by Alex Schuler
“You’re in the Marines now,” Harry said. “Rusty is a complete drill sergeant. I swear he thinks he’s still in the military. I’ve never been to boot camp but I think it would be easier than this.”
“If it’s so bad, why are you here?” Ted asked.
“Are you kidding?” Harry pulled out a can of Red Bull from a small refrigerator beneath the snacks table. “It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. I was thrilled to get on the team. I’m just warning you. He drives someone to tears at least once a day. Three students have already left the project in the past two months.”
“Really?” Ted grabbed a Styrofoam cup and filled it with coffee. He’d been in Pittsburgh less than two days and was still adjusting to the time change. He added a few packets of sugar and some nondairy creamer. “I don’t know. Rusty seems a bit stiff to me, but otherwise not so bad.”
“You’ve been warned,” Harry said as he grabbed a handful of snacks from the candy bowl. “We need to get downstairs. Our five minutes are up.”
Ted held the door open for Harry, and the two made their way down. Harry stopped at the entrance to the workshop floor and turned back to Ted.
“One more thing,” Harry said. “About Nico’s tattoo.”
“What about it?”
“Segoe is the original font used by the Windows operating system.”
Ted laughed as he swung the door open. Rusty was on the other side of the lab next to the Humvee, surrounded by over two dozen students. Ted and Harry joined Lori and Nico, who were standing several feet away.
“Did we miss anything?” Harry asked.
“No,” Lori said. “He’s been studying the latest hardware upgrades.”
Although he was at least twenty feet from the Hummer, Ted could easily make out the assortment of sensors secured to the roof. The main lidar array was much larger than the one he and Kevin had been working on at Fisher Tuner. He studied it for a few minutes, walking around the vehicle to get a look from all sides before turning his attention to the whole vehicle.
“That thing is huge,” Ted said. “I’ve never seen a Humvee up close before. Did you name it yet?”
“The vehicle?” Harry asked. “No. Not yet. I’ve made suggestions, but Rusty’s shot them all down. He keeps telling me it’s a low priority.”
Rusty pounded his fist against the Hummer’s rear fender. The burble of loud voices instantly responded, switching first to a low murmur and then silence. The only sound remaining was the hum and whir of the electronic equipment.
“I need everyone to pay attention,” Rusty said sternly. “We’ve got a new team member. Ted, where are you?”
Harry shoved Ted from behind, forcing him to stumble a bit. Ted handed his coffee cup to Harry to hold and joined Rusty beside the Humvee.
“Ted Wolff is an expert in building desert-racers. Think of the vehicles you’ve seen running the Baja 1000. They are built to take a pounding. Ted’s also been designing a system to get lidar to work with those machines.” Rusty slammed his hand against the rigging that straddled the roof of the Hummer. “He’s here to tame this beast so that the sensors are usable at high speed. Something that none of you have been able to do so far. Isn’t that right, Nico?”
All eyes turned to Nico as he pushed his way past his fellow team members and joined Rusty and Ted next to the vehicle. Nico quietly sipped his tea and stared blankly into the crowd, refusing to respond to the question.
“Nico, tell Ted what we’ve got so far,” Rusty continued.
“We’ve got short-, medium-, and long-range sensors.” Nico placed his tea on the concrete floor beneath the Hummer and hopped onto the closest stool. “Lidar. Radar. Cameras. Each has their field of vision. We have most angles covered and can see about one hundred and fifty feet ahead. When steady, we get a crystal-clear view of our surroundings. The issue is stability.”
“What about dust and sand?” Ted asked. “Are they a concern?”
“They shouldn’t be. Everything’s in pairs. We’ve got redundant systems, and Harry’s software can compensate for false images—most of the time. The issue is this guy.” Nico pointed to the large black cylinder at the front of the roof. “The data coming from the lidar becomes unreadable the more the vehicle shakes.”
“I thought speed was the problem,” Ted said.
