The X-47B will not only land itself, but will also know what kind of weapons it is carrying, when and where it needs to refuel with an aerial tanker, and whether there’s a nearby threat, said Carl Johnson, Northrop’s X-47B program manager. “It will do its own math and decide what it should do next.”

The X-47B drone, above, marks a paradigm shift in warfare, one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences. With the drone’s ability to be flown autonomously by onboard computers, it could usher in an era when death and destruction can be dealt by machines operating semi-independently. (Chad Slattery, Northrop Grumman / January 25, 2012)

There’s an excellent article by By W.J. Hennigan, of the Los Angeles Times about the next phase in robot warfare.

“Lethal actions should have a clear chain of accountability,” said Noel Sharkey, a computer scientist and robotics expert. “This is difficult with a robot weapon. The robot cannot be held accountable. So is it the commander who used it? The politician who authorized it? The military’s acquisition process? The manufacturer, for faulty equipment?”

Read full article…

Jeff Silverman a local videographer and producer of My City Videos “Live” recently did interviews with local  leaders on the subject of Willamette Innovators Network (WIN) and its annual event Willamette Innovators Night that is held in Corvallis each November.

Jeff invited me to discuss local innovation and the WIN event which I was happy to do. After all, innovation and entrepreneurs are a couple of my favorite subjects and for years I have put others on the other side of the table, so fair’s fair and what goes around comes around (whatever that means).

In addition to covering successful start-ups and entrepreneurs we discuss why the Willamette Valley is a good place to start a new venture but not keep the company headquartered there it once it reaches critical mass or is acquired.

Next week I will post my last of the year Innovators Interviews with Ron Adams who just re-positioned himself from Dean of Engineering at OSU to the post of Executive Associate Vice President for Research.

To see Jeff’s other interviews with Mark Van Patten, Director – Business Solutions Group OSU and Rick Spinrad, VP for Research – OSU go to My City Videos “Live” | Willamette Innovators Network video.

Also visit Jeff’s website  silvermanstudio and see his YouTube Channel My City Videos…

Also see My City Videos – Willamette Innovators Night with Ron Sparks…

To learn more about the WIN Event visit the Willamette Innovators Network…

I see a few EVs driving around Corvallis and while we weren’t included in the NPR report, I suspect that we are close to the 6.1% of sales that Eugene shows. Higher than Portland’s 5.4% but lower than SF’s nation leading 8.4%.

I wonder if  PDX Mayor Sam Adams is ready to surrender to the Mayor of SF in their self-proclaimed EV War…

Sara Carothers and Alyson Hurt / NPR

It’s not easy being green or counting on government funding. The bold and innovative Aptera had many fans, including me, due to its radical style and modest approach to EV design. But, sadly it’s not to be. See the below note of closure from Aptera’s CEO.

EVs and green tech of all kinds have been taking a beating in the news and in the market. Other EV makers like Fisker are facing tough times and it looks like the DC induced Green Bubble, has enticed too many EV battery makers into the market  and are they are getting beat-up.

The good thing about dreams and entrepreneurs is that they are resilient and bounce back. So fear not dear reader, the dream lives! See the  DeLorean Electric Vehicle…

STATEMENT BY PAUL WILBUR

Dec. 2, 2011

After years of focused effort to bring our products to the market, Aptera Motors is closing its doors, effective today. This is a difficult time for everyone connected with our company because we have never been closer to realizing our vision. Unfortunately, though, we are out of resources.

It is especially disappointing since we were so close…

Aptera executives had been engaged in exhaustive due diligence with the Department of Energy (DOE) pertaining to an ATVM (Advance Technology Vehicle Manufacturing) loan. Our business plan was examined from top to bottom by internal agency representatives, independent consultants and experts in academia. They did an amazing job of vetting us and they tested every possible weakness in our plan. And after nearly two years of discussions, we had recently received a Conditional Commitment Letter for a $150 million loan.

The ATVM loan would have provided funding for the development and commercialization of a five-passenger, midsized sedan (similar to a Toyota Camry) that would be base priced at less than $30,000 and deliver more than a 190 mile per gallon equivalent. The concept of this vehicle had been in place since the very beginning of Aptera, and we had been wholly focused on its development for the last year. The last remaining hurdle was finding new funds to match the DOE loan.

We were so optimistic that the company would move forward that we were in discussions to reactivate a mothballed automotive plant in Moraine, Ohio. In the past months we had engaged with the labor union that operated that facility to discuss the hiring of 1,400 new job opportunities. These jobs would have reactivated talented workers who had been dismissed when the facility was closed.

During the same time, we continued development of our patent-pending composite manufacturing system that enables energy efficient vehicle production by drastically reducing vehicle weight (by as much as 30%) while tripling its strength. This same patent pending system allowed us to finish the surface of our composites without manual finishing and without the high capital cost of a typical automotive paint shop. In all, the process would save nearly $750-million versus a typical volume auto assembly plant start-up.

