Autonomous Robots Move in Formation to Spell Words
A masters student at Georgia Tech University has created a system that allows a group of robots to move into formations without communicating with the other robots it is forming shapes with. The robots have no predefined memory or no prior knowledge of their location.
In the video above, the 15 Khepera robots make independent decisions based on the same information and by trial and error move their way into a formation that has been assigned to them. They move to spell out the word “GRITS”, standing for Georgia Robotics and Intelligent Systems.
Ted MacDonald, who devised the...Two Firms Battle for Right to Sue Nude Nuns Downloaders
Two different companies claiming the intellectual-property rights of the same movie are now each suing the same 5,865 BitTorrent downloaders for purloining Nude Nuns with Big Guns, according to court documents.
Camelot Distribution Group of California filed the original suit in Los Angeles federal court in March. Incentive Capital of Utah lodged a near-identically worded suit Friday with the same judge, arguing that it is the true owner of the B-rated flick about “Sister Sarah,” who is “abused, brainwashed and drugged into submission by the corrupt clergy.”
The two suits underscore how lawyers...
Cyclist Dies in High-Speed Crash at Giro d'Italia
Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt died today during the third stage of the prestigious Giro d’Italia bike race, nearly one year to the day that he won the same stage and popped champagne in celebration.
Weylandt, 26, is the first cyclist to die during the Giro d’Italia in 25 years, and the first to die in any prominent cycling race since 1995. Italian cyclist Fabio Casartelli died during a descent in the 15th stage of that year’s Tour de France.
Weylandt was in the middle of a steep descent during the race’s third stage, a scenic 107-mile ride that stretches from Reggio Emilia to Rapallo, when he...