Posts Tagged ‘Museum’
Velodyne in the Driver?s Seat at Computer History Museum Exhibit on Autonomous Vehicles
Velodyne in the Driver’s Seat at Computer History Museum Exhibit on Autonomous Vehicles
Morgan Hill, CA (PRWEB) May 29, 2014
As carmakers edge closer to the era of the self-driving car, it’s instructive to look at how we got here.
That’s the premise behind a new exhibit at Silicon Valley’s Computer History Museum (CHM) — one in which pioneering technology from Velodyne occupies a starring role.
Entitled, “Where To? A History of Autonomous Vehicles,” the exhibit chronicles the decades-long challenge of bringing self-driving cars to the general public. According to the museum, self-driving cars have remained perpetually “two decades away” since the 1930s, while autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles have conquered the air and sea, and roamed the edges of the solar system.
The CHM exhibit coincides with this week’s landmark introduction of Google’s latest iteration of its self-driving car – one that has neither a steering wheel nor a gas pedal. The new car does feature Velodyne’s real-time 3D LiDAR sensor, mounted atop the vehicle, for object detection and collision avoidance.
Displayed prominently at the museum are Velodyne’s flagship LiDAR HDL products — the classic HDL-64E and the lightweight, compact HDL-32E. Visitors to the Museum can witness Velodyne LiDAR in action in three installations:
Mounted atop a stationary Google self-driving vehicle is the HDL-64E; thanks to images projected on the big screen, visitors can see what the Google car sees through its Velodyne “eyes”
On select dates, visitors can take a test ride in a Google self-driving vehicle and get up close and personal with the HDL-64E
Mounted on a column within the exhibit, the HDL-32E operates in continuous mode, measuring the entire exhibit in real-time – visitors moving through the exhibit halls are captured and their movements are displayed on a big screen TV
At the opening VIP event, David Hall, founder and CEO of Velodyne, reminisced with other leaders in the industry, including fellow DARPA Grand Challenge competitor Chris Urmson, who now heads the self-driving car project at Google.
“It’s tremendously exciting to see that this technology has developed from a specialized, highly futuristic event like the 2004-05 DARPA Grand Challenge in the desert to now taking center stage at a mainstream museum,” Hall said. “Now, members of the general public are able to receive rides and see how object detection and collision avoidance using Veloyne’s spinning LiDAR sensor really works.”
“The Museum is very excited about bringing this fascinating topic to the public,” said Kirsten Tashev, Museum Vice President of Collections and Exhibitions. “If you live in the Bay Area, Google self-driving cars are a common sight, but until now, the public hasn’t gotten a chance to see these cars up close. Even more exciting is the opportunity this exhibit presents for the Museum’s large international audience, who will be particularly excited to learn about the Google self-driving cars as well as other cool Silicon Valley companies, like… Velodyne, the company that developed the LiDAR, which is a key technology used on most self-driving cars.”
The exhibit explores the history of autonomous vehicles as portrayed in science fiction and popular culture. “Self-guiding vehicles go way back, from auto tillers on sailboats to the modern torpedo in the 1860s, and autopilots for planes before World War I,” said Marc Weber, Founder and Curator of the Museum’s Internet History Program. “Your breakfast cereal was likely harvested by a driverless combine. Robotic carts are cruising around Mars right now. Yet one deceptively modest goal has stayed in the driveway since our grandparent’s youth and that’s the self-driving family car. In this exhibit we’re exploring the history of autonomous vehicles in general, and the elusive dream of a car that drives itself.”
“Where To? A History of Autonomous Vehicles” opened on May 9 and will remain on exhibit through the end of November. The Museum is located at 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. in Mountain View. Please call (650) 810-1010 for more information.
About Velodyne LiDAR
Founded in 1983 and based in California’s Silicon Valley, Velodyne, Inc. is a diversified technology company known worldwide for its high-performance audio equipment and real-time LiDAR sensors. The company’s LiDAR division evolved after founder and inventor David Hall competed in the 2004-05 DARPA Grand Challenge using stereovision technology. Based on his experience during this challenge, Hall recognized the limitations of stereovision and developed the HDL64 high-resolution LiDAR sensor. More recently, Velodyne has released its smaller, lightweight HDL 32E sensor, available for many applications including UAVs. Since 2007, Velodyne’s LiDAR division has emerged as a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of real-time LiDAR sensor technology used in a variety of commercial applications including autonomous vehicles, vehicle safety systems, 3D mobile mapping, 3D aerial mapping and security. For more information, visit http://www.velodynelidar.com. For the latest information on new products and to receive Velodyne’s newsletter, register at http://www.velodyne.com.
