Archives for August 2009

LEGO NXT Money Counter

This is a nice project for the LEGO enthusiast.  You can check out the project and watch the You Tube video of the robot counting money.  Unfortunately, I did not see plans on how to build the robot on the The NXT Step blog.  It would be a fun build to try out.  Still, it is entertaining just to watch.

A nifty little money counter. It uses the size of each coin to determine it's value.
From the creator –

I made a little project with the aim to get an automatic money counting machine.
The Robot contains:
3 Motors
touch sensor
light sensor
The Robot decides which coin it has by the size of the coins, then he ads the values and displays the result.
When all coins are counted the robot recognizes this and gets itself back to starting position. ready for the next coins.
again its programmed with nxc , and took me 2 days. (works with euros and cents)


Damien Kee

Money Counter
Damien Kee (noreply@blogger.com)
Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:51:00 GMT

Robotic Hamster Ball Design for Google Lunar X Prize

New Scientist has an article on the contenders for the Google Lunar X Prize.  If you haven’t heard of this, it is a contest sponsored by Google to see who can land a rover on the Moon and accomplish a set of pre-assigned tasks.  Do this and your team gets a great deal of recognition and $20 million. 

The Google Lunar X Prize site details what the rovers need to accomplish:  “The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014.” 

So, on the New Scientist site there photos of some of the more interesting and unique entries.  They cover the range of hoppers, wheeled rovers, and, in one case, a sphere-shaped robot reminiscent of a hamster ball.  You can see this planned lunar bot in the photo below.  Click on the photo to go to the page in the New Scientist article about this creation by Team Frednet, one of the Google X Prize entrants.  And look at the video on You Tube of the PicoRover, as it is called.  This innovative approach to a lunar rover is very intriguing because it weighs only 500 grams.  It certainly won’t need a Saturn 5 to get it to the Moon.  And besides, if this design doesn't make  it to the Moon, it certainly has a future as a cat toy.

Hamster Ball Moon Rover 

Image: Team Frednet/Joshua Tristancho

More than a dozen teams are racing to claim a $30 million prize for landing a robot rover on the moon – see the most advanced prototypes so far

Hamster balls and lunar hoppers: meet the X Prize teams
Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:50:14 GMT

Farming Robots From Europe

Today, I saw this entry from machineslikeus.com that has a story of how imaging systems could be used to aid in harvesting crops.  Several days ago, in fact on the RobotNext Weekly Newswrap, I linked to a story of swarm robots that are being tested in the Netherlands for farm use.  Now, this is a good example of two robotic systems that could benefit by working together.  It would be a great idea to combine the imaging system from the UK with the robots from the Netherlands.  Although the Netherlands robots are being promoted as a way to apply precision amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, why could they not also be used for harvesting purposes.  Not only that, but the imaging systems could help in cultivation of crops by the farmbots.  See the video of the farming robots to get an idea of how these machines could work on agricultural lands.

Intelligent harvesting robot to save farms money. Tue, 08/11/2009 – 13:57 – NLN. Researchers at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington have developed imaging technology to be used in an intelligent harvesting machine that
Machines Like Us – Science at… – http://machineslikeus.com/

Intelligent harvesting robot to save farms money | Machines Like Us
NLN
Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:05:25 GMT

But a swarm of small robots could quite possibly replace these agricultural giants in farming of the future. Wageningen University Agricultural Professor
See all stories on this topic

Farming Robots Have a Field Day in Netherlands
NTDTV
Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:44:17 GMT

Weekly Newswrap

At the end of another week, I found several stories deserving of a mention in this Newswrap.  There is no unifying theme to the listing for the last few days, but, of course, it was impossible to go a week without at least one snakebot article.  And, it is creepy and incredible all in one.  This robotic snake is being developed for heart surgery by researchers at the University of Pittsburg.  You can check out the video at You Tube of the snakebot being readied for heart surgery on a pig.  The rest of the articles deal with the usual array of subjects for robotics these days.  There is the one from today on RFID robots that brings up the Terminators analogy (again), and the latest robotic invention from Japan—a robot sunflower.  Make sure and check out the farming robots from the Netherlands for a great non-military application of robots.  Of course, there is the warning about killer bots within 40 years in the post from findingDulcinea.com

