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Continue reading Mega Hurtz gun-wielding robot has a menacing look, unfortunate name

Mega Hurtz gun-wielding robot has a menacing look, unfortunate name originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When the inevitable Robot Apocalypse goes down, you can credit SRI International for helping the forces assimilate. The aforesaid entity has apparently been toiling around the clock on a technology it’s calling compliant electroadhesion, and to put things simply, it gives robotic climbers the ability to scale all sorts of walls made of all sorts of materials. Tests have shown wall-gripping robots climb surfaces made of steel, brick, concrete, glass, wood and drywall, which effectively eliminates any hope of you surviving the fallout based on the construction choice of your bunker. Thankfully, it does seems as if this could also be applied to human footwear, giving Earthlings at least a fighting chance of standing toe-to-toe with these guys on the side of the Menara Kuala Lumpur. Head on past the break if you’re looking for a horror film. Or a demonstrative video… same difference.

Continue reading SRI’s electroadhesion tech enables new army of wall-climbing robots

SRI’s electroadhesion tech enables new army of wall-climbing robots originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may not be able to build an HRP-4C fembot in your average garage, but the programming would practically take care of itself — not only does the AIST humanoid sing using off-the-shelf Yamaha Vocaloid software, its dance moves are click-and-drag, too. Roboticist Dr. Kazuhito Yokoi gave IEEE Spectrum an inside look at the HRP-4C’s motion trajectory software, which works much like 3D animation tools: you position the limbs where you want them to start and when you want them to end up using keyframes, and the software takes care of the rest. The system’s intelligent enough to generate a 6.7 second sequence from just eight keyframes, and it compensates for hazardous instructions, too — if your haphazard choreography would tip her over or send limbs flying, it’ll automatically adjust her moves. See how it works in a video after the break and hit up our source link for the full interview.

Continue reading Choreographing a humanoid robot’s dance routine is as easy as click and pull

Choreographing a humanoid robot’s dance routine is as easy as click and pull originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If only we lived in a world where we could actually have robot-maids like Rosie from The Jetsons, or those creepy butler robots from Sleeper. Okay, so technology has advanced enough to give us Roombas to vacuum our floors for us, but what happens when you’re eating a flaky croissant at your desk at the office and realize you’ve created an ant’s dream? Do you clean it up yourself? 

The answer is no. The Mini Robo Vacuum will be your new robo-BFF. He’ll sit upon your desk, and, with the simple push of a button on top of his tiny head, he’ll clean up all the messes you make. This little robot takes 2 AA batteries to sweep up your debris. The Mini Robo Vacuum comes in red, black, or a rather R2-D2-ish gray.

You can get it now for $20 at Fredflare.com. But, lucky for you, Fredflare is having a holiday preview sale. Enter code “flare” at checkout to receive 30 percent off sitewide. This deal ends on November 15, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Gibson‘s been riding the wave of tech for quite a while now — launching several “robot” guitars featuring functions such as fully automated tuning systems. For that, we give them credit: guitar purists are a tough bunch, and one that is most definitely resistant to change. So we can’t help but welcome (on principle alone) the Firebird X, even if our standard Firebird is way, way better looking. The Firebird X — which will retail for about $5,500 when it launches in December — features the robo-tuning head found on the Dark Fire, and a seriously sick range of built-in effects, including modulation, echo, reverb, compression, EQ, and distortion. Hey, purists may grimace at that non-Firebird headstock, but let them: you’ll be jamming with some sweet effects.

Gibson announces $5,500 Firebird X robot guitar originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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