We were well on the way to satisfying the vision of efficiency on which the company was founded and we are confident that with time and capital we could still achieve our goal. The Aptera formula: aerodynamics plus light weight design (through composites) delivered efficiency of 206 EPA miles per gallon in tests at Argonne National Labs. That wasn’t a simulation; it was real measured performance. Despite that promise of efficiency, this challenged market – specifically large private investors – did not have an appetite to lead an investment for the perceived low volume return of our three-wheeled vehicle. So we reprioritized our product plan to four-door sedans, which also cost us time.

We remain confident, even as this chapter closes, that Aptera has contributed tech new technologies to build a future for more efficient driving. Through the dedicated staff at Aptera, our board and suppliers we have touched this future. All that remains is for someone to grab it. We still believe it will happen.

Paul Wilbur

Read more: Automotive News… 

Here’s a couple of spooky videos from Boston Dynamics. They do DOD type research in robotic walking machines and have designed and built some pretty scary beasts. Here are two to help you celebrate All Hallows Day. Beware if this soulless pair wobble up your walk and  knock on your door tonight!

He’s Coming to Get You

Dig the sneaks!

PETMAN is an anthropomorphic robot developed by Boston Dynamics for testing special clothing used by the US Army. PETMAN balances itself as it walks, squats and does simple calisthenics. PETMAN simulates human physiology by controlling temperature, humidity and sweating inside the clothing to provide realistic test conditions. PETMAN development is lead by Boston Dynamics, working in partnership with Measurement Technologies Northwest, Oak Ridge National Lab and MRIGlobal. The work is being done for the US Army PD-CCAT-TI. For more information about PETMAN visit  Boston Dynamics.

PETMAN’s Pet BigDog

Three generations of BigDog, including robot pup and recent highlights. 2004-2010

 Boston Dynamics is an engineering company that specializes in building dynamic robots and software for human simulation. The company began as a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where National Academy of Engineering member Marc Raibert and his colleagues first developed robots that ran and maneuvered like animals. They founded the company in 1992, and their ground-breaking work continues to inspire several of the company’s activities.

Today the company creates a variety of innovative robots, including BigDog, a quadruped robot for travel on rough-terrain, PETMAN, an anthropomorphic robot for testing equipment, RISE, a robot that climbs vertical surfaces, SquishBot, a shape-changing chemical robot that moves through tight space, and many others.

This is Part 2 of our discussion of Vested Outsourcing with Scott Schroeder, president and CEO of Mega Tech of Oregon. In Part 1 Scott told us how and why he got interested in Vested Outsourcing and its basic principles.

In Part 2 he talks about who should consider using Vested Outsourcing and why it’s different. Scott is not alone in his praise of this new approach between companies and their suppliers.

“Vested Outsourcing is a game-changing approach that will quickly become the new gold standard for advanced outsourcing relationships. It is a critical enabler for Outsourcing 2.0.” Frank Casale – CEO, Outsourcing Institute

“Applying Vested Outsourcing’s Five Rules has the power to change the game of outsourcing.” Tim McBride –Chief Procurement Officer, Microsoft

A Beautiful Mind is a biopic of the famed mathematician John Nash and his lifelong struggles with his mental health. Nash enrolled as a graduate student at Princeton in 1948 and almost immediately stood out as an odd duck. He devoted himself to finding something unique, a mathematical theorem that would be completely original. Details on IMDB…

Why Adam Smith may have got it wrong…

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Hamilton Champion of American Manufacturing

Portrait by Caroline L. Ormes Ransom after John Trumbull

Manufacturing has played an important role in the rise of the United States as the world’s leading industrial and military power since 1790, when Alexander Hamilton presented his Report on Manufactures to congress. Hamilton belief in the importance of manufacturing was significantly influenced by Adam Smith’s seminal work  The Wealth of Nations. 

With the rise of the Four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) in the 1960′s and the recent growing industrial prowess of India and China,  U.S. manufacturers have been losing global market share to hungry, low-cost, global competitors.

The importance of manufacturing to U.S. economic health and job creation is now widely recognized. Over the last few years industry trends have been reversing. Sometimes known as “Reshoring” many American companies are looking to bring their production operations back, closer to home.

Whether its producing in-house or outsourcing to a U.S. contract manufacturer there are good reasons to have the work done by a trusted vendor who may not be the low-cost bidder.  This is where “Vested Outsourcing” comes in, it provides a new model of working with suppliers to get more value from the contribution of the supplier over the mere cost savings.

