Apr 18

Festo shows off robot penguins and other visions of the future

Posted in: robot, robotics, Today's Chili

The folks at Festo have already proven themselves to be more than adept some intoxicating, slightly unnerving feats of robotics, but they look to have really outdone themselves with their latest group of creations, which all fall under the banner of the company’s Bionic Learning Network. While they’re all certainly impressive, the real star is undoubtedly the AquaPenguin which, in addition to being creepily realistic, is fully autonomous and even able to outperform its real-life counterpart in a few tasks, like swimming backwards. Of course, Festo apparently couldn’t help themselves and also built a flying, blimp-like AirPenguin, and they applied some of the same basic technology to a number of other devices, including a robot arm that’s precise enough to change a lightbulb, and a freestanding interactive wall that’s sure to spruce up any lobby. Hit up the YouTube link below for a video that provides a brief overview of the whole lot, or head on over to Festo’s site for the even better German version (plus some additional details on the projects themselves).

Read – YouTube, “Festo Bionic Learning Network 2009”
Read – Festo

[Thanks, Gunter]

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Festo shows off robot penguins and other visions of the future originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 15

Hands On: Honda Robotic Walking Assistant Prototypes

Posted in: robotics, Robots Robotics, Today's Chili

lancerobolegs.jpg

Honda was in town today showing off its recently announced Stride Management Assist and Bodyweight Support Assist prototypes. Designed by members of the team that brought the ASIMO Humanoid robot into the world, the two wearable devices are aimed at improving locomotion in users.

PCMag editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff and myself had the opportunity to see the devices up close–and to try them out. After the jump, check out footage of Lance taking the Stride Management Assist and Bodyweight Support Assist prototypes for a spin around the W Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

And for a full-hands-on–well, legs-on–review of the new devices (and a slideshow), check out our story at PCMag.com.

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Apr 06

Infant Robot Still Learning and Creeping the Bejesus Out of Us

Posted in: Japan, robot, robotics, Robots, Robots Robotics, Today's Chili

babyrobot.jpgHiroshi Ishiguro’s over-sized “baby” robot, CB2, has made a lot of progress since we last reported on him…er..it, in 2007. According to a report on Breitbart.tv, the 73-pound, roughly 4-foot-tall robot can now walk with assistance, and navigate its way around a room. It’s also very adept at creeping people out by following them with its inky-black eyes. Apparently CB2 has been programmed to record facial emotions, much as a baby would, to help it better respond to human interaction. The Breitbart report also notes that just below its gray, silicon skin are a host of sensors so it can react to all kinds of subtle touches.

The researchers’ goal is to have CB2 talking–in a child-like-way–within two years. The rest of report recounts much of what we already know about the rapid pace of robotics development in Japan. There is, however, a bizarre diversion to Kokoro (a subsidiary of Hello Kitty manufacturer Sanrio). The company actually makes some life-size robots of its own, and its planning department manager, Yuko Yokota, spoke to Breitbart. His words really speak for themselves:

“Robots have hearts,” said Yokota. “They don’t look human unless we put souls in them. When manufacturing a robot, there comes a moment when light flickers in its eyes. That’s when we know our work is done.” 

Umm, yeah. Remind me never to buy one of those robots.

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Mar 09

Netbook-based robot takes popcorn orders via-Twitter

Posted in: diy, hack, mod, netbook, robotics, Robots, Today's Chili, tweet

In the far-out, sci-fi future of 2009, robots are doing some pretty amazing things, like capturing prowlers, assembling communications networks, and playing Rock / Paper / Scissors. Now, with a little help from RoBe:Do and Twitter, robotics has achieved what may be its crowning achievement: couch-side popcorn delivery. Coppa is a $1,649 software-ready robot (you supply the machine’s netbook brain) that arrives with native support for a plethora of languages and tools (including C / C++ / C#, Flash AS3, Java,Microsoft Robotics Studio, .NET, and Visual Basic), and ships with a 12V rechargeable battery, autofocus webcam, and a sonar system. Optional accessories include motion, heat, and humidity sensors, and servo-driven grabbing actuators. The video below shows one such unit that’s been programmed to take popcorn orders via-Twitter, timed to deliver the goods when the operator arrives home from work. Couch surfing may never be the same.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading Netbook-based robot takes popcorn orders via-Twitter

