NEWS
A unique slithering robot is revealing the secrets of the sidewinder snake, whose ability to quickly climb sandy slopes has long puzzled scientists, according to a new study.
Sidewinder snakes are extremely adept at shimmying up sandy slopes, though their method looks unusual - they seem to hoist themselves up one body segment at a time. However bizarre, it's rather effective, so researchers set out to figure out how this sand-friendly movement worked.
"The desert sidewinder is really extraordinary, with perhaps the fastest and most efficient natural motion we've ever observed for a snake," Ross Hatton, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Oregon State University, said in a statement.
Sidewinder snakes are extremely adept at shimmying up sandy slopes, though their method looks unusual - they seem to hoist themselves up one body segment at a time. However bizarre, it's rather effective, so researchers set out to figure out how this sand-friendly movement worked.
"The desert sidewinder is really extraordinary, with perhaps the fastest and most efficient natural motion we've ever observed for a snake," Ross Hatton, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Oregon State University, said in a statement.
When Robots Can Kill, It's Unclear Who Will Be To Blame
The fast-advancing field of robotics is opening up serious questions about the military-based motivations behind some of the coolest tricks our machines can now be programmed to perform.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, helped create the Internet. But these days, DARPA is probably best known for its robotics contests. Its latest robotics challenge was inspired by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which happened three years ago.
Back then, nuclear engineers rushed to shut down reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, but fear of radiation poisoning kept utility workers at the plant from shutting off the effectively cooling reactors sooner. Eventually, three of the plant's six reactors melted down.
"There is good evidence that if we had been able to send in some kind of robot and had that robot do relatively simple things, simple manual tasks like opening valves, opening doors, getting to control panels, a lot of the following disaster could have been averted, " says Brian Gerkey, of the Open Source Robotics Foundation.
The goal now is to build that robot — one that can open doors, move debris, turn a valve, even drive a conventional car.
In December, 16 teams of roboticists converged in Miami to compete. While the robots moved slowly and some were tripped up by seemingly trivial obstacles, the event pushed humanoid robots to do things they have never done before.
This may seem like an entirely altruistic enterprise — designing a robot for disaster response — but the event also is pushing the robotics field toward goals military planners have long sought.
"At the end of the day people need to remember what the D in DARPA stands for. It stands for Defense," says Peter Singer. Singer is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century.
"Too often scientists try and kid themselves," he says. "[They] act like just because I work on this system that is not directly a weapon system I have nothing to do with war."
Singer recalls speaking to one researcher recently who was working on a project funded by the Navy.
"He was working on a Navy contract on a robot that would play baseball. 'I don't have anything to do with war.' Come on. You think the Navy is fundng this because they want a better Naval Academy baseball team?"
Singer asks, for example, how tracking and intercepting a fly ball could be analogous to tracking and intercepting a missile.
It's hard to find a roboticist working today in academia who hasn't taken some kind of military funding. Illah Nourbakhsh is one of the few. While Nourbakhsh acknowledges the good that could come out of DARPA's recent push to build a semi-autonomous search and rescue robot, he also sees an obvious dual use.
If researchers set out to build a robot that can drive a regular car, climb a ladder and operate a jack hammer, "That means that that robot can manipulate an AK-47. That means that robot can manipulate the controls of all the conventional military machines as well," he says.
Nourbakhsh thinks DARPA is pushing roboticists to build machines that can make complex decisions quickly and independently.
"We are making our robots ever more autonomous," he says.
This research, Nourbakhsh says, is pushing us closer to the point where robots will decide when to kill. "It's a really interesting boundary to cross," he says.
Imagine using image recognition when a drone is flying in the air and matching faces against faces on a kill list, he suggests. If a robot like that made a mistake, who would be responsible? The programmer? The manufacturer? The military commander who launched it on its mission?
"It forces us to confront whether we really control machines," says Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington. Calo says these tensions won't just play out in the military, but will crop up whenever we are tempted to allow robots to make decisions on their own.
video in back pazpp
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, helped create the Internet. But these days, DARPA is probably best known for its robotics contests. Its latest robotics challenge was inspired by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which happened three years ago.
Back then, nuclear engineers rushed to shut down reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, but fear of radiation poisoning kept utility workers at the plant from shutting off the effectively cooling reactors sooner. Eventually, three of the plant's six reactors melted down.
"There is good evidence that if we had been able to send in some kind of robot and had that robot do relatively simple things, simple manual tasks like opening valves, opening doors, getting to control panels, a lot of the following disaster could have been averted, " says Brian Gerkey, of the Open Source Robotics Foundation.
The goal now is to build that robot — one that can open doors, move debris, turn a valve, even drive a conventional car.
In December, 16 teams of roboticists converged in Miami to compete. While the robots moved slowly and some were tripped up by seemingly trivial obstacles, the event pushed humanoid robots to do things they have never done before.
This may seem like an entirely altruistic enterprise — designing a robot for disaster response — but the event also is pushing the robotics field toward goals military planners have long sought.
"At the end of the day people need to remember what the D in DARPA stands for. It stands for Defense," says Peter Singer. Singer is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century.
"Too often scientists try and kid themselves," he says. "[They] act like just because I work on this system that is not directly a weapon system I have nothing to do with war."
Singer recalls speaking to one researcher recently who was working on a project funded by the Navy.
"He was working on a Navy contract on a robot that would play baseball. 'I don't have anything to do with war.' Come on. You think the Navy is fundng this because they want a better Naval Academy baseball team?"
Singer asks, for example, how tracking and intercepting a fly ball could be analogous to tracking and intercepting a missile.
It's hard to find a roboticist working today in academia who hasn't taken some kind of military funding. Illah Nourbakhsh is one of the few. While Nourbakhsh acknowledges the good that could come out of DARPA's recent push to build a semi-autonomous search and rescue robot, he also sees an obvious dual use.
