Continue reading Netbook-based robot takes popcorn orders via-Twitter

Filed under: Robots

Netbook-based robot takes popcorn orders via-Twitter originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading Mapping robots equipped with visual vocab filters for more accurate mapping

Filed under: Robots

Mapping robots equipped with visual vocab filters for more accurate mapping originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Here at Engadget HQ, we’re having a heated debate on which aspect of this finding is more fascinating. The fact that a Rolly can conduct an entire choir of musical AIBOs, or the fact that we finally understand the purpose of Sony’s questionably useful jellybean. Have a look at the video above and toss your vote in below.

[Via MAKE]

Filed under: Robots

Video: Rolly conducts choir of AIBOs, crowd goes wild originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

NEDO’s Advanced Robotics project enters second phase, boasts totally sweet bots originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

Anthropomorphic robot shows off its Rock, Paper, Scissors-playing skills originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

Robotic smart buildings under development in Japan, J.G. Ballard says ‘told ya’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Boeing just announced a (public) first: they shot a UAV out of the sky using the Laser Avenger (an aptly-titled Humvee-mounted laser), the first time a combat vehicle has used such a weapon to knock a flying robot out of the sky. Naturally, the report is short on details, but they did say that they managed to burn a hole in the enemy, quite the feat for a moving target. Of course, once the robots get lasers, we’re all done for.

Filed under: Robots

First shot fired in war of robots vs humans with lasers, we’re winning so far originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

While a great many scientists are attempting to create autonomous bots for uses in surgery, a team of Stanford whiz-kids are having a bit more fun with it all. The crew in question has concocted an artificial intelligence system that “enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters perform the same maneuvers.” Dubbed a demonstration in “apprenticeship learning,” the robots can actually learn by observing rather than having to be programmed, meaning that entire airshows could be reeled off by planes that simply keep an open mind when warm-ups are underway. Of course, they could also be used for more serious applications — mapping out hot spots of California wildfires, finding land mines in war zones, etc. — but even if none of that pans out, we’re cool with inventions being used purely for entertainment.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

Robot designers are currently duking it out for the British army in hopes of nabbing the hearts (and pocketbooks) of England’s fighting force. In a makeshift “wartime European village,” scientists and researchers are putting their helper-droids to the test as Army officials look on and investigate how the automatons might serve alongside troops. Some of the robots being looked at include a “Moon buggy” which remotely patrols for enemies via thermal imaging and then sends the data back to a command center, a helicopter that can be maneuvered in tight urban spaces, and a RC car with what appears to be a pile of digicams mounted on top of it. The winners of the competition will be announced Monday, but you can hit the read link and see a video — replete with annoying British television presenter — of some contestants.

[Thanks, Jack]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

Continue reading Even Panda bears won’t be spared from the uprising

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

Walking robots never cease to amaze, but “Flame” from TU Delft PhD student Daan Hobbelen is what we like to call a mega breakthrough. By mimicking the way that humans actually fall forward when walking, this robot comes insanely close to the real thing. Usually, walking robots are energy-hungry propositions, but this is the first that’s both efficient and stable. Inside Flame are seven motors and a balance “organ” loaded with stability algorithms. By measuring each step, the robot adjusts stance width, speed, and gait on the go. In the end, kids, we’re looking at the world’s most advanced and efficient walking robot. If you want to see this thing in action, head on over the read link where you can download a .wmv.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

We’ve known think tanks to come up with some fairly unbelievable determinations before, but the Machine Industry Memorial Foundation may not be too far off with its latest assessment. It’s suggesting that the jobs of 3.5 million people in Japan could be filled not with younger folks, but with mechanical creatures by 2025. Currently, Japan’s population is declining, and the proportion of those 65-years and up is continually swelling; analysts are asserting that the nation could save around ¥2.1 trillion ($21 billion) in elderly insurance payments by 2025 if it relies on robots (instead of humans) to monitor the health of the geriatric set. Of course, Japan’s been creating bots to do our dirty work for years, so it’s not like the idea of being ruled by robotic overlords is a completely foreign concept over there or anything.

[Via I4U News]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

British scientists have started an EU-funded project named “Symbrion” to build swarm bots the size of a sugar cube, which could self-assemble with each other and form larger, more useful, and more box office-potent robots. Each bot will have wheels or tentacles to allow it to move around independently, along with its own brain to help it hunt down the other bots via infrared. Once assembled the bots should be able to take on the shape of a robo-snake, robo-spider, robo-arm or whatever else is required of them, and will pool their computing power — with hopefully enough juice between them to rattle off trite phrases and bad puns. This is certainly not a new concept, but the Symbrion project has a good £4.6 million of funding to get started — which we hear is worth roughly a million billion dollars in the US.

