Mar 07

This Tattoo Machine May Put Shady Artists Out of Business

Posted in: Robots, Robots Robotics, Today's Chili, Weird News

Auto Ink

Visualize your local tattoo parlor. If you don’t have a lot of tattoos, or don’t know a reputable, clean, and sanitary tattoo artist, you’re probably thinking of some seedy back-alley shack with hanging lights and cigarette smoke hanging in the air while some beefy guy with aviator glasses and a bandana tells you to get in the chair and pick what you want on your arm from the poster on the wall. Well, the future is now and the Auto Ink, an automatic tattoo machine, could spell the end of those seedy parlors forever.  
The Auto Ink is essentially a tattoo-drawing Maker Bot, which can be programmed to move the needle in any pattern you choose, or you can leave it up to the bot to determine what would look nice on your skin. Right now, the bot randomly chooses a religion, and will tattoo you with the faith’s relevant symbol – which isn’t necessarily a great thing if you get the wrong one on the inside of your arm. 
Still, the Auto Ink right now is part robot and part art project – Chris Eckert, the man who invented it, is making a statement about religion with his box, but perhaps what’s more interesting is the fact that you can build a robot tattoo artist that can be programmed to draw whatever you like. Sure, it’s not about to put any real body artists out of business, but it’s definitely a safer way for an 18-year old to rebel than visiting Big Jimmy and his house of dirty needles.
No Comments
Mar 07

New Japanese Robot May or May Not Be Lead Singer of Everclear

Posted in: Robots, Robots Robotics, Today's Chili, Weird News
geminoid1.jpg

I don’t know about you, but I’ll never hear that song “Santa Monica” the same way again. Not after watching this video of Geminoid DK, a new Japanese robot that has made a home for himself smack dab in the middle of the uncanny valley. The robot was designed to look like an associate professor at Aalborg University in Denmark, but honestly, if you were standing on a rainy rooftop and had to either shoot this thing or the guy from Everclear, do you really think you could make the right call?

Geminoid DK is the first robot created by Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) designed to look like a non-Japanese person. Head designer Hiroshi Ishiguro designed the first robot in the series after himself. The second robot was designed to look like a Japanese model. This new one, designed to look like Henrik Scharfe, appears to have stepped directly out a hipster version of The Polar Express.
The robot has motion capture technology and can move its face and head. It will live in Denmark, along with its face-sake.
Video of the Geminoid, after the jump
No Comments
Mar 01

Robot! Noodle! Chef!

Posted in: Robots, Robots Robotics, Today's Chili, Weird News
Chef Cui.jpg

It’s not as easy as it once was to carve our a living for oneself battling giant space aliens. It’s always a good idea to have a plan B. Take this Ultraman-esque Chinese robot, who’s now employed full time as a noodle chef.

Chef Cui was created by Cui Runquan, a 35-year-old inventor from Dongguan village, Yanyuan County, Hebei Province, China. Runquan was fed up with his old gig shaving noodles, so he designed the robot to help with the dirty work. He’s clearly happy how the whole thing turned out, “The design of the blades integrates the best angle and positions of a real human chef,” Runquan told the press. “This way the robot can perform good and efficient work.”
Runquan patented the ‘bot. Now it’s well on its way to global culinary domination. “My dream is that one day everybody will eat shaved noodles made by my robot.” As long as we don’t get attacked by any Godzilla knockoffs, I’m okay with that.
No Comments | Tags:
Feb 28

Cheetah Robot Can Outrun Man

Posted in: Robots, Robots Robotics, Today's Chili, Weird News
cheetah robot.jpg

Just last week we were taking solace in the locomotive limitations of robotkind. Sure, machines can beat us at Jeopardy now, but if push comes to shove, at least we can outrun the thing, right? Nope. Now we’ve got to contend with cheetah robots.

Boston Dynamics, the creators of the creepy BigDog robotic pack mule, are working on a speedy new four-legged robot modeled after the world’s fastest land animal. The robot will also be able to “zigzag to chase and evade.”
Whereas the Big Dog was designed as an all-terrain transportation device, carrying up to 300 pounds through treacherous locals, neither Boston Dynamics, nor Darpa, the military department that awarded the company with a contract for the new cat-like robot, have revealed what function such a speedy robot would serve–though odds seem pretty good that the whole thing involves a lot of screaming and fleeing. 
No Comments
Feb 27

Robot Marathon Ends With Extremely Close Finish

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

fivebipedalm.jpg

It might not be the fastest race in the world, but after more than two days of running, at least the competitors are determined. As we reported on Thursday, bipedal robots competed in a marathon (all 26.2 miles of it) in Osaka, Japan. Now, 54 hours and 57 minutes into the race, we finally have a winner after a surprisingly heated competition in the last few laps. Robovie-PC, constructed by Vstone, the Japanese robotics company that organized the Robo Mara Full, managed to finish first after 422 laps of the 100-meter track.

With only a few laps to go, Robovie-PC Lite, made by the same corporation as the winning Robovie-PC, froze up after establishing a commanding lead. It was only in the the last moments of the race that Robovie-PC was able to pass the temporarily disabled machine and seize the first-place position. Soon after, Robovie-PC Lite managed to work itself back onto the track and make up a good deal of the lost time, finishing only a second behind its robotic brother.

