RobotNext Weekly Newswrap

July 12, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

This week's stories have no single theme, but there are several stories that appear in different versions on multiple days.  The first story from today features a spherical robot based on the LEGO Mindstorms NXT.  Check out the video of this robot moving around under the command of its builder, it is very interesting.  In the next story on this same sphere-shaped robot, the author makes a more humorous approach to the subject.  Again, check out the video.  The other posts from the week cover a deep-diving robot, a real-life recycling robot (it is not quite WALL-E), and a robot cat.  Take a look at these and see what did not make RobotNext this week.  Let me know what you think of the weekly newswrap.

Spherical NXT-Based Robot

… it via Bluetooth. (Spherical robot uses Lego Mindstorms NXT) It uses the same form of locomotion as some other robots you may already know about; see the videos in these articles for more information and diagrams …

Spherical Robot Lego Mindstorms NXT-Based
Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:07:23 GMT

Spherical robot would make for frustrating soccer games

As I watch this spherical robot roll around at the behest of its master, designer Nils Völker, I'm reminded of the old Dungeons & Dragons joke about the …
See all stories on this topic

Spherical robot would make for frustrating soccer games
DVICE – USA
Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:24:07 GMT

Hybrid robot vehicle undertakes record-breaking dive – Engineer Live

Hybrid robot vehicle undertakes record-breaking dive
Engineer Live
There is an underwater vehicle flavour to Jeremy Cresswell's look at what's fresh on the hydrographic front, notably a new type of hybrid robot vehicle for …
and more »

Hybrid robot vehicle undertakes record-breaking dive – Engineer Live
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:56:29 GMT

Real-Life Wall-E Recycling Robot Takes to the Streets of Italy – Inhabitat


Inhabitat

Real-Life Wall-E Recycling Robot Takes to the Streets of Italy
Inhabitat
It may not be as tiny or nimble as Wall-E, but this real-life dustcart robot traversing the streets of Peccioli, Italy is just as cute. …
and more »

Real-Life Wall-E Recycling Robot Takes to the Streets of Italy – Inhabitat
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:01:53 GMT

on-demand trash robot DustCart : The Alternative Consumer

The robot is also outfitted with special sensors that monitor air temperature, as well as air pollutants, such as: nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, ozone, benzene, CO and CO2. dustcart3.jpg. DustCart avoids fixed obstacles, …
The Alternative Consumer – http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/

on-demand trash robot – DustCart : The Alternative Consumer
mr. happy
Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:32:56 GMT

Sega's Robot Cats Have Nine Lives

Sega Toys is rolling out yet another robot cat companion, though we're not exactly sure why they keep trying. Sega's latest robot feline From what we can tell by checking the stores here, polling shop clerks, and scanning our network of contacts in the business, the robot cats, and most of the other low cost companion robot products have been non-starters. Some similar product offerings, like the super cute infant…

Sega's Robot Cats Have Nine Lives
Lem
Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:57:11 GMT

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

Robot Cricket Has Keen Sense of Smell

July 11, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

The next biological model for robots is the cricket.  You may associate crickets with the sounds that they make when it is very quiet.  It turns out that these creatures have a very sensitive sense of smell.  However, they are only able to detect a very narrow range of odors.  This ability is being tapped to develop a robot that can be used to detect chemicals on the battlefield or the smell of survivors in a disaster situation.  Read more in the two stories cited below.

Most crickets are active only at night, and they use their long antennae both to feel their way around in the dark and to smell things – so, their sense of smell is quite sensitive, but mostly to odors that come from food. You see, one of the tradeoffs in the sensory systems of organisms like insects is that they can be very sensitive to certain chemicals, but that there will be an even bigger number of things they *CAN'T* smell at all.

Entomology (Study of Bugs)-crickets

IF YOU'RE trapped under rubble after an earthquake, wondering if you'll see daylight again, the last thing you need is an insect buzzing around your face. But that insect could save your life, if a scheme funded by the Pentagon comes off.

The project aims to co-opt the way some insects communicate to give early warning of chemical attacks on the battlefield – the equivalent of the "canary in a coal mine". The researchers behind it say the technology could be put to good use in civilian life, from locating disaster victims to monitoring for pollution and gas leaks, or acting as smoke detectors.