“It’s both,” Rusty said, interrupting their discussion. “So, Ted, what’s the fix?”
Ted suddenly felt everyone in the room staring at him. The point-blank question shocked him. He felt his clammy palms as he stepped closer to the Humvee and used his foot to snag a step stool and haul himself up to get a view on top of the Hummer. He spent a few moments studying the collection of devices strapped to the roof, his eyes masked by a lock of hair that had fallen to his face. Up close, the array of gear was impressive. He grabbed the metal rigging supporting the equipment and shook it.
“There are fluid mounts between the rack and the roof,” Nico said. “They aren’t effective over fifteen miles per hour.”
“These mounts won’t do,” Ted said as he ran his hands across the cylinders supporting the gear. He tapped his fingers on the lidar. “We dissected one of these back at our shop in Nevada. It’s way too delicate.”
“I didn’t bring you here to state the obvious, Ted,” Rusty said with frustration. “I want it fixed.”
Ted looked over at Nico but found no solace. He looked into the crowd of students. Harry and Lori appeared to be miles away. Ted felt his face flush as he raced to come up with a solution.
“If given enough time, I’m sure my software can figure out the false readings,” Harry said. He began to step forward. “All I need is—”
“Is your name Ted?” Rusty bellowed.
Harry froze in place and lowered his head before melting back into the crowd.
Ted looked around the room as all eyes shifted from Harry back to him. He felt the disappointment, even hostility, toward him in the room. He remembered Harry’s warning about Rusty running things like a military boot camp, and recalled the less than warm welcome he’d received from Rusty when he’d arrived earlier. He closed his eyes as he strained to come up with a solution he thought might satisfy Rusty. A grin spread across his face. He let go of the gear atop the Humvee and jumped off the stool.
The robotics lab had four large garage doors that led out to the main parking lot. In the far corner beside the row of workstations was an exit door. Ted walked with purpose past Nico and Rusty, taking the step stool with him, and headed to the exit. He pushed the door all the way open and wedged the stool against it to prevent it from closing. The ice-cold air blasted into the workshop floor, and those closest moved toward the center of the room. Ted disappeared outside.
“Where the hell is he going?” Harry whispered to Lori.
“Beats me,” she replied.
Thirty seconds went by before Ted re-entered the building, riding Harry’s Segway. As he went past the stool propping up the door, the wheel knocked the step stool loose, allowing the door to slam shut behind him. The crowd parted as Ted glided the two-wheeled vehicle to a halt next to the Hummer.
“Software can’t solve this,” Ted said as he glanced at Harry. “This is a hardware fix.”
He stepped off the Segway and rested his arm across the handlebars.
“A Segway uses a sophisticated assembly of gyroscopes to keep itself balanced,” Ted continued. “Basically, what you are going to need to do is construct a three-axis gimbal, but on a much larger scale. Not only will you be able to keep the lidar steady, but you’ll be able to rotate it.”
“That would increase the field of vision,” Nico said, as he nodded in approval. “That may solve a number of problems.”
An undertone of voices broke out in response to Ted’s idea.
“It would work like a spotlight,” Harry whispered to Lori. “Oh! That’s what we can n
ame the Hummer. Spotlight!”
“Quiet,” Lori hissed.
Rusty began to clap his huge hands together—a slow, rhythmic clap, never increasing in intensity. He stepped forward and approached Ted and Nico. Nico hopped off the stool and waited for Rusty to finish his applause. Silence again returned to the room as everyone turned to Rusty.
“This is what I call thinking outside the box,” Rusty said to the crowd of students. “All of you need to be on your game. I had to fly out West to find someone who could do the things you can’t. The next time I have to pull in someone new, one of you will be gone. Am I clear? Everyone get back to work.”
As team members gathered to discuss what had just happened and how to move forward, the noise crescendoed, overtaking the whir of the background equipment.
Ted climbed on the stool and pounded a fist against the Humvee’s roof. The vibrations echoed loudly throughout the garage. Ted looked at Nico.
