Subscribe to Gizmag's RSS feed
Follow Gizmag on Twitter
Robotics
Japanese company builds your robotic twin
By Kyle Sherer
16:39 February 8, 2009 PST
A Japanese company called Little Island will manufacture your own custom-made robotic doppelganger. The pint-sized bot is produced based on a picture you send in and at USD$2,215, it definitely overshoots the “novelty buy” demographic, aiming for the true-believer market that is really, really into robotics. Read More
Mars tech to assist in Earthly eco cleanup
By Kyle Sherer
15:33 February 8, 2009 PST
The Mars Organic Analyzer, fresh from seeking evidence of life on the red planet, has taken a new job to assist life on Earth. The MOA has been modified by researchers in California to detect potentially carcinogenic molecules, providing valuable information in environmental cleanup sites. Read More
K-9 the robot dog circa 2009
By Kyle Sherer
14:59 February 3, 2009 PST
The latest winner in this round of the Trossen Robotics competition combines both of man's best friends - dogs and computers. Despite its high tech capabilities, the autonomous pooch dubbed K-9 looks suitably low-budget from the exterior in-line with its namesake from the original Dr. Who television series. Read More
Roofus robot scours rooftops for snow
By Kyle Sherer
17:10 February 1, 2009 PST
Here's an interesting idea for those readers out there facing bleak winter conditions to ponder. The Roofus robot concept will diligently wipe snow from rooftops, carting loads of up to 250kg to the edge and dumping it over the side. And though the concept designed by Michal Glogowski is primarily intended for work on icy surfaces, it can also be fitted with lawn mowing blades and sweeping attachments, making it a useful design throughout the whole year. Read More
Climbing robot inspects wind turbines for damage
By Kyle Sherer
16:14 January 29, 2009 PST
Wind turbines, predominantly constructed from glass fiber reinforced plastics, are vulnerable to fractures and flaws that can be impossible for the human eye to detect - and even the cracks visible to humans can often only be spotted in a time-consuming and dangerous examination. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute say that their latest robot creation, RIWEA, can solve both problems to increase the overall efficiency of the wind energy system. Read More
iRobot 2nd Generation Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot
By Mike Hanlon
14:34 January 8, 2009 PST
January 9, 2009 Consumer robotics manufacturer iRobot is demonstrating the second generation Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot at CES, which is newsworthy in that the original model won last year’s 2008 Best of CES Innovations Award and it’s still the only product of its kind. The Looj, makes gutter cleaning faster (it can clean up to 60-foot of gutter in10 minutes), easier and safer by reducing ladder work and reaching in precarious positions. The new Looj comes in three models starting at US$130, and has been significantly redesigned with additional features that help it break up clogged leaves and debris and improve overall performance. Read More
Lunacy Robot Game could inspire a generation
By Mike Hanlon
19:54 January 3, 2009 PST
January 4, 2009 Lunacy is an international seat-of-the-pants learning game with the promise to inspire a generation. At yesterday’s Kick Off, 1700 international teams were given the rules and a kit of parts - motors, batteries, a control system, and a mix of automation components – but no instructions. The students have six weeks to design, build and program their robotic athlete ready for play on the low-friction playing surface. In each 135 second match, the robots score points by picking up 9" balls and dropping them in trailers hitched to their opponents. Lunacy ticks all the boxes for building important life skills – collaborative learning and adapting on the fly under deadline conditions with measurable results. With 42,000 high-school students from as far afield as Brazil, Germany, Israel, Turkey and the Philippines, the FIRST Robotics Competition is an evolving engineering talent showcase with the potential to become a TV sport with the international appeal to rival F1 one day. FIRST also runs the FIRST LEGO League for 9-14 year-olds, and the Junior FIRST LEGO League for 6 to 9 year-olds. The aim of this life-changing program is to inspire young people to become individual economic stimulus packages and pursue opportunities in science and technology. Read More
49-foot tall ASIMO rolls into California
19:43 December 21, 2008 PST
Although first and foremost a platform for humanoid robotic development, Honda's ASIMO has increasingly found itself in a PR role in recent times - a World tour, conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and a Disneyland stage show have all been on the agenda for the stair climbing, hand shaking bot. In its latest gig, a gargantuan 49-foot tall ASIMO float will greet onlookers at the upcoming Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Read More
Snake-like robots to assist construction work
By Kyle Sherer
16:21 December 13, 2008 PST
Researchers at the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech have designed a series of autonomous serpentine robots that are able to climb poles and inspect structures too dangerous or inaccessible for humans. The robots coil themselves around a beam and roll upward using an oscillating joint motion, gathering important structural data with cameras and sensors. Read More
The multi-skilled Dragon Runner ground robot
03:45 December 1, 2008 PST
Both in the air and on the ground, unmanned robotic systems have been deployed to battlefields in growing numbers over the past decade and it's safe to predict that these numbers will only grow in coming years. The reason is simple - they keep human beings out of the firing line. The latest example to join QinetiQ North America's TALON family is the versatile Dragon Runner Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) - a lightweight, portable modular robot which can be quickly configured for both reconnaissance and improvised explosive device (IED) disarmament. Read More
EU project demonstrates emotional robots
By Kyle Sherer
23:25 November 20, 2008 PST
Researchers estimate that body language makes up between 50-80% of communication, which means robots aren’t ready to become caregivers and companions until they get a good handle on nonverbal expression. To meet these challenges, a €2.5 million EU-funded project is developing robots that are capable of identifying different emotions based on facial expressions Read More
The MechRC Megatron-esque robot
By Kyle Sherer
14:52 November 11, 2008 PST
Is this Megatron's love-child? The MechRC is a programmable, remote controlled robot with 17 independently controllable servos (points of articulation), each capable of up to 180 degrees of movement. This provides the bot with an extremely wide range of actions – and the database of 100 pre-programmed motions and sound can be expanded by using the included software to create new manoeuvres. Read More
Robo-Bat: mini spy-plane of the future?
