Robot
Korea shows its robotics prowess with a rival for Asimo
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January 25, 2005 A humanoid robot developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science (KAIST) has significantly bridged the gap between Japan's advanced robotic technologies and the rest of the world, once again affirming that Korea will be a major player in the fast-growing robotics industry. Developed in just three years at a fraction of the cost of the world's most advanced humanoid robot, Honda's Asimo, KAIST's robot will be known as Hubo. Hubo is a 150cm tall, 67 kilogram prodigy with a natural walk, voice recognition and synthesis faculties and advanced vision capabilities with both eyes operating independently. Unlike any previous humanoid, Hubo's on-board intelligence is largely supplemented a wireless connection to a powerful external server.
Talon Explosive Ordnance Disposal robot gainfully employed in Baghdad
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BAGHDAD, Iraq January 13, 2005 As robotics, automation and autonomous robotics eventually reach consumers in numbers, we will find uses for cost-efficient, energy-efficient, systems that we have yet to conseive. As the robotic age dawns though, there are already some compelling advantages to using robots. The US Army is using robots to reduce the dangers to Explosive Ordnance Disposal in Baghdad.
Talon robot soldiers shipped to Iraq
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December 10, 2004 A new era of robot warfare has been launched with the US Army employing 100 TALON robots equipped with off-the-shelf chemical, gas, temperature, and radiation sensors for deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. The explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) robots are to be used for a variety of missions ranging from clearing live grenades to neutralising mines in shallow water, and can be adapted for small mobile weapons systems (SMWS) for force protection.
Self-transforming robots promise versatile future
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November 29, 2004 Scientists at the Dartmouth Robotics Lab have developed the first reliable methods to produce self-configurable robots capable of controlling their shape according to the task at hand and environment they are in. Based on a 'lattice' of autonomous units linked into a networked organism, the breakthrough promises a new generation of self-transforming robots that can perform a variety of different tasks without human intervention.
U.N. releases World Robotics 2004 survey
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November 21, 2004 Over 600,00 household robots are already in use with several million more expected for domestic consumption in the next few years according to the World Robotics 2004 survey, produced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), in cooperation with the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
Robotic Doctor marks breakthrough in telemedicine
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November 13, 2004 Known as RP-6, this "Remote Presence Robot" represents yet another advance in the use of robot technology for the delivery of healthcare. Already utilised in numerous medical roles including surgery, robots are set to become increasingly valuable in the delivery of a wide range of healthcare services, including remote or "telemedical" applications. RP-6 acts as a surrogate presence, allowing doctors to visit patients from a remote location and expedite health services to a greater number of users. Doctors can guide the robot to the patient's bedside, take pictures of charts and speak to the patient through the robot. Aimed particularly at those recovering from surgery, the RP-6 is is currently undergoing trials in US hospitals.
Meet Milo - the world's first Robot Personal Assistant
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November 2, 2004 At a time when most handhelds PDA's are racing to miniaturise their hardware, MILO, the world's first Robotic Personal Assistant platform (RPA) - takes a brave step in the opposite direction, developing a four foot tall mix of robot butler and mobile telecommunications hub with programmable commands.
Intelligent network based robots on the market in 2005
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November 2, 2004 A new type of network-based robot will debut in Korea in late 2005, greeting customers in around 200 post offices and interacting in real time service applications for commercial and home uses.
One male based robot security guard will guard post offices around the clock and is equipped with a net it can shoot to capture intruders. Another female styled robot will tend to customers and make those long queues more bearable by screening fun video clips on embedded monitors.
The network-based robots are part of a project called the Ubiquitous Robot Companion (URC) being promoted by the Korean Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), who are taking advantage of the country's highest per capita use of high-speed Internet connection and wireless broadband services to deliver flexible robot programming through wireless networks and pre-empt the emerging robotics market.
Using robotics to learn how to walk again
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October 27, 2004
The Lokomat is a bio-treadmill with robotic arms to move a stroke and paralysis victim's legs, allowing them to feel the 'pattern' of walking - which rebuilds muscles faster and speeds recovery.
Designer and manufacturer Hocoma specialises in developing innovative equipment for applications in medicinal engineering and now their new 'Lokomat' bio-treadmill is helping people with disabilities to walk again.
Robot parachutists hit the mark
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Two US Marine Corps' skydivers made their first combat zone landing earlier this year in a remote hot spot in Iraq's Al Anbar Province. The landings were significant enough to go down in history but there was little fanfare as the aim of the exercise was to supply remote troops in a combat zone - the Sherpas, as this robot parachure controller is known, each rode a pallet of rations to the drop zone, controlling their chute from two miles high to within 200 metres of their target.
