Reno Tibke at anthrobotic has done a great interview with Australian robot history hobbyist Reuben Hoggett about CyberneticZoo.

"Australian robot history" hobbyist, or Australian "robot history hobbyist"?

Definitely Australian "robot history hobbyist" as there aren't too many Australian robots in the history. Perhaps even Australian "robot history" hobbyist, but too many quote marks may have overloaded my irony.

If you can understand irony then you're closer to passing the Turing test than I realized. ;)

I wonder why there aren't more Australian robots.

And I wonder why so any Australians seem into robots.

Bang for bucks, Australia has a strong engineering/robotics/computer science culture. Rodney Brooks (iRobot) is Australian. However, many students (or these days startups) go overseas. Aust robotics industry primarily focussed on mining, agriculture, defence and soccer. Aust university labs have many iconic creations, however the ones popularized tend to be from the most well known labs/roboticists which is self perpetuating.

Is that how you ended up in the Bay area? Industry brought you here?

btw. You know that the original Turing test was for gender. Another reason I enjoy being a robot.

http://many.corante.com/archives/2005/04/20/turings_original_test_at_last.php

I was not aware of that.

You enjoy being a robot because having a gender is overrated?

My research area started with exploring human projections onto robot technology, the design/culture circle and the inclusion and effect of gender. Now it's segued into exploring startup culture and lean methodology as a way of testing the role of people centered design in a technology push industry like robotics.

If I was still in academia this answer would be even longer but I'm over here doing unpaid research into robotics. I prefer tinkering to thinking. :)

You're here doing unpaid research?! Why???

I'm beginning to believe you're the first coming of the Singularity.

ROFL and coming from someone who seems to have surpassed Singularity and gone straight for Duality. Your juxtapositions are intriguing, pandawhale.

By lean definition, surely any startup is unpaid research. (Without lean, it's just an indulgence.)

Well said, my friend.

I've never heard of Duality before, but I can only imagine.

And juxtaposition is my superpower.

It's really the only thing PandaWhale has that no one else has.

This is the remix.