[Via Digg]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

Not that we’re experts on the matter or anything, but if barrister and engineer Chris Elliot knows a thing or two about legal issues, a kind of “military Turing test” could be the key to legally deploying autonomous systems in battle. As it stands, “weapons intrinsically incapable of distinguishing between civilian and military targets are illegal” — at least according to Mr. Elliot — but by testing an intelligent war machine’s ability to hone in on legitimate targets and brush off friendlies, all that could change. Of course, actually administering the test still remains a mystery, but considering that remotely controlled armed bots are currently being used in Iraq, we reckon someone’s already figuring out a solution to said dilemma.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

We don’t know about you, but to us, there’s nothing cuter than a warm, cuddly bunny — save for Hello Kitty, of course. Thankfully, the National Institute of Health and the EPA have teamed up to jumpstart a five-year research program that “will use high-speed automated screening robots” instead of live animals to run chemical tests on cells grown in a laboratory. Reportedly, the long term goal here is to “reduce the cost, time and number of animals used in screening everything from pesticides to household chemicals,” but according to those involved with the initiative, it’ll be quite some time before non animal-based testing becomes the norm. Hang tight, dear bunnies — there’s hope for you all yet.

[Image courtesy of Flickr]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots, Wearables

Continue reading HARV gives soldiers a robot’s-eye view

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

While we’ve been spending our days padding our Xbox 360 Achievements and building castles out of Popsicle sticks, here come some science jerks all making us look bad. Researchers in the UK and Germany have managed to assemble tetrahedrons out of DNA “struts” with some chemical trickery, and then fed the shape DNA “fuel” to get the tetrahedron to contract. Some “anti-fuel” expands the shape again, creating a sort of piston with all sorts of potential. The researchers are currently working to assemble larger structures using the tetrahedrons as building blocks. Possible applications of the technology range from drug delivery to the motors of nanoscale robots, and it sounds like humanity is doomed either way.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Household, Robots

iRobot may own the market for autonomous indoor cleaning devices, but when it comes to taming that wild jungle you call a backyard, the new king of the hill may well be the LawnBott LB3500. This fourth-generation LawnBott from Kyodo America improves upon its predecessors in nearly every category: even though it weighs ten pounds less than the entry-level LB2000, it offers up a greater coverage area, increased cutting width, greatly improved incline climbing capability, longer runtime, and best of all, a Bluetooth radio for programming or direct control by cellphone. Of course, all these high-end features don’t come cheap, and when the LB3500 does come to market (date: unknown), we imagine that it’s gonna cost a good deal more than the current high-end, $2,500 LB3200. Check out the gallery below for some more angles.

Update: Wow! Reader John Locke somehow managed to send an email from the island notifying us that The Robot Store has the LB3500 listed at $3,699, on sale for “only” $3,249. Also available is the “Super” LB3500, which is really just a kit that includes two extra lithium-ion batteries and tacks almost $600 on to the price. Thanks, John, but we bet Jack and Kate won’t be too happy when they find out you have Gmail access.

[Via Slashgear]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Household, Robots

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Walking_Chair_tests_your_dedication_to_laziness’; Anyone can go into Office Depot and pick up a rolling desk seat for fifty bucks, but it takes a truly lazy individual to shell out almost $22,000 for a chair that very slowly “walks” you into proper working position. Actually, we doubt that the commercially-available Walking Chair from Vienna-based design studio Walking Things is really built for sitting; it’s more likely meant as a showpiece for the ridiculous amount of disposable income you’re pulling in. Each minimalist eight-legged unit is hand-assembled upon order, meaning that you’ll need to wait at least six weeks to show your friends how very little €15,000 ($21,906) mean to you.

[Via Slashgear]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Robots

Dude, Korea knows we’ve been sending humans to do a robot’s job for far too long already, and in a few short years the dangerous world of high rise construction could be left to the true masters of the craft. By 2010, the Korean Construction and Transportation Ministry hopes to have an almost completely automated construction process in place for high-rise projects that could cut labor costs by up to a third, project timelines by 15 percent, and reduce the number of construction-related injuries on these typically dangerous projects. Of course, an inevitable robotic Jurgis Rudkus will be blowing the whistle on robotic working conditions shortly thereafter. Still, civilization stands to benefit greatly from the accelerated completion of super-sized skyscrapers — at least until the builders turn on us and convert us into human fuel cells.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments