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MacTech Conference First to Show Mac-Based Planetary Rovers

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MacTech Conference First to Show Mac-Based Planetary Rovers

Oct. 20, 2010
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The MacTech Conference in Los Angeles will have Mac-based planetary exploration rovers and a boat controlled by iPod touches, the first public display of these rovers outside a university or research setting.

The MacTech Conference for IT Pros and Mac developers, Nov. 3-5, in Los Angeles, will have Mac-based planetary exploration rovers and a boat controlled by iPod touches on hand at the opening of the international conference. This is the first public display of these rovers outside a university or research setting.  

Keynote speaker Andy Ihnatko will open MacTech Conference: a three-day, information-packed event will have sessions and activities throughout the day and evening. This fully immersive conference is packed with sessions from renown speakers and evening activities, including an exclusive trip to the Griffith Observatory, and the MacTech Bowl party.

Professor Wolfgang Fink [of the UA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering], who came to the University of Arizona from Caltech last year, will be demonstrating the rover units on the first day of the conference prior to the conference’s keynote by Ihnatko. The rovers, which can carry a payload of 40 pounds, and the boat are based on Mac minis and controlled by iOS devices such as the iPod touch over the Internet. Fink and his colleague Mark Tarbell will be available to answer questions and discuss University of Arizona research using smart robots to explore planets. Fink is scheduled to speak about the rovers, and vision technology during a session on the final day of the conference.