The iRobot facility in Bedford has been undergoing a massive physical transformation for the past several month in an effort to modernize both the interior and exterior.  Although it has been a massive inconvenience, the results are beginning to take shape and I am enjoying the changes a lot more than I anticipated I would.  The common space below features wall high, backlit images of some of our more important patents.  Located just off our Boardroom, it is a great place for relaxing.

 Dyson announced a robotic vacuum today.  They reported that it took 12 years and $46M to develop.  At iRobot we have been anticipating this move for years and it comes as no surprise.  It appears to be a very capable machine in some regards but also has significant design flaws that are immediately apparent to me. While Dyson is a serious competitor, their entry into robotic floor care only further serves to validate the category and will expand the market.  It is said to begin shipping next year and by then we will have a new model of our own.  iRobot stock closed up on the day.

We live a stone’s throw from several large fields.  The one directly behind our house is currently used to produce hay.  The one down the street, a favorite destination for dogs and their owners, is being used to grow sunflowers and one other crop that I do not recognize.  The tiny structures on these plants are simply fascinating.

This week’s Concord Journal carried a nice story about Nicolai making the US National Amputee Soccer Team.

Using left over scraps from last year’s deck project, I built a matching table this morning.  Because the deck boards are not a structural material most of the project entailed building the underlying wood frame.  Now that I see the photo, I think I will paint the wood edges of the shelves black or white.  I have just enough decking material left to construct a 5 foot bench, a project for a future weekend.

The afternoon was spent with Maya’s friends and parents at a Labor Day party.  I slipped away for 2 hours to play in a final tune up scrimmage before my soccer season starts next weekend.  I was in much need of the cardio workout, but it came at the price of re-injuring my not fully recovered back.

Kyle’s girlfriend, Isabella, arrived yesterday on the redeye from California.  The two spent the day touring the area and I hope to get some photos of them in the coming days.  Meanwhile, Nico reports that he is having a blast at Colorado College.

I rarely spend an entire day relaxing but came pretty close today.  I completed a few small projects (vacuuming my car’s interior, relocating the air compressor we use to inflate tires in the garage and installing a bracket on which to store the hose, and a little shop maintenance).  I spent almost an hour at the website 24hoursofhappy.com which I highly recommend.  I then decided to search the yard for small subjects to photograph.

I spent the entire day working on the garage with help from Kyle, Maya, her friend Maddie, and Jeanine.  At some point, the BMW i3 I have on order will arrive and it will need a place to sleep. The bulk of today’s project involved reducing the size of the landing between the garage and our mudroom by half to make room for more efficient storage of our bicycles.  The railing pictured here used to go straight across instead of turning.  I was able to recycle all the wood for this project and the girls did a fantastic job of giving it a new coat of paint.

John William Quinn, my nephew, arrived from Albany, NY, and will be staying with us until his fall semester at Babson College begins.  We always enjoy his company but it is even nicer with Kyle at home giving the cousins someone their own age to hang out with.

The iRobot 710 Kobra is a powerful, rugged, fast robot that carries multiple heavy payloads without sacrificing mobility over rough terrain and stairs. It can lift in excess of 330 pounds and travel at 8 mph. It is a beast. This evening after work, members of the development team and management celebrated our first customer order. During the celebration we received word of a second order.

After a ten-hour offsite financial planning meeting, iRobot participants enjoyed dinner together at Chopps. Several in our party of 22 ordered the ribeye steak. I don’t think any of them were expecting quite so large a portion. I had the tuna which was quite good and sized more reasonably. Unfortunately, I also had shrimp for an appetizer. Based on the fever, aches and other symptoms I experienced in the middle of the night, I believe I may have developed an allergy to these crustaceans. I was almost fully recovered by the morning but there was no getting back the lost four hours of sleep.

The combination of color, shape, and negative space in this still life captured my attention this morning.

When Maya returned from a friend’s house this evening, she was eager to continue watching the Emmy Awards show, something she had never been interested in before. It occurred to me that she had never seen a video of her own father accepting an Emmy. I did so 24 years ago on behalf of Pinnacle Systems which was subsequently acquired by Avid where the trophy is currently on display. The award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was for pioneering work in the field of desktop video which I led while at Truevision, the company I co-founded. Truevision was subsequently purchased by RasterOps and then Pinnacle Systems. Emmys awarded for technical achievement follows the company, unlike those given to artists who get to keep the trophy. The only positive thing that can be said about my acceptance speech is that it was the shortest of the evening.

Jeanine sent me this photo today.  It came with a message that said “AM walk.”  I will interrogate her for more details when she returns from Colorado Springs tomorrow.