Cyborg crickets could chirp at the smell of survivors
Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:00:00 GMT

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

Robot Can Make Faces at You

July 9, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Robots that can make facial expressions are not new, but this one is by far the most realistic one yet.  Over 30 artificial muscles, each controlled by a servo allow this robot to control facial movements to a degree not seen before.  Einstein, as the robot is called, is capable of learning how to smile and make other faces by a process of self-guided learning.  In humans, this would be called inquiry learning.  During the experiments, the robot experienced a failure in one of the servos controlling a muscle, still it was able to learn to compensate for this by moving other servos to accomplish the desired facial response.  You can read more about this at the links below.  Also, check out the UCSD blog page.  There is even a video that shows the robot in action.  Admittedly, the video is somewhat creepy in that it is very realistic.  Robots that look too human can be disconcerting, to say the least.

Robot Einstein 2

Photo Credit: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego

ScienceDaily (July 8, 2009) — A hyper-realistic Einstein robot at the University of California, San Diego has learned to smile and make facial expressions through a process of self-guided learning. The UC San Diego researchers used machine learning to “empower” their robot to learn to make realistic facial expressions. “As far as we know, no other research group has used machine learning to teach a robot to make realistic facial expressions,” said Tingfan Wu, the computer science Ph.D. student from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering who presented this advance on June 6 at the IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning.

While the primary goal of this work was to solve the engineering problem of how to approximate the appearance of human facial muscle movements with motors, the researchers say this kind of work could also lead to insights into how humans learn and develop facial expressions.

“Learning to Make Facial Expressions,” by Tingfan Wu, Nicholas J. Butko, Paul Ruvulo, Marian S. Bartlett, Javier R. Movellan from Machine Perception Laboratory, University of California San Diego. Presented on June 6 at the 2009 IEEE 8th International Conference On Development And Learning.
Adapted from materials provided by University of California – San Diego.

Electronics & Robotics,News & Press – A Blog by F.Intilla (WWW.OLOSCIENCE.COM)

A hyper-realistic Einstein robot at the University of California, San Diego has learned to smile and make facial expressions through a process of self-guided learning.

Robot Learns to Smile and Frown
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:25:28 GMT

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

Robot Grazes for Power

July 8, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

This robot can find its own power by chomping on grass or other vegetation that it finds along its way.  As a potential military application, this robot is currently in a testing stage.  You can see more information in a story posted at Examiner.com.  RobotNext had an earlier post on a robot that can eat bugs to produce its own power, so this concept of living off the land could extend to insects and vegetation.  Make sure and check out the links to other stories on this interesting robot.

EATR(TM) concept drawing courtesy of Robotic Technology Inc. from Examiner.com

Cyclone Power Technologies Inc. announced that it has completed the first stage of its project with Robotic Technology Inc. (RTI), of Potomac, MD, to develop a beta-test biomass engine system which will be used to power RTI’s Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR™). This is part of a project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Defense Sciences Office.

What more could one want in a robot? Hey! I think that thing is eating my lawn! Paul Fox is an Examiner from Portland. You can see Paul's articles on Paul's …

See all stories on this topic

There's a robot eating my lawn
Examiner.com – USA
Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:27:57 GMT

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

Robotic Grasshopper May Help Explore Mars Surface

July 6, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

This robot can jump like a grasshopper and roll like a tumbleweed.  It is called Jollbot and it may be headed to Mars someday.  Or it may help here on Earth in areas of rough terrain with jobs like surveying.  Going back to an article posted in December, 2008 at PhysOrg.com, the researchers believe this is the first robot that can both jump and roll.  This behavior can solve a problem that robotic explorers on other planets routinely face:  objects that are too large to roll over.  Nature again provides a model to solve a problem and create a new design in robotics.

rolling grasshopper robot

Image Credit:  Nic Delves-Broughton, University of Bath

The Jollbot was masterminded by Rhodri Armour, who spent a year building the robot with colleagues at the University of Bath. The robot, which can jump and roll, enjoys an edge over other machines due to its ability to launch itself over obstacles …

Robotic grasshopper to help explore Mars' rocky geography – New Kerala
Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:44:00 GMT

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

RobotNext Weekly Newswrap

July 6, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

This week’s newswrap features stories that deal with exploration.  Everything from underwater to climate in the arctic and beyond the Earth.  One story from earlier in the week deals with robot navigation in different situations.  Still, this story does cover an aspect of robotics that is important in exploration.  I hope you enjoy looking over the articles linked to below.  Let me know which ones you liked best.