These little guys won’t be replacing human runners anytime soon, with an average speed of just under one half of a mile per hour, but organizers say the electrically-charged winners have demonstrated their prowess in durability and maneuverability over a very challenging exercise. 

[via PhysOrg, The Guardian]

No Comments
Feb 24

Toyota Robots Master Trumpet, Violin (Video)

Posted in: Robots, Robots Robotics, Today's Chili
toyota trumpet robot.jpg
February 2011 will surely go down as a huge month in the annals of robot history. There’s today’s launch of Robonaut 2, who will soon take up residency at the International Space Station; that bipedal robot marathon; and, of course, Watson, who granted, is a computer, not a robot, but still, when the great war between man and machine commences, which side do you really think he’ll be on?
And now here’s some footage of two Toyota robots who have mastered the trumpet and violin. Of course, if music is, as they say, all about feeling, then these two surely have a ways to go (perhaps emotion will be part of some future firmware upgrade).
Videos after the jump, naturally.
No Comments
Feb 24

Two Legged Robots Race in Japan

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

robot race.jpg

Well, this is encouraging. Just as we were all coming to grips with domination at the hands of Watson and his fellow know-it-all robot overlords, footage like this gets out. This is the first bipedal robot marathon, and in terms of future human enslavement, the results are pretty encouraging. The robots really sort of shuffle along and fall over–though they can right themselves for the record, so those planning on tipping over an invading robot hoard might want to rethink their approach.
The robots, which raced early today in Osaka, are also fairly tiny, with the largest coming in at 16 inches tall. The race itself is really an endurance contest, with the ‘bots walking around the 328 foot long course a full 422 times. Battery recharges and repairs are allowed during the raise. If they fall over, they’re required to right themselves without the help of a human-type person.
The four compete robots were designed by either the Osaka Institute of Technology or a company called Vstone.

No Comments
Feb 18

Humanoid Robot To Calm ISS Astronauts, Tweet About It

Posted in: Robots, Robots Robotics, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili, twitter

iss_sts121_big.jpg

If Watson’s massive win over the human race in Jeopardy! was a little too close to the robo-pocalypse for you, here’s a decidedly less confrontational artificial intelligence. Japan is considering sending a humanoid robot companion up to the International Space Station that would not only talk with the astronauts, but also to people on Earth using Twitter. According to an article on Space.com, the robot would have facial expressions that mimic a human being and serve as both a companion to the astronauts and a monitor for the space station. An engineer from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said this artificial being would be “very human-like” and would monitor stress levels and other health indicators. Unlike other Twitter bots, this one might actually be worth following as it will also be responsible for taking photos and tweeting them back down to Earth.

NASA’s humanoid Robonaut 2 is already slated to join the ISS crew on Thursday with the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, according to the robot’s Twitter account. NASA’s android is designed to help astronauts with things like cleaning, not to provide companionship and comfort like the one planned by JAXA. Similar to the Japanese robot, Robonaut 2 will be using Twitter from Earth’s orbit.

Japan is known for leading the way in humanoid robotics, so it should be interesting to see what the country’s space agency cooks up for the ISS astronauts. Hopefully something with a little less alarming facial expressions than this one.

[via Space.com]

No Comments
Feb 17

Detroit Will Get a Robocop Statue Thanks to the Internet

Posted in: Robots Robotics, Today's Chili, twitter, Weird News

Thumbnail image for robocop.jpg

Earlier this month, a man, who describes himself as a random dude from Massachusetts and not a mountain, tweeted “@mayordavebing Philadelphia has a statue of Rocky & Robocop would kick Rocky’s butt. He’s a GREAT ambassador for Detroit.” The Detroit Mayor promptly responded with “@MT There are not any plans to erect a statue to Robocop. Thank you for the suggestion.”

Just when it looked like all hopes for a glorious Robocop statue were dashed, the Internet took the matter into their own hands. A Kickstarter page, Detroit Needs a Statue of Robocop, quickly popped up, in attempt to raise the necessary money for the statue. And it succeeded! It gathered $55,583 from 1,848 Internet users. To help entice donations, they offered different prizes for the different levels of pledges, ranging from a Robocop Detroit Pin, to free drinks (in Detroit), to a RoboCop Detroit t-shirt. Score!

“Part Man, Part Machine, All Crow Funded!” Now to build the perfect monument to Robocop and find the ideal location (particularly in a area with heavy crime?). Thanks, Internet!

No Comments | Tags:
Feb 17

Computer Destroys Humans at Jeopardy

Posted in: Robots Robotics, Today's Chili, Weird News

numberwang colloson.jpg

Bad news for all those rooting for a come from behind
victory for the fleshy mammalian underdogs. IBM‘s
Watson trounced Jeopardy’s top all time 
winners, pulling in a cool $77,147 in winnings over three days. Ken
Jennings and Brad Rutter ended the tournament with a respectable (in human
terms) $24,000 and $21,600, respectively.

All three contestant managed to correctly guess the Final
Jeopardy answer, Bram Stocker (Answer: William Wilkinson’s “An Account of the
Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia” inspired this author’s most famous
novel)–Jennings even snuck a winking Simpsons homage into the response,
writing, “I for one welcome our new computer overlords.”

Nice try, Jennings.
Everyone knows that it’s the giant ants that get us in the end.

No Comments