Robotics Information House

Tokyo Students Design a New Robotic Muscle Suit

2010-01-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

Students at Tokyo's University of Science have developed a new version of their muscle suit, a wearable robotic suit that assists the muscles when carrying out strenuous tasks.
The original version of the suit, which has been in production for several years, provides assistance to the arms and back but the new version provides assistance to the back only. That means it is lighter and more compact than the original model.

In a demonstration on Wednesday at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo, a student wearing the suit was able to bend down and lift 15 kilograms of weights with the assistance of the robotic suit. Doing so without assistance would be difficult for many people and could cause injury to some.The university is still developing the suit and the model demonstrated on Wednesday was the first prototype. A production version is due some time in 2010.
With its greater assistance the original version of the suit will remain the most useful for heavier tasks.

In a demonstration of that model on Wednesday a student was asked to carry 10-kilogram bags of rice. With the suit switched off he could manage up to three bags before they started to get too heavy to carry, but with the suit switched on another two bags could be loaded into his arms. He quickly dropped the bags when the suit was switched off as without assistance it was too much weight to carry.

Such suits are being developed with an eye on assisting the physically challenged and workers carrying out physically demanding jobs.Earlier this year Toyota Motor unveiled similar robot-assisted suits and has been testing them at factories in Japan with workers who have to lift large or heavy sheets of metal or car parts.

Design – The Oboe Humanoid Robot

2010-01-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting design concept from designer Arnaud Deloustal, the Oboe Humanoid Robot.

The Oboe Humanoid Robot is designed to hang out with the elderly so that it can absorb, experiences, knowledge etc.

Robot Design Delivers Packages Through Sewers

2010-01-04T07:49:00.000-08:00

It’s 2020, and cities are so overcrowded that it’s impossible to deliver packages. UPS trucks have nowhere to double-park, and obnoxious bike messengers can’t even ride on pedestrian-jammed sidewalks. How, then, can important parcels reach their destinations in a squalid megalopolis of the future?

Through the sewers, of course.
The brainchild of designer Phillip Hermes, the Urban Mole is a capsule that travels through existing networks of underground pipes in order to transport packages as diverse as groceries, signed documents and any title that appears on Oprah’s Book Club. The Mole frees up our streets and roads for important matters, like mobilizing armies against the cyborgs that will inevitably plague our future cities.Able to move parcels as large as a shoebox, the Mole fully encapsulates its contents from surrounding waste water. In other words, the phrase “duty free shipping” will take on a whole new meaning.

The Urban Mole placed second in the VisionWorks contest, a logistics competition sponsored by Bayer MaterialScience (yes, they spell it one word like that) that asked participants to envision transportation solutions for 2020. The Urban Mole came in second to a building that grows food on its walls. Yeah, that’s cool, but it’s no undergound robot.
According to VisionWorks, “The pipe system is structured like a road network – the more traffic, the bigger the pipe.” Electric rails within the pipes provide juice for the Mole’s motors in a system that works like a miniature subway. Still more pipes run from drop-off points to delivery centers called MoleStations (again with the one-word construction) where customers can retrieve their items locally. The designer estimates that the average cross-town delivery could take place in less than 10 minutes.We like to think of the Urban Mole as a combination of Mr. McFeeley and the Ninja Turtles, skulking through sewers only to emerge when it can be of use to human civilization. But we pity the poor guy who has to open those capsules.

Democratizing Robot Design

2010-01-03T07:40:00.000-08:00

Beneath the white paperboard petals of a robotic flower--which can open and close in response to changes in light, or catch a thrown ball detected by infrared sensors--lies a new standardized robotics platform called Qwerk. Developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Qwerk is designed so that almost anyone can use it to build his or her own custom Internet-enabled robot. It's a platform that CMU computer scientist Illah Nourbakhsh hopes will launch an open-source robotics movement and "democratize robot design for people intimidated by current techniques and parts."In contrast to current kits--most of which require a prefabricated set of parts--Qwerk is, according to the CMU robotics team, the first easy-to-use, low-cost robotics controller to house, in one place, power regulators, motor controllers, and hardware and rewritable software for a Wi-Fi Internet connection and simple programming. In the flower robot, the platform sits inside the blue wooden flowerpot. The CMU team has also developed some robot recipes for easy-to-build machines--like the paperboard flower--that can be assembled in a few hours with off-the-shelf parts. Together, the recipes and platform make up the Telepresence Robotic Kit (TeRK).

Why build a robotic flower? Well, beyond opening, closing, and catching things, it can play music, read the news aloud from its Internet connection, and strike poses according to its maker's mood. But the point is that you don't have to build the flower. "Ultimately, we hope people will riff on the recipes, making unusual and unexpected changes that take on a life of their own," thereby helping bring robotics into the mainstream, says Nourbakhsh.