Underwater robots to rapidly identify potential threats in murky … – Newstrack India

Washington, July 5 (ANI): A team of scientists is developing novel underwater laser networking and imaging technologies that will be used onboard a group of small, co-operating robots, which will be able to rapidly identify and communicate potential …

Underwater robots to rapidly identify potential threats in murky … – Newstrack India
Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:15:00 GMT

 

NASA Suggests Nano Robots To Explore Mars (Slashdot)

"'We're going to have to do extensive robotic exploration,' says the director of NASA's Ames Research Center, suggesting nanotechnology to build self-replicating robots on Mars. Genetically engineering extraction and construction microbes could 'grow' electrical components, and eventually convert carbon dioxide on Mars into oxygen. 'If we really want to settle Mars, and we …

NASA Suggests Nano Robots To Explore Mars (Slashdot)
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:36:25 GMT

Robots Monitor the Melting Arctic

Earlier this year NOAA warned that increased global warming was combining with natural variability in the Arctic and could result in an ice-free Arctic in as little as 30 years, rather than the end of the century as predict by earlier models. This has created a sense of urgency among organizations studying the changes. NOAA and NASA have combined forces with Northrop Grumman to create a specially modified Global Hawk UAV that will make 6 long duration mission over the Arctic and the Pacific ocean to collect data in troposphere and lower stratosphere. .

Meanwhile, Seaglider robots have been deployed off Greenland to make more accurate measurements of Arctic sea currents. Scientist believe the Arctic runoff is already altering the density of sea water in the Labrador Sea, driving critical ocean circulation that affect the global climate.  Canada is also deploying two AUVs to scan the seabed to further their claims in the coming UN Convention that will determine which nations get sovereign rights to the new ocean areas forming as the Arctic melts.

Robots Monitor the Melting Arctic
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:41:32 GMT

Human-like Vision Lets Robots Navigate Naturally

ScienceDaily (June 30, 2009) — A robotic vision system that mimics key visual functions of the human brain promises to let robots maneuver quickly and …
See all stories on this topic

Human-like Vision Lets Robots Navigate Naturally
Science Daily (press release) – USA
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:48:20 GMT

Intelligent Robot Probes to Explore Beyond Mars

Caltech scientists are working on intelligent exploratory craft which could investigate alien worlds without human instruction. While missions to MARS can be remotely controlled, as we set our sights further afield the light speed …
The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries… – http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/

Intelligent Robot Probes to Explore Beyond Mars
Casey Kazan Daily Galaxy Editorial Staff
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:11:52 GMT

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

Hummingbird-Like Robot

July 3, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

From rats to hummingbirds, the biological models just keep on coming.  This is another in a long line of nature-modeled robots.  It flaps its wings in the manner of a hummingbird and is built to use a spy for the military.  Its purpose would be to loiter in an area, either indoors or outdoors, and send video of its target.  It would be so small as to be almost undetectable.  Plus, if it looks and acts like a hummingbird, it might be mistaken for the real thing even if it is discovered.  Also, check out the video on YouTube.  And finally, a note to readers, there will be no post for tomorrow, July 4, Independence Day here in the USA.  Please return on Sunday for the Weekend Newswrap.

hummingbird robot 

Image Credit: Forbes.com

AeroVironment, maker of several important military UAVs like the Wasp, Raven, and Dragon Eye , has received a Phase II SBIR grant from DARPA to continue work on it’s hummingbird-like nano UAV (NAV), which propels itself with flapping wings. In the video, the vehicles stability control is shown, including take-offs from a standstill.

