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|  Robots: Bio-inspired LocomotionPosted 21 Nov 2008 at 18:48 UTC (updated 21 Nov 2008 at 18:48 UTC) by mwaibelThe new episode of the Robots podcast interviews biologist Robert Full from UC Berkeley. Prof. Full is very well known in the robotics community for his past and present work to shed light on animal locomotion. By studying cockroaches run in complex terrain or how crabs can run in sand, he has inspired roboticists to create the RHex robot, which uses open-loop control and bouncy legs for incredible agility in rough terrain. More recently he has been looking at climbing animals such as geckos and the Van der Waals forces which allow their hairy feet to cling to walls and ceilings. In the second part of this episode Auke Ijspeert from the EPFL then gives us his take on animal locomotion and Full's work. Tune in! Read more... (0 replies)  TGIMBOEJ for DIY Roboticists Launched!Posted 20 Nov 2008 at 17:33 UTC by steve
The Great Internet Migratory Box of Electronic Junk (aka TGIMBOEJ) has left the building! As promised in our earlier story on migratory junk boxes, robots.net has launched one especially for robot builders. There are now are a dozen or so TGIMBOEJ boxes moving around the world but ours is the only one designed by and for roboticists. The first recipients of the box will be Kris and Carly, those robot-savvy girls from Iowa who developed an award-winning iRobot Create robot painter for the 2007 Austin Maker Faire. They'll get first choice of all the interesting junk and will adding in some of their own. Who will get the box next? Maybe you. To be considered as a recipient, you need to add your name as well as a link to your blog to the TGIMBOEJ wiki box request page. Please also add a note by your name saying you're requesting the robots.net box to make it easy for us to find you. We'll be posting updates as the box reaches new recipients and you can also following it's progress at the TGIMBOEJ wiki tracking page. Our box is designated robots.net-box1. (pretty catchy name, eh?) So, you're probably wonder what useless junk, er, I mean valuable electronic and robotic components, made the final cut and got included in the box? Read on for a partial list and more photos. Read more... (0 replies)  Biologists Discover Cellular Bang-Bang ControllerPosted 19 Nov 2008 at 20:57 UTC by steveA robots.net reader sent us a link to a Princenton news release describing research by Raj Chakrabarti and others on cellular proteins that act as adaptive machines, guiding biological evolution. Our reader notes, proteins configured as bang-bang controllers steer random mutations in deterministic directions; robot navigation algorithms as a mechanism for self-directed evolution. A bang-bang controller is a simple algorithm that bounces between two extremes like a household thermostat. This type of control is commonly used in robotics and, it now appears, is an integrel part of every living cell. The cellular bang-bang controller guides random mutations in a way that corrects imbalances, even repairing mutations that disable the controlling protein chains. This is also fascinating to anyone who appreciates cybernetics. It's a great example of a cybernetic feedback loop, much like a centrifugal regulator on a steam engine. This disovery is likely to make some waves in the field of evolutionary biology as it suggests a cellular mechanism guiding the way the cell responds to natural selection. Will it make waves in robotics as well? I doubt it will make anyone throw out proportional control, but I wonder if we'll see bang-bang being favored in biomorphic robot designs? You can read more about this research on Raj Chakrabarti's home page where you can also find a copy of the full paper, "Mutagenic evidence for the optimal control of evolutionary dynamics" (PDF format). Read more... (0 replies)  ROOFUS Tackles SnowPosted 19 Nov 2008 at 18:10 UTC by Rog-a-matic
Read more... (0 replies)  Are Robots the Solution to the Economic Crisis?Posted 18 Nov 2008 at 21:50 UTC (updated 19 Nov 2008 at 14:11 UTC) by steveTraditional wisdom, as championed by Marshall Brain, holds that a robotics revolution will displace human workers leading to massive global unemployment. Mobile Robots, Inc. suggests another possibility. Perhaps focusing on robots could create an employment boom, pulling us out of the current global economic crisis. In a recent press release they say, "During the recessionary Eighties, thousands moved into high-paying new jobs in personal computers, building an industry that powered two decades of US economic growth. MobileRobots hopes the autonomous robot industry will behave similarly." To this end, they've announced a new RoboDeveloper discount program to get more robots into the hands of more individuals and companies. They believe this will "lower the barrier of entry into the robotics industry". Jeanne Dietsch, CEO of Mobile Robots, notes, "The government’s too busy bailing out banks and failing corporations to see that they would get far more jobs for the buck building new industries." Will the upcoming change-over to the more tech and science saavy Obama administration make an approach like this more feasible? Or is Marshall Brain right that robots lead to unemployment for humans? Read on for the full text of the Mobile Robots press release. Read more... (0 replies) Random Robot RoundupPosted 17 Nov 2008 at 19:38 UTC by steveI'm back and starting the week with a dump of the editors mailbox. First up is an unusual Craigslist personals posting in search of "creative robot chicks"; but be careful girls, as you face a battle to the death if you're not of up this robot's standards (oh, and enjoy the ad while you can; CL ads tends to vanish pretty quickly). After battling robots in the street, you may need medical attention. A Reuters story has just the thing, all the latest in robotic medical technology. As you recover from your robotic surgery, you can listen to Waseda University's latest musical robot play the flute. The Swirling Brain sent some interesting things our way too, like a story about robotic sculptures that watch you watching them; and how about a new office chair that's a really a robot leg with a seat bolted onto it?; if sitting on a robot doesn't sound like fun, maybe you'd prefer Honda's new mini-exoskeleton that augments just your legs. We also heard about a public radio Marketplace interview with Richard Dooling, author of Rapture for the Geeks. Engineering News posted a short article on RoboCup robot soccer. Our friends at Instructables posted a new DIY telepresence robot. Over at io9, there's a story on the remake of Forbidden Planet - and that means we may be seeing Robby the Robot on the big screen again. Rog-a-matic noticed a cool NASA photo of the ISS robot at work. We've also got several from Roland Piquepaille, one on flying robots inspired by nature, another on low flying robot helicopters, and a new story on that 700 ton Caterpillar robot mining truck that we reported on a while back. Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please. Read more... (0 replies)  Mars Phoenix Lander: Triumph and DeathPosted 10 Nov 2008 at 23:29 UTC by steve
NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander bit the dust today (no pun intended). After five months performing scientific experiments that included digging, scooping, baking, "sniffing", and "tasting" the Martian soil, the seasonal changes in sunlight have ended the mission. The robot's solar panels are no longer generating enough light for the robot to operate. The robotic lander, which had its own Twitter account, posted a final tweet today that said, "01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000 <3" - binary for "triumph". For more see the CNET story or the NASA news release. Read more... (0 replies) Hierarchical Models in the BrainPosted 10 Nov 2008 at 17:19 UTC by steve
The human brain has a unique ability to easily model all sorts of data, allowing us to estimate things, predict things, identify things, and learn things in ways that would traditionally require the use of complex domain-specific modeling algorithms if they were done by a computer or a scientist with pencil and paper. A new paper, Hierarchical Models in the Brain, by Karl Friston of the Wellcome Trust Centre of Neuroimaging at the University College of London, offers a possible explanation. He describes hierarchical dynamic models and a generic method for their inversion. He goes on to show that "the brain has evolved the necessary anatomical and physiological equipment to implement this inversion, given sensory data." This means the brain could use this single Bayesian mechanism to implement a wide range of algorithms including models with unknown parameters such as state-space models, probabilistic dynamic models, static models, neural networks, nonlinear system identification, general linear models, and identification of nonlinear dynamic systems; as well as models with unknown states such as estimation with static models, hierarchical linear observation model, covariance component estimation, Gaussian process models, and deconvolution; and even models with unknown states and parameters such as Principal Components Analysis (PCA), factor analysis, probabilistic PCA, Independent component analysis (ICA), sparse coding, and blind deconvolution. Obviously, this paper has a lot of math in it, but even if you skip the math, it's an interesting read. Read more... (0 replies) Vernor Vinge, the Singularity and Free SoftwarePosted 9 Nov 2008 at 21:19 UTC by steveIf you're in San Diego, California, we heard about a really interesting event you'll want to attend. Two topics that are always of interest to robot builders are the Singularity and Free Software. The Free Software Foundation is holding a pizza party and Vernor Vinge, the originator of the modern version of the Technological Singularity idea, will be there. The event will be from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, on Tuesday, November 11 at the Best Western, 411 Hotel Circle S, San Diego. And since this is California, they'll even have vegan Pizza available. This event is for FSF members but you're already a member right? If not, it's easy to join the FSF and your money will go to support the development of great software like gcc that you probably use everday. So go if you can, have some fun, and throw in a good word about robots.net. Read more... (1 reply) Robots: Androids, Human Presence and the Uncanny ValleyPosted 7 Nov 2008 at 09:07 UTC by mwaibel
Hiroshi Ishiguro from Osaka University is very well known for creating uncannily life-like androids. In the latest episode of the Robots podcast, Ishiguro introduces his android creations, including a robotic replicate of his then 5 year old daughter, a female android modeled after the NHK news announcer Ayako Fujii and a copy of himself, the Geminoid. He explains Android Science and how his explorations of the uncanny valley may help to understand human presence. This episode then features the last quarter of Science Fiction author Jack Graham's "Selkies". Tune in! Read more... (0 replies)  Dancing Hexapod on the Viral Video CircuitPosted 5 Nov 2008 at 19:13 UTC by steveStudents at the HTL Saalfelden engineering school created Hexapodmeisterschaft, a six legged dancing robot. The creepy looking robot won the dancing category of the 2008 Austrian Hexapod Championships with this dance to the tune of Mambo #5. The contest took place back in April and since then this video has slowly been climbing the Internet viral video popularity charts. What most of the sites carrying this video don't talk about though is the contest itself. While Hexapodmeisterschaft may be the most visible hexapod, there plenty of others at the event, competing in both the dance category and in a hexapod race. You can find videos of the other hexapods on the competition forum and on YouTube. If you're in Austria, you should plan on going to next year's contest in April of 2009. Read more... (0 replies) Random Robot RoundupPosted 4 Nov 2008 at 19:54 UTC by steveHappy Election Day fellow roboticists! Don't forget to vote today. David Cook of the Robot Room has created an online resister color code calculator; how many times have you wished you had one of those when you were digging through your parts box? roschler let us in on a sneek peek video of the WowWee Rovio robot and a hands-on video review of the Fisher Price Elmo Live robotic toy. Roland Piquepaille let us know that robotic sensors being used to study Mount St. Helens and he also blogged about Australian defense robots. The Swirling Brain has swirled up an unusually large pile of robots news including Hammacher and Schlemmer's special $99 price on the i-Sobot, Astrobotic's private moon robot plans, an article on self-propelled microbots that are actually tiny cyborgs made of bacteria and machines, video of an expression mimicking robot, schools of autonomous robofish, a robot service dog that can do everything a live seeing-eye dog can do, a robot maid built by Tokyo University, and an interesting blog post on the possibe of a evidence of a Global SuperOrganism. Read more... (0 replies) Robots: Jumping and Crawling in MillirobotsPosted 4 Nov 2008 at 13:59 UTC by mwaibelAnyone who has studied insects knows why they are such a great source of inspiration for roboticists: They are a treasure trove of extremely diverse and surprisingly simple and robust solutions to complex tasks highly relevant to robotics, including locomotion, navigation and sensing. Insects consistently outperform today's robots in all complex real-world tasks and do so using a minimum of hardware and energy. The latest episode of Robots talks to Sarah Bergbreiter from the University of Maryland, who looks at methods to manufacture insect-sized robots. We then talk to Aaron Hoover at the University of California in Berkeley who demonstrates an example of how mimicking a complex biological system can result in a highly efficient robot. This episode then concludes with the third quarter of sci-fi author Jack Graham's "Selkies". Read more... (0 replies)  Mobile Robots Announces new Stereo Vision SystemPosted 3 Nov 2008 at 21:49 UTC (updated 3 Nov 2008 at 21:50 UTC) by steve
Mobile Robots has announced a new high-speed stereo vision system for robots. It's called the MobileRanger StereoVision System The heavy duty case is designed for indoor or outdoor use and even allows the system work in the rain. An FPGA board is included with the system to provide 752x480 images processed at 30 to 60 fps. An optional pan and tilt mount is also available. No price was specified but you can assume this one is going to be a bit too pricey for the average hobby robot. The full specifications can be found on the product page. Read on the full text of the press release. Read more... (3 replies) |