21:44 November 6, 2008 PST
Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) undoubtedly have the potential to revolutionize both military and civilian surveillance operations, and the quest to find the most efficient design for these airborne spies of the future is leading to all kinds of radical platforms being investigated. Several are derived from nature, where evolution has produced designs that out-strip the performance and efficiency of humanity's aerial achievements on a proportional scale. Even extinct examples like the pterodactyl are not immune from this scrutiny, but in this case, the inspiration comes from the only mammal naturally capable of flight - the bat. Read More
Californian prisons employ robotic scouts
By Kyle Sherer
16:43 November 3, 2008 PST
California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has agreed to test remote-controlled, 1.2-pound surveillance robots in hostile prison situations. After pulling an activation pin, the hardy robots can be thrown into place, or fired from a tear-gas launcher. Read More
Robot swarms could help colonize Mars
By Kyle Sherer
03:13 October 28, 2008 PDT
Hundreds of micro-robots will work together to carry out repairs inside machinery, explore deep-sea environments, and even colonize Mars according to predictions from the EU-funded I-SWARM project, which is developing centimeter-scale autonomous robots that co-operate like a colony of ants and therefore can compensate for the failure of individual members. Read More
The robot plant - do not water!
By Darren Quick
23:49 October 19, 2008 PDT
Not only are humanity's days as the dominant life form on the planet numbered – it seems plants might have to start looking over their shoulders as well. The robot research laboratory at Chonnam National University in Korea has developed a robotic plant that has humidifying, oxygen-producing, aroma-emitting, and kinetic functions. Read More
Machine vision cameras powered via Ethernet cable
By Kyle Sherer
00:14 October 8, 2008 PDT
Baumer’s new line of GigE (Gigabit Ethernet) cameras receive power via a Cat6 Ethernet cable, eliminating the need for a separate power cord. The cameras provide machine vision for product lines and robotic applications- a process greatly simplified by the reduction of cables. Read More
The autonomous vehicle that thinks like an ant
00:12 September 23, 2008 PDT
We've seen numerous examples of science mimicking nature in the developing fields of robotic automation and artificial intelligence in recent times, from robotic fish to leaping micro-bots and mechanical rodents. Now a team of engineers from the University of La Laguna (ULL) in the Canary Islands have applied this thinking to self-steering vehicles using a system based on the way ants navigate between home-base and their food source. Read More
FANUC debuts world's largest, strongest six-axis robot
By Kyle Sherer
17:45 September 10, 2008 PDT
FANUC Robotics has introduced the heavy-duty M-2000iA line of robots, designed for handling truck, tractor and car parts. The model which was demonstrated during the IMTS 2008, sets new records for size, reach and wrist strength, claiming the title of world’s largest and strongest six-axis robot. Read More
Robot controlled by biological brain
By Kyle Sherer
10:27 August 18, 2008 PDT
The University of Reading has designed a robot that is controlled by 300,000 cultured rat neurons. The team anticipates that the behavior of the rat neurons will provide insight into how brains store data, which could lead to a better understanding of disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, and strokes. Read More
iRobot Negotiator civil response robot
By Emily Clark
08:46 August 11, 2008 PDT
Best known to Gizmag readers for its range of home helper bots, iRobot is now expanding its line-up to include the growing need for public safety robots. The new iRobot Negotiator is a low-cost, tactical robot designed to meet the basic reconnaissance needs of public safety professionals, such as police and fire departments, counter-terrorism forces and domestic security experts. Read More
Robots developed that drive themselves up the wall
By Darren Quick
05:06 July 23, 2008 PDT
July 23, 2008 Scientists in the US have developed robots that are capable of climbing walls. BBC News has reported a team in SRI's Mobile Robotics and Transducers Programme have used the same principles behind electrostatic charges to develop machines about the size of a remote-controlled car that can scale a range of surfaces including brick, wood, steel and glass. Read More
TMSUK sends a robot to do the shopping
By Darren Quick
17:11 July 14, 2008 PDT
At the Izutsuya department store in Kitakyushu, Japan, robot developer TMSUK, whose lofty objective is to create a “safe and comfortable society in which people and robots can coexist”, has demonstrated a remote-control robot that promises a new way for homebodies to shop from the comfort of home. The prototype telerobotic shopper is a modified version of the company’s TMSUK-4 humanoid robot that incorporates a variety of mobile phone communications technology. Read More
The Care-O-bot 3 - always at your service
By Mike Hanlon
06:06 July 10, 2008 PDT
The one-armed robot glides slowly to the kitchen table. With its three fingers, it carefully picks up the bottle of apple juice and puts it next to the glasses on the tray in front of it. Then it glides back into the lounge and serves the drinks to the guests. This is how artificial assistants might work in future. Only 1.45 meters high, Care-O-bot 3 is the prototype of a new generation of service robots designed to help humans in the household. The quick-to-learn assistant was developed by research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart. Read More
Man vs Machine foosball
By Darren Quick
00:32 July 2, 2008 PDT
Up until now foosball aficionados have had to find another living, breathing human being to engage in rod spinning combat. Not anymore, thanks to a highly competitive automated foosball table capable kicking human opposition ‘off the park’. Read More
Alexis Olson
- November 9, 2009 @ 21:08 UTC
