DARPA’s Pet-Proto robot climbs, balances, jumps, comes to get you

DARPA's PetProto robot climbs, gauges, jumps, comes to get you

While Boston Dynamics‘ Cheetah has already premiered, speeding along on its robot-friendly treadmill, we’ve now got a better glimpse at how the similarly DARPA-funded human-hunting obstacle-scaling Atlas fares, courtesy of its ancestor. That’s the Pet-Proto you can see in the video below, balancing and leaping across narrow terrain, conducting its own “autonomous decision-making” and keeping upright — all very important points for DARPA’s own Robotics Challenge, a competition where winners will gain access to their very own modified version of the Atlas for future disaster response tests. Watch the Pet-Proto gradually advance towards camera right after the break. And we’ll sleep with one eye open.

Continue reading DARPA’s Pet-Proto robot climbs, balances, jumps, comes to get you

Filed under: ,

DARPA’s Pet-Proto robot climbs, balances, jumps, comes to get you originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDARPA TV (YouTube), DARPA Robotics Challenge  | Email this | Comments

Boston Dynamics’ Latest Humanoid Robot Is Better Coordinated Than You

Say hello to Pet-Proto. Manufactured by Boston Dynamics, which makes robot versions of everything from fleas to horses, it’s a humanoid robot that can run, jump and climb over objects—probably a damn site better than you’re able. More »

Platypus airboats have a Nexus S for a brain, we go eyes-on (video)

Platypus Android handsetpowered airboats eyeson video

Here’s another extremely cool offshoot of the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute. Platypus LLC build autonomous robotic airboats that can be deployed for a wide range of usages including environmental data and monitoring hard-to-reach spots after natural disasters like flooding. The hull of the boat looks a good deal like a boogie board, built from polyurethane. On top, you’ll find a propulsion fan assembly, just behind a hard plastic electronics compartment that houses internals like the Arduino board. That microcontroller communicates via Bluetooth with a smartphone that sits in the front of of the boat, safely cocooned inside an Otterbox case.

The models we saw this week were carrying Nexus S handsets — relatively cheap solutions bought second-hand off of eBay. Just about any Android phone should do the trick, but in the case of this project, where phones can get wrenched loose or just outright pilfered, cheaper is certainly better. Platypus’ proprietary app helps control the boat autonomously, using the handset’s camera to provide situational awareness. Sensors mounted on the boat, meanwhile, offer up information on oxygen and PH levels, temperature and more.

Continue reading Platypus airboats have a Nexus S for a brain, we go eyes-on (video)

Filed under: , ,

Platypus airboats have a Nexus S for a brain, we go eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePlatypus  | Email this | Comments

10-Foot-Tall, Flamethrowing Transformers Bumblebee Costume for Sale

With only a week to go, it’s getting to be too late to start building your own really complex costume for Halloween. But if you happen to have $9,000 kicking around, and happen to live in Phoenix, AZ, you might still be able to pull off the best costume of the year.

transformers bumblebee costume 1

This spectactular handmade Transformers Bumblebee costume is for sale up on Etsy. It was built by Travis Culling of AZCostumes, and measures 9.5-feet-tall. It’s comprised of 7 pieces, including a pair of drywall stilts in the legs to help make you taller. Bumblebee is constructed mostly out of wood, flexible foam and latex paint, and even has working LED lights and headlights for showing off at night.

transformers bumblebee costume 2

It’s even got a working flamthrower in one of the hands, powered by butane and capable of shooting flames 3 to 4 feet. Here it is standing alongside his pal Optimus Prime, in case you had any doubts that this was a real Autobot.

transformers bumblebee costume 3

This one-of-a-kind costume is available over on Etsy for the low-low price of just $9,000 (USD). And if you don’t live in Phoenix, you can have it shipped for $250. I just don’t think you’ll get it in time for Halloween.


Hummingbird is a ‘pre-Arduino’ for kids (video)

Humminbird is a 'preArduino' for kids video

It’s an Arduino — you know, for kids. Or, as BirdBrain Technologies’ chief robot design Tom Lauwers put it, a “pre-Arduino.” It’s never too early to get kids into robot building — or so goes the thought process behind this nectar-loving kit. At its center is a custom controller that can be used to manipulate a slew of different sensors, motors and lights, a number of which are included in the box. Getting started is extremely simple — don’t believe us? Check the video after the break, in which Lauwers connects two wires to get the whole process underway.

