avishere - Slashdot User

Submission + - Robo-chefs and fashion-bots on show in Tokyo

Submitted by avishere on Thursday November 26, 2009 @04:39PM

avishere writes: The International Robot Exhibition kicked off this week in Tokyo, unveiling the latest whirring and buzzing inventions from 192 companies and 64 organizations from at home and abroad — an bringing humanity another step closer to irrelevancy. Among the humanoid cavalcade was a prototype robo-chef, showing off its cooking and cutting skills, along with robots to play with your children, model clothes and search for disaster victims. There was also one made almost exclusively of cardboard. The exhibition — which opened with a human-like robot called Nextage cutting the ribbon — runs until Saturday.

Submission + - NASA moon-excavation robots face off (w/vids) (automationmag.com)

Submitted by avishere on Friday October 30, 2009 @05:18PM

avishere writes: Student teams designed and built robotic power-lifters to excavate simulated lunar soil (a.k.a. "regolith") last week, and with $750,000 up for grabs, the goal was to leave your opponents in the dust — literally. Excavating regolith, according to NASA, will be an important part of any construction projects or processing of natural resources on the Moon. Interestingly, regolith is especially difficult to dig because its dust particles want to stick together. The whole robotic system has to be sturdy enough to scoop moon dirt and powerful enough to move through the dust while still meeting the weight requirements. The winning excavator from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts lifted 1,103 pounds within the allotted time, and got a sweet $500,000 for their troubles.

Submission + - 400 battle bots fight, toss enemies at games \vid (automationmag.com)

Submitted by

Andre

on Saturday June 20, 2009 @05:17AM

Andre writes: "The 6th annual RoboGames were held in San Francisco last weekend as they welcomed a horde of 400 non-sentient, metallic warriors to do violent battle—against each other, of course. This army of remote-controlled and autonomous combat robots, along with walking humanoids, soccer 'bots, sumo 'bots and even androids that do kung-fu, was put to the test. Among the big winners was Canadian-made "Ziggy"—one of the combatants in the 340-pounds super-heavyweight division (the biggest division)—who took home a gold medal for the fourth year in a row. The bionic brute proved its might against its final opponent, the "Juggernaut," by tossing it around like an empty pop can (and promptly making a mockery of its name) using its pneumatic flipper. Its newly improved weapon results (as you may expect) in unwanted (but totally cool) free-flying lessons for its opponents, and at full power, the flipper can launch an opponent to the arena ceiling."

Submission + - Pool-cue robots reinvent billiards (w/ imgs, vid) (canadianmanufacturing.com)

Submitted by

AndreV

on Tuesday April 21, 2009 @05:40PM

AndreV writes: "In another attempt to dehumanize our bar games, a Canadian engineer has turned the classic game of billiards on its head with his BilliardBots pet project, which consists of a series of remote-controlled mobile robots meant to replace the standard cue sticks normally used to pocket pool balls. While in his version the basic rules remain, unlike regular billiards, players in this version simultaneously rush to pocket their designated balls (they don't take turns), 'thus it's very competitive and fast,' the creator says. In order to keep tight reigns on the mechatronic ball handlers' movements, he adapted a pair of Playstation controllers and says that playing 'requires dexterity, like a video game,' to control their 3.5-m/sec-maximum speeds. The 'bots are designed simply but effectively, using a 3-by-3-by-3-inch metal frame with an electronic board, two motors and rechargeable battery packs. Using a Bluetooth wireless communication protocol, its commands come from the wireless controller with single or double joystick selectable control (the other buttons are not used). Its other parameters are software programmable, such as maximum acceleration rate, maximum speed and maximum rotation speed."

Submission + - Robo-arm signatures are legal, gvt buys one *w/vid (canadianmanufacturing.com)

Submitted by

AndreV

on Friday April 17, 2009 @06:23PM

AndreV writes: "It's endlessly comforting to know a recently designed and implemented long-distance robotic signing arm can produce signatures legal in both the U.S. and Canada. (And I, for one, welcome our up-and-coming document-signing, deed-revoking robotic overloads.) The aptly named LongPen replicates the handwriting from a person writing in a remote location—with the unique speed, cadence and pressure of a human hand stroke. It started as a idea from author Margaret Atwood to help free her from grueling, multi-city, multi-country book tours, but the hard stuff was done by a bunch of Canadian haptic gurus, whose design took into consideration many factors of the human arm and how we write. How it works: From the author-end, data protocols are set up and a tablet measures the pen pressure on a special tablet; the data streams to the robot, while algorithms smooth out all the missed points. Complex math operations were used to help the mechatronic limb repeat the hand's motions without unnecessary jerking, and programmers had to 'scale time' or 'stretch time' by breaking down the movements, essentially tricking the eyes into thinking the robot is writing fast. It was recently adopted by the Ontario Government to sign official documents. It helps criminals sign books, too."

