Hasta La Gadget!

After Microsoft’s Surface multitouch table premiered, early implementations were limited: retail stores, hotels, restaurants, bored executives goofing off in board rooms, and university researchers modeling totally kickass Dungeons & Dragons games.

But why waste your time controlling virtual armies of NPC henchmen when you can control REAL armies of tiny robots? Or giant ones? That’s the Doctor Doom move. You don’t even need to peek at your WWDDD? bracelet from inside your hideous metal mask.

Nobody at the UMass-Lowell Robotics Lab (as far as I know) has a hideous metal mask. And they haven’t even built the robots yet — so this is still at the D&D level of virtual awesomeness/villainy, not cartoonish super-villainy.

But there’s important, amazing, yet simple tech at work in this proof-of-concept demo. The researchers use multitouch to send the robots scurrying around to execute commands, but also to pan and zoom a map of where they’re operating, create virtual subcontrollers, and display text and video data, all within the same interface.

The lab’s work focuses (among other things) on human-robot interaction, robot vision, interactive learning, and disaster response. The ease-of-use of multitouch controls is clearly valuable in all of those scenarios. As Evan Ackerman gushes at BotJunkie, “It’s not even that there’s anything that innovative going on here, strictly… It’s just that Surface is able to merge existing hardware and existing controls into a new interface, which makes all the difference.” Ackerman also notes that very little innovation in robotics research is happening at the UI level; the fact that a consumer/commercial product can be introduced on this end solves a slew of practical problems for existing robotics, not to mention potentially putting control of the technology in the hands/fingertips of many more people.

Now imagine if this research merged with the retail applications of Surface already in use. You go to a bar, touch a table, order a drink — and a robot navigates the room and brings it to you.

From UMass-Lowell Robotics Lab via the Microsoft Robotics Blog and BotJunkie.

See Also:

• D&D + Microsoft Surface = Unheard-of Levels of Radness
• First Look: Microsoft Milan Surface Computer — A Table That Knows What’s On It
• Microsoft to Install Surface Systems in AT&T Stores
• Microsoft Shows Off Surface in Sheraton Hotels
• Quadrocopters Work Together to Lift Loads, Destroy Mankind
• Robo Spiders Are Multilegged Mechanical Marvels
• Gallery: Robot Bartenders Sling Cocktails for Carbon-Based Drinkers

Follow us for real-time tech news: Tim Carmody and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Now, two of our favorite things in the world just so happen to be ice cream and robots. So combining the two could only lead to awesome things, right? Well, that’s Yaskawa-kun is: a robot that vends ice cream. And yes, it’s super fantastic. Currently working a Tokyo Summerland, Yaskawa-kun has a touchscreen ordering panel, and you can even watch him make your treat for you. While the video below is pretty impressive, this is one thing we just need to see for ourselves.

Continue reading Robot sells ice cream, we love him for it

Robot sells ice cream, we love him for it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The first prototype of a Nao robot that can develop emotions as it interacts with a human caregiver has been completed. A team across Europe was led by Dr. Lola Cañamero of the University of Herefordshire in the UK to develop the bot, which differs in several significant ways from those that came before it. These robots develop over time in much the way that a child does, learning to interact with and respond to the human beings around them. Modeled after human and chimpanzee childhood development paths, they are programmed to be highly adaptable to the people around them, and to become attached to whatever person is most suited to its needs and ‘personality’ profile. Over time, the more they interact, the more they learn and bond to the human being. These little ones, moreover, are capable of expressing a wide range of emotions, including anger, frustration, fear and happiness. The next steps are to research the bots’ emotional and non-linguistic behavior, and to move toward combining linguistic and non-linguistic communication to become further attached and adapted to them. Yes, we want one.

Prototype of robot that develops emotions on interacting with humans officially complete originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ROCR — the Oscillating Climbing Robot — was developed at the University of Utah by William Provancher. Its main talent is the ability to climb carpeted walls by using its hook-like claws and is powered by a motor and a pendulum tail that wings like a grandfather clock. Designed to move efficiently and in the vein of a human rock climber, ROCR is able to climb an 8-foot carpeted wall in just about 15 seconds. The team’s findings will be published in Transactions on Mechatronics this month, and while future applications include possible uses as an inspection or maintenance tool, Provancher says that in the short term, ROCR will likely be used for education or as a “really cool toy.” Video is below.

Continue reading Robot equipped with hook-like claws and pendulum can climb carpeted walls

Robot equipped with hook-like claws and pendulum can climb carpeted walls originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Roboscooper: a cute little toy or an exercise in excruciating frustration? You decide. The six-wheeled robot is like a cross between Wall-E and the 1980s “favorite” Big Trak. In fact, the product page even bills it as “WowWee’s answer to Wall-E” (WowWee is the manufacturer). Unlike Wall-E, this ‘bot looks like it would have trouble lifting anything weighing more than an empty potato-chip packet. Which brings us to the frustration.

You can control Roboscooper by remote or leave it in “autonomous” mode, whereupon it will scoop up anything it encounters, dumping it into the tiny flatbed at back. If the Roboscooper actually had a scoop, it would probably manage this ok. But those hands look to be as slippery and grip-free as the claw in an arcade toy-grabbing machine, and as pathetic as my sleep-weakened fingers as I reach from the bed and try to lift the bourbon bottle to my lips for my first “helper” of the day. In short, the Roboscooper looks like it will scoop precisely nothing. Or at least, nothing heavier than one ounce, the weight limit for those little arms.

It does have one feature that Wall-E doesn’t. It can talk, offering such trite and annoying phrases as “Let’s get to work!” and “One step closer to a cleaner world.” Ugh.

So, it might not replace your Roomba, but then it comes at a decidedly un-Roomba price: $70, and ready for pre-order now, should there be a kid in your life that you hate enough to give them this as a gift.

Roboscooper [Robots Rule. Thanks, Robert!]

See Also:

• Bigtrak is Back! 80s Robo-Toy Resurrected
• Urban Roverbot Goes Where the Roomba Can't
• iRobot Roomba Pet Series 562
• Paging Wall-E: Air Force Wants Robo-Cargo to Load Itself
• Hobbyists Rebuild Wall-E, One PVC Pipe at a Time

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.