All Entries Tagged With: "cool robots"
Autotec’s Gentlemanly Wearable Robot Opens Doors For You
It’s official. You can’t lock robots inside the house anymore. A new robot arm from Japanese manufacturer BL Autotec should be able to reach out for the doorknob and open the door when attached to an emergency droid, clearing the way for the rest of their robot cavalry to escape.
Yep, the damn golems don’t have to fire steel-melting lasers or launch obstacle-blasting missiles anymore. All the limbed robot has to do is wield its mechanical arm, give the doorknob a tight grip and turn its claw to loosen the bolt. Even scarier, the mobility robot they designed to take the arm can strap around people’s shoulders like a backpack, allowing it to ride you like its own personal beast of burden. Yikes.
Autotec’s robot arm features four shafts that let it stretch to a full meter long and a specially-shaped claw for managing all that [...]
NASA Builds Humanoid Robonaut 2, Gives It Human-Like Hands
We all love robots. Humanoid automatons, on the other hand, are just freaky to me. I don’t want my robot housekeeper to look like Robocop, thank you very much. That’s not going to stop NASA, though, who just finished introducing the Robonaut 2 (R2), a humanoid robot capable of many precise, human-like actions.
Created in collaboration with General Motors, the automotive assembly line is obviously one of this machine’s more likely destinations. NASA’s interest, however, is in space exploration, where the humanoid’s forceful and accurate limb mobility can take people’s place in hazardous operations.
The R2 builds upon NASA’s Robonaut technology, a decade-old android designed in conjunction with DARPA. This latest version takes on a similar form, with a humanoid upper body and a wheeled platform below the trunk. According to NASA, it has strong limbs too, as each five-fingered hand of the R2 can lift up to 20lbs of weight, four [...]
Willow Garage Giving Away Free Open-Source Robots, Mad Scientists Rejoice
Willow Garage has an idea about how to advance the state of robotics: make the development of robots open source. They’ve already done plenty of work on the hardware side and, now, they’re going to use that to encourage action in programming them.
The company has announced that they will be giving away 10 examples of the PR2, the company’s just-unveiled robot. Currently in beta, it runs off software culled from the best parts of both the ROS (Robot Operating System) and the OpenCV platforms.
Now, how will this accelerate the development of robotics again? Willow Garage is implementing strict rules as to who can get the PR2 Beta. For one, they’re only giving it to labs, instead of garage hobbyists, since the former will allow more people to work on it. Most importantly, anyone who develops for the platform will have to agree to make any software they produce available to [...]
Robo Cafe Puts Robots In Charge Of Waiting Tables
Before robots become our overlords, they’ll have to be our servants first. And serve our hungry fellowmen is what those piles of steel and wires will do in Robo Cafe, a concept restaurant where human waiters have been replaced by an entirely mechanized workforce. Yay, no more service tips!
Korean company ITM Technology (whose expertise lies in military robotics and weapons – makes you queasy, doesn’t it?) designed the system from the ground up, starting with a restaurant interior that makes it easy for their table service robots to navigate. Platforms will be set up around the sides, where the wheeled 70-centimeter tall table servers can make their way to individual guests.
The robots have been rendered intentionally cute, complete with a digital smiling face. Customers can either verbally give their orders or choose them from a touchscreen display on the chest. Once the food is ready, the robots can then be [...]
Robotic Weapon Is A Roving RC Robot That Sees In The Dark, Fires Paintballs And Makes A Quick Escape
Want to have your own weaponized robot on wheels patrolling your home against criminal elements? Me too. Since you aren’t likely able to get a military-spec, battlefield droid firing armor-piercing bullets, Inspector Bots’ non-lethal but potentially painful Robotic Weapon should do.
Nicknamed the “Mega Hurtz,” “The Wireless Weapon,” “Kill Bot,” and “SWAT BOT” (yep, it’s got a whole phonebook full of names), it’s actually less murderous than those scary monikers imply. Armed with a Mil-Sim A5 paintball gun, it’s intended to subdue targets rather than blow them to smithereens.
The Robotic Weapon (hate the name, by the way) is a remote-controlled 4WD vehicle measuring 36 x 20 x 20 inches with a top speed of 50 mph. Controllers can maneuver it within a 700-ft range, seeing through the robot’s eyes using a barrel-mounted camera (IR/low lux with night vision) that can see up to 35 feet in the dark. Complementing the paint-shooting [...]