The  Beautiful Mind of John Forbes Nash

The Essential John Nash, Edited by Harold W. Kuhn & Sylvia Nasar

Vested Outsourcing extends Adam Smith’s notion of the invisible hand of economic relations based on self interest and “individual ambition serves the common good,”  to a broader more inclusive view that self interest and outcome based on the good of the group was a better model for decision making. This view was proposed in 1950 by Princeton mathematician John Forbes Nash in his Nash Equilibrium which is a part of the larger field of Game Theory.

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See: Vested Outsourcing – Part 1…

Related links…

Vested Outsourcing website

Vested Outsourcing book

Vested Outsourcing videos

Vested Outsourcing is a topic you likely have not heard much about yet. It is an innovative approach to improving the outcome and effectiveness between companies and their suppliers.

It is particularly important to companies that make things themselves or currently outsource production off-shore. We discuss Vested Outsourcing with Scott Schroeder in this two part interview series.

Over the last couple of years I’ve had the opportunity to work with Mega Tech of Oregon (MTO). They are a contract manufacturing company located in Corvallis, Oregon and they have been in business for almost 25 years. MTO works with many high-tech, electronic, consumer product, medical instrument, wood product, aviation, RV and other kinds of manufacturing companies.

Mega Tech of Oregon, 33866 SE Eastgate Circle, Corvallis, Oregon

Because MTO works with differing types and sizes of companies, they have to be very sharp and agile. Like a job shop, they can work on anything from a single component for clients to building and supporting a complete product line. After working with manufacturing companies since the mid-1970′s, I have developed a great appreciation for the hard work and intelligence it takes for these entrepreneurs to succeed in business.

Scott R. Schroeder

Scott grew up in Oregon’s forest products industry. His father was CEO of a forest products company and his uncle was the “Oregon State Forester” in charge of the Department of Forestry . Scott spent his school years working around production lines and mill automation equipment. He went on to earn a B.S. in Forest Engineering from Oregon State University.

His professional career spans 32 years managing timber and land resources, production facilities and manufacturing plants, mills and companies. Over these positions, he developed a keen sense of what it takes to make better products with fewer resources. Scott honed this inherent talent for problem solving and productivity into the art of getting the most out of people, machines and systems with a minimum of turbulence and discord.

This summer Scott and his MTO Team hosted a plant tour and a presentation for the Software Association of Oregon and the Willamette Innovators Network. Scott gave a presentation on Vested Outsourcing that was well received. I knew that Scott had a real passion for this new approach to outsourcing having talked to him about it. Unfortunately, I was out of town that week and was unable to attend Scott’s presentation. I asked if he would let Innovational Musings record a conversation with him on Vested Outsourcing as part of our Innovators Interview Series. He agreed, below is Part 1 of that interview.

In Part 1 of our interview with Scott Schroeder he discusses:

• 00:40 – About MTO and it’s customers
• 03:00 – How he became interested in Vested Outsourcing
• 04:55 – Key rules of Vested
• 05:30 – Rule 1, Outcome Based
• 06:20 – Rule 2, Focus on the What not the How
• 08:15 – Rule 3, Clearly Defined Outcomes
• 10:00 – Rule 4, Recognize Cost/Service tradeoffs
• 12:35 – Rule 5, Insight not oversight
• 14:22 – End Part 1

We appreciate the cooperation of Scott Schroeder of MTO and Kate Vitasek of the University of Tennessee for their help with this interview.

Next post, Part 2 – Vested Outsourcing with Scott Schroeder.

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Related links…

Vested Outsourcing website

Vested Outsourcing book

Vested Outsourcing videos

Over the last year I have written a lot about Watson. True Artificial Intelligence and natural language understanding are very hard problems to solve.  Irrespective of the smart machines and clever robots like Maria, Electro, Robby and Hal, who have  fascinated movie goers for decades, real-world machine intelligence has been a long time coming.

We at Innovational Musings congratulate the IBM Watson Team for their accomplishment and well deserved recognition for reaching a real milestone in man-machine relations.

The Man, The Team & The Machine

“In recognition of their accomplishment in Watson, the editors of R&D Magazine have honored Dr. David Ferrucci, research staff member, Watson team leader, and IBM Fellow, and the members of IBM Research’s DeepQA Team with their highest individual innovation award, the Innovator of the Year.  In 2011, for the first time, the editors recognize the teamwork involved in making possible the most advanced computer-supported intelligence system yet: Watson.” More on the award…

Dr. David Ferrucci is a Research Staff Member and leader of the Semantic Analysis and Integration Department at IBM’s T.J. Watson’s Research Center. His team of 25 researchers focuses on developing technologies for discovering knowledge in natural language and leveraging those technologies in a variety of intelligent search, data analytics, and knowledge management solutions. See Ferrucci bio…

Robots can be your friends, like AWESOM-O.