If researchers set out to build a robot that can drive a regular car, climb a ladder and operate a jack hammer, "That means that that robot can manipulate an AK-47. That means that robot can manipulate the controls of all the conventional military machines as well," he says.
Nourbakhsh thinks DARPA is pushing roboticists to build machines that can make complex decisions quickly and independently.
"We are making our robots ever more autonomous," he says.
This research, Nourbakhsh says, is pushing us closer to the point where robots will decide when to kill. "It's a really interesting boundary to cross," he says.
Imagine using image recognition when a drone is flying in the air and matching faces against faces on a kill list, he suggests. If a robot like that made a mistake, who would be responsible? The programmer? The manufacturer? The military commander who launched it on its mission?
"It forces us to confront whether we really control machines," says Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington. Calo says these tensions won't just play out in the military, but will crop up whenever we are tempted to allow robots to make decisions on their own.
video in back pazpp
Walking Robots Double as Japanese Garden Lamps
Do you know what your garden is missing right now? Of course you do, because whenever this blog asks you what X is missing right now, the correct answer is always always always ROBOTS. And your garden is absolutely missing robots. Specifically, the sort with lots of legs and big lights on their heads.
These Toro-bots from Trossen Robotics customer Cassinelli Alvaro are built on top of PhantomX quadrupeds, and each has been programmed with its own unique behavior. Infrared rangefinders allow the robots to react to things like people walking past them, and they're also equipped with infrared beacons that allow them to be tracked individually by an IR camera and (eventually) given some level of centralized autonomous control.
5 Major Advances In Robotic Prosthetics
Nature Is Smarter Than Us
Nature is pretty damn smart. In fact, many modern technologies get their ideas from nature. Trace explores the awesome field of biomimicry.
JIM KRUGER/ISTOCKPHOTO
The Toro-bots are about more than just having lamps that can walk around (as cool as that is). They're part of a grand vision of a garden that can aesthetically rework itself:
A Japanese garden is designed to recreate the eyes and foster contemplation and meditation. Inspired by nature, it is, however, a work of art: a production of the human mind. Human beings create that order, and then retreat to contemplate it, intervening from time to time to tweak details and maintain the order. We propose here a garden that takes care of itself, that somehow understands and re-interprets the rules of harmony and equilibrium, and reconfigures itself depending on the season, the presence or absence of a human observers -- that develops structure in a generative way, creating a dynamic conversation between the elements in the garden.
I like the idea that a garden full of robots might also be able to carry out practical tasks, like having walking lamps that follow you around at night. Maybe you can outfit them with cameras or other sensors to monitor plant health, and give them remote control over your sprinkler system. They could live (and charge) indoors, and come and go as they please through the robot equivalent of a doggy door. Adorable!
To get started on a robot like this of your own, all it takes is a Japanese lamp plus a PhantomX quadruped kit, which'll set you backabout $1,000.
These Toro-bots from Trossen Robotics customer Cassinelli Alvaro are built on top of PhantomX quadrupeds, and each has been programmed with its own unique behavior. Infrared rangefinders allow the robots to react to things like people walking past them, and they're also equipped with infrared beacons that allow them to be tracked individually by an IR camera and (eventually) given some level of centralized autonomous control.
5 Major Advances In Robotic Prosthetics
Nature Is Smarter Than Us
Nature is pretty damn smart. In fact, many modern technologies get their ideas from nature. Trace explores the awesome field of biomimicry.
JIM KRUGER/ISTOCKPHOTO
The Toro-bots are about more than just having lamps that can walk around (as cool as that is). They're part of a grand vision of a garden that can aesthetically rework itself:
A Japanese garden is designed to recreate the eyes and foster contemplation and meditation. Inspired by nature, it is, however, a work of art: a production of the human mind. Human beings create that order, and then retreat to contemplate it, intervening from time to time to tweak details and maintain the order. We propose here a garden that takes care of itself, that somehow understands and re-interprets the rules of harmony and equilibrium, and reconfigures itself depending on the season, the presence or absence of a human observers -- that develops structure in a generative way, creating a dynamic conversation between the elements in the garden.
I like the idea that a garden full of robots might also be able to carry out practical tasks, like having walking lamps that follow you around at night. Maybe you can outfit them with cameras or other sensors to monitor plant health, and give them remote control over your sprinkler system. They could live (and charge) indoors, and come and go as they please through the robot equivalent of a doggy door. Adorable!
To get started on a robot like this of your own, all it takes is a Japanese lamp plus a PhantomX quadruped kit, which'll set you backabout $1,000.
Apple products will be manufactured by robots of Google!
It seems Google wants to work with the factories of Foxconn, the number number 1 manufacturer of products Apple. This news came after he met the chairman of Foxconn, Terry Gou, with Andy Rubin of Google in the Taipei who discussed new robotic technologies that will help speed production factories.Rumors already want 2 company chatting for some time on the field of robotics in Google. Upon initiation of this, the Foxconn wants to replace the tens of thousands 30,000 employees with robots in the next three years which will cost a total of $ 750 million.
Brazil will use robots to police
Brazil is adopting the security of the future after securing a deal with a robot manufacturer to deploy robots programmed to police the 2014 FIFA World Cup games.
The Brazilian government has agreed to pay $7.2 million to Massachusetts-based iRobot for 30 of its PackBot robots, according to a Robohub report. The robots will be programmed to analyze suspicious-looking objects in 12 cities hosting World Cup match-ups across Brazil beginning in June.
PackBots can travel at speeds up to 9 mph and have an extremely versatile mobility system, able to traverse rough terrain and even stairs. iRobot’s models include a host of sensors including GPS, video, thermal detection, electronic compass and system diagnostics. The robots weigh about 40 pounds and can be folded to fit into a backpack, making them ideal for quick deployment.
The model is exceptionally durable, able to survive a hard fall onto concrete from two meters, and has a full 360-degree range of rotation.