With Qwerk and its catalogue of design recipes, the TeRK project joins the wider effort to create a greater variety of robots beyond the traditional walkers and rovers. "In the past, designers haven't paid enough attention to creating nonmobile robots that engage users' imaginations," says Mitchel Resnick, director of the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at MIT's Media Lab. Resnick's group has developed LEGO Mindstorms and PicoCrickets, two construction kits similar in purpose to the TeRK.

Human-Centered Robotics

2010-01-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

In recent years, there has been great interest generated in the emerging fields of service and medical robots. These applications are part of a growing area of human-centered robotics. This area involves the close interaction between robotic manipulation systems and human beings, including direct human-manipulator contact. In such applications, traditional figures of merit such as bandwidth, maximum force and torque capability, and reachable workspace, do not fully encompass the range of metrics which define the requirements of such systems. Specifically, human-centered robotic systems must consider the requirement of safety in addition to the traditional metrics of performance. Thus, it is the challenge of human-centered robotics to successfully blend often competing requirements of safety and performance.

The Stanford Robotics Laboratory has initiated a research effort to design a human-centered, inherently-safe robotic manipulator. While the design and development effort include all aspects of manipulator design, the primary focus has been on addressing the limitations of the mechanical system and its impact on safety and performance. We have focused on efforts to reduce the manipulator weight and inertia to improve its inherent safety characteristics while maintaining performance levels expected of modern manipulators.

DECMMA Actuation Approach

A critical component to this work has been the development of a new actuation approach that seeks to relocate the major source of actuation effort from the joint to the base of the manipulator. This can substantially reduce the effective inertia of the overall manipulator by isolating the reflected inertia of the actuator while greatly reducing the overall weight of the manipulator. Performance is maintained with small actuators collocated with the joints. Our approach partitions the torque generation into low and high frequency components and distributes these components to the arm location where they are most effective.

We refer to the overall approach as Distributed Elastically Coupled Macro Mini Parallel Actuation (DECMMA). The DECMMA approach is analogous to the design of robotic manipulators for use in zero gravity. Under such conditions, gravity induced torques do not exist. Joint actuators provide torques related only to the task, such as trajectory tracking and disturbance rejection, both of which are primarily medium to high frequency in content. We achieve the zero gravity analogy by compensating for gravity torques and low frequency torques using the low frequency actuator located at the base of the manipulator. With the effects of gravity and low frequency torques compensated, joint torque requirements become similar to those encountered by a zero gravity robotic manipulator. However, unlike robotic manipulators designed for space applications, the DECMMA joint actuators do not require a large gear reducer to achieve the required torque and power densities. Thus, the impedance of DECMMA approach, and its resulting safety characteristics, is superior to that of current space robotic manipulators.

- Design of the robot

2009-12-22T07:45:00.000-08:00

My primary inspiration for the design was [1]. The source does not provide many details of the mechanical construction and dimensions so I had to experiment but it wasn’t hard. The drawing of my final design is below. The dimensions depend on the size of the servos used. I used standard size servos which yields robot about 12 cm long and 9 cm wide. It would be interesting to use smaller servos and make a tiny “spider” robot.
I choose to develop my own controller board instead of using a commercial one, such as BasicX. This was mainly because of my desire to get some experience with Atmel microcontrollers and also to cut down the price. Typical controller costs about 100 USD while the Atmel Tiny 2313 MCU costs about 4 dollars and with all the other parts the price of the board is still below 15 USD.

Basic theory
Don’t worry, I don’t like theory any more than you do, so this will be just brief description of the things you could find helpful.
The servos
Servo is used primarily in radio controlled models (airplanes, cars, ships etc.) but they are also very popular in robotics. The advantage is wide choice of sizes and strengths, low price and easy control with microcontrollers. There are tiny servos weighting some 5 grams but also huge ones with metal gears able to lift several kilograms on its lever.
Cheapest servo can be obtained for about $10 and for our purpose it will suffice. The prototype robot uses Hitec HS300 servos which are about 10 years old, have served their duty in various radio controlled airplanes and survived several crashes, yet they still work very well. From today’s market Hitec HS311 can be a good choice, but you can also use any of the less-known brands without problem.