Fujitsu Develops Human Task Support Robot
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Fujitsu Laboratories and Fujitsu Frontech have announced their joint development of a service robot that can provide support for various services in offices and commercial facilities. The newly developed robot features functions that enable it to provide such services as greeting and escorting guests onto elevators, operating the elevators, moving parcels using a cart, and security patrolling of buildings at night. Fujitsu Frontech Limited will commercialise the robot, with sales scheduled to begin in June 2005.
Fujitsu Frontech Limited will commercialise the robot, with sales scheduled to begin in June 2005. Details of the robot are to be presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the Robotics Society of Japan scheduled to be held from September 15 at Gifu University in Japan.
Miniature robot for exploring your inner self (quite literally)
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A fantastic journey in medicine is beginning with recent advances in miniaturisation by Japanese company RF System Lab. The Norika 3 RF Endoscopic Robot Capsule brings the body alive with live video of the patient's gastrointestinal system. Norika 3 uses a 1/6 inch colour 410,000-pixel CCD camera inside a micro capsule that is swallowed by the user. Image technology allows for variable focus by disc type magnets and a profound and dynamic range of microscopic data. The capsule camera travels through the digestive system and can be controlled by rotor coils for tilt control by remote operation with a joystick. Lighting volume can be adjusted and switched to infrared spectrum for multiple analyses.
More inductees into the ROBOT HALL OF FAME
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And the winner is - Shakey the Robot! It's not the Oscars but it is the robot world's closest equivalent - the Robot Hall of Fame, an annual award to honor landmark achievements in robotics technology and the increasing contributions of robots to human endeavors. Established by the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in 2003, the Robot Hall of Fame honours two categories, robots from Science - which have served a useful function and demonstrated real skills in accomplishing the purpose for which they were created - and robots from Science Fiction. Shakey enters into the Hall of Fame this year in the Robots from Science category.
HAL and Artoo win a place in the Robot Hall of Fame
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Carnegie Mellon has announced the 2004 inductees to the Robot Hall of Fame at the Carnegie Science Center. The robots honored in this first annual Hall of Fame event included NASA's Mars Pathfinder Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX), better known as "Sojourner"; Unimate, the first industrial robot; R2-D2, the unforgettable droid from the Star Wars movie trilogy; and the evil HAL-9000 computer, featured in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey," created by science fiction writer and futurist Sir Arthur C. Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick.
DARPA Schedules 2nd Autonomous Robotic Ground Vehicles Event
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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.
Electrolux Trilobite Robotic Vacuum Cleaner v2.0
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Electrolux, the first company to bring a robotic vacuum cleaner to market in the Trilobite, has released the first second generation vacuum, the Trilobite 2.0. The new Trilobite 2.0 can be programmed to clean at a particular time, has an active infra-red stair sensor and improved navigation algorithm.
The Robots are Coming!
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January 19, 2004 Helper, security and companion robots will be commonplace a decade from now. There are already more than 100 robotic commercialisation projects in the global public arena, and a dozen commercially available robots in the Japanese domestic market. In the next two to three years, that number will grow considerably, with research companies forecasting the home robotics market may one day be equal in size to the automotive market.
Toyota announces a coming range of partner robots
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Toyota, the world's second largest automotive manufacturer, has made a clear statement of its intention to participate in the personal robotics market by announcing an internal project to develop partner robots designed to function as personal assistants for humans This year has seen a flurry of activity in the personal robotics area and the heightened activity has encouraged a number of companies such as Toyota, which has been known to be developing robots for some time, to play its hand. Toyota does not see itself solely as an automotive manufacturer, and sees itself as a manufacturer of products which contribute to society.
Korean start-up rocks fledgling robotics industry
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Korean robotics start-up Mostitech has rocked the fledgling personal robotics marketplace by announcing the mid-year availability of a home security robot that will sell for around AUD$1100. Prior to the announcement, the home security robot ics marketplace had seemed likely to become the domain of the Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers which already have several such robots available on the Japanese domestic market for prices in the AUD$15,000+ area.
Artemis - the robot guard
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Japanese robotics company Tmsuk has announced its latest creation, the T63 Artemis Guard Robot. Artemis will autonomously patrol a multi-story building and report back wirelessly to security HQ if it finds anything amiss. Though not yet capable of apprehending any intruders, it is armed with several non-lethal offensive weapons such as a fluorescent paintball gun and the capability to spray a cloud of mist to temporarily blind the intruder.
Personal Robotics Industry set for massive growth
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Tuesday December 9, 2003 The term 'robot' has been in existence for a short time - it was first used in 1920 by Czechoslovakian playwright Karel Capek and comes from the Czech robota, which means 'tedious labor.'One hundred years hence, in 2020, analysts project that most households will own a robot, or at least be considering one. Robotics is already a US$8 billion industry globally, but mostof the robots in use today are industrial robots employed in manufacturing for welding, painting and assembly line tasks. The consumer robotics marketplace is just emerging, with a gross of US$600 million in 2002, comprised mainly of programmable robots which mow lawns, clean floors and amuse children.