I was unable to play in a soccer scrimmage this morning because of a back injury I sustained during last week’s tournament.  By late afternoon I was feeling good enough to install a charging station for my new electric car which should be arriving in the next few weeks. Expect a photo of said installation in tomorrow’s post.

Kyle and I spent quite a bit of time together today.  First we went to Emerson Park to watch Maya play in a soccer scrimmage against Wakefield High School.  Concord won by an impressive 6-0 margin and Maya is looking very strong on the pitch.  Kyle befriended this very affectionate dog that was out for a stroll. After lunch at Verrill Farm we completed a 7 mile hike on the Minuteman Trail giving us plenty of time to catch up with each other.

Jeanine departed for Denver today. There she rented a car and visited the Denver Botanical Gardens before driving to Colorado Springs. She plans to rendezvous with Nicolai who has just completed a cross country road trip to Colorado College.  She is schlepping two 50 pound duffle bags in addition to her carry on.  They are filled with everything Nico wants to bring with him to college. Jeanine will spend the next several days helping him to feather his nest, an instinctive maternal need that cannot be suppressed by even the most independent child. Meanwhile, I am holding down the fort with Maya and Kyle.

At iRobot it is not uncommon to encounter adaptations of the environment to suit the needs of our engineers.  This section of carpet was converted to a test area for measuring angular range of a sensor system.  In contrast to the hard lines of work, my walk with Kyle through Mattison Field this evening, featured soft curves and soothing textures.

I will be traveling to China next month to visit with several of our contract manufacturers.  My visa has expired so it was necessary to provide an updated photo.  Kyle was kind enough to take the picture for me after I set up the lighting and exposure. I capitalized on the opportunity to get a new photo of him as well.

Our backyard is home to many critters. We have a resident woodchuck, owl, hawks, hummingbirds, and a family of rabbits. Transient visitors include coyotes, deer, blue herons, and a one-time flyover of a bald eagle. Nala keeps them all at bay when she is outside. Not so today as this tiny bunny ventured out from its den.

Kyle returned today from California where he wrapped up his summer internship with Palo Alto Networks. We are delighted to have him back just as Nico is off to Colorado.

When I arrived at the office this morning I was greeted by this fellow seated at my desk. Not quite sure what to make of it, I sent the following e-mail, titled “New SVP of Engineering” to my colleagues.

I returned from travel to Pasadena last week to find my replacement seated at my desk. Here is what I can tell you about him.

He is the strong, silent type.

He is an exceptionally good listener and never interrupts.

He remains extremely calm under pressure.

His ego is in check and he is extremely humble.

He is not a fan of management by walking around.

He takes frequent naps and can endure the most boring meetings.

He is immune to pressure from management and is willing to take a hit for the team.

He can be a little cold and some find him devoid of emotional depth.

He is not easily moved from his positions.

He has said nothing to convince me he knows much about robots but neither did I when I first arrived.

No one has come forward to claim credit for the practical joke or to reveal the significance. I will continue to investigate. The crash dummy, which is the actual weight of a person, was probably used to demonstrate that our largest robot could drag an injured soldier out of harms way.

In our neck of the woods, hummingbirds abound. Jeanine has concocted her own nectar formula which the local birds cannot resist. Our feeder is just outside the kitchen window allowing us to watch visitors through the glass from a distance of 2 feet. Few things are more beautiful to watch than a hovering hummingbird.

Jeanine drove to Pennsylvania yesterday to attend the 25th wedding anniversary of her childhood and best friend, Kris Earle. A weekend long soccer tournament prevented me from joining her. Jeanine arrived at the party in the still fitting bridesmaid dress she wore to the wedding. Kris located her wedding dress and the pair posed for this reenactment. I searched my photo archives for a matching photo but was only able to find the one below of Jeanine in the same dress with her boyfriend of the time.

Click on this photo for a more detailed view of the Rube Goldberg contraptions built during an iRobot team building event today. Members of the Electrical Engineering department split into teams and built two ball throwing machines each. The first had to throw a heavy steel ball about the size of a softball. The second, positioned down field, had to be triggered by the rolling steel ball and then throw a tennis ball. The catch was that the machines had to be built in isolation from each other forcing the teams to work on communication skills. Competition for the furthest combined toss and greatest number of successful triggers was intense. Teams were rewarded by being given time to aim and fire their tennis ball launchers at the management team who had to stand still in a line. Each one of us was eventually picked off and we were fortunate that threats of using the steel ball launchers were just meant to rattle us.

Maya and her close friends Sarinnagh and Fiona were playing around in the backyard as I drove up after a long day of travel from California. Having seen very little of her this summer (2 weeks at ballet camp in Montreal, 3 weeks cycling across Montana), she was a sight for sore eyes. Jeanine leaves tomorrow for Pennsylvania to celebrate her best friend’s 25th wedding anniversary and I am looking forward to spending some quality time with Maya over the next few days.

