Today I finally made the trip south/east to play some pick-up with Iku. It was nice to see that despite not having had much opportunity to throw with anyone, that my lone throwing sessions back and forth haven't been for nothing. I wish it weren't so far to get there so I could go to pick-up more often...Tomorrow I'm finally going to go search out Buzz Bullets where I saw them last year. I'm hoping to see them, maybe take some video, and find out their practice schedule. They practice much closer to me, and if I could even learn SOME of the field sense they have in their defense, it would greatly improve what little field sense I currently have.
2 more days in this apartment, tomorrow I'm packing my bags and helping clean, then monday I start moving. Also, still no word on my wallet. I really have NO idea where it could have gone...
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
21 ups and downs
So it`s been a little while since my last post. I wouldn`t necessarily say I`ve been too busy as much as I`ve been distracted. Since the last post, notable things include turning 21 (which had both its ups and downs), befriending a local soccer club and football club, and watching a really nice sunset on the ocean (pictures to go up at a later date)!
As for my birthday, I had fantastic plans for that weekend (last week): I was going to go to the beach with some friends, largely girls (which was going to be great), and then go play some frisbee, go to one party in roppongi, then leave and head to another party at my friend`s apt. Then on Sunday I was going to head SW with Doug, a frisbee friend, and go watch the Buzz Bullets play in Fuji city, and hopefully chat some of them up and find out their practice schedule. On the day of, though, I had all my stuff for the beach in a bag, locked up the apt, tucked the key into my wallet so it wouldn`t get lost, put my wallet in the beach bag which was in the basket on my bike, and rode the 200 meters to the convenience store to buy sunscreen. When I got there, I reached for my wallet, and realized it wasn`t in the bag. I got worried, looked harder, and when it wasn`t there, I rode back (within 4-5 minutes of having originally left), scouring the road for my colorful wallet. Not seeing it anywhere, I basically dumped the beach bag out to make sure it wasn`t hiding anywhere, which it wasn`t. When that happened, I sent a message to my beach friends saying I`d likely be late and why, and then set off to really search the route I`d taken between apartment and store. I looked for maybe 20 minutes, and found nothing. Then I went, reported the wallet lost to the police, and headed off to the school to vent my frustrations with the frisbee I had. The problem was that in the wallet were my credit card, the ATM card for the account with all my scolarship funding, my train card (SUICA), my drivers license, my insurance card, and what little cash I happened to have at the moment (and of course, the apt key). So I really couldn`t go anywhere, without cash or access to it, or train pass. Anyway, since then it hasn`t been turned in, nor have any of the cards been used, so I haven`t the slightest idea where it is. I`ve searched the route again with friends, with no results. I was able to get a new train pass printed with all my money still on it, and I also found some ATMs that would take my other ATM card for my account at home. So at least I now have access to cash, and a way to get into work. I do need to buy a new wallet, though, because the zip-lock baggy I`m using doesn`t really cut it.
Anyhow, aside from that, everything`s been going well. In a few days I`m moving to my new apartment with my friend Ryuhei, where I`ll be until I head home. I also am planning on figuring things out for my weeklong travels around Japan in August. I want to try and find some cheap places to stay. At the moment I`m planning on staying at a Manga/internet cafe, because those cost about $20 a night, and it includes some form of bed, and possible showers.
Finally, here are some pictures, and a video:
As for my birthday, I had fantastic plans for that weekend (last week): I was going to go to the beach with some friends, largely girls (which was going to be great), and then go play some frisbee, go to one party in roppongi, then leave and head to another party at my friend`s apt. Then on Sunday I was going to head SW with Doug, a frisbee friend, and go watch the Buzz Bullets play in Fuji city, and hopefully chat some of them up and find out their practice schedule. On the day of, though, I had all my stuff for the beach in a bag, locked up the apt, tucked the key into my wallet so it wouldn`t get lost, put my wallet in the beach bag which was in the basket on my bike, and rode the 200 meters to the convenience store to buy sunscreen. When I got there, I reached for my wallet, and realized it wasn`t in the bag. I got worried, looked harder, and when it wasn`t there, I rode back (within 4-5 minutes of having originally left), scouring the road for my colorful wallet. Not seeing it anywhere, I basically dumped the beach bag out to make sure it wasn`t hiding anywhere, which it wasn`t. When that happened, I sent a message to my beach friends saying I`d likely be late and why, and then set off to really search the route I`d taken between apartment and store. I looked for maybe 20 minutes, and found nothing. Then I went, reported the wallet lost to the police, and headed off to the school to vent my frustrations with the frisbee I had. The problem was that in the wallet were my credit card, the ATM card for the account with all my scolarship funding, my train card (SUICA), my drivers license, my insurance card, and what little cash I happened to have at the moment (and of course, the apt key). So I really couldn`t go anywhere, without cash or access to it, or train pass. Anyway, since then it hasn`t been turned in, nor have any of the cards been used, so I haven`t the slightest idea where it is. I`ve searched the route again with friends, with no results. I was able to get a new train pass printed with all my money still on it, and I also found some ATMs that would take my other ATM card for my account at home. So at least I now have access to cash, and a way to get into work. I do need to buy a new wallet, though, because the zip-lock baggy I`m using doesn`t really cut it.
