Another good example of the mix of technology, interesting ideas and craziness in Japan.
United Arrows, A popular clothing chain store in Japan created the Marionettebot – a store show window display mannequin in Shibuya, Tokyo that mimics movement.
A Kinect technology camera hooked up to the mannequin with 16 wires and a specially developed motor allow the mannequin to imitate the movements of anyone standing in front of it.
We’ll see if this unique technology application will …
No, the robot invasion hasn’t begun. This six-legged robotic simulator is being used to train rugby players as a part of the management-transition training program at Thales. It is called the Thales Scrum Simulator. It was developed to analyze accidents in order to help avoid spinal cord injuries to players and now it is also used for coaching and match preparations.
This beast uses a six-axis motion system which responds to the player’s strength input using sensors on the back side beam and shoulder pads. Each player has his own weaknesses and it adjusts the resulting pressure. The pre-programmed control then makes sure that the reaction is as real as possible which enhances the training, making it more real.
The coach can also control it with a joystick and apply pressure to any area he wants. Right now, As of now this crazy thing is a part of the French national rugby training center in Marcoussis, near Paris.
It may make Rugby players tougher for now, but what happens when it gains sentience? I don’t want to be anywhere near it when that happens.
[via Humanoides.fr via Damn Geeky]
Lab rats have it bad enough having to jump through hoops and perform in order to be studied, but now life just got worse for the furry rodents. Scientists at Japan’s Waseda University have created a robotic rat designed to terrorize their organic lab rats, inducing stress and depression so their reactions can be studied.
Scientists need to depress rats in order to do things like test drugs for depression. I guess it’s hard to make a rat depressed, but with a robot rat harassing them constantly, they will be sad sacks in no time. The robot can be programmed to chase or attack a rat, or can become its only source of food.
Talk about psychological torture. These rats will be really bummed out and soon they will fear robots just like us.
[via Gizmodo via IEEE Spectrum via Geekosystem]
We have robots that can swarm on land and in the air and now they have invaded swimming pools. These robotic boats from the University of Pennsylvania are pretty neat and kind of cute too. Each boat is named after periodic table elements. And they won’t try to drown us either – not for a while at least.
For this DARPA-sponsored project, engineers are trying to get this fleet of small robotic boats to cooperate to form useful structures that can withstand the movements of water, while being able to stiffen as needed to handle vehicular or other traffic. The university has over 100 of these prototype floating robots. They are each controlled by a tiny Gumstix Linux computer use four separate motors to enable omnidirectional movement and zero-radius turns.
This is useful for more than just playing in the pool. A swarm of these robo-boats could form bridges, runways, or even islands. Imagine what larger versions could do for rescuing people at sea or forming impromptu bridges so that people could evacuate during a terrible storm. They could even help to create an impromptu runway for delivery of supplies and transport of personnel.
You can see the robots in action in the video clip below:
[via The Daily Pennsylvanian via iEEE Spectrum]
This week the folks behind F5 Robotics have revealed DiveBot, also known as the “world’s first ready-to-use underwater HD ROV under $1300.” That’s quite the feat, making such a device at such a price, and it’s coming in a way that’s no small challenge for the public as well – it’ll be crowd-funded on its way to reality. Through the crowd-funding platform indegogo, users will be able to put down an amount of cash that will gain them early access to a final product, knowledge that they helped fun the project, or just a friendly letter saying “thanks!”
With this ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) you’ll be able to dive on deep into the sea with a collection of parts that are at once easy to construct and inexpensive to purchase. This project includes no less than some of the brand new F5 Robotics XStream Brushless Thrusters, a rather successful set of robot-friendly parts that are selling like wild right this minute. DiveBot uses at least two of these thrusters as a set of its most important components.
With DiveBot, users will have the option to choose from one of several different kits. First there’s a DIY Development Platform that users can purchase to create whatever final vision they’ve got for their version of DiveBot at home. This set comes with the chassis and the thrusters so you’ll be able to create your own model.
Next there’s the Standard Version which will be wired with a high definition camera and a 50-foot tether complete with controls as well as video-out so you can hook up your own display onboard your ship, whatever that may be. The price of the DIY kit is currently projected to be between $600 and $700 USD while the Standard Version will be closer to $1200, then there’s one final version – the Deluxe Version.
