Robotics

January 4, 2007 The personal robotics industry may still be in its infancy, but it is being predicted that it will rival the automotive industry in size two decades from now – by that time, robots will be far more advanced than those we know today and an inkling of just what might be in store comes from the University of Washington where researchers have demonstrated that it is possible to control the movement of a humanoid robot with signals from a human brain (see videos - AVI- QT - WMV ). Being able to command a robot via thought alone obviously has massive ramifications for the development of robotic servants, labourers and mobility devices for the handicapped and aged population. With a few decades of intense research, we may well have robotic servants that cater to our every wish – quite literally!  Read More

December 15, 2006 The world of personal robotics is drawing closer, with some estimates of the personal robotics industry putting it abreast with the world automotive industry two decades from now. Honda has already established itself as the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer and has branched into a dozen different recreational and business markets as diverse as jet aeroplanes, jet skis, and industrial engines. Its biggest market may be yet to come, because it has been working diligently for 20 years in the development of a bipedal humanoid service robot named Asimo and if it works half as well as the rest of the company's products, it'll be one of the pioneers into the home when robotic servants reach mass commercialisation. Asimo is already a well known brand but when Honda begins airing 90 second commercials in the UK later this week, where Asimo becomes the ideal fully-owned, never-makes-a-mistake brand spokesperson, we figure history is being made. Asimo embodies the Honda attitude towards technology – warm, approachable, human, optimistic and always moving forward – as the Honda spokesperson, he will become the first publicly known robot on a global scale, and he’ll evolve publicly across all languages. Honda's new warmtechnology web site goes live today, and there are also five short films available at www.honda.co.uk. The series of webcasts introduce Asimo, and show how its warm approach has brought science and technology to a broad audience across the world.  Read More

December 15, 2006 Victoria is the most widely supported 3D figure on the planet, which kinda makes her a beauty queen. So it’s big news in the women’s magazines when a big star gets a makeover, and that’s just what has happened to via her latest release, Victoria 4.0. This new release of Victoria, based on live human models, is closing the gap between real life and models typically seen in 3D environments like Second Life, The Sims, and Halo. Since her first release in 1999, hundreds of thousands of unique users worldwide have downloaded a copy of Victoria making her the most heavily downloaded 3D figure ever. Victoria has been widely used by digital artists worldwide and has graced the covers of magazines, newspapers, and television across the globe.  Read More

December 11, 2006 One of the most intriguing contests ever conceived , the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge for autonomous robotic ground vehicles will take place on November 3, 2007, at an undisclosed location in the western United States. First prize will be US$2 million, second gets US$1,000,000 and third takes home US$500,000, awards that will go to the top three finishers to complete the 60-mile course through traffic within the six hour time limit. The fully autonomous ground vehicles will be tested to the full, conducting simulated military supply missions safely and effectively in a mock urban area. To succeed, vehicles must obey traffic laws while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections, and avoiding obstacles. Human understanding of the technology required to make vehicles smarter and safer will grow rapidly in the preparation for the contest and expedite the time when we’ll be switching to autopilot for long journeys on intelligent roads in our intelligent cars.  Read More

December 7, 2006 Flying saucer sightings are certain to be on the increase from this point forth as a new type of aerial vehicle comes into existence. The Aurora Flight Sciences GoldenEye 80 unmanned air vehicle made a successful first flight last month, becoming the first ducted fan UAV to fly under the power of a heavy fuel engine. The fully autonomous GoldenEye 80 UAV is being developed under contract to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through its Organic Air Vehicle (OAV-II) program. The GoldenEye 80 is designed to give company commanders the ability to spot, identify, designate, and destroy targets. With its powerful sensors and quiet operation, the aircraft can dash to a target area, hover motionless in the sky, and observe and designate a target – all without being heard by people on the ground. The unique design and embedded capabilities of the GoldenEye 80 enable the UAV to be used for a variety of military missions, from conducting surveillance beyond hills in rural areas to gathering intelligence while flying between buildings in urban warfare operations.  Read More

December 7, 2006 Lockheed Martin recently accomplished a first for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), demonstrating that high-resolution, broad-area imaging from a Miniaturized Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR) could effectively be delivered by a UAS into the hands of tactical unit commanders, regardless of smoke, dust, heavy rain or night-time conditions. During a successful field exercise at the Minnesota National Guard test facility on October 19, a small SkySpirit UAS carrying a Sandia-developed MiniSAR sensor soared to nearly 3,000 feet and, in near real-time, became the first UAS to successfully transmit four-inch resolution SAR imagery. During four different mission demonstrations, the SkySpirit transmitted MiniSAR images capturing actionable data in two operational modes: focused area circle-mapping and broad area strip-mapping. Multiple imaging passes were post-processed to demonstrate coherent change detection used to identify changes over time.  Read More

November 1, 2006 iRobot has released the first information on a new project in development, will allow a single operator to simultaneously control and coordinate multiple semi-autonomous robots via a touch-screen computer. Code named Sentinel, the new networked technology, includes intelligent navigation capabilities that enable the robots to reach a preset destination independently, overcoming obstacles and other challenges along the way without intervention from an operator. Sentinel’s capability will allow warfighters and first responders to use teams of iRobot PackBot robots to conduct surveillance and mapping, therefore rendering dangerous areas safe without ever setting foot in a hostile environment.  Read More

October 5, 2006 Please excuse us for being so excited, but the third Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle competition is scheduled for November 3, 2007 and this time instead of tackling the desert, the vehicles will be required to negotiate an urban environment. DARPA has established a two-track (track A and track B) system for teams to qualify and compete in the Urban Challenge in order to help accelerate autonomous development and this week it announced the track A teams which will each receive US $1 million in technology development funds.  Read More

September 12, 2006 It might seem a trivial and highly specialised application for a robot, but the task of getting another beer that seems to be one that is ideally suited to a robotic servant and that’s exactly what the Asahi Refrigerator Robot does. The little fellow holds and chills six 350 ml cans and at the touch of a button will dispense a can, rip the top off and pour a perfect beer every time. Japan’s Asahi Breweries held a special promotion earlier this year and gave away 5,000 robots via a lottery for participants who had collected 36 seals from special Asahi beer cans. There’s no sign of the robot hitting the market just yet, but there is a video which shows the little tyke doing its stuff. We suspect a 12 can version will be required for foreign markets. Via Gizmodo  Read More