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Netbook-based robot takes popcorn orders via-Twitter originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 22

Anthropomorphic robot shows off its Rock, Paper, Scissors-playing skills

Posted in: Games, research, robot, robotics, Robots, Today's Chili

BERTI (built by a partnership of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory and Elumotion Ltd.) is a fully automated robotic torso designed to perform “credible conversational gestures.” The robot is capable of quite complex hand movements, and, in the demonstration video above, plays a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with a fine gentleman wearing a Goldfinger t-shirt, becoming another addition to the long line of gaming bots. Hit the read link to find out more info about BERTI and the project.

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Anthropomorphic robot shows off its Rock, Paper, Scissors-playing skills originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 18

Tatsuya Matsui – Robot Design Seminar

Posted in: robotics, Today's Chili

Robot designer Tatsuya Matsui is known for his innovative humanoid robot creations Posy and Palette, the former having appeared in Lost in Translation and the latter (a robotic mannequin) featured in a Louis Vuitton shop in Paris.

flower robotics posy©Flower Robotics Inc.

His company Flower Robotics, is actively working with robotics for real life. Whether for communication between man and machine, or for interactive retail installations, Flower Robotics is at the cutting edge of design and technology, both of which are crucial to making robots that humans can not only use, but connect emotionally with. Without design, the connection is lacking.

flower robotics palette 1©Flower Robotics Inc.

The above photo is a CG rendering of the upcoming head pieces for Palette, which is expected to become a mass-produced item used in retail. After years of development, perhaps it’s now time for robotics to take center stage as both an example of Japan’s innovative power and as the next Big Technology that will further our lives.

Metropolis covered Matsui’s creations for an exhibition back in 2007 in a pretty good overview.

flower robotics©Flower Robotics Inc.

On Monday, March 9th at 7 p.m. Tatsuya Matsui will be giving a Robot Design Seminar at the Design Hub in Tokyo Midtown. To reserve a spot go to this link , and we’ll be there as well to get our own glimpse of our robotic future.

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Feb 18

Navy report warns of robot uprising, suggests a strong moral compass

Posted in: military, robot, robotics, Today's Chili

You know, when armchair futurists (and jive talkin’ bloggists) make note of some of the scary new tech making the rounds in defense circles these days it’s one thing, but when the Doomsday Scenarios come from official channels, that’s when we start to get nervous. According to a report published by the California State Polytechnic University (with data made available by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research) the sheer scope of the military’s various AI projects is so vast that it is impossible for anyone to fully understand exactly what’s going on. “With hundreds of programmers working on millions of lines of code for a single war robot,” says Patrick Lin, the chief compiler of the report, “no one has a clear understanding of what’s going on, at a small scale, across the entire code base.” And what we don’t understand can eventually hunt us down and kill us. This isn’t idle talk, either — a software malfunction just last year caused US. Army robots to aim at friendly targets (fortunately, no shots were fired). The solution, Dr. Lin continues, is to teach robots “battlefield ethics… a warrior code.” Of course, the government has had absolutely no problems with ethics over the years — so programming its killer robots with some rudimentary values should prove relatively simple.

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Navy report warns of robot uprising, suggests a strong moral compass originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 06

Robotic smart buildings under development in Japan, J.G. Ballard says ‘told ya’

Posted in: Japan, robotics, Robots, Today's Chili

Think of it as home automation but on a far larger scale: The Small Robotics Building project is a joint undertaking by Shimizu Corp and Yasukawa Electric Corp in Japan. Utilizing smart infrastructure technology and robotics, the companies are creating an automated living environment that can handle such duties as reception, deliveries, cleaning, and security, without the need for human intervention. Instead of relying on individual robots to perform functions like human detection and device control, all this is handled by the building-wide network, which then dispatches robots to perform various tasks. Sure, this all sounds very High Rise, but don’t start mulling over notions of postmodern alienation yet: all we have right now is a demo called the Smart Showroom, where visitors are greeted by an adorable robot, who gives a little presentation while involving spoken explanations and a projector. Sounds innocent enough, right?

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Robotic smart buildings under development in Japan, J.G. Ballard says ‘told ya’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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