Logitec is releasing a 2600mAh mobile battery “LPA-LA2-2610″ in late June – Lightning connector and micro B connector are built-in to the mobile battery so that it is compatible with iPhone 5 and Android smartphones.
2600mAh is capable of fully charging iPhone 5 once.
“LPA-LA2-2610″ has a LED light display to show the remaining battery charge.
Price: ¥8,872 (including tax) Color: black, white Size: 33 x 23 x 99mm Weight: 82g
NTT docomo is releasing a compact triangle-shaped wireless smartphone charger “Wireless Charger 03″ on June 27.
To charge your smartphone with “Wireless Charger 03″, simply leave it on the charger. When the light on the side of the charger turns red, that indicates your smartphone is charged up.
3 silicon covers in different colors (gray, pink and brown) come with “Wireless Charger 03″ so that you can change the cover according to the mood of the day.
Compatible models:
Optimus it L-05E ELUGA P P-03E AQUOS PHONE ZETA SH-06E AQUOS PHONE si SH-07E ARROWS Kiss F-03D F-03D Girls’ ARROWS Kiss F-03E F-09D ANTEPRIMA MEDIAS X N-04E ELUGA V P-06D AQUOS PHONE slider SH-02D Q-pot.Phone SH-04D AQUOS PHONE EX SH-04E AQUOS PHONE st SH-07D AQUOS PHONE f SH-13C ARROWS X F-10D MEDIAS PP N-01D ELUGA X P-02E AQUOS PHONE ZETA SH-09D SH-05D
Lands Work, a manufacturer of tofu-making machinery, has developed a robot that can pick up very soft foods such as tofu.
“First, the robot checks which way the tofu is facing, and how big it is, using a camera. The images are analyzed by a computer, and the robot works out which way to orient the tofu. Once it picks the tofu up, it then puts it in a package. A feature of this robot is the hand, which can gently carry very soft, fragile things without damaging them. This hand uses a special surface processing, which was developed by our company.”
“If tofu is carried quickly, it breaks. So, the robot moves tofu quite slowly, shifting only 1,200 to 1,500 pieces per hour. But firmer items, such as fried tofu, can be carried at a rate of 2,500 per hour.”
“We are using mainly firm tofu in our demonstration but it can also handle soft tofu. We’ve also included some soft tofu here, so this system can even handle delicate things like that.”
“We’ve only just developed this system. People have asked about using it for seafood, eggs, and meat, and we think it could be used for all kinds of foods. The robot itself is a very general-purpose model. So, for example, if we reduce production volume on one line, we could use the robot on another line, just by changing its program. That’s the best thing about using robots.”
Event: FOOMA JAPAN 2013
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For those who have a home karaoke device but hesitate to use it because you don’t want to annoy your neighbors with your singing voice, there is good news!
JTT’s “Urusakunai Kara OK! Mute Microphone USB” can resolve your concerns.
It’s a microphone with a soundproof cup. By covering your mouth with the soundproof cup while you sing, you can prevent the escape of your singing voice considerably. The microphone’s code has USB so that you can start enjoying karaoke without generating noise simply by connecting the microphone’s code to a USB terminal of your karaoke device, PS3, Wii etc.
To keep the soundproof cup clean, the material used inside the cup can be removed and hand-washed.
Ahhh, Switzerland. Not only Europe’s centralized hub for chocolate, cheese, watches, banking, and international apolitical neutrality (so lucky), the nation also boasts two of the finest science and engineering schools on the planet. Naturally, that begets robots, and on Monday, the EPFL begat a cat: the Cheetah-Cub.
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So, the Swiss Have Awesome Robots? Totally, but for most, when thinking about top robot labs & makers, the mind goes quickly toward DARPA-funded work, MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Tech, Honda, Tokyo and/or Osaka Universities, KAIST, etc. So maybe the Swiss just aren’t awesome at marketing, because the country actually is the geographical locus of robotics development in Europe, and its two big tech schools conduct research in no fewer than 6 disciplines each – here, look:
“Yet Another Highly Advanced Robot from Switzerland” Not an overly common news headline, but probably should be.
Cheetah-Cub from EPFL The Cheetah-Cub comes from the Biorobotics Laboratory at the French speaking École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in southern Switzerland (that’s the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, for those unable or unwilling to do the linguistic math).
Cheetah-Cub walks with the elastic, hoppity, distinct gait of the common house cat – and it’s fast for a robot of its size. Based on meticulous observation and reverse engineering, it’s legs were designed with springs and actuators to mimic the biomechanics of feline legs (also at comparable size & weight).
