Hasta La Gadget!

Secom has come up with an autonomous flying surveillance robot that, when working in a pack or in tandem with one another, would be able to deliver added peace of mind. Considering how the world has turned out to be a more and more dangerous place by the day, it makes perfect sense to enlist whatever kind of help possible to help you in securing your property or area where you live. Just how does Secom’s autonomous flying surveillance robots work? For instance, whenever there is an unauthorized person or vehicle that enters a parking lot of commercial facilities, manufacturing plant, site of a storehouse, or other sites where it patrols, the robot will approach said person or vehicle, followed by snapping photos of it. This would come in handy for security forces to track a suspicious looking vehicle, as well as operate in areas where there are no surveillance cameras or cameras which are too far away to capture a decent shot or video recording.

Of course, it does make one wonder whether someone with malicious intent would just shoot down these robots, and will the robot be smart enough to perform evasive maneuvers? Perhaps, or I might just be getting my imagination ahead of me. Still, this would greatly assist security forces around buildings to perform a more thorough check and patrol of the area for sure, and assuming Secom’s flying robots go about their business quietly, these mechanical automatons might just be stealthy enough to capture a robbery in progress.

The robot will carry a laser sensor, camera, communication device, computer, and LED lamps among others, measuring around 80cm in diameter while tipping the scale at 1.6kg. It has a battery reserve that allows it to fly non-stop for approximately 15 minutes, and we do wonder what kind of CMOS sensor this bad boy to carry, as not all places it is going to patrol will be well lighted, and is there a flash function built-in?

Source
[ Secom flying surveillance robots offers peace of mind copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

One thing’s for sure – nuclear power plants are not exactly the safest place in the world to be, never mind that it delivers far more energy to the world compared to traditional methods, although there is the issue of disposing of nuclear waste in a clean and efficient manner. After all, all of that garbage will still need to go somewhere, right? Well, the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March last year still lingers on in the memories of many, where entire towns were leveled, and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company Inc. was crippled, resulting in it being a radiation hazard to the general public. It was rather ironic that Japan had to enlist the help of robots from the US in order to help in the clean up, which is why the Japanese decided it would be best to come up with home grown robots just in case something similar (keep your fingers crossed that it doesn’t) happens sometime down the road. Toshiba has come up with a version of a four-legged robot that will help out in nuclear plants.

This particular Toshiba robot will see action for surveillance as well as recovery operations in areas where it is not deemed safe for humans to work. Boasting a camera and a dosemeter among other hardware specifications, this Toshiba robot can be remotely controlled in order to check on the state of power plant’s innards, especially in areas where the radiation levels are way too high for a human to venture into safely, lest he or she turns into a green rage monster – or something.

Sporting an algorithm which Toshiba came up with in order to control the robot so that it can walk on an irregular ground or steps alongside its multi-jointed structure, this particular puppy is capable of getting up and about on all four legs, all the while avoiding obstacles in addition to navigating through stairs without missing a beat – in both directions. This would allow it to operate in areas where wheeled and crawler-type robots are unable to work in.

Toshiba is also kind enough to throw in a tiny vehicle which can be hooked up to the four legged robot with a cable, where this add-on will be tasked with snapping photos of the facilities around, various equipment and pipes that are located at the ends of narrow paths and behind structures. Toshiba intends to continue developmental work of the robot so that it can be more utilitarian, installing shields, stopping water leakage, as well as taking out obstacles.

Source
[ Toshiba 4-legged robot to venture into nuclear power plants copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Have you ever wondered whether we will be able to reach the level of medical advancement such as found in I, Robot and the Star Wars universe? Body parts that are replaced with bionic segments which not only offer the ability to function in an even more efficient manner compared to the original, and yet is far longer lasting. Perhaps mankind has just taken another step closer to such an age, where research engineers over at Vrije Universiteit Brussel have managed to develop a new powered transtibial prosthesis that is capable of mimicking natural ankle movement, while ensuring that it uses energy in an efficient manner. Rather they relying on powerful motors which start and stop with every step, this particular new system will run a small electrical motor non-stop, ensuring that it keeps stretching a rubber band, which will result in energy that the bionic foot can use as a source of motive power.

Through the act of lowering the overall energy requirement of prostheses, this means that you need not use more batteries, and smaller batteries are always a good thing as it ensures that the overall weight of the device remains lowered. Not only that, being smaller would mean it is more quiet, while more efficient motors also help simplify design as well as implementation purposes.

Called the AMP-Foot 2.0, it relies on a spring that is called the plantar flexion (PF) spring, helping accumulate energy from the dorsiflexion phase of stance while the actuator is actually injecting energy into another spring, where the latter is known as the push-off (PO) spring – and that happens during the complete stance phase. A locking system will see energy stashed in the PO spring, before heel off (HO) occurs, which remains within the system for a release so that a push-off can happen. We do wonder just how much something like this is going to cost when it becomes publicly available.

Press Release
[ Robotic ankle makes a splash copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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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At school like Carnegie Mellon, it sort of figures that you’d find robots just about everywhere, performing the sorts of tasks we’ve traditionally left to us more fleshy types. In the two days we’ve spent on campus, we’ve seen ‘bots do just about everything — some far more autonomously than others. Take Roboceptionist — the robotic secretary was one of the first intelligent beings we encountered upon arriving on the premises, artificial or otherwise, greeting us from a wooden kiosk near the entrance to Newell-Simon Hall.

The receptionist’s creators named him Marion “Tank” Lefleur — but don’t call him “Marion.” It’s really a sort of a “Boy Named Sue” scenario, and calling him by his birth name is a surefire way of getting on his bad side. When he’s not getting irritated, Tank’s tasked with helping you find things on campus — people, halls, food — by way of a small keyboard. He’s got a surprisingly complex backstory that informs his answers. Ask him how his mom and dad are doing and you’re bound to get some fairly bizarre responses — same with more straight forward questions about finding a place to eat on campus, for that matter.

Continue reading Robotic butlers, bartenders and receptionists at Carnegie Mellon (video)

Filed under: Robots

Robotic butlers, bartenders and receptionists at Carnegie Mellon (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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