It’s a choice that most people "who are capable of walking and maneuvering on their own, but who can benefit from additional leg and body support while performing tasks” face every morning. What’s more important to me today, reducing the load on my leg muscles or not supporting my body weight almost entirely by my balls? → Read More
Teleconferencing can be an impersonal affair — all your subordinates just staring at a laptop screen, and on the screen is a window, and in the window is a smaller screen, and in that smaller screen is your face. So lifelike! You could also do the evil overlord thing where you’re projected all big on the wall (asking for one million dollars). But the approach RoboDynamics wants to… → Read More
That’s what this bionic shopping center simulation reminded me of. Man, Bullfrog was way ahead of its time. This is a cool little flash demo showing some of the many cybernetic parts that are available or forthcoming to the human race. Bionic eyes, exoskeletons, robot arms, and all. There are links within the flash demo to more in-depth articles on teh subjects and IEEE Spectrum is a good… → Read More
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are in use all over the world for many things, but most famously for their role in warfare. Fantasy abounds and people picture UAVs or “drones” sweeping Iraq in formation, eradicating enemies with the “Terminator” theme in the background. Well, the drones are working to fight that image. NOAA is working on deploying some drones from Barbados to take… → Read More
Chalk one up for humanity. Although IPv6 (AKA Skynet) is just around the corner, we have yet to accomplish the other technological advancements that will pave the way for the inevitable robotic apocalypse. We may have autonomous navigation, bee-powered nightmare dogbots, and Aliens-esque exoskeletons, it seems that we can’t create a decent murder machine. I guess it’s time to come… → Read More
I don’t get it and I don’t want to get it, but here’s a robotic something-or-other that pushes a shopping cart around while on fire. Exactly. Carlos’ inventor says… “Robotics are often used in environments which are considered dangerous to humans. Deep sea exploration, nuclear cleanup and volcanism are some of the ‘higher profile’ adverse… → Read More
Picture this. A child is in a hospital room, away from home and scared by his or her surroundings. Everything smells different, everything looks different, all the people are different. Where are mom and dad? When is it time to go home? Suddenly, in marches a robotic monster with green fur asking for hugs. → Read More
A fact about innovation is that ideas that are tried fail much more often than they succeed. Frequently, a team can shut down a dead project long before anyone in the market knows it was even attempted. In the case of companies like P&G that patent protect concepts as they are being market tested, some cleaning up becomes necessary after the fact. → Read More
A robot at Carnagie Mellon University is turning heads and giving reason to go “Oooh!” and “Ahhh!” The robot climbs walls at the rate of six-centimeters a second, which is pretty fast if you click the link and watch the video. That little bugger flies! It’s able to stick to the wall by using gecko-like suction pads that stick to the surface it’s climbing. From… → Read More
Tired of carrying in those groceries for your elderly neighbor all the time? Need to change the flat tire on your 1981 IROC-Z Camaro in the driveway? Don’t bother exerting all your energy on these mundane tasks when you can just pay for a Japanese invention that makes it easier. The HAL-5 exoskeleton can now be rented for just $590 a month for the next year, basically allowing anyone who saw… → Read More
http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/445498/robotic_beer_launching_refrigerator.swf Sometimes we see a prototype that gets our mouths watering. The iPhone from Apple is a great example. Another is the beer launching fridge. When this thing hits the Home Depot, we are so getting one, as we’re for the advancement of beer-drinking technology. Homemade DIY gadgets are the best, you own them, you make… → Read More
Korean robotics house ED has developed a house-trained robot with questionable uses. It packs a 1GHz Intel Pentium processor and 512MB RAM under the hood. The unit also features WiFi, ethernet, USN 2.0 ZigBee and RFID, so a wide range of connectivity options are covered. Users can control the U-ROBO via its 6.4-inch programmable touchscreen display, or through voice recognition. It includes motion… → Read More
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