Important servo parameters are:
Suppy voltage – 5 V (max 6V for some types), required current is about 1A
Strength – given in N . cm, for standard size servo typically 30 N . cm.
Speed - given in degrees per second, typically about 0,15 s for 60 degree travel
Standard size servo is 40x20x36 mm and weights about 50 grams. There is cable with 3 strands, usually red (+), black (ground) and yellow or orange (signal for the servo).
Position of the servo lever is controlled by input signal which should have frequency of 50 Hz and pulses with length between 1 and 2 ms. change of the pulse length changes the position of the servo lever. See the picture:

The mechanical calculations for the servos in this kind of robot can be found in [1]. For me it was sufficient to find out that the robot with 10 years old servos walks. How long the servos will survive is a different question, but it doesn’t seem to me that they would be overloaded when the robot is walking.

How to Design a Robot

2009-12-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

Robots have long captured our imagination. They have taken on many forms over the years. However, working robots are normally designed not as a multitasking device that resembles a human being, but a device that is created to perform one or two specific tasks with a high degree of efficiency. If you are handy with electronics and want to try your hand at designing your own robot to handle some simple task, here are some ideas on how to do just that
Instructions

Basic Knowledge of Electronics
Step1:
Define the function or functions that the robot will perform. Knowing what the device is to accomplish is the first step in determining what elements must go into the design. For example, a robot that is expected to pick up objects will need to be designed with an arm mechanism. A robot that is expected to sweep or vacuum will require some type of wheels or locomotion mechanism to move across the floor.
Step 2:
Create a rough sketch of the robot’s exterior. The design does not have to be perfect at this point. A rough sketch will serve as the basis for the general look of the device that you can refine as you move deeper into the project.
Step 3;
Determine the internal components that will necessary to make the robot operational. This may include circuit boards, wiring, and various other components. Compile a list on a notepad of the necessary components and how they would relate to one another. Knowing what you need for the internal workings will make it easier to determine how big the body of the robot will have to be in order to include all necessary elements.
Step 4:
Address the layout of the interior components for the robot. The placement of components may be influenced by some of the exterior features. If the robot is equipped with red flashing eyes, then the circuitry and sockets for the small bulbs will need to be placed in line with the location of the eyes on the exterior of the device. Determining the placement of interior components can usually be done by creating cross section drawings of the components within an exposed area of the outer shell of the shell.
Step 5:
Enhance the exterior of the robot. Once the interior components are placed, you can begin to determine the color scheme and any esthetic elements that will work along with the functionality of the final design.
Step 6:
Develop the working blueprint for the robot. Using the sketches and the list of components, begin to create the blueprints for the creation of the shell, all exterior features such as arms or sensor lights, and also the exact layout and connectivity between the internal components. The blueprints will provide the basis for the purchase of necessary materials to build the robot based on your design

The Uncanny Design of Robot Heads

2009-12-19T07:34:00.001-08:00

While theories of the “uncanny valley” are debatable (see Hanson’s “Upending the Uncanny Valley” , the quest for human-like androids and automatons continue to compel their designers. At Carnegie-Mellon University’s anthropomorphism.org, I found an interesting early study of robot head design that shows how these designers sometimes make choices about when to make robots anthropomorphic (human-like), and when to avoid such resemblance.

In “All Robots Are Not Created Equal,” by Carl F. DiSalvo (et. al, 2002), analyzes the human perception of the humanoid robot head in alarming detail, from the length between the top of the head and the browline, to the diameter of the eyeball, to the distance between pupils. The researchers want to know: how human should a robot head be, and is this contingent upon the context in which they are employed? Their study suggests that eyes, mouth, ears and nose — in that order — seem to be the most important traits for us to perceive the “humanness” in a machine. But the most interesting conclusion they draw, in my view, is that the more servile and industrial the robot, the less we want to perceive its resemblance to us. Thus, not all robots are created equal: “consumer” robots often are purposely more “robotic-looking” (mechanical) in design, since they often perform servitude and routine functions that would crush the spirit of any real human, while others — especially “fictional” — robots are often the most human-like of all, reflecting our projected fantasies for them as “characters.” Desalvo and crew propose that the following elements of robot design would create the ideal “human-like” robot:

1. wide head, wide eyes
2. features that dominate the face
3. complexity and detail in the eyes
4. four or more features
5. skin
6. humanistic form language

To what degree is our notion of the “double” located on the head, the face and its various features? Freud’s classic itinerary of uncanny traits include doll’s eyes and language, and I would suggest that the more the traits listed above appear in a doppelganger, the more uncanny that double might be. The role of the uncanny valley is at work here, and while it not directly addressed in DiSalvo’s article, it’s worth considering the degree to which the factor of increasing “likeness” in robot head design follows the x-axis of the classic uncanny valley:

Mori's 'Uncanny Valley' Schematic

It is useful to consider not only the “uncanny” in this chart, but the way that that assumptions about use value and instrumentality lie behind its structure. There is a politics of self/othering at work in this schema that is rarely discussed. One of the fundamental principles of the Uncanny as it is classically understood in aesthetics is that, symbolically, the “double” is a harbinger of death for the subject that perceives it. This is a complicated notion, but on one level what this means is that when the self perceives itself as disembodied and located in another entity — through its mirror image — we unconsciously recognize how “replaceable” we are and this is felt as uncanny. We do not only respond, typically, with fear: we also feel compelled to separate the Self from the Other as a form of protection against the threat that the Other presents. A power relationship transpires: the psyche construes a hierarchical separation that institutes the Self in a higher subject position than the Other, in order to retain its sense of mastery over identity. The Other is subjugated into a lower position. While it is “harmless” in fiction, this is also a dream that reproduces the politics of everyday life.

There is a generalized fear of robots and other forms of artificial intelligence “replacing” mankind; we see it everywhere in science fiction, but it is also a very real threat to the labor force. Robot design participates in a self/othering dynamic that domesticates these anxieties. Could the uncanny valley be a symptom of class conflict as much as some organic reaction formation? I think so.

Scientists design first robot using mould

2009-12-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

Researchers have received a Leverhulme Trust grant to develop the amorphous non-silicon biological robot, plasmobot, using plasmodium, the vegetative stage of the slime mould Physarum polycephalum, a commonly occurring mould which lives in forests, gardens and most damp places in the UK. The Leverhulme Trust funded research project aims to design the first every fully biological (no silicon components) amorphous massively-parallel robot.

This project is at the forefront of research into unconventional computing. Professor Andy Adamatzky, who is leading the project, says their previous research has already proved the ability of the mould to have computational abilities.

Professor Adamatzky explains, “Most people's idea of a computer is a piece of hardware with software designed to carry out specific tasks. This mould, or plasmodium, is a naturally occurring substance with its own embedded intelligence. It propagates and searches for sources of nutrients and when it finds such sources it branches out in a series of veins of protoplasm. The plasmodium is capable of solving complex computational tasks, such as the shortest path between points and other logical calculations. Through previous experiments we have already demonstrated the ability of this mould to transport objects. By feeding it oat flakes, it grows tubes which oscillate and make it move in a certain direction carrying objects with it. We can also use light or chemical stimuli to make it grow in a certain direction.

“This new plasmodium robot, called plasmobot, will sense objects, span them in the shortest and best way possible, and transport tiny objects along pre-programmed directions. The robots will have parallel inputs and outputs, a network of sensors and the number crunching power of super computers. The plasmobot will be controlled by spatial gradients of light, electro-magnetic fields and the characteristics of the substrate on which it is placed. It will be a fully controllable and programmable amorphous intelligent robot with an embedded massively parallel computer.”

This research will lay the groundwork for further investigations into the ways in which this mould can be harnessed for its powerful computational abilities.

Professor Adamatzky says that there are long term potential benefits from harnessing this power, “We are at the very early stages of our understanding of how the potential of the plasmodium can be applied, but in years to come we may be able to use the ability of the mould for example to deliver a small quantity of a chemical substance to a target, using light to help to propel it, or the movement could be used to help assemble micro-components of machines. In the very distant future we may be able to harness the power of plasmodia within the human body, for example to enable drugs to be delivered to certain parts of the human body. It might also be possible for thousands of tiny computers made of plasmodia to live on our skin and carry out routine tasks freeing up our brain for other things. Many scientists see this as a potential development of amorphous computing, but it is purely theoretical at the moment.”

More information: Professor Adamatzky has recently edited and had published by Springer, 'Artificial Life Models in Hardware' aimed at students and researchers of robotics. The book focuses on the design and real-world implementation of artificial life robotic devices and covers a range of hopping, climbing, swimming robots, neural networks and slime mould and chemical brains.

Panasonic will debut in 2010 its robotics business

2009-12-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

Panasonic has decided to enter the business of a robot robotic dispensing of medicines. The team will begin shipping worldwide in March 2010 in Japanese hospitals and, later, will be marketed in the U.S. and Europe. As explained yesterday, company spokesman Akira Kadota, "the humanoid robot is, rather, resembles a small wardrobe with several drawers.
The multinational, based in Osaka, said through a statement that the robot, which individually distribute medicines to patients, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that its aim is to reach $ 315 million (226 million euros) in annual sales of such machines in 2016.

Japan has one of the world's leading robotics industry and the government promotes the development of this sector as an engine of economic growth. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has drafted a formal plan for the robots to fully assimilate into Japanese society in 2025. This includes support for the creation of this market, which by 2015 will mean about 20,000 million.