Submission + - First flying micro-robot takes off (w/ vid, imgs) (canadianmanufacturing.com) 3

Submitted by

AndreV

on Monday April 13, 2009 @10:12AM

AndreV writes: "A University of Waterloo in Ontario engineering research team has developed the world's first flying micro-robot capable of manipulating objects for micro-scale applications, which include micro-assembly of mechanical components, handling of biological samples and even microsurgery. It moves around and manipulates objects with micro-grippers, remotely controlled by a laser-focusing beam (heating the pincers with a laser opens them; when the laser is turned off, they cool and close). Its magnetic drive mechanism controls the field using continuous feedback from positioning sensors in order to position the 'bot. 'It can enter virtually any space and can be operated in a sealed enclosure by a person outside,' the project leaders says, 'which makes it useful for handling biohazardous materials or working in vacuum chambers and clean rooms.' Extras: The video of the contraption shows it floating in mid-air."

Submission + - NASA's zero-gravity robotic-arm quid pro quo (canadianmanufacturing.com)

Submitted by

AndreV

on Friday April 10, 2009 @11:50PM

AndreV writes: "We've entered into an extraterrestrial quid pro quo with our Northern neighbors: After celebrating 25 years of the Canadarm's first venture into space, NASA has reached out (so to speak) to the Canadian Space Agency and begun research and development on a new generation of robotic arms, which would ultimately be used for the U.S. agency's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle that will provide transportation for Moon missions and jaunts to the international space station. In exchange, Canada will trade the robotic-limb technology's use on Orion and other future U.S-manned spacecraft for flight time for Canadian astronauts. And seeing solid results shouldn't be far off—the engineering company designing the bionic branch, responsible for the previous Canadarms, has already begun investigating the effects of zero gravity on their components. (Another forward-looking project being bartered for astronaut time? A Moon and Mars rover.) Fair trade?"

Submission + - Gecko-inspired dry adhesive set for space (canadianmanufacturing.com) 1

Submitted by

AndreV

on Thursday April 09, 2009 @03:16PM

AndreV writes: "Biomimetic adhesives aren't new, but a PhD graduate in British Columbia has developed a new method of creating microscopic, mushroom-like plastic structures in order to produce a dry adhesive that mimics the stickiness of gecko feet—and is prepping his glue-free innovation for outer space. A research group at his university, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, is engineering a spider-like, sticky-footed climbing robot destined to explore Mars, and it is also developing reusable attaching systems for astronauts to use where magnetic and suction systems generally fail. In the future, he says, single-use versions could be used in any number of medical applications as well as for replacements for everyday sticky needs, such as Post-It notes and Scotch tape."

Submission + - Leg-paralysis stimulation, sensing device steps up (canadianmanufacturing.com)

Submitted by

AndreV

on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @04:07PM

AndreV writes: "After 30 years of development, a device developed at Simon Fraser University that assists people who have paralysis in one leg to walk will soon be on the market in Europe and, eventually, in the U.S. and Canada. The pacemaker-like Neurostep uses nerve cuffs to sense and stimulate nerve activity in the paralyzed leg, allowing greater mobility for those suffering from neurological disabilities such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury or cerebral palsy. About the size of a cell phone, the "brain" integrates three digital modules: the neurosensing module (receives nerve impulses), real-time adaptive control module (interrogates the signals and identifies physical events), and neurostimulation module (delivers stimulation to the target nerve). It was recently approved for use in Europe, the first of its kind, and they are working to begin clinical trials and introduce the device in the U.S."

Submission + - Design software giants target the unemployed

Submitted by

avishere

on Monday April 06, 2009 @04:04PM

avishere writes: "People may be losing their jobs, but for savvy/vulture-like execs, the economic meltdown is the perfect time to get their software into the hands of who can't afford their multi-thousand-dollar price tags. Software giants Autodesk and SolidWorks have each latched onto the worst-economic-disaster-since-the-Great-Depression meme and released free versions of their flagship computer-aided-design brands before their potential users are forced to sell their laptops on Craigslist. "In these uncertain economic times," Autodesk coos sympathetically, it will give away temporary licenses of AutoCAD and others ($5,000+) to those unemployed in the fields of architecture, engineering and design. (They are also developing a Mac version, two decades too late.) SolidWorks was quick to respond with its subtly titled Engineering Stimulus Package. So if anyone out there has their weekdays free, jumpstart your hardware and design projects for cheap. Legally, too."

Slashdot Top Deals