Feb 08

Fake robot baby provokes real screams (video)

Posted in: Japan, robot, Today's Chili, video

Uncanny valley, heard of it? No worries, you’re knee-deep in it right now. It’s the revulsion you feel to robots, prostheses, or zombies that try, but don’t quite duplicate their human models. As the robot becomes more humanlike, however, our emotional response becomes increasingly positive and empathetic. Unfortunately, the goal of Osaka University’s AFFETTO was to create a robot modeled after a young child that could produce realistic facial expressions in order to endear it to a human caregiver in a more natural way. Impressive, sure, but we’re not ready to let it suckle from our teat just yet.

Continue reading Fake robot baby provokes real screams (video)

Fake robot baby provokes real screams (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 06:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceGetRobot Blog  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Feb 07

TiaLinx’s Cougar20-H surveillance robot can peer through walls, see you breathe

Posted in: robot, Today's Chili
You may be able to outrun it, but you probably won’t be able to hide from TiaLinx’s new Cougar20-H surveillance robot. While it might not look like much, the bot packs an impressive RF array that’s not only able to detect movement within a building (though concrete walls, no less), but is even able to detect a person breathing inside a building at “long standoff distances.” Perhaps not surprisingly, complete details are largely being kept under wraps (the bot was developed with some help from the U.S. Army), but this isn’t simply a prototype — it’ll be rolling out next month and is expected to be put to use byvarious law enforcement and government agencies. Head on past the break for the official press release.

Continue reading TiaLinx’s Cougar20-H surveillance robot can peer through walls, see you breathe

TiaLinx’s Cougar20-H surveillance robot can peer through walls, see you breathe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 03:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourceTiaLinx  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Feb 03

Texas student sends robot to school in his place, can’t get it to do his homework

Posted in: education, robot, Today's Chili, video
You may have recently seen telepresence robots played for laughs on The Big Bang Theory, but they do also have quite a few practical purposes, and high school student Lyndon Baty from Knox City, Texas is now using one to particularly great effect. He has a weakened immune system that prevents him from actually attending school, so he’s using a remotely-controlled Vgo telepresence “robot” that allows him to move from class to class and interact with teachers and other students using nothing more than his laptop and webcam at home. The bot itself is four-feet tall, self-balancing, and simply packs a basic video conferencing system up top that allows its operator to interact with their surroundings — at $5,000, it’s also considerably cheaper than some other similar options. As Popular Science notes, however, this isn’t the first time that a telepresence bot has gone to school — a student in Russia suffering from leukemia has also been using a similar bot since September of last year as part of a pilot project from the robot’s designers. Head on past the break for the local news report from Texas.

Continue reading Texas student sends robot to school in his place, can’t get it to do his homework

Texas student sends robot to school in his place, can’t get it to do his homework originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Slashdot  |  sourceTexomasHomepage.com  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Feb 02

Robo-Rainbow, all the way (video)

Posted in: robot, Today's Chili, video

Paul Vasquez, meet your mech god… if god rode a bicycle and illegally tagged decrepit streetscapes with happy bands of color. Watch this complicated technical solution assist with a simple act of vandalism art urban renovation in the video after the break.

[Image credit: Donna Zoll]

Continue reading Robo-Rainbow, all the way (video)

Robo-Rainbow, all the way (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Adafruit  |  sourcemudlevel (Vimeo), donnazoll (Flickr)  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Feb 02

RoboEarth teaches robots to learn from peers, pour European fruit beverages (video)

Posted in: network, robot, RobotApocalypse, robotics, Today's Chili

It’s not quite war-ready, but a new Skynet-like initiative called RoboEarth could have you reaching for your guide to automaton Armageddon sooner than you think. The network, which is dubbed the “World Wide Web for robots,” was designed by a team of European scientists and engineers to allow robots to learn from the experience of their peers, thus enabling them to take on tasks that they weren’t necessarily programmed to perform. Using a database with intranet and internet functionality, the system collects and stores information about object recognition, navigation, and tasks and transmits the data to robots linked to the network. Basically, it teaches machines to learn without human intervention. If the introduction of this robo-web hasn’t got you thinking of end times, maybe this will do the trick: it’s already taught one robot, the TechUnited AMIGO, to deliver a box of creamy fruit juice to a bedridden scientist. You can check out video of the newly appointed automated waiter after the jump.

