Apr 30

Ball Balancing Robot Goes Round, but Wont Fall Down

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

BalllP Robot

There have been robots that can balance themselves and even objects and people on top of them (think Segway and the Honda U3-X)–but the robot that can balance on top of a ball is a rarer species. Now there’s one that can do this and, adding a new wrinkle, rotate around its vertical axis.

Like a toy dog in a circus, BallIP (short for Ball Inverted Pendulum) can roll along atop a rubber-coated ball without falling over. It can even balance objects on top of itself while balancing on the ball–a trick even the circus dogs can’t duplicate.

According to a post on the IEEESpectrum blog, the robot is the brainchild of Dr. Masaaki Kumagai, director of the Robot Development Engineering Laboratory at Tohoku Gakuin University, in Tagajo City, Japan. He began building what’s known as “inverted pendulum” robots back in 2004 with the goal of creating a single ball-balancing bot. BalllP works to keep its inclination at zero degrees and to keep the rolling ball under it in the same spot.

What makes BalllP a standout is its ability to roll with the ball in virtually any direction. This is thanks to the three sets of omnidirectional rollers that drive the ball’s stability and direction from above. It can also manage to stay upright even if pushed.

[Image is from a video of a 2008 BalllP prototype]

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Apr 26

Scientists Steer Car With Their Eyes

Posted in: robot, Robots Robotics, science, Today's Chili
Robotic_Car_ScienceDaily.jpg
Scientists in Germany have developed computer software that lets them steer a car with their eyes, ScienceDaily reports.
eyeDriver, the prototype software application, was designed by computer scientists at Freie Universitat Berlin in collaboration with SensoMotoric Instruments, the report said. The program collects the driver’s eye movements using SMI’s HED4, an upgraded bicycle helmet, and then converts them into control signals for the steering wheel.
The helmet itself contains two cameras and an infrared LED, and hooks into a laptop computer. One camera points forward, while the other films the eye’s movements; the infrared light supports the eye camera, according to the report.
So far, the software only works with the steering; the car’s throttle and brakes aren’t yet controllable in this manner.
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Apr 14

NASA, GM to Launch Robot into Space

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

NASA_GM_Robot.jpg

Remember Robonaut 2, the GM and NASA-developed humanoid robot?

It’s going for a little ride.

NASA has announced it plans to launch the first human-like robot to space later this year, where it will live permanently on the International Space Station.
GM’s 300-pound Robonaut 2, or R2, is capable of working alongside humans at GM manufacturing plants, and was also engineered to work alongside astronauts in space.
R2 will launch on space shuttle Discovery mission STS-133, which is currently scheduled for December. GM said in a statement that it plans to monitor how the robot operates in weightlessness.
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Apr 09

Computer-Controlled Audi to Climb Pikes Peak

Posted in: gps, robot, Robots Robotics, Today's Chili
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Stanford University researchers are developing in-car technology that could improve driver safety, and in extreme cases, even allow regular cars to drive on their own.
The latest example is a GPS-equipped Audi TTS coupe, dubbed Shelley after Michelle Mouton, the first woman to win at Pikes Peak. The self-driving Audi will soon face the 4,721-foot high, 12.4-mile International Hill Climb–quite a big jump from the modest automatic parallel parking systems available today, as the Associated Press reports.
“What we’re trying to do is create an autonomous race car, an autonomous rally car, so a car that can drive itself up to the very limits of handling,” said Christian Gerdes, a Stanford engineering professor and director of Standford’s Center for Automotive Research, in the report.
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Mar 29

iPhone App Controls NASA Mars Robotic Rover

Posted in: iPhone, NASA, robot, Robots Robotics, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
NASA_EclipseCon_Mars_iPhone.jpg
We’ve seen examples before of the iPhone acting as a remote control for something–but EclipseCon 2010 attendees have gone a step further.
Conference attendees were challenged to create a robotic control system to drive a NASA-built robot across a prototype Mars landscape. As Slashdot reports, developers had to either prove their e4 programming skills by creating an e4-Rover client, or use an existing e4 client to operate the rover through a series of tasks to collect points.
The winning entry was designed by Peter Friese and Heiko Behrens, who together coded up an iPhone client that controls the robot using the iPhone’s accelerometer. Watch the video after the break for a short demonstration.
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Mar 24

