Category: Random

I bought an iRobot Roomba i7+ in 2021 to clean the one bedroom flat I had just moved into. It has served well since. It has moved apartments with me twice and shows up in both my 2022 and 2025 home…

This past January (2026) my husband and I flew from the Bay Area to Tokyo for two weeks. The first week was vacation. We took the Shinkansen down to Osaka and came back up to Tokyo. I specifically put…

July 2023, I was in Minneapolis for the Microscopy and Microanalysis (M&M) conference for my employer. After I wrapped up, my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I went to the Mall of America. First…

This was RoboGames in Pleasanton, April 2023. Practically in my backyard, since I work in Pleasanton and lived in Dublin at the time. I went with my boyfriend (now husband). I had wanted to go to one…

This was a small project right at the start of COVID-19, where I needed two Universal Robots UR3e robot arms under ROS control. It was early lockdown, so there was no way I was getting into the lab…

January 2022, this was at the San Francisco Premium Outlets in Livermore. I went with my husband (boyfriend at the time) early in our relationship. I had just moved out to the Bay Area (Dublin) in…

The People and Robots Lab at UW-Madison (formerly the HCI Lab) got two of these for free from Mayfield Robotics. We never did anything with them except let them roam the floor. They would make their…

Generally, I love my Third Reality Smart Switches. I currently have three single-pole light switches configured (garage, kitchen, and hallway) and a three-way light switch for the stairs, all without…

A quick break from the semi-rigorous robotics discussion… Hex Bugs (officially HEXBUG) were cool. Not just the tiny ones that were only bristles and a vibromotor, but the slightly larger toys…

This blurry photo has been sitting on a hard drive for a decade. It was August 2014 at Oshkosh AirVenture when I went to the Honda booth. Out walks ASIMO. Teen Curt's mind was blown. A walking robot…