Robots

Traffic jam

Traffic jam. Cats and robots get along so well that sometimes not much is accomplished. Or maybe: things are accomplished at a very casual, agreeable pace?

Waiting for the cats to move through the doorway
Robots

Cold day, warm arms

I’ve learned that most robots will actually turn up their internal heating element (which is normally for keeping internal components at optimal temps during cold weather) for the benefit of their feline companions. There you go! Quality companionship equals radiant heat?

A robot holds their feline friend and shares some radiant heat on a cold afternoon.
Robots

Robot of the Day: Towering above it all

“Sometimes I imagine that I tower above the clouds. I follow the birds, difficult terrain and other obstacles passing beneath my feet, unnoticed.”

Robots

Robot of the Day: Dream of flying

A robot is sitting down with a book in its hands. It is looking up, with a thought bubble above its head, depicting them with arms outstretched, flying above clouds.
Drawing on an airsickness bag. (Airsickness for robots is related to gyro data and can result in balance issues.)

“Sometimes I dream of f l y i n g. Up above everything and untouchable. By defying an elemental force like gravity, all other concerns are rendered null.”

Robots

Coloring and blending basics with Copic markers workshop

February 10, 2024, 2-4pm, at Art Department Supply in Salem, OR

Visit Art Department Supply for more information and to register. Lead by Brian Johnson of Robot Of The Day.

Workshop description: Boost your confidence and skill with Copic markers! This workshop will provide some foundational techniques to take your coloring skills to the next level. We’ll cover the different types of Copic markers, their features, care and maintenance, and how to interpret the Copic color system. We’ll explore a variety of fundamental coloring techniques including fills, blending, and layering/mixing color.

Robots

Robot of the Day: Staying warm

Insulating coats are a great way to conserve energy

Field notes entry— It was a dumb question: “Why not just run a heating element to keep internal components warm?” Insulating garments are a much more practical solution. Why waste additional energy when one can just wear a coat and preserve what waste heat is generated? Indeed!

Robots

Robot Of The Day: Plant

It’s good to have a friend with a cargobike

I was exploring the city outskirts by bike one afternoon when these two passed me going the other way, the plant’s leaves making quite a racket in the breeze. A while later I passed the plant nursery they must have been shopping at; the place was a hive of activity with robots moving between the rows of plants, stooping to inspect this one or that and others pushing carts laden with plants of various sizes.

Robots

Robot Of The Day: Rainy day

Sometimes it’s better not to needlessly test seal integrity

“Check your seals!” Beyond its use in the obvious context, I’ve heard this phrase used in a more general sense of “take care” or as a reminder to be sure of oneself; which can have other meanings depending on the personal relationship and setting.

Robots

Robot of the Day: Under the stars

Up there. Can you feel it?

I discovered that the robots perceive the stars in a rather interesting way. Rather than organize them into arbitrary patterns with spatial relationships, they assign a numerical value to each one based on its relative brightness and color temperature. Then they map these to a variety of output configurations: sound scapes, topographic maps, and even haptic maps.

Robots

Robot Of The Day: October 10

Robots and cats.

In the robots’ society, cats seems to possess a great deal of autonomy. At least no robot I’ve ever spoken with on the subject has ever made the claim to “own” a cat. Typically the relationship is described as “the cat lives with me…” or “the cat also lives here…” I suppose the cats adopt robots rather than the other way around.

Robots

Robot Of The Day: October 5

What remains.

Memory of trees. The robots have compared trees to a network and they’re not wrong. What must it be like to attempt to address a node only to find it missing?

Robots

Robot Of The Day: October 4

Bad sector. Read error.

Bad sector. My interpretation of a story a robot once shared with me about experiencing data corruption. I imagined them transiting a landscape of data and then feeling like parts of themself were disappearing as they lost resolution. It sounds unsettling.