The same robots were recently used to assess the Japanese Fukushima Nuclear power plant meltdown resulting from the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. More than 800 have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan war zones, among
The Brazilian government has agreed to pay $7.2 million to Massachusetts-based iRobot for 30 of its PackBot robots, according to a Robohub report. The robots will be programmed to analyze suspicious-looking objects in 12 cities hosting World Cup match-ups across Brazil beginning in June.
PackBots can travel at speeds up to 9 mph and have an extremely versatile mobility system, able to traverse rough terrain and even stairs. iRobot’s models include a host of sensors including GPS, video, thermal detection, electronic compass and system diagnostics. The robots weigh about 40 pounds and can be folded to fit into a backpack, making them ideal for quick deployment.
The model is exceptionally durable, able to survive a hard fall onto concrete from two meters, and has a full 360-degree range of rotation.
The same robots were recently used to assess the Japanese Fukushima Nuclear power plant meltdown resulting from the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. More than 800 have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan war zones, among
'Muscles' for Robots Made from Fishing Line and Twine
BY NIDHI SUBBARAMANFishing lines and sewing thread look like a fairly dainty duo, but the right kind of design can give them formidable strength.
Researchers have engineered “artificial muscles” with coiled twine and thread, wound up like a rubber-band, that can lift loads 100 times heavier the same length of human muscle.
The idea is, they could one day expand and contract in the arms of robots, or in prosthetic limbs for people.
“There’s a need for muscles to add little weight and volume to a humanoid robot and still be powerful," Ray Baughman, a professor at UT Dallas told NBC News, but existing motors for exoskeletons and robots like Boston Dynamics' Atlas are heavy and large. But not only are these threads light and strong, they're also cheap, Baughman and his co-authors explain in a paper describing the threads published in the Thursday issue of Science.
The threads could also be woven into smart textiles that can breathe, expanding slightly during summers and contracting to keep out the chill in the winter.
Baughman is no stranger to super-strong fibers. Last year, his lab showed off a catapult made of carbon nanotubes dipped in paraffin wax that could lift 200 times heavier loads than the same length of human muscle.
Researchers have engineered “artificial muscles” with coiled twine and thread, wound up like a rubber-band, that can lift loads 100 times heavier the same length of human muscle.
The idea is, they could one day expand and contract in the arms of robots, or in prosthetic limbs for people.
“There’s a need for muscles to add little weight and volume to a humanoid robot and still be powerful," Ray Baughman, a professor at UT Dallas told NBC News, but existing motors for exoskeletons and robots like Boston Dynamics' Atlas are heavy and large. But not only are these threads light and strong, they're also cheap, Baughman and his co-authors explain in a paper describing the threads published in the Thursday issue of Science.
The threads could also be woven into smart textiles that can breathe, expanding slightly during summers and contracting to keep out the chill in the winter.
Baughman is no stranger to super-strong fibers. Last year, his lab showed off a catapult made of carbon nanotubes dipped in paraffin wax that could lift 200 times heavier loads than the same length of human muscle.
The ROBOT theme park: South Korea plans £380m attraction where visitors build their own droids and watch mechanical animals
A futuristic new theme park that offers robot-themed roller coasters, a water park, exhibitions and even an aquarium with mechanical fish, is being built in South Korea.
The site in Incheon, south west of Seoul, will combine business and pleasure because as well as rides and shops selling the latest hi-tech robots, the theme park will also include a robot R&D centre as well as a kind of graduate school.
Expected to open as early as 2016, the theme park of the future will cost in the region of $625million (£380million), according to Discovery.
+10
A futuristic new theme park (illustrated) that offers robot themed roller coasters, water park, exhibitions and even an aquarium with mechanical fish, is being built in South Korea
THEME PARK ATTRACTIONS
The site will be a hybrid theme and research park so that some visitors will celebrate robots and have a fun day out, while others will be building the machines of the future in the same location.
More...
Features of Robot Land are shown off in a series of maps, with major attractions including a roller coaster that looks as if it is being held aloft by a giant Transformer, themed shows, nightclubs, a monorail and even robot boxing, as well as giant shops, immersive cinemas and a robotic aquarium.
A vast exhibition hall, research and development centre and post graduate robotics school, as well as industrial development facilities, are also planned.
The site in Incheon, south west of Seoul, will combine business and pleasure because as well as rides and shops selling the latest hi-tech robots, the theme park will also include a robot R&D centre as well as a kind of graduate school.
Expected to open as early as 2016, the theme park of the future will cost in the region of $625million (£380million), according to Discovery.
+10
A futuristic new theme park (illustrated) that offers robot themed roller coasters, water park, exhibitions and even an aquarium with mechanical fish, is being built in South Korea
THEME PARK ATTRACTIONS
- The Robot Land theme park could include:
- Roller coasters, a big wheel, rides and a water park.
- An aquarium showcasing mechanical fish.
- A night club, interactive cinemas and show spaces.
- Shops selling hi-tech robots.
- An R&D centre where engineers can build the next generation of robots.
- A graduate school to educate future robotics engineers.
- Huge exhibition spaces.
The site will be a hybrid theme and research park so that some visitors will celebrate robots and have a fun day out, while others will be building the machines of the future in the same location.
More...
- To 1,000ft and beyond! $600,000 jet-powered Exosuit that looks like Buzz Lightyear lets explorers walk the seafloor
- The robotic tongue so sensitive it can distinguish between different beers - and tell if you've been served a bad beer
Features of Robot Land are shown off in a series of maps, with major attractions including a roller coaster that looks as if it is being held aloft by a giant Transformer, themed shows, nightclubs, a monorail and even robot boxing, as well as giant shops, immersive cinemas and a robotic aquarium.
A vast exhibition hall, research and development centre and post graduate robotics school, as well as industrial development facilities, are also planned.
Cat-like whiskers could help robots navigate
Scientists at Berkeley Lab and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have created sensitive, tactile sensors that are similar to a cat's whiskers. The so-called "e-whiskers" could be used to help robots feel their way around a space.