New ASIMO Robot Prototype Revealed

Posted in: robot, Robots Robotics, Today's Chili
Honda_Asimo_P4.jpg
Honda is continually tinkering with its ASIMO robot, with the latest prototype version weighing just 176 pounds–over one hundred pounds less than the prior model.
Engadget reports that ASIMO P4, as the latest iteration is known, sports 34 degrees of freedom, a more flexible waist design for improved walking and dancing, and a snazzy blue upper torso.
Honda just revealed the P4 prototype at the Honda Collection Hall in Motegi, Japan, the report said. No word on when we’re all going to get to try out controlling robots with our brains, but I still have my fingers crossed.
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Feb 15

Toy Fair 2010: Bossa Nova s New Raptor Robot-Toy, Blazor

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

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We loved last year’s Bossa Nova Robotics offerings, Prime-8 and Penbo (check out our kid-tested review of the oddly cute penguin robot with the remote control baby nested in her belly here). In 2010, the innovative toy-robot company is bringing a brand-new brand, iloveRobots, which will include Penbo, Prime-8, and 2010’s new toy: Blazor, pictured.

This raptor-bot has three play modes: Search and Destroy, when he’ll explore and hunt down his prey; Guard, in which he’ll frighten off intruders; and Direct Control, which lets his human direct his moves. And like his iloveRobots siblings, Blazor can detect motion, avoid objects, and interact with other bots (including facing off with Prime-8). We’ll see him ship this fall, retailing for $40, for kids 4 to 8.

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Feb 04

NASA and GM Create Humanoid Robot

Posted in: NASA, robot, Robots Robotics, Space Tech, Today's Chili

NASA_GM_Robot.jpg

The impending robot takeover gets closer: NASA and GM have developed and built Robonaut 2, a second generation humanoid robot that is faster, more dexterous, and more technologically advanced than before. Both companies said that the new robot can use its hands to do work, and even work safely alongside people. OR SO THEY SAY.

“This cutting-edge robotics technology holds great promise, not only for NASA, but also for the nation,” said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement. “I’m very excited about the new opportunities for human and robotic exploration these versatile robots provide across a wide range of applications.”

NASA and GM hope their robotics partnership–through a Space Act Agreement at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston–will lead to advanced safety systems for future vehicles, improved safety and efficiency in manufacturing plants, and in space, the ability to aid astronauts during hazardous missions. I’m not scared at all.

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Feb 02

PETA Wants Groundhog Replaced With Robot

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

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Like it isn’t hard enough for a groundhog to find a job in
this economy. Now PETA wants the country’s (if not the world’s) most famous
representative of that strain of rodent replaced by a robot. The People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals issued a statement to coincide with Groundhog’s
Day asking that Punxsutawney Phil be replaced by an animatronic groundhog for
future celebrations.

The group took issue with Phil’s captivity and the huge
crowds he’s carted out in front of each February 2nd. The president
of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney
Groundhog Club, William Deeley, suggested that PETA is just looking for
attention, adding that Phil is, “being treated better than the average child in
Pennsylvania.”

Maybe this is a case for child services, after all. 

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Jan 20

Slightly Scary Research Robot Simulates 1-Year-Old Child

Posted in: Robots Robotics, Today's Chili

diego_san_1.jpg

This little guy comes to us from the Machine Perception Lab at UC San Diego, in a collaboration with Japanese robotics company Kokoro. According to Pink Tentacle, “Diego-san” was designed to help scientists understand how children develop motor skills and learn gestural communication.

This sophisticated robot clearly is much larger than a typical 1-year-old. Its giant head contains 20 moving parts, helping it to produce facial expressions (including, apparently, profound disgust), as well as high-res cameras for “eyes,” an audio speaker to allow speech, and “6-axis accelerometers in the ears that allow it to detect orientation and movement.” It can also pick up objects and stand up from a seated position.

His face is a prototype, still in development. You’ve got some work ahead of you there, folks.

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