The huge variety of robots is a thing to marvel at. Just a few years ago, the best they could do was roll around or walk stiffly on poorly-hinged limbs. Now we have robots that gallop, slither, and fly like a bird. This mode of transportation is totally new to me, though. The Paraswift climbs up walls by generating a suction, then gets itself safely down by jumping off and deploying a little parachute. Why not, right?
Check out the video inside. → Read More
We’ve covered our fair share of animal robots from Japan in the last years, but PIGORASS, developed by Yasunori Yamada from the University of Tokyo surely stands out: Yamada has developed a four-legged robot that can walk, jump, and (in a way) gallop, too.
Given that Yamada is still a master student and even advanced robots (like Honda’s Asimo, for example) are only able to move in a slow, chopping motion, the way the PIGORASS works is pretty impressive. → Read More
Are you the kind of person who would love to have an animatronic Gary Coleman on your shelf, his little pudgy face cursing like a sailor at your guests while you roller skate around your basement wearing a skin-tight rubber suit and sing reggae-infused Coldplay covers? If you said “Absolutely!” then read on.
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We’ve seen some interesting developments lately in the fields of robotics and computer vision. They’re not as academic as you’d expect: enormous tech successes like the Roomba and Kinect have relied as much on clever algorithms and software development as they have on marketing and retail placement. So what’s next for our increasingly intelligent cameras, webcams, TVs, and phones?
I spoke with Dr. Anthony Hoogs, head of computer vision research at Kitware, a company that’s a frequent partner of DARPA, NIH, and other acronyms you’d probably recognize.We discussed what one might reasonably expect from the next few years of advances in this growing field. → Read More
The Roomba just got new competition from Japan: Toshiba has announced [JP] a new cleaning robot today, the so-called Smarbo (which is probably short for “Smart Robot”). Just like its US counterpart, the Toshiba robot is primarily intended for use in households.
Toshiba built quite a few features into the robot, for example two CPUs (details unknown), a camera, and a set of 38 sensors (gyro, acceleration, range detection etc.). The company says that the Smarbo cleans an area of 100sqm in about 90 minutes and that electricity costs stand at just 2 yen ($0.03) for a room of that size. → Read More
Japan-based tech startup ITK has brought us one step closer to the Robocalypse. Roboticists around the world are working on manufacturing “sensitive” hands for robots suitable for touching humans or handling breakable objects, a problem that’s notoriously difficult to solve.
ITK is now throwing their hat into the ring with Handroid a new model that seems to be one of the most advanced robot hands out there. Sporting five fully movable fingers, the Handroid looks a lot like the hand show Arnold Schwarzenegger uses in Terminator 2. → Read More
An anonymous blogger known only as S.H. has been posting detailed daily descriptions of the robot-based disaster response effort at Fukushima. The blog included technical details and personal anecdotes, but nothing sensitive to national security. In early July, however, the blog was discontinued and later deleted altogether. The videos S.H. had uploaded to YouTube were made private. The origin of this purge is unknown, though it’s certainly conceivable that higher-ups felt the blog was too revealing and asked that S.H. take it down.
You can’t delete something from the internet without anyone noticing, however, especially a blog like this, full of interesting and timely information related to the ongoing reactor containment efforts. So when it disappeared, IEEE Spectrum took it upon themselves not only to save a cached version of the blog, but to translate it and republish it. It’s a powerful demonstration of the durability of internet-based media — and an interesting read in its own right. → Read More
Researchers at a Czech company, Neovision, have invented a duct-cleaning robot called Jetty. This machine is joystick controlled and has a 1024×768 pixel camera. It receives power and signal over a Ethernet-over-Cat5 cable, limiting its movement to about 35 meters right now, but it can clean and inspect kitchen, industrial, and office ducts with relative ease.
The robot uses dry ice to clean ductwork and can move up and down using its tread-like feet. The jets are situated on the middle of the robot for maximum pressure and Jetty can move through circular, rectangular, and square ducts and go up curves.
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You’re probably familiar with telepresence robot or two. We even had one rolling around the TechCrunch office for a while. They generally have fairly simple navigation interfaces: forward, back, turn left, turn right, and some controls for the camera and speaker. The trouble is that these controls are generally accessed by traditional means: keyboard, mouse, or handheld controller. And a major application of telepresence is allowing people unable to get around on their own to do so virtually. People with extremely limited mobility often aren’t able to reliably use their fingers or limbs, so custom systems using head inclination, blowing and sucking, and eye tracking are necessary.
Robert Oschler is a robot and telepresence enthusiast who has been making his own software for years. The latest version of his Robodance client adds support for the EPOC EEG-monitoring PC peripheral, and he’s hoping to get a little support on Kickstarter. Isn’t that something worth throwing a couple bucks at? → Read More
The Korean Institue of Industrial Technology’s SEROPI project has already produced one imposing-looking robot, SEROPI-1, and now they’ve announced the completion of SEROPI-2, an oddly Johnny-5-looking robo personality that is shown here interacting with children and actors on a stage.
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The patient-lifting RIBA II isn’t the only new healthcare robot from Japan we can show you today. Researchers at the Okayama University have developed a model that goes in a different direction: their robot [JP] helps people with spinal cord injuries or those recovering from strokes. → Read More
There is much anxiety in Japan related to accommodating their aging population. Their elderly and infirm number in the millions and that figure is growing out of proportion to the rest of the country. Caring for them is naturally on everyone’s minds — including those of roboticists. And research organization RIKEN is updating its medical assistance bot in order to help caretakers with the task of lifting a person from a bed to a wheelchair and back. → Read More
Robots that have the ability to “learn” to do specific tasks are nothing new, but truly autonomous models are still a thing of the future. The Tokyo Institute of Technology is working on a robot that’s supposed to be able to learn, adapt to new situations and act in a human-like way someday. → Read More
You may recall the SmartBird, a robot we saw back in March that mimics the flight of birds, flapping its wings like the real thing. The video we saw then was a bit too edited to get a feel for the bot, but luckily one of the inventors was invited to do a TED talk, and of course they had to set the thing free in the auditorium.
Check out the video. → Read More
Robots these days, especially humanoids, have one problem: it doesn’t feel nice or life-like when you touch them. This is where an invention by Japanese robot startup Touchence comes in. Their so-called ShokacCube, made of polyurethane, is the world’s first soft touch sensor specifically designed for robots. → Read More
It’s been a while since we’ve posted any interesting Kinect hacks. They were coming fast and furious for a while, but this is the first I’ve seen in a while that really makes me happy. Robotics students at Stanford put this “JediBot” together from an articulating arm and a Kinect (and of course a little robotics know-how). The Kinect tracks the location of both “lightsabers” and has the robot make an attack or defending move based on their positions. → Read More
Sanyo Homes has announced [JP] the MIRAI SANZO for the Japanese market yesterday, a cute, Android-powered “communication robot”. The little guy (22cm diameter) is part of an integrated smart home that Sanyo markets to “families of the future” in Japan (unfortunately, the company doesn’t reveal what version of Android it’s using for MIRAI SANZO). → Read More
We’re one step closer to the Robocalypse: a research team at Japan’s Kagawa University has developed a robot that’s able to “speak” like a human being. While talking robots are not new by any means, this model isn’t using software but a set of mechanical, human-like vocal organs, for example artificial vocal chords or a tongue and lips that are made of silicone. → Read More
Professor Eduardo Bayro-Corrochano from the Research and Advanced Studies Center of the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico has achieved what no one before him achieved: he created Mexico’s first humanoid robot. Aptly named Mex-One, the little guy stands 105cm tall and weighs 15kg. → Read More
