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Filed under: Robots

Building a big robot is nothing to congratulate yourself on, but doing it in this manner is certainly worthy of a little self-indulgence. The creature you see standing before you is a 22-foot tall Styrobot constructed entirely from spare polystyrene packing materials, and no, each piece didn't just show up that way. Michael Salter managed to whittle away on this beast until its completion, and now we're hearing that it'll be going on a short demonstration tour before being "decommissioned." We say throw a brain in there and see what happens when you cut it loose.

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Some of you may remember those photos I posted recently of a big robot built from styrofoam packing material that turned up at a local art gallery in Dallas. Well, the folks at DVICE have spotted an artist who makes even bigger foam robots. How big? Try 22 feet tall. The artist is Michael Salter of the University of Oregon and he hasn't built just one but quite a few giant robots. For more see the photo gallery of his robots at Comptemorary Art 06 or his exhibit at the Lump Gallery in 2005. He also did an exhibit at the University of Texas at Arlington in which he built a giant robot out of cardboard boxes. So why does he do it? His bio says "he is currently interested in cognitive behavior and its relationship to particular visual stimuli, and the continued construction of styrofoam robots." If your interest in Styrofoam robots follows a more diminutive bent, don't forget RobotGrrl and her Styrobots.

Filed under: Robots

Korean artist, Choe U Ram, possesses something most artists don't, a deep understanding of robotics. With it, he creates massive, precision engineered sculptures with an eerie organic feel. While his show titled, Anima Machines (Anima is Latin for life or soul) just wrapped up at Japan's SCAI The Bathhouse gallery, we've managed to collect a few images and video of the exhibition as disturbingly beautiful and tragic as the uprising itself.

Gallery: When robots and art mix

[Via Impress]

Continue reading Video: Choe U Ram's robotic art

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The Guardian published a piece by Charles Arthur titled, "Artificial intelligence: God help us if machines ever think like people", in which he questions the idea that Humans are a good model on which to base machine consciousness. Why? "We don't build skyscrapers based on the same principles as the human spine; if we did, then they'd be constantly falling down or showing signs of significant weakness. We don't build transport systems that work like the human body, using muscle-like elastic bands snapping back and forth to power them." He notes that even the Human body is a mess because "evolution is a terrible designer". His premise is based on a recent book by Gary Marcus, Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind which investigates the conflicts between the millions of years old features of the brain that are now conflicting with the relatively recently acquired features based on language. In the end he suggests that giving a machine a mind as badly designed as ours would be an act of cruelty.

Filed under: Robots

Asahi Beer has experimented with robot bartenders in the past, but it looks to have really outdone itself with its new Mr. Asahi bot, which just made its public debut at Selfridges in the UK. Apparnetly, the robot was built in about 200 hours and spent a full six months fine-tuning its bartending skills, which includes being able to serve customers in less than two minutes. That's done with the aid of a discreetly-hidden PC that controls the compressed air and the robot's various switching mechanisms, not to mention its pleasant demeanor. Be sure to head on past the break for a video of the bot in action courtesy of Channel Flip.

[Via Tech Digest, image courtesy of Asahi Beer]

Continue reading Mr. Asahi robot bartender makes its public debut

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Filed under: Robots

Robots teaching robots? Check. Robots teaching humans? Check. Robots learning things on their own accord? Um, terrifying? All kidding aside, the UMass Mobile Manipulator is one smart cookie. Put simply, this intelligent robot pushes objects around in order to identify how they move, and once that's accomplish, it begins "manipulating them to perform tasks." If this sounds awfully similar to something your infant does, that's because the two are indeed very much related. UMan, as it's so eloquently dubbed, packs its own wheels, battery pack, one-meter arm, three-fingered hand and webcam in order to interact with the world, and sure enough, one researcher even mentioned the potential of it learning to operate a pair of scissors. Great, what's next -- a BFG?

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Intel is hinting at the possibility of a future with processors containing hundreds or even thousands of cores. While graphics applications seem to be driving much of this trend, I see the possibilities for robotics as truly monumental. Software development for real-time response and control of actuators and sensors has always been a bit awkward with asynchronous interrupts bumping into each-other and cumbersome state machine loops. A possible solution to this mess, and to a much-needed advancement in robot performance are multiple processor systems with additional processors providing centralized supervisory control. When that trend takes hold, a programmer will be able to instruct a mobility routine to approach the refrigerator using a group of processors dedicated to that task, and not risk crashing the battery monitoring routines in the process. It seems to me that the trend is more towards a massively parallel array of much simpler processors - something between neural networks of biological systems and the overburdened, highly complex, single-processors systems of today. Processors of the giant array can be simpler, slower and die without bringing down the whole system. The result will be a faster and more fault-tolerant system that is easier to program, and even cheaper to produce.

Randy of Instructables.com writes, I want you to know about the Instructables and RoboGames Robot Contest. We are looking for instructions on how to make, build or design all things robot-related. Maybe you built the ultimate manipulator arm, designed a killer sensor array, reused some great trash, or just made a gorgeous housing - pick something you're proud of, and share how you made it. The grand prize is a trip to San Francisco for the 2009 robogames. Other prizes include a RoboPhilo Walking Android kit, and instructables Robot gear. Entry deadline is July 13. They've already got some interesting entries like DIY air muscles and the Elvinator (a cross between the terminator and a WowWee Elvis robot).

Filed under: Robots

The current generation of robots, whether they're the gun-carrying or child-coddling variety, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes to suit their intended purpose. But if research going on at Tufts University comes to fruition, future robots might feature designs that are rather more flexible. Scientists at the school are working on so-called "chemical robots" with no solid parts. Chembots could squeeze under doors, slither through cracks in walls, and even squirm into your orifices, performing internal diagnoses before slowly dissolving away, leaving nothing more than a feeling of creepy violation behind. What about assuming the shape and voice of John Connor's adopted mother? We're hoping that's still a few years off.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Michelle writes, "Time.com has just put up a photo gallery of some of the world’s most awesome (and cutest, natch) robots". Many of the robots will be familiar including the Sommelier Robot, the Fujitsu HOAP-3, the Shadow robot hand (who knew a hand by itself could be cute?!), Toyota's musical instrument playing robots, and Wall-e. It's always interesting to see what mainstream media thinks about robots. In this case they make no distinction between real robots, fictional robots; between research projects and commercial gadgets. What's your pick for cutest robot ever?

Filed under: Robots

Although Pleo's only been out for about six months, UGOBE opened up shop at PleoWorld about a year ago, and to celebrate they're selling the robo-dino-pets at over $100 off the regular $350 price tag. The promo goes on until July 11th, and apparently all you need to do is pop in a promo code (PLEOWORLDISONE) and you'll get yours for a cool $235, which is an especially great deal if your intention is only to slaughter it.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

In honor of the 1 year anniversary of the official Pleo website, PleoWorld (http://www.pleoworld.com/) , Ugobe is offering a steep discount on Pleo's purchased through the website. By using the online offer code, PLEOWORLDISONE , at checkout (http://www.pleoworld.com/getpleo), you can get a Pleo for the incredibly low price of $235. Keep in mind that the sale only lasts through JULY 11th, so order fast. You may also notice, that Ugobe now offers replacement batteries for Pleo. Be sure to pick up an extra if you'd like extended play (or experimentation time) with you new robotic dino-pal. Ugobe has also released a new update for Pleo, Pleosarous Rex (http://www.pleoworld.com/downloads), which makes Pleo act like Godzilla. Pleo is a great toy and is ripe for hacking. Getting one for $235 is a steal, so I highly suggest you take Ugobe up on the deal. Now, I just have to convince my wife that I need two ...

Filed under: Robots

Just think -- Zappos has been shipping out shoes .9284 minutes after you order them for years with mere humans running the show. Now, your new kicks will likely be at your doorstep moments after you think of ordering them. Said e-tailer has just completed implementation of Kiva Systems' Mobile Fulfillment System, which will see "a fleet of Kiva's mobile robotic drive units and inventory storage pods" hit the company's Shepherdsville, Kentucky facility. The move is being made to keep its distribution system in tip-top shape even with the addition of new products outside of just footwear, and unless some of those mechs grow a mind of their own, we'd say things should pan out just fine.

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Filed under: Robots

While mind-control interfaces are all well and good, sometimes a simpler solution makes a bit more sense, and that's where this so-called Copycat Arm comes in. Developed by a group of researchers at the University of Tsukub, it makes use of a high-speed camera to monitor a person's movements, which are apparently instantly (and creepily) mimicked by the robot arm.Eventually, the researchers say the same system could be used as a computer interface, which they say could eliminate the need for a mouse and keyboard. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a video of the arm in action, but those heading to SIGGRAPH 2008 will apparently be able to check it out first hand.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Stanley, winner of DARPA's 2005 grand challenge, is on his way to be part of an exhibit at Smithsonian's National Museum. But first, Stanley is being displayed at San Jose's Tech Museum until July 17. Venture capital firm Mohr Davidow along with members of the Stanford team gathered for a reception to talk about the amazing Volkswagen Touareg and the technology that guided it through 132 miles of the Mojave desert autonomously.

CMU issued a press release on a collaboration between the school and General Motors Research & Development Lab. Together they will establish a new Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research Lab (CRL). A previous CRL was set up with help from GM in 2000 and renewed in 2003. According to Larry Burns of GM, "technologies ranging from electronics, controls and software to wireless capabilities and digital mapping could ultimately change how people drive and use their vehicles. Imagine being virtually chauffeured safely in your car while doing your e-mail, eating breakfast and watching the news. The work we're doing with Carnegie Mellon is a big stepping stone toward making this a reality." See also the GM version of the press release

Filed under: Robots

WowWee has been talking up its all-controlling RoboRemote since CES at the beginning of this year, but it looks like it's only recently found its way into availability, and it's now thankfully gotten reviewed as well. According to the folks at RoboCommunity, the remote fully delivers on its promise to control any IR-based WowWee robot, with the software (XP/Vista only, unfortunately) straightforward enough for most anyone to use, but apparently not so basic as to turn off more adventuresome robotics enthusiasts (who'll no doubt find some ways to use this without the basic software anyway). Couple that with the $20 price tag, and they say that this is a "must-have gadget" for any WowWee robot owner.

[Thanks, Matt]
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Keeping and consulting internal maps is a frequent method employed by robot builders to navigate complex environments. A Nature article describes the debate over whether Honeybees, which are much smarter than robots, keep internal maps. When a honeybee finds food, communicates the distance and direction to the hive through a complex dance. 20 years ago, Fred Dyer and James Gould placed food in a very unlikely place (the middle of a lake on a boat) to see what would happen. A specially trained bee that knew the location of the food tried to tell the hive but the other bees didn't seem to believe it. The conclusion was that bees knew it was unlikely food could be found over water, suggesting they were evaluating the location's plausibility based on their own cognitive map of the area. A more recent attempt by Margaret Wray to duplicate the experiment has failed to get the same results but may have been flawed. Another researcher, Juergen Tautz, suggests there may be a simpler explanation for the bees refusal to fly over water, so the jury is still out. The Tautz paper is interesting in itself: Honeybee Odometry: Performance in varying Natural Terrain (PDF format).