Hasta La Gadget!

Meet Charles: the robotic GPS system that can tell when you’ve got road rage. Yes, he’s a tad scary looking, but according to the Cambridge professor who created him, you won’t feel like throwing him out the window when you’re frustrated. The disembodied satnav robot (head and torso only), which sits in the passengers seat, is designed to respond to a driver’s emotional cues, like facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. Charles takes this information and responds accordingly, providing sympathetic phrases when he senses frustration. Researchers say the robot is about 70 percent accurate at detecting emotion, or about as accurate as any human. We say a backseat driver that can’t hit back is 100 percent awesome.

Continue reading Cambridge professor creates creepy, emotion-sensing GPS system

Cambridge professor creates creepy, emotion-sensing GPS system originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Robots are among our most polarizing technological innovations. Some of us love and openly embrace bots, while others live in near constant fear of an android coup. When I hear, “robot learns to run like humans,” I imagine robot races and bipedal bots bounding over hills to help save us. The fearful, however, see their worst fears realized: “Now robots can actually chase and catch us.”

Robot researchers like Ryuma Niiyama (currently working in MIT’s Robot Locomotion Group) couldn’t care less about your fears. According to a report in IEEE Spectrum, Niiyama is building a biped robot called “Athlete” that uses artificial muscles and prosthetic feet to run at speeds and in a style more akin to human locomotion. Previous humanoid robots like the Honda Asimo use a complex array of motors, sensor and actuators to walk and even, in the case of Asimo, “run.” However, anyone who has seen Asimo dash around a stage knows that the bot’s motion doesn’t look entirely natural.

Niiyama’s robot mimics some aspects of human running to achieve a more natural gait. The robot’s artificial muscles reside entirely above the “knees”. Below that it’s all prosthetic elastic blades that some double amputees use for running. As a result, the robot springs forward with each step–as humans do– and uses its muscles and sensors to maintain balance as it races forward; again, pretty much as people do when they’re running.

So far, Niiyama and his team have only been partially successful. Athlete runs a few unaided steps but then falls over. Watch the video below, which charts Athlete’s development from an early 2007 model to today’s elastic-blade-fitted Athlete.

Video after the jump.

Continue reading AR.Drone gets Urbi open source robot interface drivers, tracks a red rubber ball like nobody’s business (video)

AR.Drone gets Urbi open source robot interface drivers, tracks a red rubber ball like nobody’s business (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Israeli electronics and defense engineers wouldn’t be the first group of people we’d peg to leap into the robot massager biz, but that’s exactly who’s behind the Wheeme from DreamBots inc. According to the firm’s about page, the Wheeme was developed to meet “the increasing demand for smart products that offer the natural feeling of caressing, relaxation, falling asleep and even just tickling.” True to those goals, the device works by moving slowly across a person’s body to provide a gentle massage using its soft silicone rubber “fingerettes” (a.k.a wheels). Special tilt sensor technology ensures it won’t fall off or lose grip while motoring either — making the Wheeme a master at its trade — at least for customers lying down. Officially this rover will start shipping in the spring of 2011, but pre-ordering the device which costs $49 plus shipping will guarantee you don’t miss out on any of the drive by goodness. To view the Wheeme going to work while narrowly avoiding crashes, check out the embedded video after the break.

Continue reading Wheeme massage robot asks where it hurts to drive away the pain

Wheeme massage robot asks where it hurts to drive away the pain originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 02:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s days like today where you realize just how badly you need to scratch that DIY itch, and Adafruit‘s newest two circuit boards couldn’t be landing at a more opportune time. Both of these bad boys are classified as Gadget Gangsters, which makes ’em viable for purchase without any additional investigation. Should you choose to, however, we’ll have you know that the Propeller Platform USB is an open-source platform for building your own electronics projects with a new eight-core Parallax Propeller chip; the ProtoPlus model adds video / audio support as well as a “prototyping area.” Tutorials are available in the source links for those inexperienced with Spin, and at just $50 / $15 (respectively), we’d say they’re well worth the purchase if you’re looking to simply get your toes wet. Better known as “become hopelessly addicted to modding” ’round these parts.

Adafruit Propeller Platform USB entices DIY electronics builders, ‘Gadget Gangsters’ at large originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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