Anyhow, aside from that, everything`s been going well. In a few days I`m moving to my new apartment with my friend Ryuhei, where I`ll be until I head home. I also am planning on figuring things out for my weeklong travels around Japan in August. I want to try and find some cheap places to stay. At the moment I`m planning on staying at a Manga/internet cafe, because those cost about $20 a night, and it includes some form of bed, and possible showers.
Finally, here are some pictures, and a video:
Weekly meeting
The new Kobian head, without lips (kind of scary!)
A test being done on Wabian`s ankle. I believe it`s a test of balance, and at what point the rocking becomes too much for the robot to handle.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Mount Fuji
Hey everyone! I hope all the 4th of July festivities went well stateside! Nothing really happened here, I just went to work, and then hung out with a bunch of friends afterwards.
This past weekend, though, I went with a german guy from the lab and some of his friends and we did a sunrise hike of Mt Fuji! It was a lot of fun, we started at around 8:30 and got up to the top at 2:30, with sunrise scheduled to be at 4:30. The hike itself wasn`t too bad; I had heard that the trail quality was awful, but it was actually very well maintained, albeit a little steep and dangerous at times. There were regular huts along the trails, each selling drinks and food, which were of course overpriced. That was the one negative to the trip. I expected to be able to fill my waterbottles, but a liter of water cost $8 at the bottom, and over $10 on the mountain(ridiculous!). So of course, being my selectively stingy self, I bought a liter at the bottom, and then tried to make it last the whole way up and down (it didn`t), and was therefore a little dehydrated by the end of the hike.
Each station also had a generator for electric lights (which didn`t really seem that green). It was cool to look up and down the mountain and see the periodic patch of light to see how far you were and how much was left. When you weren`t near a station, though, you could actually see the stars, which is something I`ve never seen in Japan. Having always been in the city surrounded by lights, seeing ALL the stars crisp and clear like at home was really amazing. We tried to take some pictures, but without a tripod they were all too blurry.
When we got to the top, it was absolutely freezing (I didn`t bring very many warm clothes to Japan because it`s summer and the weather is pretty consistently 90 and humid). I was wearing every article of warm clothing I had, and a rain poncho for the wind. It wasn`t so cold, though, that I wasn`t still able to lean up against a wall and pass out for an hour. I didn`t get altitude sickness like some of the other people, but I did get out of breath and fatigued much more quickly than I was used to as we got closer to the top, so by the time we got there, I just wanted to sleep.
Once sunrise started, the rim of the crater was covered in people, and it was really really impressive. The sea of clouds below, watching as the golden light started to creep along the slopes of the mountain. I was one of the first things in the world to be touched by the sun on July 3! Then all the japanese people started shouting `Bonzai!` and throwing up their hands to the sun, it was really cool. After the sun was up, we walked around the edge of the crater, saw the shadow that fuji cast across Japan, took pictures, and then started back down. I also saw someone propose on one of the more secluded edges of the crater. A big group of people had hiked up together, and then this Japanese guy went and proposed, and she said yes, and then he yelled something really happy in Japanese. All in all, it was a really powerful experience, one I`ll probably have to do again someday, and definitely one worth doing if you`re ever in the Tokyo area! I`ll be uploading pictures to facebook, I`ll post the public link here once the album is made.
Hope everything is going well for everyone!
Cheers,
Thomas
Here's the link to the facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150674955895538.693869.823245537&l=73f07abe53
This past weekend, though, I went with a german guy from the lab and some of his friends and we did a sunrise hike of Mt Fuji! It was a lot of fun, we started at around 8:30 and got up to the top at 2:30, with sunrise scheduled to be at 4:30. The hike itself wasn`t too bad; I had heard that the trail quality was awful, but it was actually very well maintained, albeit a little steep and dangerous at times. There were regular huts along the trails, each selling drinks and food, which were of course overpriced. That was the one negative to the trip. I expected to be able to fill my waterbottles, but a liter of water cost $8 at the bottom, and over $10 on the mountain(ridiculous!). So of course, being my selectively stingy self, I bought a liter at the bottom, and then tried to make it last the whole way up and down (it didn`t), and was therefore a little dehydrated by the end of the hike.
