Apr 04
In addition to completely freaking us out
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Jan 22
Science fiction has given us a vision of the future where humans might one day enjoy super-strength and abilities while wearing a rigid robotic exoskeleton suit. But back here in reality, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a soft bio-robotic socks designed to assist those who have difficulty with something as simple as walking.
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Sep 01
We expect our devices to know what’s going on. Automatic doors, smartphones, temperature control systems and beyond all perform actions when they detect certain conditions. And it seems like it would just be convenient to put cameras on everything so devices could have eyes on all different situations. It would also be creepy, but we’ll leave that aside for now.
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Jun 25
We already have autonomous robots that can drive, fly, swim—even operate in space. And now, thanks to researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute, we’ll soon be dealing with bots that can tackle the final frontier here on earth—or should we say inside earth—with a self-burrowing robot that works underground.
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Mar 15
See that guy? He’s for real. He’s also from Pittsburgh. A team of wizards from Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center is presently building a new “human-scale” robot in order to compete in DARPA‘s Robotics Challenge. Part of its charm revolves around the rubberized tracks on its feet as well as on the extremities of each of its four limbs — not surprisingly, these are engineered to help it maneuver in some pretty sticky situations.
According to the institution, it’ll move much link a tank, but it’ll also be able to chug along on the treads of just two limbs when needed, such as when it must use one or more limbs to open a valve, or to operate power tools. Oh, and in case you’re curious, CMU has affirmed that it’ll “be able to perform complex, physically challenging tasks through supervised autonomy,” which sounds precisely like the kind of vague description an ill-willed robot would explain to its master before completely taking over his / her life. Just sayin’.
Filed under: Robots
Via: Technabob, Geekosystem
Source: Carnegie Mellon
Mar 13
The latest contraption to separate the cookies and cream from Oreo cookies is a robot named HERB, Carnegie Mellon’s butler ‘bot. He was built for performing household tasks, and what task could be more important than separating Oreo cookies?
HERB prefers the cream over the cookie, even though he’s a robot. Watch HERB work his magic on some Oreos in the latest Oreo Separator video. The team at Carnegie Mellon had HERB try a few different methods before they found the right way to do it.
At one point he can be seen stabbing the cookies with a kitchen knife. I’m glad that didn’t work – the idea of a robot with a razor sharp knife doesn’t sit well with me. Eventually they settled for the grab and twist method. I love how he pronounces the word Oreo. It sounds a bit like the HAL 9000.
[via Geekosystem]
Nov 27
Anyone who’s ever done any home renovation knows what a messy job removing paint can be. But imagine that instead of a flat wall you were tasked with stripping a curvy streamlined fighter plane. And the paint you were removing was designed to endure the stresses of supersonic flight. It’s a daunting task, which is why the Air Force wants to hand the job to laser-wielding robots. More »
Oct 27
Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute
Posted in: Today's Chili 
How was your week? We got to spend a couple of days trekking around the Carnegie Mellon campus in Pittsburgh, PA to check out some of the latest projects from the school’s world renowned Robotics Institute — a trip that culminated with the bi-annual induction ceremony from the CMU-sponsored Robot Hall of Fame. Given all the craziness of the past seven days, you might have missed some of the awesomeness, but fear not, we’ve got it all for you here in one handy place — plus a couple of videos from the trip that we haven’t shown you yet. Join us after the break to catch up.
Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Oct 26
Visualized: GigaPan circa 2006
Posted in: Today's Chili 
GigaPan sure has come a long way in a few short years. Sure, it’s no Epic Pro, but this old device marked S/N 15 is a pretty cool piece of history for those who love really hi-res images. We spotted it on the shelf of an office here at Carnegie Mellon, clutching on to an old PowerShot point-and-shoot. According to its owner, the tangled device dates back to around 2006. We knew it looked familiar….
Filed under: Cameras
Visualized: GigaPan circa 2006 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Oct 25
Want to do something about pollution in our water and air? Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE Lab is working on a few interesting solutions to the problem of localizing pollution data with a trio of devices aimed at making the process accessible and affordable for regular people. First up is AirBot, a “particle counting robot” that monitors pollutants that can contribute to breathing problems like asthma. Aimed at a $99 price point, the little black boxes are portable enough to bring around with you, so you can, say, compare the air quality in areas when apartment hunting. The lab has made six prototype devices (one of which was on-hand during our visit), and is aiming to bring them to market next year.
WaterBot, meanwhile, is set to bring the solution to streams near you. Stick one end in a body of water near your home and it will upload water purity information to the web via a built-in ZigBee module. CREATE’s also cooked up the CATTFish, a method for recording such information in your home via, yes, your toilet. Dip one end in the reservoir and the box on top of the tank, and it will give you a reading of the cleanliness of the water being used to refill. That information can then be uploaded to the web via a USB port. The lab is shooting for a $50 price tag on the device.
The big thing here is the ability to let the community take its own readings to build a bigger picture of water and are purity levels through online applications. More information on all of the above devices can be found in the video below.
Continue reading AirBot and WaterBot help localize pollution data collection (video)
AirBot and WaterBot help localize pollution data collection (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 22:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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