It’s a durable, inexpensive, easy to produce research platform that the team hopes will lead to small machines more closely approximating the physical dexterity of meat-based cats. Eventually they might assist with rescue and exploration efforts.
Of course, the shot of the engineer “walking” Cheetah-Cub brings up the question, but so far there’s no word on plans for a pet version. Again, that marketing issue… maybe it just isn’t in the Swiss cultural toolhouse. They should get on that (hire France or Germany, perhaps?), because a project to develop a non-shedding, non meowing, non-excreting pet/toy cat with an off button could make a lot of people happy (and probably get funding).
Alright, that’s a wrap – and not one lame “always lands on its feet” jab in the whole piece. Success!
AIBO Addendum: In this context, one would be remiss to not mention the super-advanced, inexcusably canceled AIBO. What could more appropriately give Cheetah-Cub a chase? It’s true, the Saddest Robots in Japan Live Among the Sins of Sony.
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Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com and a contributor at the non-profit Robohub.org.
Today MAKI Corporation announced that they will release a full HD waterproof action video camera “GEANEE AC-01″ very soon.
It’s a IPX8 waterproof video camera that is usable at a depth of up to 10 meters so that you can use it at the pool and shore side and so on. With the accompanying mount kit, you can attach “GEANEE AC-01″ to your bicycle and take a full HD (1920×1080 dot) video while road or mountain biking. Maximum duration of shooting is 6 hours (HD mode).
“G sensor” that detects the direction of the video camera is built-in, so even if you set the video camera upside down, the image that is shot won’t be displayed upside down.
CMOS image sensor (effective pixel: 5 million pixels) is built-in. Video format is MOV (Codecs: H.264/ADPCM) and video size is 1920×1080 / 30 fps, 1280×720 / 60fps, and 1280×720 / 30fps. Still image format is JPEG, and the size are 4608×3456, 2592×1944, and 2048×1536. It adopted a 120 degree wide angle lens.
Sony Mobile Communications is releasing a compact and stylish wireless headset “SBH20″ in mid July. It’s compatible with NFC so that you can connect it quickly with your NFC compliant smartphone or tablet such as Xperia Z and you can enjoy listening to the music or talking on the phone.
The face of the square body has a manual operation button, its side has a slide power key, and its backside is a clip to hold on a pocket or another part.
4 colors are available: black, white, pink and orange.
Price: ¥4,980 Size: 33mm x 33mm x 12mm Weight: 16.9 g
Sony Mobile Communications is releasing a wireless headset “SBH50″ in mid July. It’s compatible with NFC so that you can connect it quickly with your NFC compliant smartphone or tablet like Xperia Z. After they get connected, you can listen to the radio and music, and have a phone call wirelessly.
Because “SBH50″ has FM tuner built-in, it is capable of playing the FM radio without connecting with the smartphone or table.
Its organic EL display shows a caller name, the caller’s number, music titles, radio frequency and so on. You will be notified of updates of Twitter/Facebook, Emails, SMS messages, and calendar alarms as well.
Price: ¥7,980 Color: black, white Size: 58mm x 24mm x 12mm Weight: 16.9 g
This is the world’s first pair of glasses which prevent facial recognition by cameras. They are currently under development by Japan’s National Institute of Informatics.
Photos taken without people’s knowledge can violate privacy. For example, photos may be posted online, along with metadata including the time and location. But by wearing this device, you can stop your privacy from being infringed in such ways.
“You can try wearing sunglasses. But sunglasses alone can’t prevent face detection. Because face detection uses features like the eyes and nose, it’s hard to prevent just by concealing your eyes. This is the privacy visor I have developed, which uses 11 near-infrared LEDs. I’m switching it on now. It prevents face detection, like this.”
“Light from these near-infrared LEDs can’t be seen by the human eye, but when it passes through a camera’s imaging device, it appears bright. The LEDs are installed in these locations because, a feature of face detection is, the eyes and part of the nose appear dark, while another part of the nose appears bright. So, by placing light sources mostly near dark parts of the face, we’ve succeeded in canceling face detection characteristics, making face detection fail.”
Compared with previous ways of physically hiding the face, this technology can protect privacy without obstructing communication, as all users need to do is wear a pair of glasses.
However, because this system utilizes the difference in spectral sensitivity between human vision and imaging devices, another method is needed for cameras that aren’t affected by infrared light.
“In that regard, what we’re thinking of is a visor that doesn’t use electricity, but uses reflective material. For example, one like this. This makes light from outside look white, or absorbs it. That pattern breaks up the features used in face detection. So you can prevent face detection even without using electricity, by wearing this visor. It is also very cheap to make.”
Event: NII Open House 2013
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