Posts for 'Robots' Category

Robotic technology was once a pure fiction but is now actually being developed. Humans have always dreamed of hi-tech robots that will think and work alongside human beings.

And, now it seems that the dream is going to become a reality with NASA and General Motors (GM) working together to accelerate development of.

The next generation of robots and related technologies for use in the automotive and aerospace industries.

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Ladies, we’ve been outsourced. Behold Roxxxy, the world’s first erotic robot, introduced this weekend at the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas.

Clad (barely) in a lace bra, thong and thigh-highs, Roxxxy is one can-do sex toy. Not only is she a sure thing.

She can talk about sports and cars and responds to touch - not by rolling her eyes and sneering, “Are you serious?” - but with a saucy “I know where you can put that hand.”

Sex dolls are nothing new, but Roxxxy is different because she’s got Artificial Intelligence - she can learn things, then talk about them. (A male version - Rocky - is in the works. No word on whether he remembers your birthday.)

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A team of scientists at the University of the West of England (UWE) is planning to make a ‘Plasmobot’, a complete robot made out of a plasmodium slime mould. Though not famed for their intellect, single-celled organisms have already demonstrated a surprising degree of intelligence.

In recent years, single-celled organisms have been used to control six-legged robots, but according to a report in New Scientist, Andrew Adamatzky at UWE wants to go one step further by making a complete “robot” out of a plasmodium slime mould, Physarum polycephalum, a commonly occurring mould that moves towards food sources such as bacteria and fungi, and shies away from light.

Affectionately dubbed ‘Plasmobot’, it will be “programmed” using light and electromagnetic stimuli to trigger chemical reactions similar to a complex piece of chemistry called the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, which Adamatzky previously used to build liquid logic gates for a synthetic brain.

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Toyota has enhanced one of its Partner Robots to make it run at 7 km/hour, slightly faster than Honda's ASIMO, which learned to run at 6 km/hour back in 2005.

Partner Robots are usually presented as mechatronic musicians, playing violins or trumpets. It seems the automaker is keen on matching Honda in the development of an all-purpose humanoid.

Japanese are keen to build next-generation service robots for their aging population amid the country's shrinking workforce.The video shows an "experiment" in which the Toyota bot exhibits very robust balance control--it remains upright even when pushed back forcefully, recovering its balance easily while hopping from foot to foot like a boxer in the ring.

In the running experiment, the machine shows an exaggerated forward lean to compensate for forward motion. ASIMO is more erect when running, as seen in this ad.

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Papero, the nurse robot with a "smiley" face, rolls up beside the hos-pital bed to discuss an imminent operation with an elderly patient called Maureen. "How are you feeling today, Maureen?" the robot asks. "Have you had an operation before? Do you know what to expect after surgery?"

"Well, not exactly," the patient replies. "I suppose I'll be in a lot of pain, but . . ."Papero, less than a metre high, evaluates each of Maureen's responses. And not just her words. Through its cameras, the machine also analyses her facial expressions for clues to how she is feeling. Although the patient seems relaxed, the robot detects signs of anxiety and will send a message to a human nurse that Maureen should be seen again.

Rajiv Khosla shows a video of Papero in action to demonstrate the potential of such "emotionally intelligent" robots. Dr Khosla expects that within three to five years, robots such as Papero will be helping nurses in hospitals, working with carers in retirement villages and acting as on-call housemaids to elderly people in their homes and advising on their health care.

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Japanese researchers have proposed an idea to use stretchy circuits made from rubber and nanotubes to create an "e-skin", which will be flexible enough to completely cover a robot without limiting its movement.

"Without human skin-like sensitivity, robots cannot be used in everyday life. Imagine the danger if a robot did not recognise when it had accidentally bumped into a young child," New Scientist magazine quoted Takao Someya of the University of Tokyo as saying.He has already developed a rubbery conductor, that can be stretched by 38 percent without any drop in its conductivity.He says that a net of it was still working after being stretched by 134 percent, though with a drop in conductivity.

Someya has revealed that the new material is made by mixing conducting carbon nanotubes with rubber.To prevent the nanotubes clumping together, the researchers have devised a technique that uses an iconic liquid, consisting of charged ions and not molecules like most liquids.

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The mobile trash compactor is a symphony of squeaks, thunks and rattles, rolling forward on treads to bring its pivoting eyes to bear on us. Within moments we identify completely, launching "Wall-E," one of the rare films to feature robots as the lead characters.

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Robotomania continues. This time it is the worlds smallest fully articulated humanoid robot. If you are still looking for the best gift for your kids, get the new I - Sobot, a gadget that represents the big brother of the omnibot from the 80's.Its personality is based on four operational modes. The movements of the I-Sobot are controlled by the LCD remote control unit mode.Just move the joystick and push some buttons and the I-Sobot will start to walk and perform dozens of motions. He can balance on one leg, lie down and get up from any position.Its programming mode allows to program a sequence of 80 actions and after all replay them with a single button press.Command him to play a guitar, whistle or watch those 18 preprogrammed special actions. For the whole picture don't forget the most important mode - the voice control command. He recognizes 10 voice commands, speaks using over 200 words and phrases.Your wish is his command. Speak to him and he will react with many unpredictable but appropriate actions.The i-sobot measures 6.5*3.8*2.6 and weights only 12.0z. Three AAA batteries are already included. When these batteries are fully charged, the i-sobot will run 60 minutes under normal operation.He is based on built-in Gyro sensor, a built-in speaker unit and microphone along with a voice recognition chip.The servo unit has 17 degrees of freedom, has 3.38cm in height, 4cm in width,0.33 cm in depth. Its maximum movement degree is 220 that's quite enough for a gadget this smart.

Robots tend to be clumsy, or at least that’s the image that we get. After all, robots that are as agile as Spiderman as portrayed by numerous science fiction shows are but figments of the imagination. Even one of the most famous autonomous robots, Honda’s Asimo, has problems getting around on its own as quickly and as efficiently when compared to a normal human. The Japanese aren’t about to give up just yet though, developing a dancing robot that could eventually replace human dancers on the stage, but not quite yet. These roboticists are making large strides with their invention which is more than capable of imitating a dance routine by studying it, and will definitely guarantee you the uniformity in a team without time-consuming and costly rehearsals.

Shin’ichiro Nakaoka and his colleagues at the University of Tokyo have successfully managed to overcome difficulties where programming these robots are concerned. Their range of robots can now carry out complex leg movements without running the risk of toppling over like a pirate who has had too much run to drink. Known as the HRP-2, these robots utilize software that copies movements of a human dance teacher via the use of video motion capture technology. I wonder how they’ll do with hip hop and rap, as those kinds of dances certainly require a whole lot more flexibility. Just don’t go bustin’ nobody’s cap when dancing, yo!

It is also hoped that these robots will one day be walking tomes of ancient dances, acting as an insurance in case the art of dancing dies out when no one around wants to pick up this form of art. Sounds like a pretty good idea - after all, transferring knowledge into a robot involves uploading the necessary patterns and surely takes much less effort than teaching a human from scratch. Now, if only those pesky humans remember to make backup copies of the dance database lest a virus wipes out all information in a flash.

The first humanoid robot named Rogun KornTech of Korea has successfully invented that uses a high-end face tracking software and integrated cameras to recognize people. (ubergizmo)

In Korea a start-up company (KornTech) has made a breakthrough. A very cool robot that can recognize faces they’ve created. The robot uses face recognition technology. It has real value as a security measure since it can quickly identify an intruder by quickly scanning its database, and then issue a security breach alert.