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Beaver Brains and the Turntable Tango: Anatomy of an Exhibit

MoMath's newest exhibit, Beaver Run, is also one of its most technically challenging.  Two motorized beavers run on a track that passes over 24 rotating turntables, each controlled by visitors using a panel of illuminated knobs.  All of these moving parts have to be perfectly synchronized and coordinated to bring the mathematical principles behind the Truchet tiling to life — and to prevent a catastrophic beaver pile-up or derailment!

Join Geva Patz, MoMath's volunteer technical adviser, as he takes you on a rare backstage tour inside the workings of one of the Museum's most popular exhibits.  You'll hear an incredible tale of engineering ingenuity, precision, and perseverance as Geva shares the story of how Beaver Run was brought to life with the help of a pair of tiny robot brains.  You'll also learn something about the basics of control theory, the branch of applied mathematics that keeps quadcopters in the air, driverless cars on the roads, and beavers on the rails.

About Geva: Geva's technical background spans a wide range of fields, from quantum computing to brain controlled microbes to cybersecurity to animatronic squid.  He is a co-founder and technical lead of Android Alpha, an algorithmic options trading firm.  When not building better trading robots, he volunteers as a technical adviser and 'exhibit whisperer' at MoMath, where he helps keep the exhibits lighting up, the networks working, and the beavers running.

When
April 19th, 2016 from  6:30 pm to  8:00 pm
Event Fee(s)
Beaver Brains and the Turntable Tango: Anatomy of an Exhibit $8.00