Hasta La Gadget!

Robots for Humanity? That certainly doesn’t jibe with our notion of the upcoming cyborg apocalypse. And it shouldn’t, considering this joint effort’s noble aim is to assist the disabled with the everyday household chores most of us take for granted. The project, a collaboration between Willow Garage and Georgia Tech’s Healthcare Robotics Lab, has been working with stroke victim Henry Evans to develop custom UIs that give him mastery of the human-assistive PR2 robot. These tailor-made, head-tracking interfaces have allowed the mute quadriplegic to partially shave his face and even scratch a previously unreachable ten-year itch — all with the helping claw of the friendly bot. It’s a compassionate use of cybernetic tech we’re used to seeing come out of Japan, and a welcome assist for disabled communities everywhere. Click past the break for a video demo of Henry and his robotic pal.

Continue reading Robots for Humanity help around the house, scratch your itch (video)

Robots for Humanity help around the house, scratch your itch (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While most American sports fans were busy celebrating a World Cup victory over Brazil this weekend, an indubitably more compelling soccer tournament was drawing to a close in Istanbul — site of RoboCup 2011. Virginia Tech’s Team DARwin made history at this year’s event, becoming the first US squad to bring home top honors in both the Kid Size and Adult Size competitions. The petite DARwin-OP humanoid danced circles around the lightweight class, while the five-foot CHARLI-2 demoralized Robo Erectus in the big boys’ final with a last-minute penalty kick. In its international debut, the CHARLI-2 (pictured, in a moment of Zen, on the right) also earned the vaunted Louis Vuitton Humanoid Cup, ending a nine-year period dominated by teams from Germany and Japan. These programmed Peles may not the most graceful of strikers, but RoboCup organizers remain convinced that autonomous bots will be able to compete with human athletes by 2050 — which might just give us enough time to develop a taste for soccer. Dribble past the break to see Team DARwin in action, along with an extra clip from the BBC.

Continue reading DARwin-OP, CHARLI-2 humanoids make history at RoboCup 2011, ‘U-S-A!’ chants ensue (video)

DARwin-OP, CHARLI-2 humanoids make history at RoboCup 2011, ‘U-S-A!’ chants ensue (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Technology wired the human body in incredible new ways this week as Inhabitat reported that a paralyzed Japanese man embarked upon an adventure through France with the aid of a robotic exoskeleton. We also watched NASA launch a pee recycling bag that turns urine into a sports drink, and we spotted a pair of bionic eyeglasses that could help the blind see. On the other hand, robots are getting more and more creative – check out these psychedelic LED light paintings made by Roomba vacuums. We also saw a new study show that kids are predicting the future of technology, and Toysmith gave ordinary cardboard packaging a fun robot reboot.

Futuristic aviation made major headwinds this week as the European Union invested $6.2 million dollars to develop a new breed of “myCopter” flying cars. We also watched as the eGenius airplane shattered a world speed record and Thomson Airways launched the UK’s first airline powered by cooking oil. Green machines hit the streets as well as BMW unveiled its blazing Motorrad E-Bike and Pope Benedict XVI scored an M-Class Mercedes hybrid Popemobile.

In other news, alternative energy gained major ground as a report revealed that America now receives more power from renewable sources than from nuclear plants. Meanwhile, we set sail for the world’s first renewable energy island, and we dug up a deserted tin mine that has been transformed into a 1.4 MW solar plant. We also explored the greener side of technology in our Ask a Tech Geek series as gadget expert (and Engadget founder) Peter Rojas explained ways to cut your laptop’s power consumption, the key to energy-efficient gadget charging, the intricacies of your laptop’s sleep mode, and the best way to recycle your old cables and chargers. Finally, as summer hit its peak we took a look at a few fresh new designs for fun in the sun – check out this incredible grass globe illusion that popped up in Paris and this beautiful wind chime bridge that sings with the forest winds.

Inhabitat’s Week in Green: bionic eyeglasses, renewable energy island, and a hybrid Popemobile originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s face it: you’ve probably never met a hemispherical omnidirectional gimbaled wheel that you didn’t like. Neither has Curtis Boirum, a grad student at Bradley University. The aforesaid whiz kid has put together one of the most visually stunning robots we’ve seen in some time, and while the frame itself is nothing to get hot and bothered about, the motion capabilities most definitely are. The secret lies in the black rubber hemisphere, which rotates like a top and is outfitted with servos that are able to tilt the entire mechanism left / right / forwards / backwards. What’s wild is just how fast those changes happen — something tells us that whole “on a dime” thing was born to be used right here. Head on past the break for video proof.

Continue reading Curtis Boirum’s robotic car makes omnidirectional dreams come true (video)

Curtis Boirum’s robotic car makes omnidirectional dreams come true (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A while back we got a detailed look at the innards of Qbo, TheCorpora’s open-source robot. But we haven’t gotten to see the little guy in action — until now. His handlers recently let him loose to run autonomously, guided by a pair of webcam eyes and voice recognition courtesy of Willow Garage’s ROS software. The team soon noticed some unexpected behavior, though. Despite being programmed to follow humans at a specific distance, Qbo trailed uncomfortably near with taller people — probably the first example of a robotic “close walker.” Poring over the log files revealed why: proximity was calculated based on faces. The faces of taller people were farther away from the ground-hugging robot, which adjusted accordingly. Roll your way down the page to see more of our cute mechanized friend, and over to the source link for more musings on programming him.

Continue reading Qbo, the open-source robot, interacts with people, makes adorable mistakes (video)

Qbo, the open-source robot, interacts with people, makes adorable mistakes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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