About the Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, is a nonprofit organization with a four-decade history as the world’s leading institution exploring the history of computing and its ongoing impact on society. The Museum is dedicated to the preservation and celebration of computer history, and is home to the largest international collection of computing artifacts in the world, encompassing computer hardware, software, documentation, ephemera, photographs, and moving images. The Museum brings computer history to life through large-scale exhibits, an acclaimed speaker series, a dynamic website, docent-led tours, and an award-winning education program. The Museum’s signature exhibition is “Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing,” described by USA Today as “the Valley’s answer to the Smithsonian.” Other current exhibits include “Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2,” IBM 1401 and PDP-1 Demo Labs. For more information and updates, call (650) 810-1059, visit http://www.computerhistory.org, check us out on Facebook, and follow @computerhistory on Twitter
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Take a Ride to the Outer Reaches of the Mind at The Museum of Science when “Ghosts of Jupiter: Music Experience” premieres at Charles Hayden Planetarium on June 22
Take a Ride to the Outer Reaches of the Mind at The Museum of Science when “Ghosts of Jupiter: Music Experience” premieres at Charles Hayden Planetarium on June 22
Boston, MA (PRWEB) May 30, 2012
On Friday, June 22, 2012, visitors to the Museum of Science, Boston will experience a rock-and-roll journey through space and time, with the premiere of Ghosts of Jupiter: Music Experience. Celebrating the release of their self-titled album, Ghosts of Jupiter, the Boston-bred rock quintet has partnered with the Museum to create a new eye-popping music entertainment show in the Charles Hayden Planetarium that will take museumgoers on a fantastic ride into the outer reaches of the mind.
“The Museum kept what was great about the old Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd shows… then made it way better.” – Kevin Johnson, Berklee College of Music
Inspired by the classic rock of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Cream melded with the serious crush of contemporaries like The Raconteurs and The Black Keys, this Boston-based quintet is the rare act that merges all the things you love about rock music into a cohesive whole. Founded by keyboardist Nate Wilson, Ghosts of Jupiter have been steadily making a name for themselves in the New England music scene. The band features the twin guitars of Adam Terrell and Johnny Trama, along with bassist Tommy Lada and drummer Tom Arey holding down the band’s rhythm section. Powerful, fuzzy guitars with soaring, airy vocals; pounding drum and bass lines and ethereal lyrics; songs that evolve over five minutes and riffs that explain themselves in a second: it’s a classic rock feel with a futuristic aura.
Ghosts of Jupiter: Music Experience is a vibrant combination of the band’s eponymous album and the Museum’s cutting-edge technology. The newly renovated Charles Hayden Planetarium is the most technologically advanced digital theater in New England. Powered by superior full-dome video and audio systems, the theater has created a fully-immersive rock entertainment show that transports visitors through the outermost reaches of space, all underneath the Planetarium’s 57-foot dome screen.
Admission to the Charles Hayden Planetarium is $ 10 for adults, $ 9 for seniors (60+) and $ 8 for children (3-11). For information on tickets and showtimes, please call 617-723-2500, 617-589-0417 (TTY) or visit the Museum’s web site at mos.org. For additional information about Ghosts of Jupiter, visit: http://ghostsofjupiter.com/MOS.
About the Museum of Science
One of the world’s largest science centers and Boston’s most attended cultural institution, the Museum introduces about 1.5 million visitors a year to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) via dynamic programs and hundreds of interactive exhibits. Founded in 1830, the Museum was first to embrace all the sciences under one roof. Highlights include the Thomson Theater of Electricity, Charles Hayden Planetarium, Mugar Omni Theater, Gordon Current Science & Technology Center, 3-D Digital Cinema and Butterfly Garden. Reaching 25,000 teens a year worldwide via the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network, the Museum also leads a 10-year, $ 41 million National Science Foundation-funded Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network of science museums. The Museum’s “Science Is an Activity” exhibit plan has been awarded many NSF grants and influenced science centers worldwide. Its National Center for Technological Literacy®’s engineering curricula have reached 35,500 teachers and close to 3 million students nationwide. The Museum has also: been recognized by Boston and Cambridge for its energy and sustainability efforts; named an Employer of Choice by Work Without Limits, a Massachusetts disability employment initiative; is Yankee Magazine’s “Best of New England Readers’ Choice” for Cultural Attraction in Science; and is El Planeta’s Best Tourist Attraction for the Massachusetts Latino population. Visit http://www.mos.org and follow the Museum on social media at http://www.facebook.com/museumofscience and @museumofscience on Twitter.
Press Contacts:
Please don’t hesitate to contact Melissa Zeigler at Powderfinger Promotions for more information on this event or to schedule an interview at 800-356-1155 x4233, or melissa(at)powderfingerpromo(dot)com.
AJ Gosselin (Museum of Science): 617-589-0251 or agosselin(at)mos(dot)org
Philip Stepanian (Management): 617-628-5600 or pstep(at)highsteppinproductions(dot)com
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©Copyright 1997-
, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.