Hackaday Newsletter 0x98

What the heck is a Cobot? [Hackaday] Warnings On Steroids – Static Code Analysis Tools [Read article now »]( A Robot Walks into a Labor Union By [Elliot Williams]( Last week, some kind of bizarre history was made. The century-old Swiss national labor union [inducted its first robot as a member](. ([Translated here.]( Of course, this is purely a PR stunt. We're pretty sure that the [Pepper robot]( isn't paying dues, drawing disability insurance when it's sick, or voting on labor relations issues. But the symbolic reason that the Swiss inducted a machine is deeper than that: they wanted to highlight what they see as the most important upcoming change in human work, that we're going to be sharing more and more of our work with robots. I'm torn about whether or not this is interesting. On one hand, people have worked alongside machines since the industrial revolution, so to some extent this is just more of the same. But on the other hand, the evolution of robots or machines that can work alongside humans, take cues from them, and collaborate with us is fairly recent. As is the term to describe this mode of robotics: "[Cobots](. Funny new words aside, I think it's really worthwhile thinking of how humans can work with machines to our advantage, rather than just thinking about robotics as the dangerous things on the shop floor, marked out with caution tape, that simply repeat their actions to a script as in an automobile assembly plant -- and replace us. Machines like the high-end [Baxter]( robot, the open-source [Dexter]( or even [quasi-autonomous tools like the Shaper Origin]( can amplify or refine our effort while still taking advantage of human smarts. In that light, the Swiss labor union's induction makes a lot of sense. If we're going to be working with robots, ahem "cobots", in the future, it's absolutely worth putting a focus on the human skills and mindsets that will make the relationship productive. Besides, when compared with the dystopian alternatives: humans become cyborgs or get reduced to being slaves to our robot overlords, working alongside a "cobot" seems positively pleasant. [I, for one, welcome our new robot co-workers!]( Supercon Talks! Last week, we showcased one and released two videos from the 2018 Superconference. You've got some smart watching to do. On the main stage, Erika Earl presented the delightfully titled "[How to Stay Grounded When You Have Zero Potential](. As you would guess, it's all about zero volts -- how to get there reliably and how to stay there. Erika has been hardware engineer at some serious recording studios, and if anyone's sensitive to noisy grounds, it's audio engineers. If you do electronic design, watch this talk. The two new talks are as different as night and day. Jeremy Hong's "[Weaponizing the Radio Spectrum]( starts off with a deserved "don't do this at home". That's because the talk is all about signal jamming and spoofing, and about half of what he details will land you in jail if you do it on the open air. But that's part of what makes it so fun to look over his shoulder. On the other hand, Jennifer Wang's "[Building IMU-based Gesture Recognition]( is exactly what you should be doing at home, and she's showing you how. Jennifer's target was a Harry Potter wand that would cast different spells based on how it is waved, but that's just the motivation. Behind the scenes is a tale of sensors, Raspberry Pis, and machine learning. If you want to add some smarts to the sensors on your 'bot, this talk will get you jumpstarted. From The Blog [The Evolution of Wireless Game Controllers]( By [Drew Littrell]( Would you believe that the Atart 2600 was going to have an RF remote controller? [Read more »]( [ABS: Three Plastics in One]( By [Dan Maloney]( It would be really hard to go through a typical day in the developed world without running across something made from ABS plastic. But what exactly is it? [Read more »]( [The Space Station has a Supercomputer Stowaway]( By [Tom Nardi]( The failed launch of Soyuz MS-10 on October 11th, 2018 left an extra computer on the ISS. They're not leaving it idle, though, they're doing more science. [Read more »]( If You Missed It [True Transparent Parts from a Desktop 3D Printer]( [PlayStation Classic Hacked Live on Stream]( [Liberating Birds For A Cheap Electric Scooter]( [Intel Announces Faster Processor Patched for Meltdown and Spectre]( [An over-engineered LED Sign Board]( [Hackaday]( NEVER MISS A HACK [Share]( [Share]( [Share]( [Share]( [Terms of Use]( [Privacy Policy]( [Hackaday.io]( [Hackaday.com]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( SupplyFrame, Inc · 61 South Fair Oaks Avenue · Suite 200 · Pasadena, CA 91105 · USA