The Deluxe Version is so exclusive that there’s not even a price for it yet – it’s so wild and crazy that you’ll not even be able to handle it! It includes the same hardware you get with the Standard Version but in this case you’ve got a 150-foot tether, a Waterproof Pelican case to carry everything in on the go, and a lovely daylight-viewable 7-inch LCD display (for all your viewing needs.) This and each other version coming soon will be available with optional “upgrades” to 500 feet of tether and AUX lighting – go big!
DiveBot hits indegogo as $1300 remote-control underwater robot is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Cloudrobot is, potentially, the worst name we’ve ever heard for a product. Thankfully, if this robotic pugilist ever does come to market, we’re pretty confident it’ll be under a different brand. These fighters are not nearly as cute or pocketable as the Battroborgs that punched their way through the Engadget compound recently. In fact, these guys are down right intimidating. The product of six developers and engineers based out of Budapest, the 16-inch tall bots pack 21 motors, controlled by an AVR chip, that allow them a stunning range of motion and precision. The movements themselves are passed to the bot by a computer, which is currently running a crude simulation / video game. The punches, blocks and footwork are all triggered by a standard gamepad connected via Bluetooth.
Rather than risk serious damage to these expensive machines, their all metal bodies are protected from blows by Everlast-branded boxing gloves. And, in fact, they rarely come in contact with each other (at least in their current form). For now points are counted in the virtual environment, rather than in landed hooks and jabs. Which might not be bad since the bots gain quite a bit of mustard on their shots thanks to electromagnets in their feet that keep them anchored to the ring. Primarily those magnets are for stability, so that the occasional glancing blow doesn’t send them toppling over, but it also lets them “sit down” on their punches, just like a real boxer. The company is currently looking for an American partner to help them produce and market the robots. It also has a rather ambitious target price of $300 per combatant, which may have them making some tradeoffs in the final design. The best thing we can do, though, is let Cloudrobot speak for itself, so check out the video after the break.
Gallery: Cloudrobot hands-on
Filed under: Robots
Harvard University has pushed its soft robot concept in strange directions, but an exploding robot? That takes the cake. A new three-legged, silicone-based variant of the robot is filled with methane and oxygen that, when jolted with electricity, explode and trigger violent pressure that pushes the limbs off the ground. As you’d imagine, the results weren’t exactly timid during testing — the example robot jumped over 30 times its body height, and it would have jumped higher if not for additional tubing holding it down in the lab. The power easily eclipses that of pure air, and could be vital to rescue robots or other public safety machines that could very literally leap to someone’s aid. Don’t anticipate exploding automatons on the streets anytime soon. We’ll just be glad that, if they do arrive, they’ll be trying to help us rather than kill us.
Via: Gizmag, New Scientist
Source: Wiley Online Library
Us humans are surprisingly familiar with Mars’ surface, yet we haven’t studied its higher altitudes — an odd discrepancy when the sky plays as much of a role as the soil in determining the planet’s climate. We’ll get a better balance in our research now that NASA and Lockheed Martin have finished constructing the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution probe, or MAVEN. The robot craft will learn how quickly the Martian atmosphere is escaping into space and give us a better idea of how the planet’s arid landscape came to be. Lockheed Martin still needs to conduct space simulation tests and ship MAVEN to the Kennedy Space Center, but the ship should launch in November and deliver results roughly a year later; that’s a quick turnaround for a probe that could answer riddles spanning millions of years.
Source: NASA
Would you like to own this massive ED-209 replica? Your move punk. Some guy is selling it on eBay for $25,000(USD). Hopefully you don’t live in Detroit or your purchase will be killed by Robocop.
According to the seller, this ED-209 model was made for Robocop 2 and may have been used as a stand-in for the robot during production or created as a marketing piece to promote the movie. This beast stands at over 10-feet-tall on two hind legs built with pneumatic cylinders.
As of this writing it is still available. Go ahead and make an offer, but don’t be that guy who says, “I’d buy that for a dollar.” You need $24,999 more than that. And ED-209 doesn’t do well on stairs. He’s probably best in a one story home.
[via Obvious Winner]
Higashihikari elementary school welcomed a robot through its doors this week. A new model Robovie will join the Japanese school’s students for classes over 14 months, aiming to gain sentience strike up interactions with multiple people — and learn from it. The Robovie’s conversation level is apparently equal to a five-year-old child, although it’s been augmented with all the know-how of a fifth-grade science textbook and preloaded with 119 facial photos and voiceprints of teachers and students. It’s the first long-term project for the International Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute’s 1.2-meter bot, with the scientists reckoning that the school environment should offer its robot major input.
Via: Far East Gizmos
Source: Mainichi
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