Robots aren’t only taking over our duties as factory workers and amusement park guides. They’re also slowly taking over our cool jobs too, like on the International Space Station, where Kibo will serve to entertain Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata with inspirational tweets from earth—and also look adorable floating around in zero gravity. More »
When I was a kid, watching movies like Robotech sure got my adrenaline pumping. Imagine walking around in a giant robot suit which can transform into a jet fighter capable of defending the innocent against alien attacks, only to revert to an upright, humanoid form factor as and when required. Well, today we will see the possibilities of having more robot suits “walk” around us down the road, although these will be a whole lot smaller compared to what the Robotech universe offers.
The Hybrid Assistive Limb, better known as HAL, is actually a power-assisted pair of legs that was constructed developed by Japanese robot maker Cyberdyne, who has managed to successfully develop similar robot arms, too. HAL has received a certificate from a quality assurance body which will allow it to be sold worldwide later this year, although you will have to have rather deep pockets to wear one of these around, as they are leased at approximately $1,950 annually. Any takers?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Robocop Would Be Proud Of The Robosparrow, Two Quadrocopters Seen Performing Pole Acrobatics,
We’ve seen plenty of robots based on animal designs. Nature knows what it is doing after all. Researchers, much like leopards, don’t change their spots. They are still working on robot designs that will run us down and devour us. Like the Pneupard, a robotic leopard from Osaka University.
This robot is driven by compressed air. It is still a prototype, which is why this thing doesn’t seem very fast or certain on it’s feet. Plus, its front legs and spine are incomplete right now. Regardless, the artificial muscles that it sports are impressive and when this robot gets further along, it will be more nimble, I’m sure.
It’s movements were based on the movements of a cat walking on a treadmill. I’m guessing they’re not talking about these cats.
They are hoping that capturing movements this way instead of programming the system by hand will lead to a more authentic movements.
[via IEEE Spectrum via Geekosystem]
Drones are starting to be used for more than war and espionage these days. Even journalism schools are trying to harness them, by offering classes on drone reporting, despite that this practice is illegal for professional journalists.
Domestic US drone regs are still strict about their use, and while some companies would love nothing more than having Big Brother have their eye in the sky watching you, there’s something to be said about using drones for improving journalism, not in order to invade the privacy of others. In the Drone Journalism Labs of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Missouri, students are learning how to fly UAVs, collect video footage and phtoos, interpret the FAA regs and grapple with ethical questions.
The hope is that drones could be used for things like water sampling, drought surveillance, and controlled fire tracking.
[via FastCompany]
As we already know LEGO robots can do all sorts of things, both useful and useless. This particular build falls into that latter category – unless you consider solving the completing the silly Tamago Egg app to be a good expense of time and energy.
For those of you unfamiliar with Tamago, it’s a smartphone app that simply involves tapping on the screen in order to crack open a virtual egg and see what’s inside. Oh, did I happen to mention you need to tap it 1 million times? This sounds like a job for a robot!
That’s exactly what LEGO NXT builder Jan Gerritsen created with his motorized Mindstorms NXT contraption, designed with a single purpose – to endlessly tap on the screen of his smartphone so he can finally see what’s inside the egg. Here, check it out:
If that Britney/will.i.am jam has to be stuck in my head, you have to deal with it too. I like how there’s a second iPhone sitting there whose sole purpose is to time the other one.
Anyhow, according to Jan’s math, the generally useless ‘bot will need 37 hours to tap 1 million times, and crack open the Tamago Egg once and for all. It’s not quite done yet, but while we wait, Jan recommends that we drink beer and eat some M&Ms. I couldn’t agree with him more.
This robotic bat wing was developed by Wayne Enterprises – I mean Brown University. Because you need a wing if you want to build a bat. In fact, you need two. Right now, it is just a wing, but with this wing they can learn more about the aerodynamics of bat wings and how bat flight works.
The wing isn’t identical to the natural wing of the lesser dog-faced bat that it is based on, but close enough for studying how they work.Check out the video to see it in action.
Whatever mad creation they intend to spring on the world, it will have bat wings and probably suck our blood. Thankfully, they haven’t gotten that far yet. They can put it on a real bat later just for laughs. Or maybe a rat. Or an octopus. That would be horrifying.
[via Geekosystem]
We’ve seen quadrocopters do some amazing things over the years as they’ve played the entire James Bond theme song, can fly autonomously with the help of the Kinect and even fulfill the dreams of a dead cat by taking him on a little joy ride. The latest quadrocopter exercise Flying Machine Arena has captured for our viewing pleasure shows them performing some extremely impressive pole acrobatics.
Throwing around a stick probably wouldn’t be considered that big of a deal to us humans, but to have quadrocopters performing these acrobatics feats, especially when you consider they do it with pinpoint accuracy, then we know you’ll probably be impressed too.
Unfortunately, we don’t see any serious juggling as the two quadrocopters featured in this video don’t throw around their pole to one another. Instead, one quadrocopter tosses a pole to the other, the the second quadrocopter catching it. Still, this is pretty impressive when you think how it was achieved.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Blackjack Dealer Robot Helps Even Up The Odds , Germ-Killing Robot,
Think of every unhinged video you’ve ever seen on YouTube, and multiply that by a billion. Then, and only then, will you be able to comprehend the amazingness that is the Mechawhales: A couple of short, cel-shaded CG cartoons starring a gigantic sperm whale that’s not only able to navigate dry land, but also wage war thanks to a mechanical suit it wears. More »
While I hate using Buzzfeed-style headlines, this video warrants the hyperbole. We’re all familiar with the magic of quadcopters – they can fly in formation, roll around obstacles, and even interact with each other. This video demo, however, takes the cake. These little fellows are flying in formation while balancing a reverse pendulum. They’re essentially doing baton tricks in mid-air.
Created by the folks at ETH Zurich’s Flying Machine Arena this video shows the robotic cooperation not seen since Voltron. The project, by Dario Brescianini, involved a great deal of mathematic modeling.
The project involved assessing the necessary forces and angles required to launch the pendulum off of the little, flying platform and then the attendant moves necessary to grab the pendulum from mid-air. In short, we’re talking about robots that could pass an object over an obstacle without much difficulty.
You can read more about these robots here or you can just marvel at their wild shenanigans.
By all logic bats shouldn’t be able to fly. They’re basically rats with wings, yet somehow they manage to soar through the air, and researchers at Brown University have finally figured out how. But since they’re not the easiest animals to work with, Kenneth Breuer and Sharon Swartz created this biologically accurate robotic bat wing that perfectly mimics the creature’s motions. More »
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