As explained by Berkeley Lab’s Ali Javey, whiskers are used by certain animals to monitor wind and navigate around obstacles and spaces. The artificial whiskers created by Javey and his team respond to pressure as slight as that of a dollar bill resting on a table (about 1 Pa).
"Our electronic whiskers consist of high-aspect-ratio elastic fibers coated with conductive composite films of nanotubes and nanoparticles," says Javey. "In tests, these whiskers were 10 times more sensitive to pressure than all previously reported capacitive or resistive pressure sensors."
To create the e-whiskers, the researchers used a carbon nanotube paste to form a flexible, electrically-conductive network matrix. A thin film of silver nanoparticles was then added, making the matrix sensitive to mechanical strain. According to Javey, the sensitivity and electrical resistivity of the composite film can be changed by adjusting the ratio of carbon nanotubes to silver nanoparticles.
Once ready, the composite is painted or printed onto elastic fibers to form the e-whiskers. Adding the e-whiskers to a robot allows the robot to detect obstacles in the same way that a cat does, helping with decision about which direction to move.
Research team member Kuniharu Takei explained to Gizmag that the initial idea for e-whiskers was borne out of a request from a robotics researcher during the team's work on artificial electronic skin, some three years ago. At the time, there was no means of realizing the idea, but following the development of high sensitivity strain sensor materials, the concept was able to be taken forward.
The team has demonstrated e-whiskers by using them to produce 2D and 3D mapping of wind flow. Presently, only pressure information can be detected with the e-whisker, but the integration of more sensors and signal processing circuits would allow for other applications. The team is also keen to demonstrate macro-scale printing fabrication to lower the cost of production.
"Here we demonstrated the e-whisker by forming the strain sensor onto the e-whisker polymer structure," says Takei. "We think this demonstration is very important, not only for the e-whisker, but also for printed electronics. This technology can be also applied to many applications such as wearable electronics and some other flexible devices."
The Berkeley Lab research is not the only work of its kind. The four-year EU-funded BIOTACT project sought to replicate the sensory abilities of rat whiskers.
A research paper detailing the Berkeley team's work was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
As explained by Berkeley Lab’s Ali Javey, whiskers are used by certain animals to monitor wind and navigate around obstacles and spaces. The artificial whiskers created by Javey and his team respond to pressure as slight as that of a dollar bill resting on a table (about 1 Pa).
"Our electronic whiskers consist of high-aspect-ratio elastic fibers coated with conductive composite films of nanotubes and nanoparticles," says Javey. "In tests, these whiskers were 10 times more sensitive to pressure than all previously reported capacitive or resistive pressure sensors."
To create the e-whiskers, the researchers used a carbon nanotube paste to form a flexible, electrically-conductive network matrix. A thin film of silver nanoparticles was then added, making the matrix sensitive to mechanical strain. According to Javey, the sensitivity and electrical resistivity of the composite film can be changed by adjusting the ratio of carbon nanotubes to silver nanoparticles.
Once ready, the composite is painted or printed onto elastic fibers to form the e-whiskers. Adding the e-whiskers to a robot allows the robot to detect obstacles in the same way that a cat does, helping with decision about which direction to move.
Research team member Kuniharu Takei explained to Gizmag that the initial idea for e-whiskers was borne out of a request from a robotics researcher during the team's work on artificial electronic skin, some three years ago. At the time, there was no means of realizing the idea, but following the development of high sensitivity strain sensor materials, the concept was able to be taken forward.
The team has demonstrated e-whiskers by using them to produce 2D and 3D mapping of wind flow. Presently, only pressure information can be detected with the e-whisker, but the integration of more sensors and signal processing circuits would allow for other applications. The team is also keen to demonstrate macro-scale printing fabrication to lower the cost of production.
"Here we demonstrated the e-whisker by forming the strain sensor onto the e-whisker polymer structure," says Takei. "We think this demonstration is very important, not only for the e-whisker, but also for printed electronics. This technology can be also applied to many applications such as wearable electronics and some other flexible devices."
The Berkeley Lab research is not the only work of its kind. The four-year EU-funded BIOTACT project sought to replicate the sensory abilities of rat whiskers.
A research paper detailing the Berkeley team's work was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Robots May Replace One-Fourth Of U.S. Combat Soldiers By 2030, Says General
By the middle of this century, U.S. Army soldiers may well be fighting alongside robotic squadmates. General Robert Cone revealed the news at an Army Aviation symposium last week, noting that the Army is considering reducing the size of a Brigade Combat Team from 4,000 soldiers to 3,000, with robots and drones making up for the lost firepower. Cone is in charge of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), the part of the Army responsible for future planning and organization. If the Army can still be as effective with fewer people to a unit, TRADOC will figure out what technology is needed to make that happen.
While not explicitly stated, a major motivation behind replacing humans with robots is that humans are expensive. Training, feeding, and supplying them while at war is pricey, and after the soldiers leave the service, there's a lifetime of medical care to cover. In 2012, benefits for serving and retired members of the military comprised one-quarter of the Pentagon's budget request.
To understand what Cone is proposing (besides robot soldiers), we need to understand two fundamental building blocks of the modern U.S. Army. The first is the nine-man squad, almost the smallest useful unit of force. For some purposes, it can be split into two smaller fireteams, but the Army designs vehicles with the nine-man squad in mind, and then writes doctrine for how these squads (some with, some without vehicles) will move and fight.
The second building block worth knowing is the Brigade Combat Team. It's the smallest large unit that can be sent into combat independently. If the Army can reduce number of people in squads, it can reduce the total manpower everywhere, and it can acquire vehicles that are both smaller and cheaper. In order to reduce manpower without reducing fighting ability, the Army will need to make sure that Brigades have everything they need to be just effective. In order for that to happen, Cone said the Army will "need to fundamentally change the nature of the force, and that would require a breakthrough in science and technology.” Cone expects this to happen by 2030 to 2040.
While not explicitly stated, a major motivation behind replacing humans with robots is that humans are expensive. Training, feeding, and supplying them while at war is pricey, and after the soldiers leave the service, there's a lifetime of medical care to cover. In 2012, benefits for serving and retired members of the military comprised one-quarter of the Pentagon's budget request.
To understand what Cone is proposing (besides robot soldiers), we need to understand two fundamental building blocks of the modern U.S. Army. The first is the nine-man squad, almost the smallest useful unit of force. For some purposes, it can be split into two smaller fireteams, but the Army designs vehicles with the nine-man squad in mind, and then writes doctrine for how these squads (some with, some without vehicles) will move and fight.
The second building block worth knowing is the Brigade Combat Team. It's the smallest large unit that can be sent into combat independently. If the Army can reduce number of people in squads, it can reduce the total manpower everywhere, and it can acquire vehicles that are both smaller and cheaper. In order to reduce manpower without reducing fighting ability, the Army will need to make sure that Brigades have everything they need to be just effective. In order for that to happen, Cone said the Army will "need to fundamentally change the nature of the force, and that would require a breakthrough in science and technology.” Cone expects this to happen by 2030 to 2040.
Robot Discovers New Species in the Ice of Antarctica
An undersea robot has discovered a new species of sea anemone in the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
The white anenomes have been given the name “Edwardsiella andrillae,” in honor of the Antarctic Geological Drilling Program (ANDRILL), whose scientists are credited with their discovery. The discovery was reportedly made initially in December of 2010 but has just now been made public with the recent publication of the information about the new life form in the journal PLoS ONE.
The thousands of newly discovered anemones have been described as appearing “like flowers from a ceiling,” due to their unusual positioning. They were found burrowed upside down within the ice shelf, with only their tentacles sticking out into the chilly surrounding waters.
A lead scientist on the project, Scott Borg, says that it is quite a mystery as to how the anemones are able to remain burrowed on the underside of an actively melting ice shelf. He called the discovery “astonishing” and says that it proves that there is much that remains unknown about Antarctica and the hearty lifeforms that are adapting to changing life in its extreme conditions. More research will be needed to determine for certain how and what the creatures eat, how it is that they avoid freezing and how they are able to reproduce.
When in a contracted state, the anemones are reportedly about one inch in length, though when relaxed they appear to stretch to a length of between three and four inches. Each anemone has between 20 and 24 protruding tentacles.
While other anemones have been previously identified in Antarctica, these are the first to live anywhere other than on, or burrowed into, the floor of the sea.
The discovery of the sea anemones was not the intended mission of the undersea robot that found them, but was simply “serendipitous” according to one scientist on the project. The robot had been lowered beneath the surface of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica equipped with two cameras to provide more knowledge about the currents in the ocean beneath the ice shelf. Finding living organisms in the ice, let alone a previously undiscovered species of organisms, was a complete shock to the researchers involved.
When the robot first shed light onto the anemones, those observing report that they immediately began to shout about the unexpected and “exciting biological discovery.”
The new species of sea anemones residing in the ice of Antarctica were not the only lifeforms observed by the robot’s cameras. Researches also watched fish that reportedly swim upside down treating the bottom of the ice shelf as the floor of their world. They saw “polychaete worms, amphipods and a creature they dubbed “the eggroll” as well.” The “eggroll” creature was a small cylindrically shaped organism that appeared able to swim through the use of appendages existing on both ends of its body. It reportedly rolled among the sea anemones and relied upon them for support at times.
Researcher reportedly hope to return to Antarctica for further study of the newly discovered species of sea anemones identified by the undersea robot as early as 2015.
The white anenomes have been given the name “Edwardsiella andrillae,” in honor of the Antarctic Geological Drilling Program (ANDRILL), whose scientists are credited with their discovery. The discovery was reportedly made initially in December of 2010 but has just now been made public with the recent publication of the information about the new life form in the journal PLoS ONE.
The thousands of newly discovered anemones have been described as appearing “like flowers from a ceiling,” due to their unusual positioning. They were found burrowed upside down within the ice shelf, with only their tentacles sticking out into the chilly surrounding waters.
A lead scientist on the project, Scott Borg, says that it is quite a mystery as to how the anemones are able to remain burrowed on the underside of an actively melting ice shelf. He called the discovery “astonishing” and says that it proves that there is much that remains unknown about Antarctica and the hearty lifeforms that are adapting to changing life in its extreme conditions. More research will be needed to determine for certain how and what the creatures eat, how it is that they avoid freezing and how they are able to reproduce.
When in a contracted state, the anemones are reportedly about one inch in length, though when relaxed they appear to stretch to a length of between three and four inches. Each anemone has between 20 and 24 protruding tentacles.
While other anemones have been previously identified in Antarctica, these are the first to live anywhere other than on, or burrowed into, the floor of the sea.
The discovery of the sea anemones was not the intended mission of the undersea robot that found them, but was simply “serendipitous” according to one scientist on the project. The robot had been lowered beneath the surface of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica equipped with two cameras to provide more knowledge about the currents in the ocean beneath the ice shelf. Finding living organisms in the ice, let alone a previously undiscovered species of organisms, was a complete shock to the researchers involved.
When the robot first shed light onto the anemones, those observing report that they immediately began to shout about the unexpected and “exciting biological discovery.”
The new species of sea anemones residing in the ice of Antarctica were not the only lifeforms observed by the robot’s cameras. Researches also watched fish that reportedly swim upside down treating the bottom of the ice shelf as the floor of their world. They saw “polychaete worms, amphipods and a creature they dubbed “the eggroll” as well.” The “eggroll” creature was a small cylindrically shaped organism that appeared able to swim through the use of appendages existing on both ends of its body. It reportedly rolled among the sea anemones and relied upon them for support at times.
Researcher reportedly hope to return to Antarctica for further study of the newly discovered species of sea anemones identified by the undersea robot as early as 2015.
