DARPA
Robonauts to join humans on space missions
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Friday July 11, 2003: Human astronauts could soon be teamed with robot assistants during space-walks or on the surface of other planets according to researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Early evaluation tests the 'Spacewalk Squad' Concept could lead to human-robotic teams being in service on the International Space Station by 2007. Read More
PDA based translator for field use
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The Douglas Adams' classic The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy features an amazing creature called a 'Babel fish' that once placed inside the ear, translates all incoming languages allowing the protagonist Arthur Dent to converse freely with aliens around the galaxy long after the Earth has been destroyed by the Vogons to make way for a hyperspace-bypass. Technology has some way to go before it catches up to Adams' imagination, but PDA based translation devices such as the Phraselator, which provides one-way phrase-based voice-to-voice translation, are now becoming a commercial reality. Read More
X-47A Pegasus unmanned flight milestone
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February 24, 2004 Northrop Grumman has announced details of the first flight of its experimental Pegasus unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The 12- minute flight took place at a naval airbase in California on 23 February and met all test objectives including low-speed handling, navigation performance, data collection and a pinpoint landing designed to simulate the tail-hook arrestment point on a carrier flight deck. Described as a significant milestone in autonomously controlled flight, Northrop Grumman designed and built the Pegasus X-47A with its own funds to demonstrate its low-cost unmanned vehicle management capabilities. Read More
Exoskeletons: Wearable Robots
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The human body is unsurpassed in the complexity of its design, performance and efficiency, but there are definite limitations to what we can achieve with a frame that's around 6ft high - we can only carry so much weight, jump so far or run so fast before we reach our physical boundary. Machines that overcome these limitations have been with us for centuries, but we are only beginning to explore the possibilities of augmentation - extending our existing capabilities through wearable robot exoskeletons to create superhuman strength, speed and stamina. Read More
Lemelson-MIT Prize won by eyeglass printing machine
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Australian Saul Griffith, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctoral candidate, has won the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for inventing a machine which quickly tests vision and a desktop machine which manufactures low-cost eyeglass lenses. These machines could dramatically improve life for billions of people in developing countries who cannot access, nor afford, prescription glasses.”
