glad you did! Let us know what you build.

Bix & Widdikay with Emil Ernerfeldt, the creator of Phun, the original version of Algodoo.

from Algodoo

Kids raising money for causes

In these days of uncertain funding for basic programs in schools and beyond, fundraising is a fact of life. There are so many worthy causes that need money, and it is heartbreaking to see kids missing out because of a lack of funding. Well, as of today there may be a new solution. What happens when you tie together crowd-sourced funding like Kickstarter and Indiegogo (which uses the power of the web to raise money for start-ups) with great causes and the boundless energy of kids? The answer is Piggybackr. We think that many of our readers may find this to be a useful tool.

Piggybackr is a new website that is launching today. It gives kids a straight forward way to use the power of the Internet to raise money for sports teams, field trips, and projects. We gave you a little preview of it last week with the announcement of the Aeroponics for All campaign (thanks for continuing to spread the word on this one).

The way it works is that the kids who are interested in fundraising create a video and a description of their fundraiser and they post it on Piggybackr. They create different levels of donors and may include gifts for them to show their appreciation. Once their campaign is ready to go, Piggybackr creates a custom web page for them, takes payments via credit card and PayPal and allows them to track their fundraising efforts. In team fundraising situations, it can even help keep track of how individuals are doing with their fundraising responsibilities. The kids quickly learn that the website helps collect money, but they still have to do the work to spread the word about their cause and convince people about their cause. It does NOT find donors for them. The whole process helps to empower the kids and maybe even help them to appreciate the resources that are spent on the causes they believe in.

To me one of the exciting side effects is that when kids use this technology to raise money, they are learning skills that will later help them raise money for a business with Kickstarter or Indiegogo. The setup is very similar. You start with a passion and a need. You create a persuasive video explaining your need and provide your supporters with information they need to contribute your cause. These are skills a 21st century entrepreneur needs in order to be successful. There is an interesting article that talks about how we can help prepare young people for jobs that don't even exist yet by one of the founders of Piggybackr. It's worth a look.

Congrats on your launch Piggybackr

A little motivation - Steve Jobs on the meaning of life and asking

I was looking for a little inspiration today to give that extra push.  Somedays you need a little extra motivation to get up and get going.  Steve Jobs to the rescue.

And while we're at it, sometimes good things come to those who ask.  I think that it helps if what you are asking for is at least somewhat reasonable, but no matter what it is, having the courage to ask can sometimes lead to great rewards.

No excuses now, go out and build something.  Make the world a little better tonight than it was when you woke up this morning.