May 19

Tenacious robot ashamed of creator’s performance, shows mankind how it’s done (video)

Posted in: robot, RobotApocalypse, robotics, Robots, Today's Chili, video




Looks like researchers have made another step towards taking Skynet live: giving robots the groundwork for gloating. A Swiss team of misguided geniuses have developed learning algorithms that allow robot-kind to learn from human mistakes. Earthlings guide the robot through a flawed attempt at completing a task, such as catapulting a ball into a paper basket; the machine then extrapolates its goal, what went wrong in the human-guided example, and how to succeed, via trial and error. Rather than presuming human demonstrations represent a job well done, this new algorithm assumes all human examples are failures, ultimately using their bad examples to help the ‘bot one-up its creators. Thankfully, the new algorithm is only being used with a single hyper-learning appendage; heaven forbid it should ever learn how to use the robot-internet.

Tenacious robot ashamed of creator’s performance, shows mankind how it’s done (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 19:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink IEEE Spectrum  |  sourceEPFL (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

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May 19

Robotic Wheelchair Gives Elderly Independence

Posted in: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS, retail, robotics, Robots, Today's Chili

Researchers at ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories recently demonstrated their latest developments in the Ubiquitous Network Robot (UNR) project, a robotic wheelchair.

Wheelchair-Robotic-Japan

Incorporating a number of innovative platforms including GPS, unbiquitous sensor networks and mobile devices, the specially designed robot wheelchair was able to automatically meet an elderly shopper at a mall entrance and take her shopping. The shopper used a smartphone to reserve the wheelchair which then logged her details and used GPS coordinates to meet the shopper without any assistance as she arrived, and could then be controlled by a Wii controller.

The robotic wheelchair is fitted with a number of safety features aimed to put the user’s mind at ease while maneuvering about a busy mall. On-board laser rangefinders are used to prevent collisions with other shoppers and obstacles such as walls and benches, and can plot the best route through the busy areas automatically. It can also take over driving through the mall when the user gets tired or when it is particularly busy. A really interesting feature is the ability for the robot to remember favorite or regular products the user buys then recommend and navigate to them automatically. There is also a remote operator on hand to aid in times when lasers can’t detect obstacles in certain “dangerous areas”. Using a combination of a 3D graphical interface incorporating rich map data, human position data, and video from an omnidirectional camera the operator can safely drive the customer through or around the dangerous area.

With a swelling aging population in Japan the focus on technology aimed at providing this kind of service is intensifying. Allowing elderly or disabled users a level of independence by enabling them to safely visit malls and other areas without the use of a caretaker provides a valuable service. We could see this also eventually linking up with home appliances, such as a shopper’s refrigerator which records particular products the customer has or doesn’t have, to create an automatic shopping list and be able to guide them around the supermarket or mall to the relevant spaces.

Via Dylan Glas at IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Networked Robots

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May 18

Scooba 230: My Beloved, Adorable, Floor Cleaning Robo-Slave

Posted in: review, Robots, Today's Chili, top

The 230 is the nook, cranny, and floor-scrubbing baby brother of the Scooba family by iRobot. Taking up little more space than a CD, it’s only a few inches tall. It won’t replace your mop, but it’ll tirelessly try. More »

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May 16

French basketball team ‘trains’ with robots, learns how to ‘win’

Posted in: robot, Robots, Sports, Today's Chili, video

To the list of French accomplishments you may now add “robot basketball training” — at least if the video above is to be believed. But you probably shouldn’t believe it when members of Poitiers Basket 86 testify that amusement park rides improved the team’s “spatial orientation” and helped them defeat top-ranked Chalon. It’d be different if the “robots” were teaching them perfect free-throw or helping them walk, obviously, but PB86 is known for its innovative advertising, and this seems like a quirky example. Hit the video above to see the pranksters at work, but know that, as with Sartre and Camus, something gets lost in translation.

[Thanks, Antoine]

French basketball team ‘trains’ with robots, learns how to ‘win’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 15:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 16

Sony makes floating-head telepresence avatars a reality, Sean Connery digs out gun and red speedos

Posted in: research, Robots, sony, Today's Chili, video

The real world just got a little more Zardoz thanks to Tobita Hiroaki and his colleagues at Sony Computer Science Laboratory, who’ve built a telepresence blimp that projects the operator’s face across its meter-wide surface. The looming, translucent face can float about like any other blimp; an interior camera allows the user to see where it’s going. The whole thing is ominous in a completely different way from, say, a tiny googly-eyed robot perched on your shoulder, but something about its nearly silent movements still gives us the creeps – and unlike the Anybots QB, it’s not going to pick up your scone from the café. But if your dreams include having others bow before your god-like visage, you’ll have to wait awhile, as the technology’s still in its early stages. In the meantime, you can practice intoning “Zardoz is pleased!” while watching the video above.

Sony makes floating-head telepresence avatars a reality, Sean Connery digs out gun and red speedos originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 07:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Robots.net  |  sourceNew Scientist  | Email this | Comments

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May 16

Bipedal robots learn to shuffle, evolve toward doing the twist (video)

Posted in: Japan, robot, Robots, Today's Chili, video
Yes, some robots are evolving to a point where they can play instruments and swing a hammer. Hilariously, though, bipedal robots are still awful at turning in a tight radius. Several presenters at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation have been working on a solution: instead of making them take steps, program robots to shuffle. This allows turning without complex weight-shifting — every time your foot leaves the ground, you have to adjust your balance to remain upright. Keeping your feet on the ground avoids that fairly complicated process, and can make robot-turning quicker, and possible in confined spaces; most current bipedal bots require lots of time and space to turn. See the video after the break for an example from Japan’s Osaka Electro-Communication University. It may look like a metal man shuffling his feet, but it’s an important step toward our robot-dominated future.

[Thanks, Henry]

Continue reading Bipedal robots learn to shuffle, evolve toward doing the twist (video)

Bipedal robots learn to shuffle, evolve toward doing the twist (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 07:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Plastic Pals  |  sourceOsaka Electro-Communication University  | Email this | Comments

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May 14

Robot orchestra marries music and machines (video)

Posted in: Music, performance, robot, robotics, Robots, Today's Chili, video

It may not be the first go-round for the Karmetik Machine Orchestra, but the automated musicians, fashioned by a group of students at the California Institute of the Arts, took the stage last night to prove that robots can rock. Among the mechanized musicians scheduled to perform at the Walt Disney Modular Theater were MahaDevibot, Glockenbot, BreakBot, and NotomotoN, described as a “duel-head drum with twelve beaters and a mallet orchestra.” Each of the robots was built from salvaged parts and programmed by CalArts students, who control the machines from laptops during performances. A description of the show posted to the CalArts website touts music-producing robots suspended from the ceiling that trigger sound activated light shows and animation — now that sounds like a way to spend a Thursday night. Check out a video of the players and their masters after the break.

Continue reading Robot orchestra marries music and machines (video)

Robot orchestra marries music and machines (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 May 2011 08:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Huffington Post  |  sourceCalifornia Institute of the Arts  | Email this | Comments

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May 12

Review: Roomba 770 vacuuming robot

Posted in: Gadgets, preview, Reviews, Robots, Today's Chili

The Roomba 700 series (specifically the 760, 770, and 780) has been available for a few weeks now and in that time a Roomba 770 has been humming away, picking up all sorts of debris and detritus from my floors. I’ve put it through its paces in order to see how the new series stacks […]

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May 12

Google and iRobot team up to put Android apps on Ava telepresence bot

Posted in: Android, app, apps, Google, robot, robotics, Robots, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili, video
iRobot Ave at Google I/O

Remember that Ava telepresence bot that we were gaga over at CES? Well Google has decided to lend iRobot a hand in getting the tablet-topped automaton rolling with some Android apps. The two companies have teamed up to create Ava specific programs that can be run from an Android slate perched on the extending neck of this silicon-brained companion. Apparently any ‘ol tablet will do, so you’ll still be able to play Angry Birds, but where’s the fun in that? The exciting stuff will be apps that can communicate with the robot and pass it directions, meaning we need to figure out what our new, mechanical best friends should do for us. We’ve already got plenty of options for killing and beer serving — how about one that folds our laundry? Oh, wait. Well, we’ll think of something. While we ponder you check out Ava’s cameo at Google I/O and the PR after the break.

Continue reading Google and iRobot team up to put Android apps on Ava telepresence bot

Google and iRobot team up to put Android apps on Ava telepresence bot originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 03:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 11

Industrial robots do Star Wars better than Lucas

Posted in: robot, robotics, Robots, Star Wars, Today's Chili, video
Yasakawa robots perform lightsaber duel

At the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Shanghai, industrial robot company Yasakawa equipped a couple of its manufacturing machines with lightsabers and choreographed a violent ballet for them to perform. The resulting battle is more exhilarating than the duel at the end of Phantom Menace and the performances are less lifeless than those in Attack of the Clones. Best of all — Lucas can’t add 30 minutes of new CGI scenes and re-release the video below in 3D.

Continue reading Industrial robots do Star Wars better than Lucas

Industrial robots do Star Wars better than Lucas originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 16:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News  |  sourceIEEE Spectrum  | Email this | Comments

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