"No, Really... Robots and JavaScript?!"

NodeBots have been around for several years now, but with every presentation, there is always someone who asks, "But... JavaScript?! Why on earth would you make robots with JavaScript?" It's a fair question, and one worthy of more than a hand-wavy answer about how it's cool... or something. In this talk, let's discuss why, of all the languages on the planet, JavaScript is the perfect starting point for a future of robotics. As a roboticist-turned-web-developer, I will provide some deep insights not only into the world of robotics, but also into JavaScript and its server-side cousin, Node.js. We'll talk about what JavaScript-enabled robots can already do, what they can't do yet, and what they might be able to do with a bit of elbow grease. And, if the demo deities are with us, we may even have a robot assistant on hand. Raquel Vélez NPM, INC. @rockbot Raquel Vélez is a Senior Software Developer at npm, Inc. in Oakland, CA. She has previously worked at institutions such as Caltech, NASA JPL, the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and various universities in Europe. In her off time, you can find her baking, teaching NodeBots not to fall off of tables, and speaking. Also, hanging out with her hilarious husband and two cats dressed in dog suits.

Related Talks

What the heck is the event loop anyway?

Philip Roberts
27 minutes
What the heck is the event loop anyway?JavaScript programmers like to use words like, “event-loop”, “non-blocking”, “callback”, “asynchronous”, “single-threaded” and “concurrency”. We say things like “don’t block the event loop”, “make sure your code runs at 60 frames-per-second”, “well of course, it won’t work, that function is an asynchronous callback!” If you’re anything like me, you nod and agree, ...

The Post JavaScript Apocalypse

Douglas Crockford
an hour
The Post JavaScript ApocalypseThis talk speculates about the next language after JavaScript, and what to do in the mean time about some of the new features in ES6. There will be an emphasis on simplicity and quality. The web is cluttered and full of errors. The talk will also touches on why you should ...

Is Node.js Better?

Is Node.js Better?How do we resolve the question, "is this better than that?" This talk discusses ideas for improving how we handle conflict in the programming community through the lens of evaluating whether Node.js is better than other technologies like Ruby. ...

Netflix JavaScript Talks - Version 7: The Evolution of JavaScript

Netflix JavaScript Talks - Version 7: The Evolution of JavaScriptJafar Husain discusses interesting features that can be used today in JS6, such as Object.observe, async functions and async generators, while also giving a peek at what's being explored for JS7 to make async programming easier. ...

Netflix JavaScript Talks - Async JavaScript with Reactive Extensions

Netflix JavaScript Talks - Async JavaScript with Reactive ExtensionsJafar Husain shares how Netflix uses the Reactive Extensions (Rx) library to build responsive user experiences that strive to be event-driven, scalable and resilient. Learn the power of the Observable and how Netflix has simplified code through the ability to filter, aggregate, compose and project data streams. This talk discusses how ...

Mozilla Raw WebGL

Mozilla Raw WebGLNew web developers have trouble distinguishing jQuery from JavaScript. We frequently point developers to three.js for doing 3D on the web, but what is raw WebGL and what tools do we have for debugging 3D web applications? ...

Immutability: Putting The Dream Machine To Work

David Nolen
22 minutes
Immutability: Putting The Dream Machine To WorkWe live in a time of vast computational resources - many of us carry around in our pockets what just thirty years ago would have been considered a supercomputer. But it's not just the hardware, these bite sized supercomputers run software using state of the art dynamic compilation techniques to ...

Ember 2.0 - Erik Bryn

Ember 2.0 - Erik BrynErik Bryn (@ebryn), our friendly neighborhood Ember core team member, spoke about the plans for Ember 2.0 and how we can start preparing our apps for Ember 2.0 today. Erik is also going to be providing Ember 2.0 training classes in several cities this summer. You can preregister for them ...

John Papa - 10 AngularJS Patterns - Code on the Beach 2014

John Papa - 10 AngularJS Patterns - Code on the Beach 2014Learn from John Papa's talk "10 AngularJS Patterns" from Code on the Beach 2014 at One Ocean Resort & Spa, Atlantic Beach, Florida. Sunday, August 10, 2014. www.codeonthebeach.com Abstract: "Once you get beyond the AngularJS basics there are many decisions to be made on how to build robust and maintainable apps. Come ...

Scott Hanselman, "Virtual Machines, JavaScript and Assembler" - Fluent 2014 Keynote

Scott Hanselman, "Virtual Machines, JavaScript and Assembler" -  Fluent 2014 KeynoteDon't miss an upload! Subscribe! http://goo.gl/szEauh How does the pervasiveness of JavaScript on the client change how we architect applications? We can create hundreds virtual machines in the cloud, but we are using the millions of visual machines that visit our sites every day? Suddenly we are scripting against thousands of Virtual ...