Robotronica, Yay!

Last Sunday (that’s Sunday the 18/8/13 for you time travellers) there was a big robot expo-thing at QUT called Robotronica, the future is now. My dad took me and my sisters to see what was going on and at 11:00am it started with a robot that walked around a hall avoiding obstacles and people whilst around the corner, with the help of some touch-screen monitors, there was a giant interactive playhouse where you could adjust gravity, make a wooden doll dance and throw building blocks around.

We then moved on to the kinect section and I discovered a glitch where if you turn 90 degrees in any direction then leant back a bit your virtual self would completely spazz out.

Then later on there were demonstrations of a new robot that can hear commands, sit, walk, get up on it’s own etc. But what made it stand out was the fact that it was commercially available for… wait for it… Only $2,300! (that’s cheap for a robot with all those functions) The assistants made them dance, walk around, have conversations with each other and the audience and 2 of them actually had a small fight. (they pushed each other over a lot)
Then one of them ran out of battery and fell flat on it’s face, causing several of the audience to laugh.

Later on there was a 3D printer skyscrapers thingy where you used 3D printed parts to make skyscrapers.

Then there was the 7-bit hero performance, which to say the least, was LOUD! it was basically an electronic rock concert but in the background there was a game that people in the crowd could join with a special I-phone app and actually interact with things whilst the music for the game was played by the guys on stage.

And Then there was the finale…

First there was a speech performed by one of the android robots (he had some funny lines like: “And to entertain the human-slaves, oops did I say that out loud?” which was pretty funny if you ask me) then there was a lazer show which I thought was pretty basic then a whole bunch of quad-copters flew up from behind some trees and made patterns,  an animated kangaroo, a cat face that sang along to the music and some epilepsy-inducing flashes before hiding back behind the trees.

So that was pretty cool.

LInk: http://www.robotronica.qut.edu.au/

Oh, and all the food/drink was at rip-off prices. Well, you can’t have everything I guess :P

Tillon’s Journey to Jaédeen – Part 2

The next morning he awoke and then showed his findings to Gernando. “I don’t know of it Tillon.” His view was. “maybe you could ask the sword shopkeeper when we get to Gemalia” “Good idea. maybe he will know something about this.” The two of them then started to pack up their belongings and prepared for travel once more. while riding on the cart he examined the runes more closely. They appeared to be ancient writing of some sort, Tillon suspected magic spells or enchantments. As the day progressed Tillon tried to get a rough estimate as to its weight but it was just slightly too heavy for him to tell its exact weight. He also studied the fat green emerald sitting in the blade. Gernando claimed it would be worth around 100 gillenti if he were to sell the gem. if he sold it with the sword it would be about 130. Tillon didn’t want to sell it though he just wanted to know about it. Gernando and Tillon continued along the path, pulled along by the deggles who needed feeding in a short while. they had started making their ‘groomphing’ noises. “The blacksmith might also be able to lend you a helping hand in it’s classification.” “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

They were travelling through the same terrain as before, long rolling hills at the foot of the Pekemad Mountains. There was a well used and much travelled road running between An’ dunal and Jaédeen. This was the Roverstin Road, which had been in use since the 15th century. It was at first infamous for the amount of highwaymen and swindlers that lived along it but after only 5 years of this villainy the king of that time had employed a permanent guard along it’s 74km length. then the numbers of scum decreased dramatically and finally wheezed out of existence. The worst part of the road then became the winding Lekman’s Pass. Many deggles have fallen prey to the frequent landslides and flash floods, taking themselves and their riders down a stony crag to their doom. Presently Tillon came to notice that the closer they got to Lekman’s Pass the sword began to emit a soft humming sound, almost inaudible at first, but then day by day got louder and louder and then finally at a distance of 1km from the pass it seemed to hum with such fervour as to shake itself apart. “Can you possibly quieten down that sword of yours?” Gernando inquired. “It’ll spook my deggles!”  Tillon then picked it up to wrap it tightly in cloth but to his surprise it fell silent almost the instant it touched his hand. Odd… He thought. It really wants to be in my hands for the pass. Tillon then tried to put it down, once again it started humming. He decided it would be best if he was to keep it in his hands as they plodded towards Lekman’s Pass.

Almost as soon as the road behind them got hidden by the stony curve of at the base of the mountains a huge bat-winged creature came swooping down from a hidden crag high up in the cliff. “Look out!” Tillon yelled at Gernando. The huge bat-creature then swooped up one of the deggles. Almost by instinct Tillon thrust the sword at the horrid monster, just scraping the back of it’s hard head. It made a blood-curdling sound and flew off back to wherever it came form.

Progress on Tillon’s Journey to Jaédeen.

If you have read one of my earlier posts, Tillon’s Journey to Jaédeen, you will see that it is only part one of an unknown amount. I have not posted the second part yet, even though I have been working on it a fair bit. For the simple reason of school/homework. Now that it is school holidays though I should be able to work on it more frequently.

Hope you enjoy the series once it is done!

