#72: CES2018

by | Jan 24, 2018

Introduction
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Don’t Stare
Whatever you do kid, don’t stare. At what? At any of it!
Your first visit to the Consumer Electronics Show is a lot like being in a real-world Sci-Fi show. There is nothing quite like it, and I have been to Comic-Con. It’s hard to understand without being there, because it’s just another convention, right? Well this is the public debut of a lot of new technology. As an engineer, I am used to seeing new technology, but not this much, not this diversified and not so crammed into one spot.
Also, saying it is crammed into one spot makes it sound like there is just one convention hall. There is not. There are three ‘regions’: Tech West, Tech South and Tech East. Each location has multiple halls, buildings and floors. And because this is a show that is bursting at the seams, they have set up tents as big as buildings everywhere. Here are a few of the things I saw at this years show.

There was an entire section dedicated to drones. From tiny ones that you could hold in the palm of your hand to helicopters the size of a Volkswagen. The controls have gotten better and better making it very easy to use even for a novice.
Robots were everywhere. This display was a group of underwater bots. These can be used for inspection, photography or let’s face it just playing around. While no prices were mentioned, I am sure these bots were as serious as their sticker price.
If you are part of the desktop 3D printer craze you would have been at home. There were a flock of printers, of all sizes, each with its own claim to fame.
This bot looked like it would build the best legos playhouse for your kids imaginable. One has to wonder how much it would cost for a toy this size.
This exhibit is dedicated to robotics for education. Putting Science-Technology-Engineering and math back into the classroom is an important part of keeping our country on the forefront.
How you feel about self-driving cars probably reflects whether you were a fan of KITT in the early 1980’s. Today they are real and even though they don’t talk, oh wait they do. And they are poised to take over our roads.
I thought this was a bit hard to see, but it is an autonomous bi-pedal robot that can also hop on a motorcycle and drive it around.
Canbot is a very cute service robot. You can’t help but like the small size, large eyes and high squeaky voice.
How about a race? No doubt Mech Racing is a new thing. A pilot straps on this gigantic electric machine and pit themselves against other pilots. I don’t know about you but I would go watch a race, or maybe even participate.
FLIR is not just a technology but a company. They had the largest live FLIR image projected on the screen in real time. This is truly looking at our world through new eyes.

Final thoughts
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