Drumming Robot Named Haile Follows the Beat

September 4, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

This Geogia Tech product can follow along with a human drummer and come up with its own rhythms.  From Neatorama, this story features the robot playing drums with a human musician and it is quite inventive in its musicality.  My wife found the drumming “irritating” and wanted it stopped, however, I found it sort of pleasant, if not exactly Buddy Rich.  An interesting display of a robot that is able to process information quickly and make creative decisions.  I know some will find the use of the word creative here somewhat inappropriate, but the robot’s programming is acting in a creative fashion to make rhythms that are following the general patterns laid-down by the human participant.  Listen to the drumming example on the You Tube link below.  You decide.

Gil Weinberg and Scott Driscoll of Georgia Tech developed a robot that can improvise rhythms as it hears music: Haile is a robotic percussionist that can listen to live players, analyze their music in real-time, and use the product of …
Neatorama – http://www.neatorama.com/

Haile the Drumming Robot – Neatorama
John
Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:48:34 GMT

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Robotic Fish Developed in Korea

September 3, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

A group of Korean scientists, led by Dr. Ryuh Young-sun, have developed a robotic fish. The team, located at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, debuted the fishbot in an aquarium at BEXCO. The researchers teleoperated the robotic fish.  Named "Ichthys," the Greek word for fish, the robot can swim for four hours on one charge of its power supply.  It is able to go to depths of 100 meters.  Furthermore, the robofish has an onboard GPS device which allows it to find locations for recharging its batteries.  It seems as if robotic fish are being developed everywhere.  RobotNext had an earlier story on the MIT robot fish.  It is beginning to look like fishbots are as popular as snakebots.  Check out the links to the original story below.

A robotic fish developed by Korean scientists

Credit: The Chosun IIbo

A robotic fish developed by Korean scientists

After the pollution sniffing fish , MIT did a school of robotic fish to let the mechanical geniuses take to the aquatic world.

Robotic fish from Korea, brilliance for shallow waters
Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:07:02 GMT

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Phasma the Insect Robot

August 27, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Here is a story about an insect-modeled robot that runs like a real bug.  It is a bot that mimics the gait of an insect, if not the appearance.  When you look at the motion of this machine on a video, you will be amazed at the realism of the movements.  Phasma is based on iSprawl developed at BDML, Stanford University, USA.  The two machines have very similar insectoid motions.  If you click on the link for iSprawl, you can see it in action.  If you want to read more, then go to the Takram link in the next sentence. The following from the Takram Design Engineering website explains the background of this robot’s development in a very succinct way:  “Phasma is a hexapedal running robot that can run dynamically like a living organism. It is an attempt to depict life purely through its motion rather than its shape, by extracting the physics of running from living things and implementing that to the artifact. Phasma uses compliant components such as stainless steel springs and rubber joints to reproduce smooth and efficient locomotion seen in animals. Another interesting biomimicry applied in Phasma is the alternating tripod gait as seen in insects that provides excellent stability.”  Visit the link below or click on the photograph for more details.

phasma_02

Photo credit:  Takashi Mochizuki

… insectile robot reminds me of the running motion made by the CGI-based spider surveillance assistant robots from Stephen Spielberg's 2002 movie Minority Report : ( Minority Report spider robot swarm ) Fans of Michael Crichton's 1985 movie Runaway …

Phasma Insect Robot Runs Like A Bug
Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:20:39 GMT

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Robot Grasshopper Now Has Wings

August 26, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

RobotNext posted a story on this microbot in October of 2008 as an example of robots that are modeled on biology.  This is a follow-up to that article.  Apparently, the original group developing this little grasshopper bot has now put wings on the mechanical grasshopper to give it the ability to glide after it jumps in the air.  The objective of this research is to develop a small robot that can leap into the air and then glide to a target.  I still find it amazing to watch the video of the robotic grasshopper jumping into the air.   Go to the post from October 2008 to find links to the French site that details the work being done on this.

Grasshopper Microbot with Wings

Credit: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Last May, we wrote about a 7 gram robot grasshopper that is capable of jumping a distance of 1.4 meters, which is pretty huge for such a small robot.