Rise of the RFID Robots

Sure, Hollywood's Terminators are more powerful (albeit malicious), but the Georgia robots are real. And what makes them so interesting—even fascinating—is
See all stories on this topic

Rise of the RFID Robots
RFID Journal
Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:03:12 GMT

Farming Robots Have a Field Day in Netherlands

But a swarm of small robots could quite possibly replace these agricultural giants in farming of the future. Wageningen University Agricultural Professor
See all stories on this topic

Farming Robots Have a Field Day in Netherlands
NTDTV
Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:44:17 GMT

Cardiorobotics, Developer of Snake Robot Technology, Aims to Alter …

The future of heart surgery is in something called a snake robot, at least according to the people at Newport, RI-based Cardiorobotics. We decided to check it.
Xconomy – http://www.xconomy.com/

Cardiorobotics, Developer of Snake Robot Technology, Aims to Alter …
Eric Hal Schwartz
Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:04:29 GMT

Sunflower robot doesn’t need sun

In this article by Tim Hornyak, he explores how it is that Japan loves its baroque, impractical machines, with Honda's zillion-dollar humanoid robot ASIMO being the acme example.
See all stories on this topic

Sunflower robot doesn't need sun
CNET News
Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:03:21 GMT

US Predicts Killer Robots 40 Years Away, Raises Ethics Debate

Science fiction legend Isaac Asimov predicted a world in which many robot-like machines would be an integral part of human life.
See all stories on this topic

US Predicts Killer Robots 40 Years Away, Raises Ethics Debate
findingDulcinea
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:04:59 GMT

Robots Cook Ramen, Stage Knife Fight

In light of yesterday’s post, this is a good follow-on to the robot playing the knife game.  Here, the robots have a simulated knife fight after they make ramen.  You have to see the video at the CNET link below.

Robots cook ramen, fight with knives, threaten mankind (video)
CNET News
Nagoya, Japan's ramen robot army isn't satisfied just making delicious noodles. Some have recently acquired knife fighting skills (I am
Robot Chefs Run Restaurant in JapanFOXNews
Ramen-making robots cut cooks out of the food equationDVICE
Japanese Ramen Robots Create Bowls of Slurpy NoodlesWired Blogs
CrunchGearGeek.com
all 8 news articles »

Robots cook ramen, fight with knives, threaten mankind (video) – CNET News
Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:33:41 GMT

National Instruments Demonstrates Robots at NI Week

Yesterday, I visited the expo for NI Week.  National Instruments showed several applications of its products in various robots.  The one I found most interesting was the Delta Robot powered by NI Softmotion.  This robot plays the knife game or five finger fillet as it is sometimes called.  Only it plays without a knife on a glove inside a clear lexan box.  (Don’t try this at home!)  And you can watch a You Tube video of someone doing this for real.  But again, if you value your fingers, do not try this at home or anywhere else for that matter!  The robot version I saw is much safer since the “hand” is a glove only.  In the video link below, you can see the Delta Robot in action.  I did have the chance to watch this in person, but I did not have a video camera with me.  Luckily, someone has posted the video on You Tube.  You can watch it here.  Now, what is creepy, in a real-life follows fiction kind of way, is how this reminded me of the scene from James Cameron's Aliens.  In the movie, the android plays the knife game with only a tiny little cut as a result.  So, here we are with the real version of this-sans android. The purpose of the robot, of course, is deeper than playing a game.  It is a demonstration of the state of motion control in robotic systems and has many real-world applications in industry.

There many other great robots at this expo.  I hope to write about some of the other robots in a future posting.  Meanwhile, make sure and look at the video on You Tube.  And check out the link to the article below, it is a general overview of NI's purpose for this year's conference.

Credit:  AEGMexico

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 6, 2009, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — NIWeek — Executives from National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) discussed how NI products are helping address global challenges during the 15th annual NIWeek graphical system design …

National Instruments Focuses on Addressing Global Challenges With … – TMCnet
Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:02:00 GMT

Humanoid Jaemi HUBO Robot Works Out on the Treadmill

This story of yet another walking robot appears in several posts on the web.  One is at slipperybrick.com, another is posted on botropolis.com, and a third version is found on plasticpals.com.  Drexel University now has a walking robot that does his thing on a treadmill.   Daniel M. Lofaro of the Drexel Autonomous Systems Lab has just posted a video on You Tube which shows the robot walking on a treadmill.   Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) built the original version of this robot the HUBO.  HUBO is short form for "humanoid robot."  Jaemi HUBO is the American incarnation of KAIST’s HUBO 2, which has been built by Drexel University thanks to a $5 million dollar, 5 year research initiative funded by the National Science Foundation.  In light of the stories of Toyota’s running robot, this bot may have some catching up to do.  However, there is no doubt about which robot would win in the gym.