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Read more about the Watson project and the team…

See how Watson works…

Also see where Watson went to work…

June 11 – September 18, The Portland Art Museum hosted an extraordinary exhibit of classic automobiles from the 1930s – 1950s. The exhibit is titled The Allure of the Automobile. Visitors had the chance to ogle some of the most sexy sheet-metal ever to  transport man. As much art as auto, these cars are a joy to behold and even standing still they are breathtaking.

I shot a few photos and a video of the exhibit, but made sure to put the camera down part of the time so I could visually appreciate these beauties with my eyes and not just through a lens. Also below, there are links to the exhibit website and other places to see and learn more about these marvelous machines.

In concert with the exhibit, the museum hosted a large number of electric vehicles as part of the Cars in the Park series. I shot some pretty cool video there too and will post it soon. But for now enjoy the slide show and the eleven minute video tour accompanied by period music played by US Air Force Airmen of Note.

The Allure of the Automobile

Portland Art Museum

June 11, 2011 – September 18, 2011

Opening in June 2011, The Allure of the Automobile will showcase 16 of the world’s most luxurious, rare, and brilliantly conceived automobiles designed between 1930 and the mid-1960s. From the avant garde 1937 Hispano-Suiza owned by French apéritif baron André Dubonnet to the ultra-cool convertible 1957 Jaguar XK-SS Roadster once owned by Hollywood legend Steve McQueen, the exhibition traces the evolution of the motorcar, showcasing developments in automotive design and engineering. More from the exhibition website…

Slide Show of a few Beauties

Music playing in these videos is from the Airmen of Note’s album Let’s Dance

US Air Force Airmen of Note

On September 28th, 1950, the Airmen of Note was formed to carry on the musical style and tradition of Major Glenn Miller’s Army Air Forces Orchestra. This proved to be a significant challenge. At that time, military bands were widely regarded as marching and concert ensembles; jazz and dance music were not as readily associated with military music programs. Upon its inception, the Airmen of Note was known throughout the world as “The official Dance Band of the United States Air Force.” Fifty years later, it gives us great pleasure to present this album, titled Let’s Dance, as a tribute to swing music, its heritage and significance.

Video Tour of Exhibit

Allure of the Automobile Exhibit Highlights:

– 1935 Duesenberg JN Roadster, ex-Clark Gable
– 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante Coupe
– 1937 Hispano-Suiza H-6C “Xenia” Coupe
– 1937 Delage D8-120S, Surbaisse, ex-Louis Delage
– 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C2900B Touring Berlinetta
– 1938/39 Porsche Type 64
– 1948 Tucker Model 48 Torpedo
– 1953 Porsche 550 Le Mans/La Carrera Panamerica Coupe
– 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SLR “Uhlenhaut” Coupe
– 1957 Jaguar XKSS Roadster, ex-Steve McQueen
– 1959 Chevrolet Corvette “Bill Mitchell” Stingray Prototype
– 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB “SEFAC Hot Rod”
– 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato

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For better photos…

Sports Car Digest

Exhibit Photos

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Jay Leno talks Allure of the Automobile

Story by Wendy Culverwell, Business Journal Staff Writer -Portland Business Journal

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More Alluring Videos…

Ken Gross & The Allure of the Automobile

Arrival of the Automobiles

The Allure of the Automobile – Portland Art Museum

Allure of the Automobile

Cars In The Park Italian day at Allure Of The Automobile

News from Drive Oregon

August 10th, 2011

SALEM, ORE. – With the support of Governor John Kitzhaber and the Oregon Legislature, the Oregon Innovation Council has awarded $1.2 million in funding for Drive Oregon, an initiative to energize that state’s emerging electric vehicle industry and take advantage of the federal government’s goal to have a million plug-in vehicles on the road in the next four years.

“Drive Oregon embodies the kind of organization that can help position our state to leverage its leadership in the electric vehicle sector and to grow solid family- and high- wage jobs and keep money in the local economy,” said Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen, and chair of the Governor’s Transportation Electrification Executive Council (TEEC).

Funding is expected to be in place by the end of this year that will allow Drive Oregon to move forward with plans to nurture the economic development potential of the electric vehicle, transportation electrification and energy storage industries. See full article…

Some of that funding will go to hire a new director.

Position: Drive Oregon – Executive Director

Posted: Sep. 1, 2011

Closes: Sep. 23, 2011

Opportunity

Drive Oregon, the state’s industry association for electric  vehicles (EVs) and components, is seeking an Executive Director (ED). This is a  full-time position, and the ED reports to the Board of Directors. Drive Oregon  is a coalition of companies and interest groups engaged in the EV industry and  transportation electrification. Drive Oregon consists of companies that develop and produce vehicles and components, perform conversions, and provide consulting services for hybrid and electric vehicles and energy storage  technologies.

Drive Oregon’s mission is to catalyze the growth of Oregon’s electric vehicle industry to ensure Oregon develops and maintains its competitive advantage and maximize the economic  development potential of this emerging industry. To learn more about the job, go here…