Epson develops World's Smallest Flying Micro-robot
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The world's smallest flying micro-robot has been unveiled at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo. Seiko Epson Corporation's FR ("Micro Flying Robot") stands just 70 mm high and uses 130 mm wide contra-rotating propellers powered by a tiny ultrasonic motor to achieve balanced mid-air flight.
Autonomous Robot mowing and mulching system
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Monday November 3, 2003: The Robomow is a fully automatic lawn mower designed to autonomously mow your lawn at the press of a button while you concentrate on more important weekend chores.
Adult-sized, His and Hers home robots
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Wednesday October 8, 2003: Looking for some entertaining, hassle-free housemates whose personality you can program yourself? These interactive, remote controlled, multifunctional robots were designed and built by International Robotics and feature on-board computers that can be fully programmed for communication or automated "performance" sequences.
New robotic devices promise mobility for the handicapped
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The recent news that Swiss and Spanish scientists have developed a successful prototype of a mind-controlled wheelchair is yet another indication of broad range of work being done around the planet to develop mobility solutions for the disabled and aged market. Most importantly, the new system adds a critical dimension to the work being done - machine control via the mind. In a system which might best be described as augmented or assisted telepathy, the new system is reported to use electrodes embedded in a skullcap to monitor the brain patterns of the user, interpret them via sophisticated software algorithms, and control the wheelchair via a wireless link.
Robot surrogate lets you be two places at once
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Out of the office and unable to make that important meeting? Why not send a robot to stand-in. That's the goal of eTravel - a project undertaken by HP labs to create a "Mutually-Immersive Mobile Telepresence" or "surrogate robot" that can do your travelling for you and act as your eyes, ears and voice, regardless of where you are...
A glimpse of a robot-driven future?
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Wednesday July 2, 2003: The Volkswagen electronics research group has been working on the "Autonomous Driving" project for several years and although "Klaus" won't be taking to the highway in the near future, Volkswagen has succeeded in teaching it how to drive.
Evolution Robotics unveils New ER2 Personal Robot
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Evolution Robotics has introduced the ER2 multi-purpose personal robot to showcase its new Evolution Robotics Software Platform (ERSP) which features a new control architecture, breakthrough vision and navigation software components. Evolution Robotics has introduced the ER2 multi-purpose personal robot to showcase its new Evolution Robotics Software Platform (ERSP) which features a new control architecture, breakthrough vision and navigation software components.
Australian design team unveils Robotic Kitchen
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Imagine having a pantry that would talk to the refrigerator and the oven to co-ordinate and prepare meals, all while you dished out the orders from a computer terminal in the office. That's the scenario proposed by the iK (integrated kitchen), a design concept that explores the possibilities of future domestic kitchens
Bluetooth enabled Micro-robot
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The World's smallest and thinnest Bluetooth-equipped micro-robot prototype will be unveiled at ROBODEX 2003 next month in Yokohama, Japan. Epson's Monsieur II has a volume of just 7.8cm3 and weighs 12.5g
Twenty years in the making - ASIMO the humanoid robot
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Honda has come a long way towards realising its vision of creating a humanoid robot since its bi-pedal (two-legged) robot named "EO" successfully took its first steps in 1986. Culminating in ASIMO, the highly-advanced, stair climbing, hand shaking humanoid robot
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.
Home Robotics... coming to a home near you - soon
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October 22, 2002 Decades after "The Jetsons" and "Lost in Space", you could be forgiven for thinking that the robotics revolution has been slow to take shape. But things are changing fast with the arrival of a range of single and multi-task robotic devices with real practical uses for everyday living are beginning to emerge in the consumer marketplace. Evolution Robotics, NEC, Sanyo and Husqvarna are just some of the companies bringing home robotics to the marketplace so that humans can hand-ball those mundane tasks like mowning the lawn or answering the door to the battery operated help.
Robot cleans all household floor surfaces
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Few would argue with kicking back in front of the TV while the floor around you is being automatically cleaned without any human intervention. The iRobot Corporation's "Roomba" Intelligent FloorVac does just that...
Dyson's Robot Vacuum Cleaner - the DC06
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June 3, 2004 - The long awaited days when robots do the household chores are considerably closer with the arrival of the Dyson DC06; an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner that will clean all floor surfaces at the push of a button. Capable of 'learning' the layout of a room without and navigating safely around unforseen obstacles, the DC06 is 5% vacuum cleaner and 95% robotic intelligence.