“The goals of the NAV program — namely to develop an approximately 10 gram aircraft that can hover for extended periods, can fly at forward speeds up to 10 meters per second, can withstand 2.5 meter per second wind gusts, can operate inside buildings, and have up to a kilometer command and control range — will stretch our understanding of flight at these small sizes and require novel technology development.”

The Phase II contract is worth $2.1 million USD and will continue through the summer of 2010.

[Via Slashdot]

Hummingbird-Like Nano UAV from AeroVironment
William Cox
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:18:57 GMT

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

This May Be The World’s Smallest Wheeled Robot With A Gripper.

July 2, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

When I saw the article from Instructables about this tiny robot, I knew that it was worth a post on RobotNext.  At .40"x.50"x.46", the Magbot R-20 is slightly less than 1/20 of a cubic inch.  The robot is magnetically controlled. This builder found out that to make the smallest robots possible, the motors, batteries, and even the Picaxe microcontroller had to be external to the robot.  Even so, this little bot is a marvel.  You have to see the video of this little machine picking up an IC that looks bigger than it is.  This is not the first small robot built by this inventor.  See his 1 inch cube bots to see a tiny machine with everything on-board.  What is even more incredible is the fact that this is not the smallest robot he has constructed.  Look at this link to see a robot that has a volume of only 1/100 cubic inch!

Build a 1/20 cubic inch robot with a gripper that can pick up and move small objects. It is controlled by a Picaxe microcontroller. At this point in time, I believe this may be the world's smallest wheeled robot with a gripper. That will no doubt change, tomorrow or next week, when someone builds so…
By: mikey77

Build a Very Small Robot: Make The World's Smallest Wheeled Robot With A Gripper.
mikey77
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:23:18 GMT

Filed Under: Build It · Tagged With: , , ,

Whiskered Robot Rat For Search and Rescue

July 1, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

The SCRATCHbot robot will be demonstrated at an international conference during the week of July 1, 2009. SCRATCH (Spatial Cognition and Representation through Active TouCh) is lauded as the next step in robot intelligence. This is yet another robot based on a biological model.  In this case, the model is a rat. RobotNext has reported on robot rats before in a post on June 7, 2009.  That ratbot was designed to explore how robots could develop a form of intelligent behavior by moving about a room and learning to avoid objects.  It has a vision system, sound sensors, and whiskers.  SCRATCHbot would be able to search out objects using only its whiskers. It was developed by Bristol Robotics Lab.  Read the story in two articles linked to below.

scratchbot

Photo: SWNS

ScienceDaily (June 30, 2009) — A team of scientists have developed an innovative robot rat which can seek out and identify objects using its whiskers. …

Researchers Unveil Whiskered Robot Rat
Science Daily (press release) – USA
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:29:03 GMT

Dr Tony Pipe, deputy director of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, believes 'Scratchbot' could revolutionise the way use robotics in search and rescue missions…

Robotic rat can search for disaster survivors using whiskers
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:42:32 GMT

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

Thoughts Can Control Wheelchair

June 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Someday you may sit down behind the wheel of your new Toyota vehicle, secure your seatbelt and shoulder restraint, and put on your thinking cap.  This automobile will be controlled by your thoughts.  Far-fetched you say?  Well, Toyota is showing off a new wheelchair that is controlled by the brainwaves of the user.  Wearing a cap that measures the brain’s waves, a rider can order the machine to move or turn, just by thinking.  Of course, this has the potential of providing the physically disabled the means of mobility either in a car or a wheelchair.  It could also provide the means of controlling any appliance in the home.  Read the stories below by following the links.  What other uses for this technology might exist?  I welcome your comments.

thought controlled wheelchair

Photo Credit: AFP

A researcher wearing a cap that can read brain signals rides on a wheelchair that can be steered by detecting brain waves at Riken Brain Science Institute in Wako near Tokyo, Japan.

Wheelchair 'steered by thought' unveiled
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:42:56 GMT

BRILLIANT: Researcher Choi Kyuwan displays a prototype electric wheelchair developed by Riken and Japan's Toyota Motor which is controlled by the user's brain waves.

Thought-steered wheelchair – cars next?
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:22:33 GMT

Filed Under: Robots · Tagged With: , , ,
Verified by MonsterInsights