go big AND go home

Sandflea can also jump to the top of the charts

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:51:04 -0400

Sandflea can also jump to the top of the charts:

The Sand Flea robot video I mentioned a couple days ago is currently the #1 most popular video on all of youtube, ahead of Justin Bieber’s new video ‘Boyfriend.’ huh.

We had a public release of a couple of robots yesterday,...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:12:07 -0400

We had a public release of a couple of robots yesterday, including this robot named “Sand Flea.” The robot can jump 30 ft vertically (onto a 3 story building roof for example), stabilize in flight, and stick the landing without bouncing away, which (I think) is quite a feat. Lots of engineering went into designing this little bad-boy.

This is the first of our videos which shows some engineering that I have personally done, and in fact, I shot this video! I can’t share any details other than what’s in the description and likely upcoming articles, but it’s nice to be able to show off what we’ve been grinding away at for a few years.

Also, check out the new video for the new version of RHex!

The secret is out! Erin and I are expecting non-identical twins...

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:17:37 -0400

The secret is out! Erin and I are expecting non-identical twins in September! We’re alling them “The Murphy Beans” for now. We’re very excited and possibly even more terrified. These will be my mom’s first grandchildren (and siblings neices/nephews) so I expect them to be extra spoiled.

PANORAMAN

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:30:23 -0500

PANORAMAN

My father passed away this weekend after a several year struggle...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:56:58 -0500

My father passed away this weekend after a several year struggle with cancer. We were lucky to spend some great time together with the whole family in the last month. We all knew that he was the kindest and most loving father, husband, and friend, but he was also revered in his professional life as well, as is evident by the articles in CT’s newspapers after his death.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-tom-murphy-death-0109-20120108,0,3561876.story

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2012/01/08/news/doc4f09ce9f10a59595603992.txt

Thanks to everyone for your support. He will be missed by all.

Time for my annual birthday self-portraits. 31 old years old.

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:56:00 -0500

Upwards and Onwards

2nd year in a row I ended up shirtless

Gratuitous kitten shot

Time for my annual birthday self-portraits. 31 old years old.

Senior portraits are in. They just grow up so fast!

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:42:21 -0500

Senior portraits are in. They just grow up so fast!

When i was 6 years old, my father brought me to some kind of...

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:31:23 -0400

When i was 6 years old, my father brought me to some kind of tech expo in New York City. We also visited the top deck of one of the World Trade Center towers. I guess that made some kind of an impression on me, as ~25 years later I’ve become a robot scientist. The coolest part is, that little science fiction humanoid robot on the brochure in the photo, is now the real deal. The company i work for just released the first public video of our new robot PETMAN. I’ve posted photos before, but you kind of have to see it move to really see what we’re up to.

check it out

irregardlessly: One whole year. Here’s to at least one more....

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:52:05 -0400

irregardlessly:

One whole year. Here’s to at least one more. Maybe one and a half even.

And they said we’d never make it this far…

Got to go surfing for the first time this past weekend. Every...

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:06:24 -0400

Got to go surfing for the first time this past weekend. Every time I stood up and rode a wave, i looked down to see my pink surfboard’s “SurferGrils” logo.

Newly released video of our robot AlphaDog (prototype) as part...

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:19:26 -0400

Newly released video of our robot AlphaDog (prototype) as part of our Legged Squad Support System (LS3) program. More info on our website.

Say hello to Loki, our new kitten. Likes: nocturnal aparment...

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 17:56:00 -0400

Say hello to Loki, our new kitten.

Likes: nocturnal aparment parkour

Dislikes: waiting for alarm the clock to wake us up

Boston Spartan Race 2011. So much harder than last year....

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:09:00 -0400

Boston Spartan Race 2011. So much harder than last year. Involved carrying 5 gallon buckets of gravel up and down a ski hill, straight rope climbs, lots and lots of mud and barbed wire crawling, and, of course, jumping over fire.

The epic-ish video on their main page sums it up nicely.

I think I did pretty well, but a bunch of us appeared to trigger the starting line sensor during our warmup so there may be some math involved to figure out my time. I successfully completed all of the obstacles without penalties except for two (balance log hops, and the spear throw [again!]). Really wiped out right now.

Update: I finished 11th in my heat, 3rd person from my company. Way better than last year.

My little sister Kerrigan married my new brother Kevin last...

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 16:22:45 -0400

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

My little sister Kerrigan married my new brother Kevin last weekend! She asked me to set up a photobooth at the reception. I soldered up a foot-pedal to my camera kit with some lighting, and this is what it captured.

Somebody’s getting impatient.

Sun, 29 May 2011 15:02:42 -0400

Somebody’s getting impatient.

Jusssst getting started packing. I need to look up the clinical...

Sun, 29 May 2011 10:50:54 -0400

Jusssst getting started packing. I need to look up the clinical definition of ‘Hoarder.’

Oh the cliffs of moher. 10mm fisheye and you still can’t...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 15:24:51 -0400

Oh the cliffs of moher. 10mm fisheye and you still can’t fit it all in one image. We walked down to the shelf and disregarded the ‘do not climb over this wall’ signs. I had dreams about falling off these cliffs while looking through the camera, so that made me pretty cautious.

This is my overly dramatic photo of Poulnabrone dolmen in the...

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 17:11:44 -0400

This is my overly dramatic photo of Poulnabrone dolmen in the Burren Park in Ireland. The thing is actually kinda tiny and it was a pretty clear sunny day, but that makes for a boring photo, so you gotta get down near the ground and shoot toward the sun.

We landed in Dublin before sunrise. It was much colder than we...

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:20:05 -0400

We landed in Dublin before sunrise. It was much colder than we were prepared for, and we had our packs fully loaded while we walked around the city, but the sun rising over the River Liffey was quite beautiful. This shot is right at sunrise, eastward through a hole in the Samuel Beckett Bridge, which is kind of a crazy looking bridge in the heart Dublin, right between all of the banks which have brought the nation to bankruptcy.

This is the Gap of Dunloe in Killarney, Ireland. 6 exposure HDR...

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:07:14 -0400

This is the Gap of Dunloe in Killarney, Ireland. 6 exposure HDR blah blah etc. This was a fun walk, even after a long day of driving the Ring of Kerry. Lots of sheeps.