Japanese Company Now Taking Orders For Actoids, Your Very Own Robotic Doppelganger
Ever wanted to be in two places at one time? Now you can. Sort of. Japanese retail store operator Sogo & Seibu have announced they will be taking pre-orders beginning January for the Actoid, a life-size humanoid robot that will be made to look exactly like its owner.
Unfortunately, the robots will be limited in function, so you can’t have then come to work pretending to be you. However, you should be able to use them for little more than experiencing the joys of having a robotic doppelganger.
According to the company, the Actoids will have a silicone body and can speak using pre-programmed recordings of your voice. They can’t walk (so you can’t make them pretend to pace around the office), but they can move their upper bodies (so you can have them sit in your chair, pretending to be busy) and show numerous facial expressions. If no one talks to [...]
CoolerBot Is A Wildlife Papparazi Robot That Looks Like It Wants To Bomb Your Village
Robot hobbyist Steve Norris named this the CoolerBot , but its functions have nothing to do with either lowering the temperature or being cooler than every other robot on the block. Instead, the telepresence droid is like an armored papparazi, taking wildlife photos all on its own (with your help from afar, of course).
Why a robot? Because humans scare animals. And humans can’t keep looking inside a peephole while standing outdoors for extra long periods of time. While this robot looks more scary than humans (not sure how it looks like to animals, though), it should be able to lie in wait without having to stretch its legs or pee or get hungry.
Designed to sit outdoors for extended durations, the photograph-snapping CoolerBot sports rugged build (durable body, waterproof electronics) and can self-recharge its pair of 12-volt SLA batteries via solar power. It uses a tail-dragger configuration that lets it [...]
Anybots’ QA Telepresence Robots Will Substitute For You In The Office, At Meetings, Maybe With Your Spouse Too
Screw telecommuting, the future is all about robotic doubles in the office. At least, that’s what Anybots’ QA telepresence robots seem to suggest, faithfully subbing in for your bedridden and homebound co-workers.
How exactly does it work? Instead of having to come to work feeling dizzy and with bloodshot eyes after a hard night of partying, you can have your humanoid buddy fill in for your presence. You operate it from home, directly from your laptop, maneuvering it into your subordinates’ cubicles to catch them playing Farmville in the middle of the workday or attending your meetings with the corporate bigshots.
Each QA telepresence robot comes with a 7-inch LCD screen, displaying a digital face that smiles at everyone it encounters. It’s equipped with dual 5-megapixel cameras (in the eyes) that stream feeds directly to your computer, so you’ve got spy-vision at work in real-time. You can deck it with numerous variations, [...]
Rex, A Robotic Beast Of Burden
Why carry bags when the robots can do it? That’s the idea behind Rex, a load-bearing robo-mule that will trail you and respond to voice commands like a well-trained mutt.
Created by Israel Aerospace Industries, the baggage-toting machine is currently being marketed to military organizations in an effort to fill an “urgent operational need.” According to the company, the robot will relieve in-field combatants of the encumbrance created by putting heavy loads on their back, allowing them to perform their work in the field unimpeded.
Described as a “robotic beast of burden,” Rex can carry over 400 lbs of cargo while rolling on six small wheels, relieving soldiers of having to carry heavy loads of ammunition and supplies. No need to lead it around on a noose either, as it can be programmed to follow the lead soldier at a safe distance. Even better, it can respond to voice commands, such as [...]
Robovie-PC Is A 15-Inch Robot With An Embedded PC
Why program a robot from a computer when you can put an entire PC on a robot? That’s exactly what they did with the Robovie-PC, an articulated, awesome-looking robot with full-fledged netbook guts.
Created by Vstone and ATR, the humanoid machine merges features from the popular RoboCup Soccer robots (not the putting practice one) and the Robovie-X platform. Even better, you can program it without using any external computer since it comes with one right on its trunk. Just plug in a monitor to the VGA out connector and use it like any nettop you can grab at Best Buy.
The robot itself measures 15 inches tall and weighs 4.8 lbs. It comes pre-assembled, boasting 20 degrees of programmable freedom, with a gear interlock parallel link mechanism on the legs, a three-axis accelerometer, two-axis gyro sensors and plenty of articulated movements. The exterior is padded with polyurethane foam to make sure none [...]
Underwater Grooming Robot Crawls Ships, Cleans Hulls
Still waiting for that promised future when robots will take care of cleaning our homes and properties? Me too. In the meantime, at least one of them machines will be doing a similar job for the US Navy. Called the Hull Bio-Inspired Underwater Grooming (Hull BUG) robot, the amphibious creation scrapes off barnacles, oysters and other marine life that end up sticking to the hulls of ships.
