Have you ever been sitting on the couch and wanted a drink but didn’t want to get up? Or have you ever held a relative gathering at your house for Thanksgiving? If you said yes to either of these questions, check out the advancement’s in technology made this summer by Willow Garage.
All summer long, Willow Garage has been challenging themselves with a summer “Hackathon.” Included in this Hackathon has been teaching a PR2 Robot to play pool, clean up after a party, and even go to the fridge and grab a specific beer. The PR2 Robot comes with specific hardware systems, which along with the software programming, are making big strides towards the age of robots.
As you look at the tasks that a robot has been able to accomplish thus far, most might ask, “What’s Next?!”
Allow me to share a little story about what not to do with a computer.
A few years back, a girl I was dating told me that her mother had a computer. I was thinking, “Great, who doesn’t. What do I have to fix now.” She went on to tell me that the computer was running slow, making a lot of noise (fans constantly running), and it would suddenly turn off from time to time with an error message stating that the CPU reached a critical temperature. Oh boy, I have to see this.
Her mother’s home was inhabited by two cats, and a white-haired English Setter that shed so much, it looked like it was snowing in the house. The computer, a small HP desktop, sat right on the floor in the living room. This is NOT optimal placement for a PC; it was sucking hair in like crazy. I immediately asked her mother when was the last time it was opened and cleaned. I could have called it, but I had to hear it: “Never.” Of course. Never.
I proceeded to open the case of the PC. Oh my goodness! It looked like an entire small animal was stuffed inside that computer! I have never seen so much hair and dust in a computer, and trust me, I have seen a lot. We had to use a vacuum cleaner to suck most of the hair out, and follow it up with air dusters cans. Turning the system back on and using it exhibited an immediate performance improvement. Well of course! I then told her mother to please place that PC up on a table or something to get it off the carpet.
About a year later, long after the girl and I stopped dating but still talked, she called me to say that her mother’s computer was having problems again. I first asked if she ever moved it like I said, and of course the reply was “No.” I then asked what happened, and she told me that her mother said she heard a “Poof!” from inside the PC, and then it would no longer turn on. Obviously, something finally gave up, probably the processor or power supply. She asked if I could look at it again, and I simply said “Nope. It’s done. Get a new computer.” I know that I could have probably fixed it, but I didn’t even want to bother, as she never listened to me before.
I really don’t have to emphasize the point in this article. Take care of your computers. It’s that simple.
