Dean Kamen's Artificial "Luke" Arm - Segway inventor reinvents the prosthetic arm: "I've been able to do stuff with this that I haven't, seriously haven't, done in 26 years... uh, pick up a banana, peel a banana and eat it without it squishening... I can't wait to get one of these in a real environment, a home environment, and actually my wife can't either. She's going, oh yeah, I got lots of stuff for you to do."
posted by kliuless
on Feb 19, 2008 -
59 comments
The
FIRST ("For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology") robotics competition has recently begun it's 2007 competition season. The competition, which began and still enjoys it's greatest popularity in the United States, challenges high-school students and mentors to design and build a (teleoperated) robot to play a game in six weeks. Founded by
Dean Kamen, of
segway, IBOT,
the first home dialysis machine, and
clean drinking water fame founded the competition in 1988 to inspire students to enter the engineering profession.
Every year a new challenge is put forth, and
this year's game involves placing inner-tubes on a cylindrical rack in addition to lifting other team's robots. A
sizeable community has sprung up around FIRST, with much attention paid to Dean Kamen's ideal of
gracious professionalism which is like sportsmanship without the sports.
The 2007
regional competitions provide teams an opportunity
to show off their work. If you're interested in getting involved, or just
watching the events, FIRST provides a handy
Event Locator.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms
on Mar 8, 2007 -
14 comments
Oh no...not again... In the latest twist to the long-running Ginger saga, it's now being rumored that the two-wheeled device unveiled by inventor Dean Kamen last December isn't in fact the real deal.
posted by mathis23
on Aug 19, 2002 -
39 comments
The Segway revolution has begun. "Three Atlanta, Georgia organizations are the first to buy a fleet of Segway transporters." "Fleet," what a visually scary word. Forget priests touching little boys in naughty places and the numerous wars going on in this world, the fact someone actually bought a Segway is
CNN’s new top story.
posted by Werd7
on Apr 24, 2002 -
33 comments
IT's about to get a helluva lot better. Dean Kamen applies for several patents for design and production of his version of the
Stirling engline, the holy grail of mechanical efficiency. Apparently DEKA has perfected technology enabling the engine to smoothly produce electricity and transfer it to anything, be it a power grid or a Segway, with less pollution than a gas stove. Kamen asserts that the engine can run on everything from cow dung to nuclear material. Could this be the cure for energy crises and dependance on big, foreign oil? (See also the
MSNBC story.)
posted by sixfoot6
on Apr 16, 2002 -
33 comments
IT gets a domain. The interesting thing is now maybe less how world-changing
IT might be (most dreamers I know, at least, have gone from wide-eyed Bradburian dreaming to the expectation of disappointment to resigned cynicism by now), but how the commercial game will play itself out. I feel all dirty now.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken
on Jan 27, 2001 -
6 comments
Dean Kamen denies everything! DEKA is currently working on several exciting projects. The book proposal referred to one. However, the leaked proposal quoted several prominent technology leaders out of context, without their doubts, risks and maybes included. This, together with spirited speculation about the unknown, has lead to expectations that are beyond whimsical. We have a promising project, but nothing of the earth shattering nature that people are conjuring up.
posted by palegirl
on Jan 13, 2001 -
12 comments
What is "IT"? National Medal of Technology winner demos some kind of hush-hush invention to Bezos, Jobs, and Doerr: the consensus view is that it's bigger than the PC. Either one of the most stunning inventions of all time or one of the most stunning publicity stunts of all time. Possibly both.
posted by grimmelm
on Jan 9, 2001 -
77 comments
