BEAUHINKS

First:

The entry for the Independent Game Developers Festival has been completed, Bubble Blow. You can read more about it at http://beauhinks.com/bubbleblow

Very basic game, but given the time constraints turned out relatively well. Physics work reasonably realistically. I was able to add in dynamic collision geometry generated by the textures before submission to the contest… kinda cool!

Second:

The St. Mary’s project using genetic algorithms for autonomous navigation is slow going–mostly in part because of time spent on Bubble Blow. However, I have a working robotics platform running a Pic18f2550 which allows us plenty of control. My partner and I are now working on condensing the code and fitting it on the microprocessor so we don’t have to do any sort of tethered control. We have wireless modules, which I would have to write a bit of code to interface between USB and serial to get to work properly, but the original idea was to have fully autonomous robots capable of seeking goals and avoiding predators.

We’ll get there. Maybe some pictures will go up soon.

Third:

The site has been neglected for a few months. My schedule this semester was a bit more hectic than anticipated due to taking on an aid position for a math class. Hopefully, I’ll be able to stay on top o Beauhinks more in the next month and year as new opportunities present themselves. Physics is good. Programming is good. I should have a bit of research up soon on the (well understood) application of Statistical Mechanics to Information Theory. Is there a fundamental limit on knowledge?

That is all.

~Steven