Europe launches RoboEarth: 'Wikipedia for Robots'
Let the robot race begin. Expectations are high for RoboEarth, a new European-funded system to speed the development of human-serving robots. Scientists from five major European technical universities have gathered in the Netherlands this week for its launch and to demonstrate possible applications.
The first: the deceptively simple task of delivering a glass of milk to a patient in a mock-up hospital room.
The system is sometimes billed as a kind of Wikipedia for robots, allowing them—or their programmers—to turn to it for information. In a demonstration Wednesday at Eindhoven Technical University, RoboEarth wirelessly instructed a scrappy waste bin-sized robot called "Avi" to scan a room's physical layout, including the location of the patient's bed and the placement of a carton of milk on a table nearby.
Then the system activated a second robot, the more humanoid "Amigo," which used the map provided by Avi to locate the milk, grasp it with a pincer hand and bring it to the side of the hospital bed. That mission accomplished, he dropped it on the floor.
Fortunately, it was a test run and no milk was spilled. Amigo hasn't been programmed for crying anyway.
The hospital exercise is just the beginning. Organizers say the tasks the robots are carrying out are of a technological sophistication comparable to those performed by high-end robots in automobile factories—they just look clumsier because robots that interact with humans are not performing repetitive tasks in the controlled, sanitized and predictable surroundings of a factory.
The RoboEarth project was years in the making and received around 4 million euros ($5.4 million) in funding from the European Union for interrelated projects at technology conglomerate Royal Philips NV and universities in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
Designers of robots can add information to the system, which is then shared for free so that others don't have to reinvent the electric wheel. For example, if a robot maker wants to program a hand to grasp something, that's difficult to design. But the coding for three different ways to do it may be there for a robot to plug into on RoboEarth.
But RoboEarth is more than an encyclopedia. It has a system of networked computers that allow it to perform intensive computing tasks that smaller computers—or in this case simpler robots—may not be able to. It also allows individual robots to communicate between themselves, the so-called RoboCloud of networked computers, and the robot database.
The first: the deceptively simple task of delivering a glass of milk to a patient in a mock-up hospital room.
The system is sometimes billed as a kind of Wikipedia for robots, allowing them—or their programmers—to turn to it for information. In a demonstration Wednesday at Eindhoven Technical University, RoboEarth wirelessly instructed a scrappy waste bin-sized robot called "Avi" to scan a room's physical layout, including the location of the patient's bed and the placement of a carton of milk on a table nearby.
Then the system activated a second robot, the more humanoid "Amigo," which used the map provided by Avi to locate the milk, grasp it with a pincer hand and bring it to the side of the hospital bed. That mission accomplished, he dropped it on the floor.
Fortunately, it was a test run and no milk was spilled. Amigo hasn't been programmed for crying anyway.
The hospital exercise is just the beginning. Organizers say the tasks the robots are carrying out are of a technological sophistication comparable to those performed by high-end robots in automobile factories—they just look clumsier because robots that interact with humans are not performing repetitive tasks in the controlled, sanitized and predictable surroundings of a factory.
The RoboEarth project was years in the making and received around 4 million euros ($5.4 million) in funding from the European Union for interrelated projects at technology conglomerate Royal Philips NV and universities in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
Designers of robots can add information to the system, which is then shared for free so that others don't have to reinvent the electric wheel. For example, if a robot maker wants to program a hand to grasp something, that's difficult to design. But the coding for three different ways to do it may be there for a robot to plug into on RoboEarth.
But RoboEarth is more than an encyclopedia. It has a system of networked computers that allow it to perform intensive computing tasks that smaller computers—or in this case simpler robots—may not be able to. It also allows individual robots to communicate between themselves, the so-called RoboCloud of networked computers, and the robot database.
Human arm sensors make robot smarter
Using arm sensors that can "read" a person's muscle movements, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have created a control system that makes robots more intelligent. The sensors send information to the robot, allowing it to anticipate a human's movements and correct its own. The system is intended to improve time, safety and efficiency in manufacturing plants.It's not uncommon to see large, fast-moving robots on manufacturing floors. Humans seldom work next to them because of safety reasons. Some jobs, however, require people and robots to work together. For example, a person hanging a car door on a hinge uses a lever to guide a robot carrying the door. The power-assisting device sounds practical but isn't easy to use.
"It turns into a constant tug of war between the person and the robot," explains Billy Gallagher, a recent Georgia Tech Ph.D. graduate in robotics who led the project. "Both react to each other's forces when working together. The problem is that a person's muscle stiffness is never constant, and a robot doesn't always know how to correctly react."
For example, as human operators shift the lever forward or backward, the robot recognizes the command and moves appropriately. But when they want to stop the movement and hold the lever in place, people tend to stiffen and contract muscles on both sides of their arms. This creates a high level of co-contraction.
"The robot becomes confused. It doesn't know whether the force is purely another command that should be amplified or 'bounced' force due to muscle co-contraction," said Jun Ueda, Gallagher's advisor and a professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. "The robot reacts regardless.
The robot responds to that bounced force, creating vibration. The human operators also react, creating more force by stiffening their arms. The situation and vibrations become worse.
"You don't want instability when a robot is carrying a heavy door," said Ueda.
The Georgia Tech system eliminates the vibrations by using sensors worn on a controller's forearm. The devices send muscle movements to a computer, which provides the robot with the operator's level of muscle contraction. The system judges the operator's physical status and intelligently adjusts how it should interact with the human. The result is a robot that moves easily and safely.
"It turns into a constant tug of war between the person and the robot," explains Billy Gallagher, a recent Georgia Tech Ph.D. graduate in robotics who led the project. "Both react to each other's forces when working together. The problem is that a person's muscle stiffness is never constant, and a robot doesn't always know how to correctly react."
For example, as human operators shift the lever forward or backward, the robot recognizes the command and moves appropriately. But when they want to stop the movement and hold the lever in place, people tend to stiffen and contract muscles on both sides of their arms. This creates a high level of co-contraction.
