ByHaldun
Third Vence Field Tests Successfully Concluded
A small herd of cattle we employed during our experiments during our work in Point Reyes. The last day of the 10-day excursion was sunny but still quite windy and cold.
We have concluded our 10-day field test for the Vence Project, which had started on April 5th. Took place in the beautiful Point Reyes National Shoreline, this third meeting of the group has been the most exciting time of our work to date. We made great discoveries and conducted very successful trials. It seems that the project will get even more exciting in the coming months.
During this trip we setup shop at two different locations: downtown San Fransisco for the initial assembly and tests; and Bolinas, CA for the day to day cattle experiments. I thank project’s media expert and consultant, Mike North, for his hospitality at his home in Bolinas and letting me turn the living room into a workshop for a few days.
Sleep and Happiness at Vence Field Trip 3
As much as the discovery process during field tests was fun, it was also quite demanding on us. The graph here shows the amount of daily sleep time over the course of the trip. As with any investigative work into uncharted territory we unavoidably come across some failures, which in turn caused disappointment. The trick in creative work is to maintain persistence in the face of such negative developments. All walls crack if you hit then with your head a sufficient number of times.
Celebrating a successful set of test in the ranch at the signature restaurant of Bolinas, CA.
At the end the trip was an astounding success in a developing new technological field of cooperative biology/machine teams. In just three months we made great strides. Deservedly, we celebrated our accomplishments with unbelievable Oysters from the Point Reyes.
We are looking forward to the next installation of our field tests!
Haldun administrator
Dr. Komsuoglu is a robotics expert and entrepreneur with over 20 years of research, development and start-up experience. Focusing on biologically inspired high-performance mobility and high-dexterity manipulation systems Mr. Komsuoglu served as a key personnel in several critically acclaimed multi-institutional robotics projects sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and National Science Foundation (NSF). Some noteworthy projects he was involved with includes DARPA-CBS, DARPA-RHex, DARPA-RiSE, NSF-FIBR and MA-UGV. In these projects Dr. Komsuoglu engaged experimental robotic research, simulation, embedded system development (hardware/software), control systems engineering and analytic studies. Since 2006 Dr. Komsuoglu has been heavily engaged in business development. He founded and ran technology start-up companies focusing on commercialization of several robotic technologies he helped develop. In 2009 he founded Robolit LLC (https://www.robolit.com) providing design consulting for academic research equipment, search and rescue systems for first responders and military applications. His current work focuses on remotely controlled UAVs with a unique UI system employing virtual reality devices with applications in first response and entertainment industry. Since 2011 Dr. Komsuoglu has been serving as an active member of the DHS-NIST-ASTM Standard Robot Test Methods committee and is responsible of development of manipulation test methods.
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