The 10 Laws of Robotics--according to one of our alums

Nick Morozovsky with SkySweeper, one of the robots he developed and 3D printed while a Ph.D. student in the UCSD Robotics lab.

When Nick Morozovsky, a Ph.D. student in robotics here at the Jacobs School, was writing his dissertation, he realized his experiences had led him to compile a list of laws that roboticists would need to abide by to survive in grad school, and beyond. 
Morozovsky is speaking from experience. During his time working in the UCSD Coordinated Roboticcs lab, he developed and built several robots, including Switchblade, a rover that could balance on its threads, and SkySweeper, which could glide along cables and was 3D printed. He also worked on MiP, the first-ever self-balancing robot, which was developed by UCSD Robotics and toymaker WowWee. 

For more advice from Morozovsky, you can attend an upcoming meetup of San Diego's Robotics Club at 6 p.m. March 17:

http://www.meetup.com/San-Diego-Robotics-Club/events/220104955/
You can also follow him on Twitter at @DrNickMo: https://twitter.com/DrNickMo

Nick’s Rules of Robotics

1. Never disassemble a working robot.

2. If it works the first time, you’re testing it wrong.

3. When in doubt, lubricate.

4. Never underestimate the estimation problem.

5. If specs for a part are listed differently in two places, they’re both wrong.

6. Glue, tape, and zip-ties are not engineering solutions (though they might work in a pinch).

7. Do not leave lithium polymer batteries charging unattended.

8. Always have a complete CAD model, including screws and fasteners, before constructing your robot.

9. Avoid using slip rings if at all possible.

10.  Always check polarity before plugging a component into a power source.

This robot designed by UC San Diego engineers won an Innovative Toy of the Year award

MiP, the little robot created in partnership between UCSD Robotics and toymaker WowWee, does it again! It received the Innovative Toy of the Year award this past week at the New York Toy Fair--the Oscars of the toy industry. The award recognizes "an outstanding toy that combines innovation and play value."

MiP, short for Mobile Inverted Pendulum, can balance itself and drive around on two wheels.  ``Its organic nature is particularly engaging: when it stands, it gently sways back and forth; when pushed, it takes a step back to regain its balance.  In a very real way, the dynamics of MiP mimic life,’’ said Professor Thomas Bewley, director of the Coordinated Robotics Lab at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, who worked closely with WowWee to bring MiP to market.

Users can play with MiP right out of the box in several engaging modes of play.  You can interact with MiP immediately using intuitive hand gestures.  Install the tray that MiP can carry and test your skill at stacking games.  Or, put a full soda can on MiP’s tray, and drive it to a friend across the room via Bluetooth and a free smart phone app.  And, of course, MiP can dance—either to the beat of its own (built-in) tunes, or to any tunes on the user’s smartphone or tablet.

More about MiP's origin story here. More info on MiP here. 

You can see MiP in action here http://youtu.be/i_zXARfIIcs

Some recent media coverage here and here. 

Jacobs School alum wins San Diego startup competition with smart alarm clock prototype

A team led by Jacobs School alum Nick Morozovsky won the MEGA Startup Weekend event this past weekend at the downtown San Diego Library with Daybreaker, a smart alarm clock that connects to your smartphone and the lamp on your nightstand.
Morozovsky recently earned a Ph.D. from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He is the creator of SkySweeper and worked on MiP, the first self-balancing consumer robot. Both won a Best of What's New Award from Popular Science in 2014 and 2013. He also worked on Switchblade, a search and rescue robot capable of climbing stairs.
During the MEGA Startup Weekend, inventors had to pitch and idea, form a team and build a prototype, all in three days. 
Morozovsky pitched the idea of Daybreaker. The device has several features:
It wakes you with sound and light at the right time to let you get the most sleep without missing what's important to you. Connect it to your calendar to make sure you never sleep through an important meeting. Connect it to your favorite surf break and it will wake you on the weekend only when the surf is up. Daybreaker monitors traffic and will wake you if you need extra time to get to work. Customize the rules for you to maximize your sleep while never missing a thing. More info at: http://www.getdaybreaker.co
“Startup Weekend was a great (and intense!) event where I was able to get the full experience of launching a startup in only 54 hours," Morozovsky said. "Working with my team and networking with other entrepreneurs was empowering, winning first place was icing on the cake."
The Daybreaker team is now entering the Global Startup Battle and further investigating commercialization options.

MiP was on Big Bang Theory

Fans of the Big Bang Theory on CBS, you may want to watch this week's episode again. It was the most-watched prime-time show this past Monday, Oct. 20 in all demographics. And MiP, a toy robot designed by the UCSD Coordinated Lab and toymaker WowWee made an appearance in one key scene.
Remember that scene when Penny and Leonard are talking to Bernadette and Howard about finances? Look at the objects on the table. There is a MiP, right there. It's unclear whether the robot will be part of a plot in upcoming episodes. We'll keep watching.