Robot Grasshopper Grows Wings
Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:04:22 GMT

Filed Under: Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , , ,

Remotely Operated Vehicle Test in Lake

August 15, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Today, I tested a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in a local lake.  So this post is going to be something different for RobotNext.  I recommend this project for anyone who wants to try out an underwater robot. Technically speaking, this is not a robot as such.  It is a remotely operated vehicle controlled by a tether to a control box and power on the surface.  This vehicle was constructed in less than two days in a total of about twelve hours.  Using the ROV in a Box from !nventivity, our teachers’ group at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas built three of these machines.  All I can say is that it was a blast.  

In the video taken from my phone, you can see the robot powering around and then diving under the water.  There will be more testing of these ROVs in weeks to come.  Also, look at the photos of my ROV on the edge of the water.  Not bad for a two day effort. 

Video Credit:  Mike Henry

Here is a photo of the ROV on the edge of the lake.  Note the blue pool noodles used as flotation devices to keep the robot at neutral buoyancy.

Mike's Phone 169

Photo Credit:  Mike Henry

Note the black cylinder object at the back of the ROV.  That is a color camera and below it is a 10 led light to illuminate features in the water.  Images can be seen on a television screen.  The three motors have propellers and give power and control in 3 directions.

Mike's Phone 170

Photo Credit:  Mike Henry

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LEGO NXT Money Counter

August 13, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

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

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Robotic Hamster Ball Design for Google Lunar X Prize

August 12, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

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

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Humanoid Jaemi HUBO Robot Works Out on the Treadmill

August 4, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

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

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Robotic Insect “Flies” Off Vibrations

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Flying robot insects are the subject of some intense research into exactly how they are able to accomplish their aerial feats.  A researcher at Arizona State University, Michele Milano, is investigating how a robofly flies.  Check out this video of his “flying brick”.  (You need Microsoft Media Player to see this.)  Also, look at this robot fly from the Harvard Microrobotics Lab to see what started this line of research.

The goal of developing a flying robo-insect is to build the ultimate surveillance tool.  A tiny robot that looks and flies like a real insect could enter a building and take a look around without raising an alarm.  How does the robofly take to the air?  Now, this new research seems to cast doubt on whether its the robots wings or the vibrations in the strings that guide it.  Or maybe its both.  So, the point of this story is that, even now, after over 100 years of powered flight, it is not always clear what the mechanics of flying involve or even why something can fly.

CREATING a free-flying robotic insect is the dearest wish of many an engineer because such a machine would have great potential in surveillance and in seeking out trapped people in search-and-rescue situations. But a curious effect might upset their plans.

Due to vibrations similar to those generated in a plucked guitar string, a robotic insect can defy gravity and "fly" up wire tethers.

Robotic insect 'flight' may be just good vibrations
Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Filed Under: Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , ,

Flying surveillance robots from Aeryon

July 29, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Security forces and local police may soon have a new tool to use in their work.  This two pound robot is packaged as a kit that fits in a suitcase-sized container.  It can be assembled and operating in a short time.  Using a simple interface that works with a Google maps application, the operator merely points at the target on the map and the flying robot is directed to that location.  It has the ability to stay aloft for 20 minutes and can fly at an altitude of 500 feet.  The robot is equipped with a camera to take stills or stream video back to the controller.  With a $50,000 price tag, it won’t be sold to individuals.  Right now, the only place the robot can fly is Canada.  It may take another six months or so for the FAA to approve its use in the USA.


Credit: CNET News

Flying surveillance robots from Aeryon coming in 6 months, give or …
CNET News
At the Always On Stanford Summit, Aeryon Labs president Dave Kroetsch gave a compelling pitch on his company, which makes a two-pound robot helicopter that …

flyer_and_gcs_small_270x236

The Aeryon Scout and its tablet-based control computer.

(Credit: Aeryon)

Flying surveillance robots from Aeryon coming in 6 months, give or … – CNET News
Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:04:20 GMT

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