More than turning out a better-looking vessel (as the “grooming ” in the name suggests), the BUG will actually perform a much more crucial service to the fleet. All those sea creatures holding on to a boat’s main body end up slowing it down, forcing the ship to use up more energy to maneuver itself in the water, eventually costing the Navy over $500 million in extra fuel and maintenance. With the robot turning out a clean ship, the seafaring branch of the military [...]
Precision Urban Hopper Robot Jumps Over Walls, Your Home Is No Longer Safe
Time to raise your fences, boys. A new robot from Boston Dynamics, harbinger of the apocalypse, can now clear vertical obstacles close to 50 times its size in a single bound. Called the Precision Urban Hopper, it should easily go over your electrified fences 25 feet and under to kill every human in the house.
Developed under funding from Darpa, the leapfrogging robot can drive across normal surfaces like ordinary rovers. Encountering tall obstacles, however, doesn’t deter it from its path. Instead of looking for a way around, it just catapults itself into the air, landing on the other side. Your robot-proof fence just may not be so safe anymore.
The Precision Urban Hopper is barely larger than a shoebox, yet can scale two Yao Mings, one standing on top of the other’s head, with plenty of air to boot. It performs its roving functions using a rather pedestrian system of four [...]
Crafthouse Creates Articulated Hands For Your Hobby Robots, Must Handle With Care
Toy robots are pretty amazing. However, I don’t think we’ve ever seen ones sporting really articulate hands, with off-the-shelf units largely consisting of grippers or some other less-complex substitute. Japanese hobby robot supplier Crafthouse is about to change all that, putting out two different sets of robot hands that masterfully function like real human appendages.
The top-of-the-line God Hands is easily the most notable, consisting of two five-digit robot hands with plenty of articulation points. Because they’re so small and intricate, each piece is made by hand and are assembled only upon order (you’ll need to wait a minimum of one month to get yours). Unfortunately, the God Hands don’t offer God-like omnipotence and are, in fact, highly fragile. According to Crafthouse, they can easily be damaged if a robot falls on them. As such, they come with no guarantees. Frail construction notwithstanding, there’s just nothing else like them.
A cheaper, larger [...]
Robotic Rodeo Held This Week, Still No Robocop
Want to see the latest in autonomous robot systems? Well, you missed your chance. The Robotic Rodeo was just held this past week, showcasing the latest in life-saving battlefield technology.
Don’t let the name mislead you. There weren’t any cowboys riding motorized bulls or android robot clowns during the show, which was a bit disappointing. There were no galloping robot horses, either – just machines that help carry out military tasks in the battlefield.
The first of its kind, the Rodeo was jointly hosted by the US Army Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and the Fort Hood III Corps in Texas beginning last Wednesday. Lines of war machines showed up for the occasion, each one toting a variety of talents and abilities, most of which were scrutinized for their potential to join the roster of the US Army’s stable of robot soldiers.
Notable robots that took the floor include R-Gator (who [...]
Sudoku Solver Robot Answers Puzzles, Writes Legibly
Why bother solving Sudoku puzzles when you can get a robot to do it? That makes sense, of course, if you can build a text-reading, puzzle-solving and answer-writing android like Swedish hacker Hans Andersson’s Sudoku Solver, which he built using a Lego Mindstorms kit.
The robot performs a quick scan of the puzzle, sweeping the light sensor across the page to determine which cells are empty. Once it takes account of the blank areas, it looks through all the non-empty cells pixel by pixel, eventually creating a digital representation of the Sudoku page. To determine the digits on each square, it cleans up the scanned image, removes isolated blotches, thins the lines, determines the width, counts the tips and finds their direction.
The swiveling arm that carries the line-by-line scanner also holds the pen, which the Sudoku Solver uses to write down the answer. Yep, it really solves that thing on its [...]
iRobot Looj: Cleaning Gutters Suck, Let The Robots Do It
Is it that time of the year again? Experts recommend cleaning out your gutters at least twice in the span of twelve months and, no matter how you spin it, sifting through those dirt and leaves is one hellish chore. Not only is it difficult and dirty, it’s also dangerous. Good thing there’s a robot to do the job.
The iRobot Looj sweeps through your gutter like Pac-Man in a maze, clearing off everything in its path. As it travels through the channel, it blasts through everything it can find, including leaves, dust, dirt, debris and sludge. No more climbing shaky ladders, scraping off tough dirt and scooping out leaves as far as you can reach – just let that robot loose and clean up everything from one spot.
Measuring 17 x 12.5 x 4 inches (LxWxH), the Looj is a self-propelling robot that pushes its way [...]