Space Competition 2010 - News of robotics and robots

2009-12-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

Space Competition 2010
Called the Space Contest 2010 by INTA (National Institute of Aerospace Technology). One method is Space Robotics: Building a robot with capabilities for tracking? Victims? and dodging obstacles on a stage espacial.Un summary of the bases: * Dates: School year 2009-2010. * Subject: Satellite navigation. * Target group: undergraduate students of ESO, Middle Level Training Cycles and Bachelor of any school in Spain. * Deadline: Entries must be submitted between 1 January and 28 February 2010. * Team: Work will be performed by teams of three or four students and a teacher or tutor. * Categories: There will be two categories: one for students of second year of secondary students and one for intermediate training cycles and high school. * Methods: Robotic space, research, experimentation, narrative-comics and animation.

ABB - TR 5002 Painting Robots with C5.3 control

2009-11-26T02:01:00.000-08:00

ABB - TR 5002 Painting Robots with C5.3 control
ABB, Painting, robots, industrial, global, robots, IRB, TR, painting

Specification
Control:C5.3
Capacity:Hollow wrist suitable for 2 spray guns
Reach:
Price:£28,000 GBP for NON EX
£28,500 GBP for EX

Notes : These TR 5002 Painting robots by ABB are in fantastic condition having been fully stripped down checked and refurbished buy our experienced, ex-ABB staff. Currently in NON EX specification they can be easily modified to full EX specification and approved to all European standards if needed.
EX Robots have a pressurised air system that prevents the ingress of harmful and potentially explosive solvents into the robot arm. This means that they are suitable for Zone 1 or Zone 2 installations. NON EX robots that use water based paints do not require the EX specification but still offer all the benifits of a specialised painting robot.

Contact Global Robots Ltd
Return to our stock list of used industrial robots
©2004 Global Robots Ltd.

ABB - IRB4400 M94A S4 Robot

2009-11-26T01:52:00.000-08:00

ABB - IRB4400 M94A S4 Robot
The ABB 4400 S4 robot is one of the most sought after on the used market. There are two main reasons for this, firstly they are not used in large numbers in the automotive industry and secondly they are ideal for many medium capacity/reach applications. The 4400 has a small footprint, excellent speed and flexibility with a great combination of reach and capacity. The S4 controller gives stability and simplicity while providing excellent path following and accuracy.
The 4400 can be used in many applications including pick and place, machine tending, grinding, welding, de-burring, trimming, and sealing. For complete specifications and advice on choosing a robot please do not hesitate to contact us via phone or email.

Specification
Control:S4
Capacity:45kg
Reach:1.95m
Price:£10,000 GBP

Contact Global Robots Ltd
Return to our stock list of used industrial robots
©2006 Global Robots Ltd.

Toyota creates a robot that plays the violin

2009-11-24T11:12:00.000-08:00

The automaker Toyota intends to market by 2010 several robots able to perform all kinds of practical tasks. Their latest development are two automata: one can play the violin and the other is designed to help people with mobility problems.
Toyota says that to achieve its goal to commercialize robots for everyday tasks you plan to put to work in this field to 200 engineers over the next three years. He also built a factory specifically for these devices, which will be ready next year.In a demonstration held today, the Japanese company has taught a robot that measures five feet and shaped like a humanoid. What sets him apart from other robots is that it is capable of playing music with a violin. It is not your first robot musician, as developed in the past and another who played the trumpet.
It also showed a robot designed to help people with mobility problems in short transport. Looks like a motorized wheelchair.

The humanoid robot Nao 53 cm high made by Aldebaran Robotics

2009-11-20T09:28:00.000-08:00

The humanoid robot Nao 53 cm high made by Aldebaran Robotics, has been a hit with fans of robots participating in RoboCup, the annual challenge of humanoid robots that play a football game.Nao, developed by the French company is replacing the Sony Aibo dog as a standard platform for the contest last year and has helped boost the popularity of the event among a select group of enthusiasts.

But this robot still has a ways to go before reaching the public at large.
The robot is fully programmable and is packed with features. With the humanoid can be adapted to many tasks and comes with an AMD x86 geocoding in 500 Mhz CPU, 1GB of flash memory, 256MB of SDRAM, two speakers, vision processing capabilities, Wi -fi connectivity and Ethernet port.

The robot has 25 degrees of freedom, which means it can do more than nod, look left and right and give a series of steps. This machine makes it very attractive for researchers and robotics enthusiasts who want to have a blank slate-robot and program themselves, says Chris Kilner, software engineer Aldebaran Robotics, a company based in Paris.
It is also the reason that Aldebaran is working to create a website for exchange of different behaviors that programs written to manipulate the robot.

