The Sartorial Robotics effort from MIT’s Personal Robots Group is aimed at creating “robotic systems that utilize the human-centric system of clothing to create robotics for human-robot social interaction.” As part of that team, researcher Adam Whiton focused his Ph.D. thesis on developing the Zipperbot, a “robotic continuous closure for fabric edge joining.”

Using optical sensors, the Zipperbot is able to accurately align a zipper’s teeth so it doesn’t become jammed or snag on surrounding material. Motion sensors help the unit zip and unzip as needed.

In one demonstration, Whiton added the Zipperbot to a form-fitting skirt. The unit correctly adjusted the zipper based on the user’s movements (for example, unzipping a little to allow the wearer more freedom for walking). Another possible use for the Zipperbot is in “assistive clothing,” which would aid people with disabilities in dressing themselves. According to the Daily Mail, Whiton is also looking at ways to integrate the Zipperbot into biohazard suits, or in situations where hazardous materials or even bulky gloves don’t allow for touching clothing or other materials.

The bottom quarter is good reading on O'Malley's positions and what he accomplished in Maryland.
A former Governing Magazine “Public Official of the Year,” Governor O’Malley was re-elected in 2010. His 2013 legislative successes were described in a Baltimore Sun editorial as “without many parallels in recent Maryland history.”

With a balanced approach of spending cuts, regulatory reform, and modern investment in education, innovation, and infrastructure, Governor O’Malley and his Administration are making better choices that are delivering better results, including:

Fastest rate of job growth in the region.
#1 ranking for best public schools in America for an unprecedented five years in a row (Education Week).
#1 ranking for holding down the cost of college tuition (College Board).
#1 ranking for innovation and entrepreneurship for two years running (U.S. Chamber of Commerce).

Under the Governor’s leadership, Maryland also ranks:

#1 nationally in median income,
#1 in Ph.D. scientists and researchers per capita,
#1 in Research and Development, and
#1 in businesses owned by women.


Called “arguably the best manager in government” by Washington Monthly magazine, Governor O’Malley has cut State spending more than any previous governor in Maryland’s history, balancing these record cuts with targeted, modern investments in priorities like public education. He has reduced the size of government to its smallest size since 1973 (on a per capita basis) and reformed how it is managed, so that it works more efficiently and accountably. His actions to save Maryland’s State pension system have made it sustainable over the long term. His fiscal stewardship has nearly eliminated Maryland’s structural deficit. His efforts to streamline, consolidate and digitize processes like business licensing are making Maryland a better place to do business.

The O’Malley-Brown Administration has expanded health care to more than 380,000 previously uninsured Marylanders. It has reduced infant mortality to an historic low, and provided meals to thousands of hungry children as it moves forward toward its goal for eradicating childhood hunger.

The Governor’s policies have made strides in restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay and saving the Bay’s native blue crab and oyster populations.

The O’Malley Administration has secured millions of dollars in rate relief for Maryland energy consumers while jump-starting the creation of thousands of green energy sector jobs. Under Governor O’Malley’s leadership, Maryland led the charge for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the nation’s first cap-and-trade auction of greenhouse emissions.

Governor O’Malley has cut income taxes for 86% of Marylanders and reformed Maryland’s tax code to make it more progressive. In addition, he signed the nation’s first statewide living wage law, along with some of the nation’s most comprehensive reforms to protect homeowners from foreclosure.

Declaring that Marylanders are bound together by “the common thread of human dignity,” Governor O’Malley signed legislation to protect individual civil marriage rights and religious freedom, along with legislation to protect voting rights. He signed – and successfully defended at the ballot box – the DREAM Act, which expands the opportunity of a college education to more Marylanders.

Is CNN as bad as everyone seems to think it is? Often, yes. The network’s live coverage of Monday’s destructive acts in Baltimore, and its seeming appetite for more trouble on Tuesday, in many ways demonstrated the strengths and shortcomings that are involved when a cable news channel tries to chase a live (and incendiary) story while haphazardly feeling around for a central statement or a bigger picture.

Marquez cut an interesting figure at the epicenter of Baltimore’s meltdown: Dressed like a hipster Clark Kent (sans necktie), he for some technical reason required the constant use of his smartphone, which he held to his ear while interviewing eyewitnesses and answering questions from CNN anchors.

This had a way of making Marquez look like both a lunatic and a true man of the moment; he wasn’t always on point (“I didn’t know what a tough and diverse city this is,” he remarked), but his relentlessness exemplified the swashbuckling flavor of a CNN hallmark that goes at least as far back as the Scud Stud days: the reporter who is in the thick of things. In between reporting what he was seeing, Marquez was peppered with unnecessary attaboys from the anchors back in the studio, who expressed fear for his safety. Oh, the humanity.

But viewers — from President Obama down to the rest of us — also recognize the corrosive effects of repeat footage of looting and fires. When CNN fixates on a burning car as its primary visual for 45 minutes, or when it appears to treat the loss of one CVS drugstore as a bigger tragedy than the death of a person in police custody, viewers pick up on that. If you were watching CNN anytime between Monday and Tuesday afternoon, you would sometimes think you were watching a noisy funeral for a drugstore, one of 7,600 drugstores in a very profitable chain that can very well avail itself of some positive, valuable PR by rebuilding.