The kit’s also reasonably priced at $199 a piece. On top of the controller, you get a handful of LEDs, two vibration motors, four servos and light, temperature, distance and sound sensors. The kits are currently available through the company’s site (click on that source link). Lauwers tells us that his company (which you may remember from last year’s MakerFaire NYC) is working on a slightly more affordable option priced at around $130, which scales back a bit on the in-box components.

Check out a conversation with Lauwers — and a pretty awesome cardboard dragon — below.

Continue reading Hummingbird is a ‘pre-Arduino’ for kids (video)

Filed under:

Hummingbird is a ‘pre-Arduino’ for kids (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceHummingbird Kit  | Email this | Comments

Drones and Swarm Bots Working Together Is an Adorable Preview of Mankind’s Downfall

Up until now the divide and conquer technique was mankind’s best approach to quelling any robot uprisings. But now that self-assembling swarm bots—scary in their own right—are teaming up with eye-in-the-sky drones to tackle tricky obstacles, we’re pretty much screwed. More »

Bossa Nova Robotics Launches The MObi, A Bot That Rides On A Ball

mObi Image

If you told me yesterday that today there would be a robot that balances on a single ball and can locomote itself around the room on said ball, I’d say you were a crazy person. Well, you’re not a crazy person. Bossa Nova Robotics, makers of the Penbo line of robotic toys, has just launched the mObi [sic], a robot that “is based on technology that allows the robot to balance on a ball and move seamlessly with a single point of contact on the ground, enabling natural omni-directional movement, slender design profiles and superior navigation in human environments.”

The robot, shown here, balances on a single ball. Bossa Nova worked with engineers at Carnegie Mellon University to get this girl rolling and apparently it will be available as a research platform first and then as an actual product in around 2013.

We’re trying to get a bit more information, but until then just imagine how fun it would be to treat this robot like a self-righting punching bag clown and then, when it got angry enough, it would lash out with razor-sharp claws.


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

Image

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:

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.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Robot Hall of Fame inducts Big Dog, PackBot, Nao and WALL-E (video)

Image

It’s the sort of ceremony that’s so magical it can only occur on even-numbered years. Inventors, educators, entertainers, college students and media folk gathered at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA tonight for the 2012 inductions to the Robot Hall of Fame, a Carnegie Mellon-sponsored event created to celebrate the best of our mechanical betters.

This year, the field included four categories, judged by both a jury of 107 writers, designs, entrepreneurs and academics and the public at large, each faction constituting half the voting total. The show kicked off, however, with the induction of 2010 winners, the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, the da Vinci Surgical System, iRobot’s Roomba, the Terminator and Huey, Dewey and Louie, a trio of robots from 1971’s Silent Running.

The first ‘bot to secure its spot in the class of 2012, was the programmable humaoid Nao, from Aldebaran Robotics, which beat out the iRobot Create and Vex Robotics Design System in the Educational category. The PackBot military robot from iRobot took the Industrial and Service category, beating out the Kiva Mobile Robotic Fulfillment System and Woods Hole Oceanographic’s Jason. Boston Dynamic’s Big Dog ran over some stiff competition in the form of Willow Garage’s PR2 and NASA’s Robonaut to win the Research title. And WALL-E triumphed over doppelganger Johnny Five and the Jetsons‘ Rosie in the Entertainment category. Relive the festivities in four minutes after the break.

Continue reading Robot Hall of Fame inducts Big Dog, PackBot, Nao and WALL-E (video)

Filed under:

Robot Hall of Fame inducts Big Dog, PackBot, Nao and WALL-E (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Disney Super Robot Chogokin: Defender of the Magic Kingdom

As if hanging out with videogame characters wasn’t cool enough, Mickey Mouse and his Disney pals are connecting with geeks even more with the introduction of this awesome Bandai Chogokin action figure.

disney super robot chogokin

As with other super robots, this one is made of smaller robots: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto. It’s possible that there are other elements to the uber-robot that are not included in the gallery below. Either that or Pluto’s doghouse pops out of his butt.

disney super robot chogokin 2 175x175
disney super robot chogokin 3 175x175
disney super robot chogokin 4 175x175
disney super robot chogokin 5 175x175
disney super robot chogokin 6 175x175
disney super robot chogokin 7 175x175
disney super robot chogokin 8 175x175
disney super robot chogokin 175x175

I wonder if it has a huge keyblade. Kotaku says the action figure will sell for ¥13,440 (~$168 USD). It won’t be available until March 2013, but Bandai will show off a prototype of the action figure at Akihabara UDX from October 26-29, 2012.

[via GetNews via Kotaku]