Tutorial: Eclipse Setup for the NRDK
Tutorial: Eclipse Setup for the NRDK
Continue readingTips on Assembling the Neuron Robotics Hexapod
Tips on Assembling the Neuron Robotics Hexapod!
Continue readingMass Challenge and Our Patent
We've applied to the 2011 Mass Challenge!
Continue readingHumanoid Robots Rise. Now, Can They Walk?
New walking robots are coming. But they're not necessarily coming from Asia. Here are a few from other parts of the globe. Check out these videos of REEM-B, JUSTIN, CHARLI, and SURENA2
Continue readingRobotically-drawn Bathroom Symbol Portraits
Huh?
So, this is just plain weird.
Someone -- was it you? Got tired of the whole idea of generic bathroom symbols. You know, the stick figures that are supposed to be a man and a woman.
So now there's a robot that will, instead, sketch you quickly before you go in to, you know, do your business. Then it rubs that picture out and draws the next, er, customer.
Of course, this is amazing technology. But still -- huh? What an odd, um, inspiration.
For more information, see the October 4th, 2010 edition of Singularity Hub.
Researchers Using Rat-Robot Hybrid to Design Better Brain Machine Interfaces
RatCar is a rat-vehicle experiment that scientists hope could lead to improved mobility for people with disabilities. It's half robot, half rat, and is in a laboratory in Japan.
Essentially, the idea behind it is the creation of a brain-machine interface system deisgned so that paralyzed patients could (eventually) control a wheelchair using only their thoughts.
Tiny neural electrodes were implanted in the motor cortex of rat brains, and the animals were suspended under a lightweight, wheeled and motorized "neuro-robotic platform".
The rats were trained by towing it around an enclosed area with the motors disengaged. Eventually the rats were suspended more tightly to the car and their limbs only touched the floor slightly, in order to put the car into "neuro-robotic mode" so that neural signals would be used to help drive the car. Three-quarters of the rats adapted well to using the vehicle.
Researchers are still trying to determine whether the rats are actually driving the vehicle using thought, but the research is looking rather promising.
For more information, see the October 4th edition of IEEE Spectrum Online.
15-Year-Old Boy Fitted With Robotic Heart
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a horrific disease which quickly degenerates muscles and eventually leads to death. The heart is one such muscle.
Dr. Antonio Amodeo decided on a robotic heart solution for a fifteen-year-old boy suffering from this disease. After being near death, the Italian teenager can now look forward to an estimated additional 20 - 25 years of life.
It took ten hours to fit a 90-gram fully robotic heart into the boy's left ventricle. This is a permanent solution, operated by a battery worn as a belt and connected behind the boy's left ear. The doctor estimates that the device "should give him an improved quality of life even though he is suffering from Duchenne syndrome."
The teenager was apparently not eligible for a heart transplant, and is reported to be recovering and making good progress.
For more information, see the October 4, 2010 edition of Geek.com
Panasonic Unleashes a 16-Finger, Hair-Washing Robot
The robot was unveiled in Tokyo in September. Two robotic arms guide the sixteen fingers, which Panasonic claims have the same dexterity as human fingers. The robot remembers a person's head shape and preferential massage course so that a repeat performance is as pleasant as the first.
It's about the size of a washing machine. Users sit in a recliner chair and lean back (which is, by the way, how some people have strokes -- if they have partially blocked carotid arteries, a position like that can essentially close the loop and create a far fuller and more dangerous blockage, FYI) and place their head into the machine's open top.
Rather than being a replacement for salon workers, the robot was instead designed to assist caregivers in health-care facitilites and hospitals.
A good thing, too, as so far there's no word on whether the robot actually knows any good celebrity gossip.
For more information, see the September 24, 2010 online edition of the Good Gear Guide.
Iran's Humanoid Robot Surena 2 Walks, Stands on One Leg
Surena 2 is an adult-sized, humanoid robot that can even stand on one leg.
Continue readingCyborg Fly Pilots Robot Through Obstacle Course
A cyborg fly - and no, we're not making this up.
Continue readingNASA Sends Humanoid Robot to Space
On November 1st, NASA sent humanoid robot R2 (Robonaut) into space on board the space shuttle Discovery. R2 will be tasked with flipping switches, holding tools and cleaning air filters.
R2 is human-shaped so that it can use the exact same technologies that its fellow human crew members can use.
Robots Taught to Deceive
A Georgia Tech professor is working on teaching a robot deception. This could, naturally, be useful if/when robots are used to wage war.
Another application could be in a search and rescue operation, where a victim could be confused or scared. Telling a little white lie (e. g. "we will be out of the water in five minutes" or "help will be here before you know it") could help someone to hang on. A panicky victim may just need to hear someone -- or something -- tell them that everything's going to be all right.
Interestingly enough, the experiment was performed by getting robots to deceive fellow robots. A game of hide and seek was played, and one robot essentially misdirected another when it came to where a hidden object was.
Naturally, when the stakes are higher than a child's game, ethical considerations abound. Do we really want to create a device that can deceive, which does not give off the standard social cues we depend upon from people to determine whether they are lying? If we know that a lying person becomes uncomfortable and fidgety, taps a table top or glances over to one side, how hard is it to program a robot to not do that? Or, even more chillingly, to program a robot to exude the social cues that we associate with trust, such as looking someone in the eye?
For more information, see the September 9, 2010 issue of EurekAlert.
Robotic Snake Climbs Trees
Modularly designed, Carnegie Mellon's Uncle Sam (it's red, white and blue) robot looks, moves and seemingly acts like a snake.
What are such things good for? Surveillance seems an obvious application, as would, perhaps, placing a camera into the rainforest in order to check up on rare species.
No word yet on how they do on planes.
For more information, please see the September 2nd, 2010 edition of Singularity Hub.
Robotic Lesson in Human Trust?
How do we make the decision to trust someone?
Is it the firmness of their handshake? The look in their eyes? Their smile (or lack thereof)? Something even more subtle, such as their aroma, even?
Nexi aims to help us find out.
Because humans can often, consciously or unconsciously, mirror each others' behaviors (and, if you've ever studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming, then you've been explicitly taught to do this), Nexi's gestures and expressions are controlled behind the scenes.
Researchers had people interact with Nexi in standard conversational forms, such as discussing the Celtics and the Lakers. Nexi's head and arm movemnents, its eye motions and behaviors, were then manipulated by the researchers. Researchers randomly chose half of the conversations for behaviors that are believed to signal untrustworthiness. The other half of the conversations were laced with random conversational gestures.
The people were then tested on whether they trusted Nexi by using an economic task wherein the humans were given the choice of how many tokens to exchange with Nexi and to predict how many tokens Nexi itself would provide.
The results aren't in yet but, once they are, not only will Nexi's trustworthiness be better understood, but there is the hope that Nexi can be taught the basics of understanding when humans are worthy of its trust.
Regardless of gestures, would you trust a robot like Nexi?
For more information, check out the July 5th, 2010 edition of The Boston Globe.
Fold, Spindle but Don't Mutilate that Robot!
Harvard and MIT researchers have made a self-folding origami robot.
While that may seem to be an odd kind of a novelty, consider the possibilities. What about a self-creating tool kit or Swiss Army Knife? What about every peeler and basic kitchen gadget, all in one tidy little package? How about a box full of toys, all together in one place? That could be mighty useful for entertaining a child (or, heck, an adult) on a long flight.
Currently, the origami robot only makes a plane and a boat, but there's really no reason why it cannot be programmed to slide itself into other shapes.
For more information, check out the June 29, 2010 edition of Discover Magazine. Continue reading
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