“Have you considered removing the roof?” Ted asked. “The vibrations may be a factor.”
“You can’t remove the roof, Ted,” Rusty responded. “It would make it illegal to test out on public roads.”
“Oh. Right.” He hopped off the step stool and ran his hands across one of the mounts holding the roof rack in place. “I’ll call Kevin out in Nevada. Maybe he can ship me some components we use on our trucks. That’ll let me construct a better support system for the rest of the gear.”
“Do whatever it takes,” Rusty said. He looked down at Nico. “You need to step up your game, Nico, before Ted replaces you as my hardware lead.”
Rusty turned and made his way across the lab to the door that led upstairs to the watch tower. Harry and Lori joined Nico and Ted by the Humvee.
“That was fun,” Harry said.
“That was brutal,” Ted said. “For a guy who was in the military, he’s really not big on teamwork, is he?”
“Get used to it,” Nico said. “He may be praising you now, Ted. But it won’t last. You’ll see.”
8
Rusty watched intently from the watch tower as one by one, his team filed into the conference room he referred to as the war room. Years ago, when Rusty first pushed DSU to create a dedicated lab for robotics, senior administrators proposed multiple options, including building an entirely new structure or renovating existing administrative buildings. They were shocked when Rusty insisted they convert an old automotive shop. The lab was gritty, old, and drafty. In many ways, it reminded Rusty of his old Marines base in Yuma.
The copier in the corner of the room near where Rusty stood buzzed and rattled as it spit out the status report he would be distributing shortly at the team meeting. He glanced around the empty room and let his eyes settle on the calendar beside his computer. March’s picture featured an M1 Abrams tank catching air time over a desert dune. The first twelve days, completed, were marked with their red Xs. The DARPA FAST Challenge was now eighteen months away. As soon as the copier went silent, Rusty grabbed the stack of papers and descended the staircase to the main floor.
The war room, a converted section of the original garage, was much larger and more modern than the watch tower. At the back, a separate food area doubled as a small cafeteria and break room. Five rows of tables, each with ten seats that faced a smaller table and an old walnut podium, had been set up for the meeting. The wall behind the podium had four whiteboards, and a pull-down screen hung ready for use with a video projector suspended from the ceiling.
Rusty paused in the war room doorway to find about half the team already seated, and the rest gathered in the food area. Three large coffee makers, creamers, sweeteners, pitchers of ice water, and six Dunkin’ Donuts boxes of donuts sat on tables. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee with notes of vanilla and chocolate pastries filled the room.
Rusty walked over to the donuts, noiselessly coming up behind Lori and Ted, who were busily eyeing the chocolate glazed donuts.
“How are you settling in, Ted?” Lori asked. “It’s been just over four months, right?”
“Honestly, couldn’t be happier,” he replied. “The stress is insane, but the progress we are making is fantastic. I’ve even gotten used to sleeping on a fold-out couch with a bunch of loud students.”
“Do you miss home?”
“Not at all. If it’s this or working with my dad back in Ohio, I’ll take the couch.”
“You don’t talk much about your family.”
“I know. They don’t get me. Especially my dad. That’s one of the things I like about being here. I feel like he gets me.”
“Who? Rusty?”
Rusty tapped Lori on the shoulder.
“Do you plan to talk all morning, Ms. Preston?” Rusty asked as he turned to make his way toward the front of the room. “It’s nine o’clock. Time to start.”
“Good morning,” Ted said as Rusty marched by them.
“We’ll see about that,” Rusty responded.
“We’d better sit down,” Lori said quietly to Ted. “He looks like he’s in one of his moods.”
Ted pointed to the two empty seats in the front row. Harry and Nico were already seated up front. Rusty was very strict about where everyone sat, down to the specific seat. The pair made their way to the front and took their places. The seating order was Lori, Harry, Ted, and Nico.
