Final final

I'm current giving my final final. The semester is almost over! It's time to get organized by planning what I can do now, between semesters, while it's still quiet.

1. Grading - of Micro and of Advanced Robotics. I'll start Micro this afternoon, after my students have finished taking it.
2. Setup and software install -- I need Visio on my laptop. I've already install Dropbox, Chrome, Testdriven.net, xUnit.net, and got MSVC++ configured.
3. Develop Micro - I'd like to create an in-class demo robot plus use that for a minority-focused summer school. I'd like to have a preliminary budget by this afternoon for my 3:30 meeting with Tommy.
4. Marketing! Come up with slides, videos, etc. to communicate our funding ideas. Meet with Lori, Gary, etc. to ask for their help.
5. Work on my data transfer code. It's almost done...just added another unit test...
   
6. Move ahead on Durga's paper. Still a fair amount to do there.
7. Learn more about continuum mechanics:
1. Read through the nice thesis Krishna found, read the book Buddy found to better understand continuum mechanics.
2. Read up on and post ideas on using MATLAB's boundary-value solver.
3. Read up on Buddy's progress through Antman's chapter on numerical solutions to continuum dynamics.
8. Review SECON papers.
9. Improve the SECON spreadsheet to add in the motor calculations.

One thing I learned: have a final draft of papers due earlier and carefully edit those. I'm reading the final versions of these papers, but my comments don't help my students by leading to corrections and improvements, since I'm reading their final paper, not a draft.

I just switched to Google Chrome instead of IE, so I can read my e-mail there while Vika works in Firefox. So far, I like it!

Inbox fun

Krishna found some interesting links to various snake-like robots that I'm working through this morning.

• The NASA space SnakeBot looks interesting, but the creator of the bot seems more focused on reconfigurable robots. His most recent paper (a review) reference work from 2002, suggesting it's not a current topic.
• The Cornell SnakeArm team: I'm not sure if this is an undergrad or a graduate effort. The professor (Francis Moon) listed on their page doesn't seem to specialize in snake robots. Their video (see below) sugests they have a great mechanical design, but no kinematics. It's probably worth contacting them!

Other than that, I'm just working through my inbox, preparing a final, etc. As Krishna says, we really need a good video of our robot to show the world!

Also from Krishna in my inbox, a nice thesis provides a good background an introduction to Cosserat rods, plus good diagrams that explain shear and bending strains.

Still sweeping

I'm still sweeping away, getting lots of random things done. Praise the Lord for time to do this! I even had a chance to work on the PIC/PC data transfer code, which I enjoy.

I saw some solar cells from Edmund Scientific that output 8.5 V at 250 mA. That sounds fairly attractive, since it should avoid most of the boost/charge pump frustrations for the team.

I got an e-mail from a faculty member adopting the book I co-authored. That's very encouraging!

Sweeping

I realized yesterday that I'm sweeping. After building something in a workshop, the final step requires putting away tools and sweeping up wood chips. Likewise, the end of a semester is an end of project time, so I'm filing, cleaning, reporting, updating, and so on. It's good to understand the time I'm in, since I'm making little research progress. However, this time of preparation will enable me to begin the next semester well, when I start another project.

To be swept:

• Update the research group home page with recent pubs
• Finish grading advanced robotics
• Finish and submit the SECON paper
• Submit the ONR application
• Work on the Air Force application
• Prepare a Micro final
• Clean my desk
• Go through e-mail
• Attend the SECON presentation

I'm working with latex again. Ugh. I still prefer Word's quirkiness with figure placement and creation over Latex's cryptic commands and the edit/compile/verify cycle.

Back to work

Vika answered some blog questions for me. To include a subscribe link: it's included automatically, but not after every post, only at the end of the entire page.

Today is the last day of classes. The to-do list:

• Write a paper for SECON, due tomorrow
• Submit recommendations (tweak and PDF them)
• Grade, finish up advanced robotics
• Revise the Micro final
• Enter absences for Micro
• Submit ONR application
• Write AF proposal and recommendation letters
  

...plus the bigger-picture items from earlier. A fair number of these should go quickly, though.

Recommendation done

The recomendation I needed to write is now done. I'll PDF and post it next week when I return to work. Now, time for some Thanksgiving fun!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

ONR done

It turns out that the ONR program is fairly easy to apply for, while the Air Force program requires a lot of writing. So, I've essentially finished the ONR application while there's still lots to do on the other. Sigh. Now, time to write some reference letters.

I know someone who has a nice "Subscribe to post via atom" link on their blog. I don't see an easy setting and found a way involving template modification using Google. What am I missing?