Kyle finishes his internship at Palo Alto Networks tomorrow and will be flying back next Tuesday. I can’t wait to hang out with him as well before he returns to school to begin his senior year.

Although I said goodbye to him before I left for Pasadena, I was still very sad to not be there to wish Nico farewell as he departed for college. He is driving with close friend Oliver and his girlfriend Audrey to Colorado College, located in Colorado Springs. Thankfully, Maya captured the moment of departure and I did not feel so bad. The well planned road trip will start by heading north to Canada and then west over to Chicago as they make their way across the country.

I was very saddened by the news of the tragic death of Robin Williams who I have admired throughout his career. Although I was quite tired by the time my work day ended, including a very nice dinner with my colleagues, I decided to pay my respects at the impromptu memorial on the site of his Hollywood star.

I was up at 4 am this morning to catch an early flight for LAX. I arrived at iRobot’s Pasadena office by 11:30 and joined my boss for lunch. When I arrived at my hotel later in the day, I found the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile parked at the entrance (with a valet tag under the windshield wiper) of the Pasadena Hilton. No matter how sophisticated, every guest entering or leaving the hotel had to stop for a picture. There are currently six active full-size Wienermobiles, each assigned a part of the country. The “hotdogger” position of driving the Wienermobile is open to U.S. citizens, and the job lasts from the first of June until the following first of June. Only college seniors who are about to graduate are eligible.

Maya is pictured here with the other girls from her Montana cycling trip. The girls out numbered the boys 3 to 1 which was just fine with this father. Her new friends have uploaded their photos from the adventure and I have been looking through them for ones that include Maya.

I leave on a business trip to Pasadena tomorrow and will not post again until I return on Friday. Regrettably, I will not be here when Nicolai leaves for college. He is driving to Colorado via Canada with two friends and I have asked Jeanine to document his departure.

Visiting us today is my second cousin Christine and her son Drew.  It was their first visit to Concord and we were delighted to have them. We enjoyed a casual summer dinner on the porch, followed by an excursion for ice cream and playtime at Emerson Park.  I took several photos of Drew and this is among my favorites although I never really captured the beauty of his eyes. I enjoyed our time together and hope we will visit again.

The US National Team was originally scheduled for an international friendly match with Liberia.  Unfortunately, the Liberian team was unable to obtain visas due to the current Ebola health concerns in that country. Instead, the US team held an exhibition match against a Maryland able-boded over-30 mens team. To level the playing field, the able-bodied team was asked to play the ball with only their dominant foot in the first half and only their non-dominant foot in the second half. The match ended in a hard fought 5-4 victory for the able-bodied team.  Nicolai scored all 4 goals for the US team despite the fact that he often had two defenders marking him.

Attending the match was Jade, a stand-out female soccer player who recently lost her left leg.  In a ceremony before the match we presented her with a jersey and made her an honorary member of the team.  After watching  the sport being played, we are hoping she will one day join the squad.

We are headed back to Boston this evening where we will be reunited with Maya who returns today from her 500 mile biking adventure through Montana.

Nicolai and I arrived in Germantown, Maryland last night to attend the American Amputee Soccer Association (AASA) World Cup Training Camp.  The team did a morning run followed by a three hour practice followed by lunch and another three hour training session.  I did a full set of player head shots, the official team photo (featured above), and captured a lot of video of drills and intra-squad scrimmaging. Nicolai was in fine form and is anxiously looking forward to the Amputee World Cup tournament being held in Mexico later this year.

Weary and starving, the team and our local hosts enjoyed a great meal at Guapo’s Cantina, a casual Mexican restaurant with some of the finest food you can imagine.

I am afraid this baby robin will not survive the day. Jeanine called me to come with my camera when she noticed it in the yard. At this age it cannot fly and having fallen from its nest, there is little chance it can survive on the ground.  We were not prepared to adopt it and could not access the nest we suspect it fell from.  The remaining option was to let nature take its course.  Perhaps it will manage to evade predators and its mother, who remained nearby, will continue to feed it until it can fend for itself. We will hope for the best.

The earliest, pictured with her sister on the right, and the most recent photos of my mother who celebrates her 86th birthday today. A lifelong ballroom dancer, sculptor, painter, and Japanese gardener, she is as active and healthy as many half her age.  There is little doubt that I inherited my engineering skills and kinesthitic abilities from her.  I think I also received a half dose of her artistic talent which I express through my photography.  A better mother I could not have wished for.  Happy Birthday Mom.