"The robot becomes confused. It doesn't know whether the force is purely another command that should be amplified or 'bounced' force due to muscle co-contraction," said Jun Ueda, Gallagher's advisor and a professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. "The robot reacts regardless.
The robot responds to that bounced force, creating vibration. The human operators also react, creating more force by stiffening their arms. The situation and vibrations become worse.
"You don't want instability when a robot is carrying a heavy door," said Ueda.
The Georgia Tech system eliminates the vibrations by using sensors worn on a controller's forearm. The devices send muscle movements to a computer, which provides the robot with the operator's level of muscle contraction. The system judges the operator's physical status and intelligently adjusts how it should interact with the human. The result is a robot that moves easily and safely.
Rise of the Google machines: The robotics companies involved
Google recently acquired eight high profile start-up robotics companies, providing strong evidence of a strategy to create breakthrough applications for robotics over the next decade. This strategy is most likely to concentrate on manufacturing and logistics.
Bringing these companies together, Google will need to find synergies between diverse organisations and personalities. This mission will be headed by Andy Rubin, who previously managed the successful Android operating system for mobile devices.
Rubin describes Google's highly ambitious goal of finding technically and economically viable applications for robotics as a "moon shot": a highly concentrated effort of an integrated team to create landmark achievements in a field. The mission to put a man on the moon is one clear precedent.
There are many other possible analogies for Google's robot "moon shot". Journalist Tom Green, writing in Robotics Business Review, compares Google's contribution to the robotics industry to the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) pivotal role in establishing the founding technologies of the internet.
Google's project might also be compared with Atari research lab, formed in the 1970s to generate innovations in computer game and entertainment technologies. (Unfortunately this did not prevent the massive failure of the company in the mid-1980s.)
An even less appealing analogy is the Manhattan Project that created the atomic bomb in the 1940s. Considering the role of the US military in funding and fostering robotics research, the parallel is not so far off.
Xerox PARC is another corporate that has been highly successful in innovating in the domain of office technologies, but is known most for its failure to transfer research prototypes to viable products.
Bringing these companies together, Google will need to find synergies between diverse organisations and personalities. This mission will be headed by Andy Rubin, who previously managed the successful Android operating system for mobile devices.
Rubin describes Google's highly ambitious goal of finding technically and economically viable applications for robotics as a "moon shot": a highly concentrated effort of an integrated team to create landmark achievements in a field. The mission to put a man on the moon is one clear precedent.
There are many other possible analogies for Google's robot "moon shot". Journalist Tom Green, writing in Robotics Business Review, compares Google's contribution to the robotics industry to the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) pivotal role in establishing the founding technologies of the internet.
Google's project might also be compared with Atari research lab, formed in the 1970s to generate innovations in computer game and entertainment technologies. (Unfortunately this did not prevent the massive failure of the company in the mid-1980s.)
An even less appealing analogy is the Manhattan Project that created the atomic bomb in the 1940s. Considering the role of the US military in funding and fostering robotics research, the parallel is not so far off.
Xerox PARC is another corporate that has been highly successful in innovating in the domain of office technologies, but is known most for its failure to transfer research prototypes to viable products.
Jinn: A Smartphone Controlled Biped
Two roboticists in Switzerland have designed and built a new bipedal robot called Jinn. It includes 3D printed parts and can be controlled using open source software running on an Android based mobile phone. Roger Seeberger writes:
"My partner, Michael Roggli, and me developed an biped smartphone controlled (without extra controller like Arduino) robot. The robot, we call it Jinn, is 1m tall and has 24 servos. We will an open source API, Android development, and diffrent Apps. The idea is, customers could order assembled robots but also plans, parts etc."
"My partner, Michael Roggli, and me developed an biped smartphone controlled (without extra controller like Arduino) robot. The robot, we call it Jinn, is 1m tall and has 24 servos. We will an open source API, Android development, and diffrent Apps. The idea is, customers could order assembled robots but also plans, parts etc."
Pars Rescue Robot Prototype Tested
You may recall our story in March of this year that described the Pars rescue robot concept developed by RTS Lab in Tehran, Iran. They presented a design for a flying robot that could quickly locate drowning victims in the ocean and launch life preserver floats to them. In less than a year, RTS Lab has gone from conceptual artwork to a working prototype of their robot. From their test report:
The robot’s tests have been taken from 11th to 15th August 2013 at the Caspian Sea. Thirteen tests were taken in a 4 day period and the following aspects were analyzed: Life vest releasing system performance, flight stability, search and rescue performance at day and night, Simplicity of robot’s control, comparing performance with traditional rescue methods, analyzing the deficiencies of robots design. Pars can fly ten minutes in this design and its maximum speed is 10 m/s, thus it can be used in missions with a 4.5 kilometer radius range. Tests were completely successful and all of the expected goals were achieved. Based on the test results and considering the general rescue methods new ideas for developing Pars were achieved that will be revealed after careful scrutiny.RTS Labs hopes to create further, improved prototypes and eventually commercialize the life-saving robot. And, of course we have lots of cool photos of the robot in action during it's test flight over the Caspian Sea!
The robot’s tests have been taken from 11th to 15th August 2013 at the Caspian Sea. Thirteen tests were taken in a 4 day period and the following aspects were analyzed: Life vest releasing system performance, flight stability, search and rescue performance at day and night, Simplicity of robot’s control, comparing performance with traditional rescue methods, analyzing the deficiencies of robots design. Pars can fly ten minutes in this design and its maximum speed is 10 m/s, thus it can be used in missions with a 4.5 kilometer radius range. Tests were completely successful and all of the expected goals were achieved. Based on the test results and considering the general rescue methods new ideas for developing Pars were achieved that will be revealed after careful scrutiny.RTS Labs hopes to create further, improved prototypes and eventually commercialize the life-saving robot. And, of course we have lots of cool photos of the robot in action during it's test flight over the Caspian Sea!
