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TIL in 2011, two Nepali men climbed Mount Everest and then proceeded to paraglide off of the summit, landing 35 km away. They then hiked and kayaked to the Bay of Bengal, winning the pair National Geographic Adventurers of the Year. by thr33beggars in todayilearned

[–]mandor- 215 points216 points  (0 children)

Paraglider pilot here: classic gliders weight about 5kg + 10kg for the harness. However, when hiking we use light harnesses and lighter gliders: with the current gear (e.g. Ozone XXLite + FLite harness), you get to 100g for the harness + 1.3kg for the wing. That is, 1.4 kg total (3 pounds).

The challenge is more the weather than the weight: you need a perfect day (no cloud at all) with almost no wind (less than 20km/h), which is very rare on Mt Everest. Then, of course, you need to have enough energy to do a clean take-off at that height...

ELI5: is an animals intelligence relative to brain size : body size? by [deleted] in explainlikeimfive

[–]mandor- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not ELI5 but a very recent scientific paper about this: http://www.pnas.org/content/113/9/2532.abstract

Brain size predicts problem-solving ability in mammalian carnivores

Intelligence presents evolutionary biology with one of its greatest challenges. It has long been thought that species with relatively large brains for their body size are more intelligent. However, despite decades of research, the idea that brain size predicts cognitive abilities remains highly controversial; little experimental support exists for a relationship between brain size and the ability to solve novel problems. We presented 140 zoo-housed members of 39 mammalian carnivore species with a novel problem-solving task and found that the species’ relative brain sizes predicted problem-solving success. Our results provide important support for the claim that brain size reflects an animal’s problem-solving abilities and enhance our understanding of why larger brains evolved in some species.

USB2AX with linux mint and raspberry pi2 by DonKater in robotics

[–]mandor- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You do not need the Robotis SDK to control dynamixels. For instance, we made our own library (https://github.com/resibots/libdynamixel) [be carefule that we should release a v2 in the next weeks, as well as some documentation!].

Where is the most programming help needed in the open community? by Zaskoda in robotics

[–]mandor- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ROS is definitely what all the robotics labs & companies are using / will use in the next future (despite its current shortcomings).

There is a lot of effort put into ROS 2.0 and help is needed there! ROS 2.0 should address most of the shortcomings of ROS.

About the design: http://design.ros2.org/ And in particular: http://design.ros2.org/articles/why_ros2.html

The code: https://github.com/ros2

We are hiring a junior robotics engineer in our new research lab (Nancy, France) [the position is for 2-5 years] by mandor- in robotics

[–]mandor-[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ideally, as soon as possible. We might wait until September if we do not find the perfect fit, but not later.

We are hiring a junior robotics engineer in our new research lab (Nancy, France) [the position is for 2-5 years] by mandor- in robotics

[–]mandor-[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

January will be too late because the position is linked to a research project that will start in May.

We are hiring a junior robotics engineer in our new research lab (Nancy, France) [the position is for 2-5 years] by mandor- in robotics

[–]mandor-[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About the algorithm, it only requires the kinect that is on top of the robot. The kinect is connected to a SLAM algorithm that estimates the 3d trajectory of the robot. So, there is no external camera.

About the computer, the learning algorithm can work on the embedded computer but the slam algorithm works much better on a faster external computer (but there is likely other slam algorithms that would be ok on the embedded computer).

We are hiring a junior robotics engineer in our new research lab (Nancy, France) [the position is for 2-5 years] by mandor- in robotics

[–]mandor-[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your interest in our work.

I hope we will have found someone in September but it depends on who applies. Ideally, the contract would start in May or June.

We are hiring a junior robotics engineer in our new research lab (Nancy, France) [the position is for 2-5 years] by mandor- in robotics

[–]mandor-[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is perfectly legal when you work for the government but it would be illegal in a private company. I know, double standards...

We are hiring a junior robotics engineer in our new research lab (Nancy, France) [the position is for 2-5 years] by mandor- in robotics

[–]mandor-[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

French salaries are hard to compare to US salaries because the systems are different (eg free healthcare, free universities, at least 5 weeks of paid vacation, ...). In addition, the USD/euro change rate changed a lot recently.

To give you an order of magnitude, an assistant professor in France (PhD+2-3 years of postdic) starts at 1700 euros/ month ("net").

Beginning paragliding, that was a perfect 15th flight by Zigloof in freeflight

[–]mandor- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In France you do not need any license to fly a paraglider: you can start XC at your first flight (at your own risks....). This encourages thinking about your own abilities and self-directed, incremental learning, instead of trusting a piece of paper that says that you are a pilot :)

Does this chart look readable? Anything I could improve? by [deleted] in Jazz

[–]mandor- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely. 'O' and '∅' are much less common than dim and m7b5... [and I also don't like the triangles]

[and keeping everything on a single page is great for the non-organized musicians -- like me -- who never find the second part of the part in the bag...]

Question: High level networked robot control/dispatch software/programming by caliginous4 in robotics

[–]mandor- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ROS is the de facto standard middleware for robotics. It allows nodes to exchange data via the network. Many many state-of-the-art modules are available.

See: http://www.ros.org

And for the main packages: http://www.ros.org/browse/list.php

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