These two Jacobs School-related robots were featured in Science special issue on robotics

We were excited to see both WowWee's MiP and Brain Corporation's eyeRover make an appearance in Science magazine's special robotics issue that came out Oct. 10.

MiP, which appears in this infographic, was designed by the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab, led by  Prof. Thomas Bewley, and by toymaker WowWee.  MiP, short for Mobile Inverted Pendulum, can balance itself and drive around on two wheels. You can interact with the robot using intuitive hand gestures. More on MiP here and here.
Meanwhile, eyeRover is partially the brain child of Jacobs School alum Marius Buibas (Ph.D. 2011). Buibas led the design of the robot's hardware--the electronics, mechanics and 3D-printed body. The difference between eyeRover and other robots is that it can be taught to do a task, rather than programmed.

According to Science:

EyeRover may look like a toy, but it's packed with some of the most advanced robotic technology ever devised, including a prototype computing platform designed to emulate the human brain. Unlike conventional computer chips and software, which execute a linear sequence of tasks, this new approach—called neuromorphic computing—carries out processing and memory tasks simultaneously, just as our brains do for complex tasks such as vision and hearing.

 There is a common thread between the two robots: Nick Morozovsky, a student in Bewley's research group, who just earned his Ph.D. from the Jacobs School. Morozovsky developed a tool combining hardware and software to evaluate various motors to balance MiP. He also worked part-time at Brain Corporation and was the architect behind an earlier version of eyeRover that inspired the robot featured in Science. Industry recruiters, take note: Morozovsky is currently looking for a full time job.

Bonus: the special issue's online version features a video of origami robots, which then postdoctoral student Michael Tolley helped develop. Tolley will join the Jacobs School faculty Nov. 1.

This Jacobs School Ph.D. student is now a toy maker

Just because you're about to get a Ph.D., it doesn't mean you have to stop playing with toys--or at least making them. That's the lesson we take away from the career trajectory of one of our graduate students here at the Jacobs School.
We caught up with Nick Morozovsky at the booth for the toy company Rokenbok at the Bay Area Maker Faire May 17 to 18. The Solana Beach-based company recently partnered with Kid*Spark, an organization that aims to make STEaM and Maker education more accessible and fun, and created an Open Source Library of building parts that can be 3D printed. That's where Morozovsky comes in. He set up the library for Rokenbok and created an interface that allows users to 3D-print customizable parts as well.
While a 3D-printer hummed nearby, Morozovsky explained how the library worked. Meanwhile, kids were building catapults made of Rokenbok pieces and playing with remote controlled vehicles.
The booth later won an editor's choice award from Make magazine. Morozovsky plans to graduate sometime this year. We'll see where his next adventure in toy land takes him.

Jacobs School engineers help create robot with perfect balance--and it dances too!

A toy robot created by Jacobs School engineers and Hong Kong-based toymaker WowWee was all the talk at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.

MiP (short for mobile inverted pendulum) was named a Product of the Future for 2014 for Popular Mechanics. It also earned an award for Envisioneering, Innovation and Design and was a finalist at CES' Last Gadget Standing Competition.

MiP garnered a fair bit of press, including stories in Engadget and Popular Science.Popular Science gushed:

The WowWee MiP is a charming, two-wheeled Segway 'bot that has some impressive balance.

The robot is the brain child of toy designers at WowWee and a group of graduate students in the Coordinated Robotics Lab here at the Jacobs School, which is led by mechanical and engineering professor Tom Bewley. 

"It was a bit overwhelming at first but an exciting experience, at least for me personally, to be a part of the release and to help promote MiP at the WowWee booth," said Saam Ostovari, who was the lead graduate student on the MiP design. "It was a non-stop flux of press, suppliers and consumers wanting to learn about MiP. I still haven't recovered my voice from all the talking I did."

See below for a video of MiP in action.

Vote for MiP!

MiP, a robot designed by the UCSD Coordinated Robotics Lab and toymaker WowWee is up for a Last Gadget Standing Award and you can help it win!
You can vote here: http://lastgadgetstanding.com/voting/
And watch a fun video preview for the robot here:  http://bit.ly/1cbQx0K
MiP balances on two wheels and is fully interactive with its surroundings. It responds to gesture commands and can be linked via Bluetooth to smart phones and other devices. It can dance to your iTunes playlists and play simple games with your kids. 
Oh, and it can hold a tray with objects on it (including another MiP).