Introducing: vektor! (And a semi-return to ROBOTS!!)

Now that I've gotten my head (mostly) around node.js, and it's been at least a year since my last robot, it's time for rockbot to get her robot groove back.

Robots and I have had a fun ride over the last 10 years - we courted, we dated, we broke up... we courted again, we moved in together, we broke up... And while I'm not sure where this relationship is ultimately headed, I know that despite this past year of playing with node.js and becoming a better JavaScript developer, robots will always be a part of my life.

So I'm going to try something new.  I've already hinted that I'm playing around in the space between JavaScript and robots.  And I have even submitted a talk on the next level of JavaScript and robots to JSConf US.  In short: let's do this.

:: cue music ::

To start things off, I'd like to introduce vektor - a robotics-based linear algebra module for node.js.  When I started working on vektor a couple of months ago, there weren't any useful linear algebra modules.  Upon publishing the module today*, there are actually quite a few - though, in true OSS fashion, they're all slightly different and are useful for slightly different things.  So vektor is specifically for robots, and I'll pretty much be keeping it that way for now.

The functionality that lies within vektor is critical for robot kinematics and planning - my two areas of expertise.

There's obviously a lot more work to be done: it's a pretty big project, adapting/redefining robotics theory in a non-traditional language like JavaScript. But stay tuned! Exciting stuff is sure to come, and I can't wait to share it with you!

* I would have gotten vektor done sooner, except, you know, life. I'll try not to let it happen again.