Programming Smart Molecules: Machine-Learning Algorithms Could Make Chemical Reactions Intelligent
Computer scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have joined forces to put powerful probabilistic reasoning algorithms in the hands of bioengineers.In a new paper presented at the Neural Information Processing Systems conference on December 7, Ryan P. Adams and Nils Napp have shown that an important class of artificial intelligence algorithms could be implemented using chemical reactions.
These algorithms, which use a technique called "message passing inference on factor graphs," are a mathematical coupling of ideas from graph theory and probability. They represent the state of the art in machine learning and are already critical components of everyday tools ranging from search engines and fraud detection to error correction in mobile phones.
These algorithms, which use a technique called "message passing inference on factor graphs," are a mathematical coupling of ideas from graph theory and probability. They represent the state of the art in machine learning and are already critical components of everyday tools ranging from search engines and fraud detection to error correction in mobile phones.
For the First Time in 40 Years, a Robot Is Wandering the Moon
The last rover to be operational on the Moon was the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2, in January of 1973. Since then, we humans have focused most of our robotic exploration efforts on more, well, exotic locations, like Venus and Mars. This should by no means be taken to imply that we know everything there is to know about the Moon, or that it's all boring and no fun up there. Realistically, it could be the closest spot for long-term habitation, but we still have a lot more to learn, so it's about time that we went back there to do some exploring. And the "we," in this case, is China.
At 8:11 a.m. EST on Dec. 14, China's "Jade Rabbit" or ("Yutu") rover made a soft touchdown on the Moon, aboard the Chang'e 3 lander. The rover deployed about seven hours later, and the lander snapped this picture of it on the surface.
We don't know a whole heck of a lot about China's rover, because China hasn't made all that much public. It's slightly smaller than Opportunity (which is still driving around on Mars, incidentally), and has a mass of about 120 kilos, with 20 kilos of payload. That payload consists of stereo panoramic cameras, spectrometers, and ground-penetrating radar. It has some autonomous navigation capability, and may be able to send live video back to Earth, which would be pretty cool.
IROS 2013: JPL's Microspine Rock-Climbing Robot
At ICRA 2012, JPL introduced its gripper system, which uses hundreds of tiny little claws to grip rough surfaces. We saw some video of a robot hanging from one of these, but it was just being used as a passive anchor. At IROS this week, JPL researchers presented a new video showing an upgraded version of their gripper integrated onto their LEMUR IIB robot, turning it into the "world's first rock climbing robot."
Each one of these grippers relies on over 750 tiny little claws (all made by hand thanks to JPL summer interns) to latch onto the sort of rough surfaces that you're likely to find on other planets and asteroids. The grippers are particularly relevant to asteroids, since they offer a dependable (and reversible) way to grab onto surfaces even in microgravity.
Each one of these grippers relies on over 750 tiny little claws (all made by hand thanks to JPL summer interns) to latch onto the sort of rough surfaces that you're likely to find on other planets and asteroids. The grippers are particularly relevant to asteroids, since they offer a dependable (and reversible) way to grab onto surfaces even in microgravity.
Robotic Grasp: Robot Picks Up casters as Fast as Blueberries
The robot effortlessly picks up one castor after another from the pile in the box and puts them into the channel. No matter how the wheels are lying, the robot manages to get an exact gripOperations run smoothly and automatically when assembling the various parts of an office chair at the SB Seating production unit at Røros. But when it's time to fit the wheels, humans must intervene. The five wheels lying jumbled in a box have to be picked up and then aligned in a row before robots can take over again and attach them to the feet of the chair. Researchers from SINTEF now believe they have found a solution that could make production more effective and reduce costs.
Titan Arm looks and sounds like part of a superhero's costume. But its creators say it's designed for ordinary people—those who need either physical rehabilitation or a little extra muscle for their job.
In technical terms, the apparatus is an untethered, upper-body exoskeleton; to the layman, it's essentially a battery-powered arm brace attached to a backpack. Either way, Titan Arm's cost-efficient design has won the team accolades and at least $75,000 in prize money.
"They built something that people can relate to," said Robert Carpick, chairman of Penn's mechanical engineering department. "And of course it appeals clearly to what we've all seen in so many science-fiction movies of superhuman strength being endowed by an exoskeleton."
The project builds on existing studies of such body equipment, sometimes called "wearable robots." Research companies have built lower-body exoskeletons that help paralyzed people walk, though current models aren't approved for retail and can cost $50,000 to $100,000.
In technical terms, the apparatus is an untethered, upper-body exoskeleton; to the layman, it's essentially a battery-powered arm brace attached to a backpack. Either way, Titan Arm's cost-efficient design has won the team accolades and at least $75,000 in prize money.
"They built something that people can relate to," said Robert Carpick, chairman of Penn's mechanical engineering department. "And of course it appeals clearly to what we've all seen in so many science-fiction movies of superhuman strength being endowed by an exoskeleton."
The project builds on existing studies of such body equipment, sometimes called "wearable robots." Research companies have built lower-body exoskeletons that help paralyzed people walk, though current models aren't approved for retail and can cost $50,000 to $100,000.
L54 and H54 Dynamixel Pro models are available at the time of this post and are some of the largest and most powerful smart servos available. Additional models are set to be released later this year. Robotis was one of hte first companies to release smart servos and it’s great to see them coming out with more powerful and capable models.
The THOR project is a collaboration between Virginia Tech, The University of Pennsylvania, ROBOTIS and Harris Corp (an international communications and information contractor). A 3D rendering of what THOR might look like was revealed back in October 2012. The Virginia Tech team alone is set to receive an estimated $4 million in funding for the project. The project’s end date is set for December 2014.
The THOR project is a collaboration between Virginia Tech, The University of Pennsylvania, ROBOTIS and Harris Corp (an international communications and information contractor). A 3D rendering of what THOR might look like was revealed back in October 2012. The Virginia Tech team alone is set to receive an estimated $4 million in funding for the project. The project’s end date is set for December 2014.