Aldebaran has manufactured a little over 100 robots, since it launched in April. However, robots have been limited to research laboratories and universities. The next year, the company expects to expand its distribution to some early adopters. However, for general users, it is unlikely that you can get one before 2010, as the company tries to create a version that will appeal to consumers in general and larger-scale manufacturing.
Priced at $ 10,000 seems out of reach for most anyway

Space Competition 2010 - News of robotics and robots

2009-11-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

Honda's ASIMO robot controlled with the mind

2009-11-14T10:12:00.001-08:00

The Research Institute of Honda has announced that it has just developed the latest version of ASIMO, the company famous robot that can dance, run or even guide people. This version is now equipped with so-called Brain Machine Interface (BMI ), which allows the robot to be directed with the mind. Works with a headset that gets measure brain activity and send signals to the machine. So, to move the robot only need to put the helmet and think about the movement we want to do. Now, the height of laziness. You can see some pictures and a video after the jump.

Honda launches new robot Asimo

2009-11-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

Honda has presented its new model society of humanoid robot Asimo, which you see in the picture illustrating the story.
There are many advances that offers:
New features to function in social environments like an office, but can interact with people.
Speed of 6 km / h and 2.7 running on foot.
You can walk hand in hand with a person.
Know to carry objects using a cart.
Thus, Asimo can function in almost work as a receptionist or tour guide.

History of Honda Robots: ASIMO project to E0

2009-11-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

Since the Czech writer Karel Capek in 1921 coined the term 'robot' in his play RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots), the evolution of the androids, their usefulness and the place would fill a medium-term future has led to inflamed discussions and has held thousands of pages in numerous books and essays on science fiction.

Almost all the works bet because robots would become part of our lives in a relatively short period of time and were almost done that in the early twenty-first century could be used to perform the toughest jobs and complicated but also for other more how to perform everyday shopping or walking the dog. Unfortunately, their estimates have run into the harsh reality: the evolution of robots is still very slow and costly.

If there is a company that has invested in the development and improvement of the technology needed to create androids has been Honda. Today we all know the ASIMO, a humanoid robot can run, climb stairs, recognize faces of their owners and even perform some simple task, but it should be remembered that this is the fruit of two decades of research that had their beginning in 1986.

It was in that year that Honda created the E0, a very rudimentary prototype biped 5 seconds needed to complete one step and that it lacked the human aspect of that is showing ASIMO, but that was the basis on which cemented further developments.

Searching on the net I just found a video containing images of this model. The lighting is very poor and poor image quality, but gives you an idea of what the E0:
The next generation of robots was formed by the models E1, E2 and E3, developed between 1987 and 1991. This is the aspect that had these three models:
The E1 was able to walk at 0.25 km / h, leading to discern a certain distinction of movement between both legs. Meanwhile, in E2 the Japanese manufacturer was one step further by creating the first model that simulated more or less realistic human walking, although he could only reach 1.2 km / h. This was achieved with the E3, aesthetic improvements that besides making it more pleasing to the eye, I could walk at 3 km / h, the same speed that we develop when we walk.

Honda introduced the second generation of the robot Asimo

2009-11-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

Third-largest carmaker, known for his groundbreaking robotic technology, on Tuesday introduced the second generation of Asimo can also push a cart weighing up to 10 kilos, walking straight, sideways or backwards with it. With more joints and flexibility of movement, Asimo can also grip and carry a tray of drinks, and deposit it safely on the table. Demonstrating the latest tricks with video images, Honda introduced the robot than 130 cm tall addressing a mock visitor by name and showing the conference room, while maintaining a steady and natural distance from the guest.
"Welcome, Sato-san," Asimo said, bowing as mandated by the Japanese label.
Preprogrammed visitor's name, place of meeting and other data in an integrated circuit card bearing the visitor upon arrival, a worker can remotely send commands to Asimo, which will pick them up through a reader of the integrated circuit card. After seemingly simple tasks are a large number of advanced sensors, voice and image recognition and other technologies that Honda says it will apply to its automotive business to improve safety and other aspects.

The droid can also run twice as fast (6 kilometers per hour) that the prototype unveiled last December. Honda said it would begin using the new Asimo in research and development unit in Wako, near Tokyo, from spring 2006. Finally will be available for rent.

Robots to assist physicians in the U.S. experiment

2009-07-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

The robots operate primarily as a sort of mobile video communications, allowing patients and doctors communicate with each other. However, eventually, will help health services to address millions of people taking their medicines and dinner to the sick, and even temperature, pulse and blood to them.

"This technology allows professionals to assist health services to persons residing in remote locations in far less time and reduce delays in medical care in health centers," said Loren Shook, CEO of Silverado Senior Living Company , which is set up to assist people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. At the clinic operating in the town of Silverado Calabasas, in the U.S. state of California is conducting the test of a robot made by InTouch Health Company, which is designed to allow real time communications, person to person, between doctors and patients, and even between patients and their families.

The mobile robot, called "Companion" (guest) has placed a video camera that films the patient's face while the doctor treating you or the nurse assigned to the patient appears on a television screen placed in the "head" of the robot. The device, controlled by a console located in another area of the hospital, using a program and a wireless Internet, banda ancha, to allow the patient and the physician or nurse to see and talk directly with one another.

When approaching his death, people affected by Alzheimer's disease in an advanced stage have lost almost a third of their brain, which significantly hamper their ability to understand many things, especially if they are new to them. However, patients in the clinic Silverado seem to have welcomed the robot. "When one gets older, it is much harder to adapt to change," Shook said, admitting that their initial concerns were that the robot might frighten some people.

"To our delight, some patients reported to the robot and started to laugh. Others called him and wanted to know his name," he explained. The device is being used by other experts at the headquarters of Silverado in San Juan Capistrano, California, to train workers in the clinics to provide help to patients with motor problems such as difficulty walking.
Scarce resources in the health sector.
"The goal is to extend the reach of health services. A shortage of nurses and cuts in government reimbursements are eroding and the system will still worse," said Yulun Wang, executive director of the company and founder of InTouch Computer Motion Inc., which makes robotic systems used in surgery procedures. The American Association of Retired Persons predicted that by 2010, the number of people in that category in the U.S. will be around 40 million and 70 million by 2030.

"Compared with 50 years ago, people can expect to live 15 years longer, but at the same time the costs of health care for the elderly continue to rise," said Wang, who believes that robots offer a solution that leverages the latest technology, linking it to the Internet to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the system. However, some key aspects such as how a doctor can attend to a patient through the robot, rather than in person-have yet to be determined accurately.

"We anticipate that the robot will pay what it costs far," said Shook, arguing that the use of the device will reduce the costs of travel and the need for doctors visits made to emergency services, as well as improved training of medical staff . Robot pushing a wheelchair technology is still in a stage of development, said Wang "First there will be only communication, but the second will be the ability of handling. Eventually, the robot must be able to manipulate objects such as a wheelchair, and even be used in private residences," he said.
The "Companion" have not yet received approval from the Food and Drug Administration of United States (FDA), but the company believes it eventually will and considers the risks that the Robots mistakes or malfunctions are rare. Executives stressed that the company that manufactured the "Companion" uses the same technology as that used robots to perform surgery, and recalled that they have worked impeccably.

An important aspect to be resolved is how to affect patients being treated from a distance and how much lower the quality of health services that the physician is not present to respond to a patient. Remote treatment also presents the question whether physicians are more likely to fail to perceive symptoms that could be important to detect a specific disorder and, being near the patient, could be seen more clearly.

The United States will send robot soldiers to Iraq

2009-07-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

The Pentagon has a new weapon to confront the bloody war in Iraq, which left over 1,300 dead American soldiers, the first squadron of armed robots.
After several tests, the U.S. military ordered the displacement of 18 robotic vehicles operated remote control, equipped with machine guns, wheels off, and zoom cameras with night vision binoculars, allowing them to be used both day and night and under any weather conditions.

When you begin to be used in two or three months, will become the first robot of its kind to enter battle in a long list of technology projects that the U.S. armed forces are developing to wage the battles of tomorrow with mixed armies of soldiers and war machines.
"This is the beginning of a profound transformation in our armed forces," said proud La Nacion, Anthony Sebast, associate director of the Engineering Center Army Armament and Technology in New Jersey. "This is not to create robots to replace automata our soldiers, but of supplements to enhance the effectiveness and level of survival of our troops on the ground. "

Already known as Swords (acronym for Special Weapons Systems for Observation, Recognition and Detection), armed robots are in fact an adaptation of the Talon, the machines known to deactivate bombs that the Pentagon used since 2000 in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But in this case, instead of a mechanical arm, the Swords ( "swords" in English) are mounted M240 and M249 machine guns, four cameras and a pair of binoculars night, allowing them to be used in the dark.

"The idea came from the soldiers in Afghanistan and should inspect caves without knowing what they might find inside," said La Nacion Bob Quinn, manager of the company Foster-Miller, creator of the Talon, which worked with the army for designing this new robot armed.

In comparison with the human soldiers, these robots have much better aim, and firing from a stable platform and use an electronic watch. "This eliminates most of the errors that have shot the soldiers," said Sebast, adding that the robots are capable also of traversing obstacles such as rocks, sand, deep water and not to fire. For now, the Swords, operating with a lithium battery that provides a range of four hours, can operate at a maximum distance of 800 meters of the person who commands by remote control, but is expected soon to increase the radius of action .

