DARPA

'BrainGate' Brain-Machine-Interface takes shape

By Gizmag Team

December 7, 2004 An implantable, brain-computer interface the size of an aspirin has been clinically tested on humans by American company Cyberkinetics. The 'BrainGate' device can provide paralysed or motor-impaired patients a mode of communication through the translation of thought into direct computer control. The technology driving this Brain-Machine-Interface breakthrough has a myriad of potential applications, including the development of human augmentation for military and commercial purposes. Read More

Multi-vehicle and voice controlled UAVs take off

By Gizmag Team

November 8, 2004 Recent advances by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have seen the development of a manned-to-unmanned aircraft guidance system that allows remote multi-vehicle operations and voice activated control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. In the first flight test on August 24, two Boeing X-45As were flown simultaneously under the supervision of a single operator as part of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program. Read More

DARPA Schedules 2nd Autonomous Robotic Ground Vehicles Event

By Mike Hanlon

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense has announced that it will hold a second Grand Challenge for Autonomous Robotic Ground Vehicles on October 8, 2005. Read More

Robosapien toy brings humanoids into living rooms

By Mike Hanlon

Taking a major step forward in the evolution of robotics, Wow Wee Toys has teamed up with robotics physicist, Dr. Mark W. Tilden to develop the first affordable intelligent entertainment humanoid - Robosapien which will go on sale mid-year in America.

At 14 inches high, Robosapien is a rambunctious, realistic, recreational robot who is easily programmed and mastered with a remote control. Robosapien is the first robot based on the science of applied biomorphic robotics, which enables him to act more like a human. Tilden, who developed applied biomorphic robotics, has worked for NASA, DARPA, JPL at Los Alamos and other government research agencies developing advanced robotic technologies. Read More

Berkeley exoskeleton to enhance strength and endurance

By Mike Hanlon

The mere thought of hauling a 70-pound pack across miles of rugged terrain or up 50 flights of stairs is enough to evoke a grimace in even the burliest individuals. But breakthrough robotics research at the University of California, Berkeley, could soon bring welcome relief - a self-powered exoskeleton to effectively take the load off people's backs. Read More

Autonomous Motorcycle to contest DARPA Grand Challenge

By Mike Hanlon

The DARPA Grand Challenge was the first race for autonomous robots from LA to Las Vegas on March 13, 2004 with a US$1 million prize. The race was be contested by 24 cars and one autonomous two-wheeler. This interview was conducted with the Team leader of the Ghostrider Robot Team, Anthony Levandowski just prior to the event. Read More

Australian Student wins International Award

By Mike Hanlon

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.” Merton Flemings, director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, which sponsors the annual award for inventiveness, cited Griffith’s innovative device eyeglass manufacturing and his work creating comic strips that inspire children to learn about science and engineering as important reasons he was chosen this year. Read More

LA to Las Vegas: one car, no driver, no remote-control

By Mike Hanlon

Like most motor racing, the rules are simple: stay on the course and finish first within ten hours - oh, and no drivers and no remote control. This is a race for robots! Read More

UCAR - the next generation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

By Mike Hanlon

Sunday August 17, 2003: The Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft (UCAR) Program aims to take pilot-less aircraft to the next level by creating an intelligent "pack" that can take action individually or in collaboration to locate and destroy targets in the battlefield... Read More

Robonauts to join humans on space missions

By Mike Hanlon

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

By Mike Hanlon

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

By Mike Hanlon

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

By Mike Hanlon

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

By Tim Hanlon

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.” Read More