automation

Robot cranks out 2,500 sushi pieces per hour

From a nearby shrine here in Tokyo, I can hear the jingling of a bell being rung by devotees of Inari, a Shinto harvest god. They're praying for prosperity, which may or may not come in the form of lots of rice.

Doubtless the deity would drool over the latest rice-packing machine from automation firm Suzumo. It's a sushi robot that specializes in inarizushi, a fishless sushi variety consisting of rice wrapped in pouches of fried tofu, which the god and his fox messengers crave big-time. … Read more

Automatically sort Dropbox files with SortMyBox

I use Dropbox to store work files and share pictures and other stuff with friends and family, but there are plenty of other uses. If you use it more than occasionally, you may have troubles keeping organized or sorting through your cloud files. SortMyBox lets you set up rules to automatically sort files in whichever folders you want. Here's how to use it:

Point your browser to SortMyBox. Log in with your Dropbox credentials. Note that SortMyBox is not affiliated with Dropbox, so if you store extremely sensitive files, you may not want to share your credentials with them. … Read more

Automatically convert files with Wappwolf

It's getting simpler to automate all sorts of day-to-day tasks, and cloud storage services like Dropbox and Google Drive make these tools even more powerful. Wappwolf is a Webapp that lets you set up rules for automating tasks set to run on files you drop into particular folders. It's easy to use, and quite powerful. Here's how to set up automatic file conversions: 

Point your browser to Wappwolf. Click "Try Now!" to set up a free account. You can either use your Dropbox account or an e-mail address.  Select a folder to … Read more

AT&T's next business: Securing your home

NEW ORLEANS--AT&T will finally make good on its promise to let consumers remotely control every facet of their home -- from the thermostat to the door locks -- through any smartphone, PC, or tablet.

A day before the CTIA Wireless conference kicks off, AT&T said it would enter the home security and automation business in a big way. The company said it has formed a digital life services group to push these services, which will be available nationwide and work with any Internet connection.

The creation of the group represents a completely new business for AT&… Read more

Robotic planes, tractors loom behind autonomous cars

Someday soon, FedEx packages could be transported by autonomous planes and apple trees sprayed by driverless tractors, says aerospace and robotics expert Mary "Missy" Cummings.

Cummings, a professor of aeronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was interviewed today at Wired's Disruptive by Design conference in New York, where she offered her views on the state of the art in autonomous vehicles.

The work of Google and automakers has shown how cars can drive themselves in some situations. And many commercial flights are already fly-by-wire, allowing pilots to monitor the plane for when something wrong happens, rather … Read more

Check out this fully automated dorm room. In Berkeley, of course

I can't imagine what it's like wafting to Berkeley to study something vaguely scientific. Though I do know a couple of people who went there and they have very peculiar personalities and certain troubles with dating.

I mention this because of the extraordinary ingenuity and possible slight strangeness of freshman Derek Low. He clearly isn't being sufficiently challenged by his curriculum. So he thought he'd see how much he could automate his dorm room.

He uploaded the results of his travails to YouTube and they make for quite mesmerizing viewing.

I am grateful to TechCrunch for … Read more

Exoskeleton hand gives you robo-powered fingers

In the future when we'll all be wearing robotic exoskeletons, we'll laugh when we think back on the days when we were mere meatsacks. German automation firm Festo is helping us upgrade with the ExoHand, a glove controller that can give people a machine handshake.

Known for its elegantly engineered SmartBird robot seagull, Festo says its ExoHand can not only teleoperate a robot hand in a master-slave control relationship, it can reduce strain from repetitive tasks when using your own old-fashioned, flesh-and-blood hands. … Read more

Microsoft forges ahead with new home-automation OS

More than a decade ago, Microsoft execs, led by Chairman Bill Gates, were touting a future where .Net coffee pots, bulletin boards, and refrigerator magnets would be part of homes where smart devices would communicate and interoperate. Microsoft hasn't given up on that dream.

In 2010, Microsoft researchers published a white paper about their work on a HomeOS and a HomeStore -- early concepts around a Microsoft Research-developed home-automation system. Those concepts have morphed into prototypes since then, based on a white paper, "An Operating System for the Home," published this month on the Microsoft Research site. … Read more

How to batch-rename files using Automator in OS X

Often when managing collections of files in the OS X Finder, you may find that giving the files unique or patterned names may help in your organization. For instance, if you have a set of image files it may help to quickly append a date or sequential number to the file name; to do so manually might take a while.

At other times, you might wish to quickly append a time stamp or other similar attribute to a file name without having to manually edit the name. As an example of this, if you use the OS X compress feature (… Read more