Exploratorium After Dark: The Senses

At the Exploratorium's After Dark event dedicated to the senses, Philip Reist, a Ph.D. student at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control at ETH Zurich demonstrates his invention, the Blind Juggler, a robotic device that relies on mathematics (rather than sensors) to keep a ball in play.

03 Nov 2011 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (UTC - 8)

NOTE: This event takes place at the Exploratorium.

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At the Exploratorium's After Dark: The Senses, experience a heady mix of presentations and activities designed to help you get in touch with the sensual world—both human and otherwise. Find out if your eyes and nose agree on who’s attractive. Discover unexpected taste receptors, and stymy your sweet tooth with a sugar-blocking tea. Take a hands-on journey through total darkness in the Tactile Dome, or immerse yourself in the hypnotic audio-visual compositions of local Super-8 filmmaker and Exploratorium Artist-in-Residence Paul Clipson.

Philip Reist, a Ph.D. student at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) will demonstrate his invention, the Blind Juggler, a robotic device that relies on mathematics (rather than sensors) to keep a ball in play.

The Blind Juggler makes its first appearance in San Francisco as part of swissnex San Francisco's Robots Among Us series and is a project of the U.S.-wide program ThinkSwiss-Brainstorm the Future. As a leading country in science, research, and technology, Switzerland is working with its American counterparts to address key global topics such as sustainability to better understand trends and arrive at solutions.

Bio

Philipp Reist

Philipp Reist grew up in Zurich, Switzerland and obtained a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from ETH Zurich, where he built the Blind Juggler for his thesis. During his studies, he spent two exchange semesters at MIT, where he worked on his bachelor's thesis and on a randomized control algorithm. He has been pursuing his Ph.D. at ETH Zurich since 2009 in controls engineering at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control under Professor Raffaello D’Andrea. Among other projects, Reist explores chaos for motion planning and control of nonlinear dynamical systems. In addition to research, he is interested in mechatronic art and teaching mechatronics to high school students.

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Bay Area Science Festival

From October 29th to November 6th, the Bay Area will come alive with over 100 science and technology activities – lectures, debates, exhibitions, concerts, plays, workshops, and more. This ambitious collaborative public education initiative brings together leading academic, scientific, corporate, and non-profit institutions to showcase the region as an international leader in innovation. Science happens all around us and directly impacts our daily lives – are you ready to unleash your inner scientist? Learn more. #basf11

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