Continue reading RoboEarth teaches robots to learn from peers, pour European fruit beverages (video)

RoboEarth teaches robots to learn from peers, pour European fruit beverages (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 22:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Materialise  |  sourceRoboEarth  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Feb 02

Keepon robot soon available to the masses in toy form as the $40 My Keepon

Posted in: robot, Today's Chili, toy, video
Keepon robot now available to the masses in toy form as the $40 My Keepon

We’ve been having a torrid affair with the Keepon robot since 2007, his simple yellow shape and unflappable adherence to the beat capturing our hearts. But, sadly, this has been an unrequited love, as the little guy has only been available to research institutions (and, apparently, rock bands) at the tear-inducing price of $30,000. Now there’s a version we can finally bring home to mother, the $40 My Keepon. It’s being dubbed a “toy,” so we have our doubts that it can bust the same sort of moves its Pro predecessor puts down (embedded after the break), but we’re certainly going to be first in line to find out when they hit stores. No, we don’t know when that is just yet, but we’re told all will be revealed on February 14th. Yes, Valentine’s Day.

Continue reading Keepon robot soon available to the masses in toy form as the $40 My Keepon

Keepon robot soon available to the masses in toy form as the $40 My Keepon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink BotJunkie  |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Feb 02

Lego bot built to test Kno’s tablet textbook, human overlords watch gleefully (video)

Posted in: lego, robot, Robots, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili, video

Just because the first few tablet textbooks have shipped doesn’t mean that members of Kno’s development team are resting on their laurels. Product testing on the Kno tablet continues — and it looks like Lego is doing the heavy lifting. They’ve put our favorite plastic building blocks to work by constructing a Kno stress tester out of Lego Technic parts. The robot checks both the Kno’s ambient light sensor and the ability of its touchscreen to accurately track the system’s pen swipes and flicks. Though not as intricate as a Lego replica of a 2000+ year old mechanical computer, the robot — with its hypnotic pendulum-like motion — is still a sight to behold. Check the video after the break.

Continue reading Lego bot built to test Kno’s tablet textbook, human overlords watch gleefully (video)

Lego bot built to test Kno’s tablet textbook, human overlords watch gleefully (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Feb 01

Self-balancing Anybots QB now shipping, the future of telepresence is now (video)

Posted in: available, now available, NowAvailable, robot, Today's Chili, video, wifi, Wireless
Self-balancing Anybot now shipping, the future of telepresence is now

First they came for our telepresence, and we did not speak because we couldn’t afford them. Then they came for our physical presence, and there was no one left to speak out for us. Yes, Anybots are coming, the self-balancing QB robot available for purchase and shipping now, but at $15,000 we’re thinking not too many of you will be jumping on this bandwagon to start. As we saw in our hands-on in December the self-balancing bots enable you to be somewhere that you aren’t, controlled through a simple web interface and enabling executives to remotely monitor and run over the toes of their peons toiling in the office while said execs sit comfortably at home. There’s some footage of one of the bots in action below, which you’d better watch before one of them captures footage of you maintaining a state of inaction.

Continue reading Self-balancing Anybots QB now shipping, the future of telepresence is now (video)

Self-balancing Anybots QB now shipping, the future of telepresence is now (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAnybots  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Jan 27

Control Your Parrot AR.Drone with a Surface Table from Microsoft

Posted in: iPhone, Microsoft, Miscellaneous Tech, robot, Tech Toys, Today's Chili, Toys, videos
Most people have seen the Parrot AR.Drone at this point. It made a splash at CES earlier this month, and was the star of the show last year; the little iPhone-controlled quad-copter is a combination toy and reconnaissance drone is perfect for fun neighborhood spy missions. However, what if you could control your Parrot AR.Drone with a Microsoft Surface table? 
These French researchers from Winwise have created an app that uses the same commands as the AR.Drone’s iOS app, just laid out on a Microsoft Surface table that you sit in front of to control. They claim the idea came to them when they were thinking of a way to build a cockpit for the drone, and that the Microsoft Surface was a great way to blow up the image from the drone’s camera. 
The controls work well enough, but considering the drone retails for $299.99 and Microsoft’s Surface systems are “ask if you want one” when it comes to price, it’s unlikely we’ll start seeing them show up in living rooms anytime soon.
 
No Comments
Jan 26

UrRobot’s Robii hides a multitouch projector in his circus tent (video)

Posted in: projector, robot, Today's Chili, toy, video

This cute, bearmonkey-like creature with animatronic head and arms perched atop a rotating, but otherwise fixed torso is called Robii. He’s built by Compal Communications, the ODM more often associated with handsets, and will be sold under the new UrRobot brand in Taiwan. The 16,900 NTD (about $582) toy robot features an interactive projector tucked away inside of Robii’s circus tent. When extended, it projects interactive video for gaming and infotainment — very similar to the projected multitouch display we saw demonstrated by Light Blue Optics at CES 2010. Robii can track moving objects using its built-in cameras and comes equipped with an ambient light sensor, and voice and image recognition. It’s also capable of barking commands at children with the appropriate visage (from a catalog of 100 facial expressions) to ensure dutiful compliance. Quick demo after the break.

Continue reading UrRobot’s Robii hides a multitouch projector in his circus tent (video)

UrRobot’s Robii hides a multitouch projector in his circus tent (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink DigiTimes  |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments