Robots in the News

There are new and amazing things happening every day in the field of robotics, science and technology. Here are just a few examples.

If you come across something new, send me that link and a short write up about the site, the discovery or the process. Every one I post will earn you a piece of candy or other unhealthy snack.

Two of these baby chicks are actually robots. They respond to human touch and will arch their wings when they are stroked. Supposedly, they provide a way to connect lonely, depressed humans by mimicking the dependency found in newborns. They stop when you stop which is much like the flappy birds app. This all reminds
me of a creepy science fiction story by Philip K. Dick from the 1960's called "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". Click on this link to watch a video of these flappy birds.

Robot "learns" from watching YOUTUBE!

Imagine a self-learning robot that can enrich its knowledge about fine-grained manipulation actions (such as preparing food)simply by “watching” demo videos. That’s the idea behind a new robot-training system based on recent developments of “deep neural networks” in computer vision, developed by researchers at the University of Maryland and NICTA in Australia.

To read more about this approach to haptic feedback, check out the link to the next step in the singularity.

The Lego scientist boy's club has just been invaded by a new minifig. She's got glasses, a lab coat, two Erlenmeyer flasks, and a reputation for brilliance.

The minifig is simply named "Scientist," but her name tag reads "Professor C. Bodin." As far as toys with fictional careers go, she is quite accomplished. Lego's description notes, "She won the coveted Nobrick Prize for her discovery of the theoretical System/DUPLO Interface!"

The minifig is also notable for a distinct lack of the color pink, though she is sporting a purple shirt under her lab coat along with a matching purple pen tucked into her pocket.

Researchers at MIT Innovation Lab have developed a spherical robot that can operate underwater to scan boat hulls, water obstacles using ultrasound that can "see" inside false hulls and propeller shafts. This sensor system makes it an ideal weapon to detect contraband. In addition, it uses a jet propulsion system to maneuver which leaves no wake allowing it to operate stealthily.

The bot is about the size of a football and the shell and motor pumps are made using a 3-D printer. This makes this robot cheap to produce and cheap to customize for specific jobs. If you want to know more about this technology, click this link.

Lowe's Innovation Lab has developed a robot greeter that is designed to provide product and project information to customers in its hardware stores. The robot, called OSHbot, has 3D scanning capability to recognize parts and pieces and then links the part with an item in the store. Customers may elect to receive enhanced information about the product as well as alternative suggestions for other parts. Detailed installation information is also available. Developed in partnership with Singularity University, the robot is being tested in several California stores. More information is available at this link.

Last year's robot movie in which monsters emerged from the Pacific Rim featured giant robots built to combat these life forces. The problem with the movie is that whenever you double the size of a mechanical device, you need an exponential increase in resources just to move it. Very quickly, the economies of scale shut down your design. Or maybe not.

Dan Granett is an entrepreneur who used to work at the Jet Propulsion Lab for NASA designing landing systems for space craft. He has developed a design for a 780 foot tall robot that uses hydraulic systems for the energy and mobility to walk and juggle 2,000 pound cars. If he can get the funding to pull this off then we are all one giant step closer to an amazing future. To read more about this project follow the link:

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/07/10/ex-nasa-scientist-designs-giant-car-juggling-robot/

These are "K" bots. The 'K' stands for Kilobots, the name given to these extremely simple robots, each just a few centimeters across, standing on three pin-like legs. Instead of one highly-complex robot, a "kilo" of robots collaborate, providing a simple platform for the enactment of complex behaviors. Given a command, the robots begin to blink at one another and then gradually arrange themselves into the desired shape.
The Kilobots require no micromanagement or intervention once an initial set of instructions has been delivered. Four robots mark the origin of a coordinate system, all the other robots receive a 2D image that they should mimic, and then using very primitive behaviors -- following the edge of a group, tracking a distance from the origin, and maintaining a sense of relative location -- they take turns moving towards an acceptable position. With coauthor Alejandro Cornejo, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard SEAS and the Wyss Institute, they demonstrated a mathematical proof that the individual behaviors would lead to the right global result. To read more about swarming behaviors, talk to Mr. Jones or follow this link:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140814191818.htm

Surfing Robot Tracks Sharks

The Wave Glider robot – named Carey in honor of noted large pelagic fish biologist Frank Carey – is probing the Pacific Ocean off the California coast in an initiative led by Stanford marine sciences Professor Barbara Block and her research team to keep tabs on the comings and goings of top marine predators, and to provide better census data of all species in the area.