Each station also had a generator for electric lights (which didn`t really seem that green). It was cool to look up and down the mountain and see the periodic patch of light to see how far you were and how much was left. When you weren`t near a station, though, you could actually see the stars, which is something I`ve never seen in Japan. Having always been in the city surrounded by lights, seeing ALL the stars crisp and clear like at home was really amazing. We tried to take some pictures, but without a tripod they were all too blurry.
When we got to the top, it was absolutely freezing (I didn`t bring very many warm clothes to Japan because it`s summer and the weather is pretty consistently 90 and humid). I was wearing every article of warm clothing I had, and a rain poncho for the wind. It wasn`t so cold, though, that I wasn`t still able to lean up against a wall and pass out for an hour. I didn`t get altitude sickness like some of the other people, but I did get out of breath and fatigued much more quickly than I was used to as we got closer to the top, so by the time we got there, I just wanted to sleep.
Once sunrise started, the rim of the crater was covered in people, and it was really really impressive. The sea of clouds below, watching as the golden light started to creep along the slopes of the mountain. I was one of the first things in the world to be touched by the sun on July 3! Then all the japanese people started shouting `Bonzai!` and throwing up their hands to the sun, it was really cool. After the sun was up, we walked around the edge of the crater, saw the shadow that fuji cast across Japan, took pictures, and then started back down. I also saw someone propose on one of the more secluded edges of the crater. A big group of people had hiked up together, and then this Japanese guy went and proposed, and she said yes, and then he yelled something really happy in Japanese. All in all, it was a really powerful experience, one I`ll probably have to do again someday, and definitely one worth doing if you`re ever in the Tokyo area! I`ll be uploading pictures to facebook, I`ll post the public link here once the album is made.
Hope everything is going well for everyone!
Cheers,
Thomas
Here's the link to the facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150674955895538.693869.823245537&l=73f07abe53
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Lab Pictures
The lab view from my desk. The 2 robots are Wabian and Kobian (Kobian has no head right now)
Wabian
Headless Kobian
The old and new Kobian heads. The old one is on the left.
You can't tell from the picture, but the old head is twice the depth of the new one.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Adventure 1
Went on an exploring bike ride with some old friends today. Went to the coastline of Chiba (kind of a gross beach, but it was a really pretty, misty day, and worth seeing), and saw a lot of earthquake damage. In fact, I fell into a crack at one point because it was covered in grass and I didn't see it. Only one leg, but all the way up to the hip, and still no bottom. Got a few cuts and scratches, but nothing bad. Mostly I was just really shocked by the huge crack in the earth. Kept going, stopped by a used stuff store, and then biked back. On the bike back we went through a park, in which many of the paths were cracked, elevated by differences of around a foot, and tilted steeply to one side. It was a kind of frightening, but at the same time kind of beautiful in the twilight. I wish I had a nice camera and a few hours to take pictures of all the stuff I saw today.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Intro Day
I had my first day yesterday, or my intro day, rather. I showed up at 2:30 for what I thought was a meeting, and was quickly handed off to a grad student to give me a tour of the facilities, because the professor in charge of the lab had to go listen to the proposal for what was going to be done in the coming months. So I saw all the different kind of robots, which you can see on their website if you want (http://www.takanishi.mech.waseda.ac.jp/top/index.htm), and got a brief presentation by someone in the lab. Everything was in Japanese, but fore the most part, except some technical jargon, I was able to understand, which felt good. Then, after a few hours of touring, I went back and caught the end of the meeting, which was much harder to understand, because the students were being extra polite and using lots of big words, again, all in Japanese.
At the end of the day, though, when I asked what I would be doing, the professor didn't tell me I'd be working on a little, relatively unimportant task befitting an intern. He asked me which labs I found interesting, and I said the bipedal robots and the one working with this sensor jacket (WB-3). And then I said I wanted to work in whatever I'd be most helpful to the lab. So now, I'm working in the bipedal robot lab, on this guy (http://www.takanishi.mech.waseda.ac.jp/top/research/wabian/index_j.htm), trying to incorporate the sensors on the jacket into him so they can measure his bio-mechanics (gait and whatnot) compared to those of a human.