The faint exchanges in the room subsided as soon as Rusty stood behind the podium, which looked oddly small in front of his towering presence. Clearing his throat, Rusty gazed around the room, taking a mental count of those present.
“Good morning,” Rusty said. “You know the drill. Lori, you’re up.”
Every day, the team met at 9:00 a.m. to go through the project and highlight areas falling behind. Rusty had little interest in doing a deep dive into the project plan or discussing upcoming tasks. Achievements were irrelevant. The meeting was always focused on what should have been met that wasn’t.
“The mapping team is at thirty percent complete,” Lori said as she stood up. She glanced at her team’s status report she’d brought with her. “We’re on schedule and have no issues to report.”
“Are you having delays or problems with other teams?” Rusty asked.
“None,” she replied.
She returned to her seat and took a sip of coffee, looking over at Harry to her right. He groaned as he stood up, licking his chocolate-covered fingers.
“So, um, we’re behind,” Harry said. “Still.”
Rusty leaned forward over the podium, which creaked under his weight. He gripped the edges and dug his nails into the wooden underside. “Can I ask why?”
“It’s the new hardware,” Nico said from his chair. “We have to—”
“I was asking Harry,” Rusty thundered, cutting him off. “Harry?”
“It’s like Nico said,” Harry replied. “The gimbal and revamped lidar that Ted designed are taking longer to integrate than expected. My team and I have been trying to patch the old code, but it’s been cumbersome. Half the subroutines have been rewritten. Ideally, we would start over, but we are too far into it.”
Rusty stood upright and stepped away from the podium. He made his way to the back of the room to the food area, grabbed one of the pitchers of water and a glass, and filled it halfway. People in the room began glancing at one another, wondering what he was doing.
“So, Harry, are you blaming Nico and Ted?” Rusty turned as he took a sip of water and made his way back to the podium as he talked. “Is it the software or the hardware? Ted?”
Ted lowered his coffee and stood up. He looked at Harry, but Harry’s head hung low. Ted frowned as he flicked his hair from his eyes. “The new hardware is exactly what we discussed. The lidar now has a field of view of two hundred and seventy degrees. The gimbal controls are proving to be a bit tricky. It’s just a matter of getting everything in sync.”
“So, you’
re blaming Harry?” Rusty asked.
“No,” Ted responded. “Nobody is to blame. Look, this is a big hardware change. I agree with Harry that he’s got a lot of rework to do. We’re all on the same team.”
“Both of you sit down. Ted, I brought you here to solve problems. It’s about thinking outside the box. You’ve proven you can do that. Better than most.” Rusty glanced down and stared at Nico until he looked away. “It seems to me we have an integration problem nobody wants to solve.”
Rusty held out the glass of water at chest height.
“I’m giving everyone in this room two choices. I’m holding four ounces of water in an eight-ounce glass. The glass is either half empty or half full. Raise your hand if you think it’s half empty.” Rusty watched as team members looked back and forth and over their shoulders. “Are you telling me nobody is going with this option?”
A handful of students in the back two rows raised their hands, followed by Nico in the front. Rusty did not bother to acknowledge any of them.
“Okay, now raise your hand if you think it’s half full.” Rusty nodded as those remaining thrust their hands into the air. “Is there anyone who didn’t raise their hand?” He watched as one by one everyone slowly lowered their arms and looked around the room. “Nobody?”
He walked around to the front of the table less than three feet from the front row, taking the glass with him. Again, holding the glass directly out in front of him, he looked around the room.
“Well, I have news for you,” he continued. “All of you are wrong. It’s not a question of whether the glass is half full or half empty. It’s a question of design. All I need is four ounces of water. This is a wasteful and poor solution. What’s needed is a new, properly sized glass.”
Rusty’s facial features remained cast in stone as he squeezed the glass. After a few seconds, the goblet shattered in his hand as gasps went up around the room. Shards of glass scattered to the floor, and water splattered in all directions, hitting the carpeted floor and Rusty’s thumb and fingers. Those in the front row barely missed getting hit.