Hasta La Gadget!

Hmmm, will robots eventually take over other of the more mundane tasks and jobs that we humans do? I suppose a certain degree of automation at factories worldwide has caused many to lose their jobs as they are made redundant, especially when a robot is capable of performing their task much faster and more efficiently without getting tired than human counterparts. What is the next possible job to get obsolete? Would flipping burgers be one of them? Probably, but I don’t think so, as it is more of an art than an exact science when it comes to flipping burgers. Alpha machine from Momentum Machines, however, is still capable of cooking up a storm with its tasty burger, and has been touted to produce “gourmet quality burgers at fast food prices.”

Taking advantage of a conveyor belt-type system, the burgers will be freshly ground, shaped and grilled according to the customer’s preferences, and when the burger is completely cooked, the Alpha will then slice the tomatoes and pickles, placing them on the burger before wrapping it up. It is said that the Alpha machine can dish up 360 hamburgers each hour, now how about that? Sure sucks to be made redundant by a robot, no?

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We have seen how robots add value to human life, whether it is at the hospital or to wash windows and performing other potentially risky jobs and chores, but how about appealing to the artistic part of our life? Well, you ought to know that Mind Out is a 20-foot cube, and all that you see on it has been covered by a single, unbroken, zigzagging line which took a total time of a fortnight to draw using a robot. The robot will run software that has been coded largely by Mattias Jones, who himself claimed that he is inspired by “a deep and abiding love of pattern.”

Jones said, “The algorithm used for determining the pen’s route is based on how bees choose their own path flower to flower.Whilst being up to my elbows in the maths and code of it, the reasons for choosing [the aesthetic] were purely visual–I appreciate the very organic shapes that occur from lots of short, straight lines.”

Will robots come up with the next Mona Lisa?

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Have you seen a bee dance before? I haven’t, and it is safe to assume that most folks haven’t, either. Bella here is a bee robot, and she will not be hankering after some 100-something year old bee that sparkles in sunlight, but rather, will be the educationist to 400 Milwaukee-area first-graders concerning everything that has to do with bees. This will include the figure-eight waggle dance that honey bee scouts rely on to communicate the exact location of flowers and water to others in the same colony.

The dance will comprise of a couple of loops with a straight run in the middle, where the direction of the straight run will show the direction of the food source, while its rate of looping and duration of buzzing will be proportional to the food supply’s distance. A Milwaukee teacher’s voice had been recorded before to explain answers to questions which have been recorded by actual Milwaukee students.

Bella measures 3 feet in length, and is fully interactive, boasting a 10.5” LCD display with an 11-button-capacity touch pad.

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Remember Romo, the adorable iPhone-faced track-equipped robot? We met up with Romotive in Vegas at CES 2013 to play with the 3rd generation model that was recently launched on Kickstarter. The company also gave us an exclusive first look at a 3rd generation prototype with Lightning connector. We sat down with CEO Keller Rinaudo to discuss the new robot and catch up on what the team’s achieved over the past year.

As a refresher, we first encountered Romo when we covered it for our Insert Coin feature in October 2011. Back then, the robot used rudimentary analog electronics and plugged into the iPhone’s headphone jack. After a successful initial Kickstarter campaign, Romotive moved from Seattle to Las Vegas where we caught up the team on our stage during CES 2012. The 2nd generation model was available both pre-assembled and it kit form with support for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. It was upgraded to digital electronics but still used the audio interface to control its tracks and featured hacker-friendly auxiliary ports. Hit the break for more.

Continue reading Romo gen 3 gains Lightning connector, we go hands-on (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Robots, Mobile, Apple

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Unless you have loads of cash at your disposal or work for the federal government, chances are you haven’t heard of Robotex. The start-up, featured here at CES 2013’s Eureka Alley, specializes in creating automated solutions for a variety of security applications (think: SWAT busts, radiation level monitoring, etc.). Traditionally, these high-end robotic solutions carry a price tag in the tens of thousands, but starting this week, Robotex is targeting the consumer market with its Avatar. Set to retail for $299, the blue tank-like bot links up with iOS devices (an Android version’s coming in Q1) via USB to communicate with a companion app over Bluetooth 4.0 for remote monitoring. In its current incarnation, the Avatar doesn’t do much apart from offering telepresence — authenticated by the company’s servers — but the robot has been designed to be open source. To that end an SDK and HDK will be made available allowing tinkerers to craft up their own innovations. Unfortunately, due to the abundance of wireless signals here at the show, Robotex’s reps weren’t able to get the Avatar up and moving around the floor. But in a typical home environment, users should expect to get up to an hour and a half of “driving” time out of the robot. There’s no video of the Avatar in action, so instead, check out the gallery below.

Filed under: Misc, Software

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