Quick blurb on Wabian, the robot I'll be helping with, turns out that the reason it's so special/different (better?) than other bipedal robots like ASIMO (a well-known robot built by Honda) is that Wabian has a fully functional pelvis,and so is a much more accurate representation of human structure, gait, and capability. By having a pelvis, the robot looks much more human in it's movements (albeit, still robotic). The purpose of the Wabian structure is for human-robot interactions. There's another robot I might help with as well, called Kobian, which is the Wabian body, with an expressive face, and that's one more step in human-robot interactions. Anyway, starting next week I should have better details as to what I'll be doing, but most likely it will be various smaller tasks that will help the more permanent students with their tasks. I think this will be good, because it will allow me to get practice in a bunch of various skill sets, as opposed to getting a lot of experience in just one area.
At the end of the day, though, when I asked what I would be doing, the professor didn't tell me I'd be working on a little, relatively unimportant task befitting an intern. He asked me which labs I found interesting, and I said the bipedal robots and the one working with this sensor jacket (WB-3). And then I said I wanted to work in whatever I'd be most helpful to the lab. So now, I'm working in the bipedal robot lab, on this guy (http://www.takanishi.mech.waseda.ac.jp/top/research/wabian/index_j.htm), trying to incorporate the sensors on the jacket into him so they can measure his bio-mechanics (gait and whatnot) compared to those of a human.
Quick blurb on Wabian, the robot I'll be helping with, turns out that the reason it's so special/different (better?) than other bipedal robots like ASIMO (a well-known robot built by Honda) is that Wabian has a fully functional pelvis,and so is a much more accurate representation of human structure, gait, and capability. By having a pelvis, the robot looks much more human in it's movements (albeit, still robotic). The purpose of the Wabian structure is for human-robot interactions. There's another robot I might help with as well, called Kobian, which is the Wabian body, with an expressive face, and that's one more step in human-robot interactions. Anyway, starting next week I should have better details as to what I'll be doing, but most likely it will be various smaller tasks that will help the more permanent students with their tasks. I think this will be good, because it will allow me to get practice in a bunch of various skill sets, as opposed to getting a lot of experience in just one area.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Arrival
Got into Japan yesterday afternoon. Lady Gaga was flying into the airport as the same time as me, so when I came out of the gate, there were TV cameras, people cheering, it was pretty awesome. I don't have any pictures (unfortunately), but super cool. She was all in green with green hair (kind of like me?).
Had no problems getting my train fare and catching the train out of the airport. I was super exhausted by that point, and all I wanted to do was sleep, but I was so tired that I couldn't sleep. I got to my apartment, found the key my friend had stashed for me to get in, and just crashed on a bed for a few hours. In that sleep at some point one of my friends came in to say hi. Apparently I greeted him, but it's all kind of hazy. The good news is I woke up at 8:30ish, stayed up until midnight, and then made it until 5:30 this morning, which is a lot better than how I did the last time I came. Hopefully the jetlag wears off quickly.
Today I plan to go visit the school I studied at in the fall, say hi to my friends, and to thank the lady who helped me with the business japanese in basically all the e-mails I wrote to the lab where I'll be working.
Coming back to Japan was really weird. It had the same feeling as flying back to the US or Chile in that when I get there, I know how everything goes, everything's easy and comfortable, and I just kind of coast. I'm not going to say I wasn't a little shocked again at how many asians there are here, but nothing, not even the language really threw me this time, which was strange, because last time it was just so foreign. That being said, hearing the kids going to school outside my window right now speaking Japanese, I was a little surprised when it was in Japanese.
Had no problems getting my train fare and catching the train out of the airport. I was super exhausted by that point, and all I wanted to do was sleep, but I was so tired that I couldn't sleep. I got to my apartment, found the key my friend had stashed for me to get in, and just crashed on a bed for a few hours. In that sleep at some point one of my friends came in to say hi. Apparently I greeted him, but it's all kind of hazy. The good news is I woke up at 8:30ish, stayed up until midnight, and then made it until 5:30 this morning, which is a lot better than how I did the last time I came. Hopefully the jetlag wears off quickly.
Today I plan to go visit the school I studied at in the fall, say hi to my friends, and to thank the lady who helped me with the business japanese in basically all the e-mails I wrote to the lab where I'll be working.
Coming back to Japan was really weird. It had the same feeling as flying back to the US or Chile in that when I get there, I know how everything goes, everything's easy and comfortable, and I just kind of coast. I'm not going to say I wasn't a little shocked again at how many asians there are here, but nothing, not even the language really threw me this time, which was strange, because last time it was just so foreign. That being said, hearing the kids going to school outside my window right now speaking Japanese, I was a little surprised when it was in Japanese.
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