Jaemi-Drex-small 

Humanoid Jaemi HUBO robot hits the gym
Slippery Brick
In between planning our demise and testing cycles and such, robots like to hit the gym just like you. And while this guy may not be fast, he's working on it

Humanoid Jaemi HUBO robot hits the gym – Slippery Brick
Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:51:23 GMT

High-Tech Robot To Aid Nature Conservancy

KPBS has this story about an advanced remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) that will be used by the Nature Conservancy to explore the ocean near the California coast.  The purpose of using this undersea robot is to reach areas of the marine environment that is not accessible to human divers because of the depth.  Mainly, this is an area of canyons and reefs in the Channel Islands Marine Protected Areas.  The 500 pound machine essentially flies over the ocean floor taking high resolution video and photographs of deep marine life.  One other thing, the Nature Conservancy is having an online naming contest for the robot.  The contest ends on August 31,2009.  If you submit a name, post it here in a comment.  Let us know what you submitted as a choice for this robot’s name.  RobotNext has no part in the contest except as an interested party in seeing if any readers participate in naming this bot.

High-Tech ROV

Photo by Nancy Crowley / The Nature Conservancy

High-Tech Robot Explores Waters Off California
KPBS
An environmental group is using an underwater robot for ocean research off the California coast. The high-tech tool will explore areas beyond

High-Tech Robot Explores Waters Off California – KPBS
Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:12:30 GMT

Weekly Newswrap

This week there are stories about robot flies and one story about a robot that could attract flies if it is not careful.  For the last three days there have been these stories about flies or more specifically robotic flies.  So, this week’s newswrap just had to feature roboflies.   Two of the posts that are linked to below actually cover the same research into blowflies and how they process visual information in their tiny brains.  If scientists can figure out how the flies rapidly compute the image data with the limited neurological connections they possess, then there is a possibility of applying this to the robotic version.  The last story hopefully does not involve flies, but it is possible that if the packages are not well protected, then someone’s office might be a haven for flies.  In the post at botropolis.com, the Urban Mole, as it is dubbed, could delivered mail, books, or groceries (okay,that’s just gross.  I have to say no to food through the sewers unless it is outbound to the treatment plant!).  

You can read about these stories at the links below.  Keep that flyswatter handy!   

Flies' extremely quick eyesight may inspire ultimate vision for robots (New Kerala)

Washington, August 1 : Inspired by how the blow fly's extremely quick eyesight helps to keep it from losing orientation as it makes 'lightning-fast' movements to and fro, scientists in Germany have created an unusual research environment.

Flies' extremely quick eyesight may inspire ultimate vision for robots (New Kerala)
Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:29:58 GMT

Micro flying robots can fly more effectively than flies (PhysOrg)

There is a long held belief among engineers and biologists that micro flying robots that fly like airplanes and helicopters consume much more energy than micro robots that fly like flies. A new study now shows that a fly wing that spins like a helicopter blade generates the same amount of lift as a flapping fly wing while consuming only half the energy to move the wing. This finding can inspire …

Micro flying robots can fly more effectively than flies (PhysOrg)
Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:15:43 GMT

Blowflies Get Virtual Reality in Flight Simulator (Wired News)

By sticking flies in a virtual-reality flight simulator, scientists are tracking how the insects manage to process visual images more than four times faster than humans. The researchers hope their results will improve visual-processing systems for flying robots.

Blowflies Get Virtual Reality in Flight Simulator (Wired News)
Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:49:19 GMT

Robot Delivers Packages Through Sewers | botropolis.com

Robot Delivers Packages Through Sewers As cities get more crowded, it will be more difficult for UPS and the Postal service to get around in their trucks full of packages. So what do you do? You make like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
Botropolis – http://botropolis.com/

Robot Delivers Packages Through Sewers | botropolis.com
Conner Flynn
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:04:01 GMT

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