-Max :D

Tillon’s Journey to Jaédeen – Part 1

Voltaic was a nice place, but Tillon preferred Jaédeen, his birthplace. He missed the gardens and the architecture. Tillon often daydreamed about Jaédeen. His customers sometimes walked in to find him thinking not of his wares and how many quiln to sell them for, but staring into space with a faraway look in his eyes. They would promptly ring the brass attendance bell to grab his attention. “Out on the Duilon Sea again are we?” Inquired Slavando. “mmneh? what?” came Tillon’s reply. “So are you gonna sell this to me for 45 quiln or what?” “Oh yeah right the pack of heglo-spice… I’d rather sell it for 50.” Tillon replied. Slavando was of medium height with rather long legs and a short, slightly roundish torso. His face was that of a high-ranking businessman with a moustache and a fast mind. “46.” came the short reply “49.” Tillon suggested, not wanting to lose this item for much less. “47 and that’s as high as I’m willing to go.” after considering this for a moment Tillon said “deal.” and Slavando took the small pack of heglo-spice and paid the 47 quiln. “pleasure doing business with you.” Tillon complimented as Slavando walked out of his store. Then noticing the time promptly switched the sign on his door to “closed” and started sweeping and cleaning the shelves, then settling down in a chair counted up the day’s earnings. 165 weiln and 34 quiln was the total. “not bad.” Tillon thought aloud. Then, after finishing his felldrove-fruit soup, plodded gently to bed.

The next morning he once again awoke with the strong urge to be in Jaédeen. ‘That’s it’ he thought. ‘I’m tired of this constant daydreaming. Jaédeen is the place for me, not voltaic’ his thoughts continued. After hunting around for a reasonable service he decided to sell his little corner shop. He had already made plans in Jaédeen, just in case. He got a reasonable 12 gillienti and 800 weiln for it. Tillon then counted up his total money, 20 gillenti, 793 weiln and 85 quiln. He spent 150 weiln in total in supplies, including a pop-up tent made from high-quality blowhort hide, a water-sack, traveller’s boots and a magic tinderbox that contained, when opened, an everlasting flame. Tillon often marvelled at how wizards and witches could use such spells. The best he could do was purify water using a basic spell. “Hayo! Tillon! where are you off to this fine mornin’?” came Hectolo’s voice from somewhere down the road. “I’m off to Jaédeen due to a severely annoying habit of daydreaming about it non-stop.” Tillon replied. “Oh going adventuring are we?” “Kinda, but not quite. y’see I’m planning on moving to Jaédeen and making a living there.” “okay c’ya buddy! good luck on your adventures!” Hectolo then departed to areas unknown to Tillon. It was roughly noon when Tillon set out toward Voltaic’s front gate. it was located roughly north of Tillon’s old corner shop and wasn’t too far away. Tillon walked out of the gate after saying goodbye to the few friends he had made in Voltaic. He walked for the first 30 minutes down the main roadway, guided by a signpost that pointed the direction to Jaédeen and the 86km distance to it. The afternoon was, as things go, uneventful. Then at dusk he decided to set up camp off in an allocated traveller’s camp-site about 2km from Voltaic. he threw the tent on the ground, uttered the words that the box told him to and the tent magically popped up into place. He then used the magic tinderbox to light the pile of firewood that he had acquired from the pile in the centre of the camp-site. It emitted a blue flame which lit the firewood ablaze almost instantly. Tillon then proceeded to cook his deorr-steaks over the warm, red fire.

The following day at sunrise he buried the ashes of his former camp-fire and set off again heading south east towards Jaédeen. He went a considerable distance before encountering any people. then as he passed the intersection to An’ dunal, a major fishing hub, the number of people and deggle-drawn carts increased dramatically. “Hayo! sir! yes you the one with the green shirt. could you offer me a lift please?” Tillon asked a kind-looking man. “Ok… where you planning on going?” “In the long term I’m going to Jaédeen but it’ll be nice if you could give me a lift to Gemalia. I’ll be grateful if you do.” “sure thing! I’m actually going to Gemalia m’self.” “Bing-dandy! thanks, oh and what is your name?” “Gernando’s the name. what’s yours?” “Mine’s Tillon” “Ok, pleased to meet you! welcome aboard!” “thanks Tillon said stepping up into the carriage. it was a medium sized one with a few sacks of fruit on it and a storage chest for necessities. “I only have 2 rules here” Gernando stated to Tillon. “1 no swindling my stock. 2 I wont supply you with food, shelter, etcetera etcetera, so don’t ask for stuff.” “Seems reasonable.” Replied Tillon.

The day passed and night fell like a dark blanket once again. Tillon and Gernando had become acquainted with each-other and set up camp by the side of the road under the shade of a broad-leafed tree that Tillon could not identify. they set up the camp-fire away from the tree and Gernando’s deggles. “goodnight Gernando!” Tillon called from his tent before he fell asleep “Goodnight!” came the reply. A little while later Tillon awoke to a rustling sound on the outside of his tent. He assumed that it was just the wind blowing a tuft of grass against the side of his tent then the rustling came again, even louder this time. Feeling a bit frightened he undid the front of his tent and looked out. Tillon saw nothing abnormal excepting a metallic glint in the grass. Out of curiosity he reached for it and found that it was a sword with a fancy design on the guards, a soft handle made of some sort of smooth hide and an emerald sitting in the bottom-middle of the blade. Tillon sat there in stunned silence, holding the sword in both hands. He decided to put it in his tent and examine it in detail the next day.