Read the rest of the story at:
http://menlopark.patch.com/articles/stanford-s-new-surfing-robot-opens-ocean-to-exploration-08235bdf

Chinese Cook Builds Noodle Shaving Robot

     The noodle slicing ‘bot is the creation of a 35 year old cook who got fed up with the arduous labor involved in preparing sliced noodles. Sliced noodles go way back in China and there’s an art to the task, except for the noodle-slicing part, which is hard and hot work.
   Watch a video of the robot at work at the HuffingtonPost.com

Read the rest of the story at: http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/chinese-cook-builds-noodle-shaving-robot-2-03-2011/

The next generation NxT?

Thymio II is a robot programming systems that is able to be modified like the LEGO Mindstorms Systems and other construction sets. It comes equipped with an impressive sensor array systems including an accelerometer that enables it to balance on a ball. Programming this robot looks to be mindlessly simple but I am sure it will be hacked and modified very shortly to extend its abilities. I do not know the price of this bot but I am interested enough to find out. Learn more at the Aseba Website.

Check out what's happening in the robot world on Robots.net.

Controlling Curiosity: How do you drive a Mars rover?

Curiosity made the news last week when it uncovered evidence of an ancient streambed on Mars. The shape of the stones is proof positive that water once flowed on the Red Planet. Now, all we need to do is figure out where it went. Maybe, we can drive there.

This article by Richard Hollenham and published on line by the BBC, is an interesting article about all the little and big details the driver of a Martian Rover has to think about. I was surprised about the amount of planning it takes just to figure out which satellites you need to relay your signals.

Follow this link to find out more: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120928-controlling-curiosity

Dragon Space X Robot Space Craft

The man behind NASA’s space robot

The Dragon Space X capsule became the first robot vehicle to launch from earth, rendezvous with an orbiting space craft and return safely to earth. It is also the only reusable craft to do so and will be the primary supply craft for the space station.

The robot vehicle landed in the Pacific ocean on Sunday carrying 2,000 pounds of experimental artifacts including a year's supply of frozen blood samples that will help scientists learn how the human body adapts to space stress.

SpaceX is a private company founded by Elon Musk who created PayPal and Solar City. Find out more about this technological milestone at the Examiner online http://www.examiner.com/article/spacex-dragon-capsule-completes-first-successful-space-station-resupply-mission

The Washington Post did a profile on Myron Diftler who is the driving genius behind the development of Robonaut 2 shown above. I posted a copy of his profile here for you to read. Maybe you would want to do a biography about him of him to earn some PIP points?

FDA Approves Bionic Eye

Check out the article on the front page of the Washington Post, published Feb. 15, 2013. More information is online at: http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-MI857E6JTSEE01-20CD2147JML3OKBKV4E2TUQFG3

A first-ever walking, talking "bionic man" built entirely out of synthetic body parts made his Washington debut on Thursday at the Air and Space Museum.

The robot on display at the museum cost $1 million and was made from 28 artificial body parts on loan from biomedical innovators. They include a pancreas, lungs, spleen and circulatory system, with most of the parts early prototypes.

The robot has a motionless face and virtually no skin. It is controlled remotely from a computer, and Bluetooth wireless connections are used to operate its limbs.

Accessed on 10-/27/2013 at 20:52

The Bluefin-21 is now in the Indian Ocean searching for the lost Malaysian Jet liner. This robust, deep diving ROV is at home in these waters that average 19,000 feet.

The IED students at Parkland had a chance to see this remarkable submersible when we were at the US Naval Academy for the Sea Perch competition. Although this vehicle is generations removed from our little rov's, the challenges remain the same for anyone and everyone who seeks to explore the undersea world -- when you go down -- you have to come up.

Take a look at some other vehicle developed by this company and watch some videos of it in action at: http://www.bluefinrobotics.com/