Is also working to alleviate the control console, which weighs 15 kilos, and replace the screen and handles currently works with a sort of virtual reality equipment, with a joystick-style electronic games, provided blinkers on with viewers. As much of the technology was already developed, the price of Swords is very reasonable for this type of weapon: about $ 200,000. The company Foster-Miller, however, think further reduce its cost.

"We are taking a very big service to our men and women in uniform to provide greater protection," noted patriotic tone Quinn, adding that since the robots were presented last weekend, has received numerous e-mails of thanks relatives of soldiers in Iraq. "I told the Marines that this invention represents an invisible suit that will allow them to move to safer ground enemy," he said.
More lethal
Most likely in the near future Swords become even more deadly for the enemy. Another deadly arsenal of weapons has already been tested and is awaiting final approval from the Pentagon. "We know we can count on the Swords to mount them on launchers, rockets and firebombs, as well as the precision weapons used by snipers," said Sebast. Beyond advances mean that this new robot, its use presents new risks.

What ensures that one of these machines do not become "crazy" and start shooting indiscriminately? What if you fall into enemy hands? Sebast acknowledged that further work is in several security features to prevent the weapon that takes the robot can be fired by mistake.
For starters, if at any time the device loses communication with its operator, it turns off and remains in "safe" without firing.

"It is important to emphasize that the Swords will never running alone, always has to be a soldier at a distance to operate. It will become murderers," said the official automata Center Armaments Engineering and Technology army. But , falling into enemy hands, the risk that the rifle being used against us are still the same as any other weapon. "
The Swords are just one of many technological projects in which the Pentagon is working to robotic battlefield. Together with Applied Perception, is developing a robot ambulance, call now Robotic Extraction Vehicle, to rid the area of combat wounded soldiers.
Moreover, with Lockheed Martin Corp. is working on combat vehicles, high speed, while the Agency Advanced Research Projects of the Department of Defense (Darpa) has prototypes of bombers, tanks and mines unmanned intelligent move the battlefield.

The robots learn from insects

2009-07-20T19:23:00.002-07:00

The investigation of animal behavior, most notably one of the most popular insects to humans, bees, provides data that serve to advance the design of robots and computers. In a feedback, a new computer vision system that automatically analyzes the movement of bees in a hive, accelerate research and expand knowledge about the world of insects.

The system of analysis of animal movement is part of a project called BioTracking, an effort led by robotics researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology, led by Tucker Balch, an assistant professor of computing. "We believe that the language of behavior is common to animals and robots," said Balch. "This means that, potentially, could record videos of ants for a long period of time, learn what their 'agenda' and make it work on a robot."

Social insects like ants and bees are an example of the existence of a strong and successful large-scale behavior, which arises from the interaction of many simple individuals, Balch explained. This behavior can offer ideas on how to organize a cooperative colony of robots capable of performing complex operations.

To get faster to the understanding of such behavior, Balch's team developed a computer vision system that automates the analysis of the movement, an arduous and time-consuming computing. Researchers are using the system to analyze data on the sequential movements that encode information. In bees, for example, are used to locate distant sources of food. Balch research presented at the Second International Workshop on Mathematics and Algorithms of Social Insects 16 to December 17 at Georgia Tech

The system, which has an accuracy of 81.5 percent, it can automatically analyze the movement of bees and label them based on examples provided by human experts. This level of accuracy in labeling is high enough to allow researchers to build a system to accurately determine the behavior of a bee from its sequence, Balch explained.

Some bees were marked with bright colors and recorded videos of 15 minutes. The monitoring program of the vision system translates the movements of bees marked in sets of coordinates X, Y. Then a researcher selects some data segments that are used as examples of movements for the automatic analysis.

The robots learn from insects

2009-07-20T19:23:00.001-07:00

Insect eyes will look at a man on Mars

2009-07-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

An aircraft with the weight of a chocolate bar might someday move quickly on the surface of Mars with the agility of a dragonfly and the vision of a bee.
A group of Australian scientists says it has developed equipment for navigation and flight control based on research conducted in several types of insects. The resulting sensors are so small they can be placed in "microaeronaves" which only weigh about 75 grams.

The team of researchers from the National University of Australia beat NASA in a test flight of a prototype last week, and the U.S. space agency agreed to help finance future work.
The aim is to use technology in a mission in 2007 to explore the red planet for rocky structure of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, with more than 3,000 kilometers long and eight kilometers deep.

"Despite their small brains, insects such as dragonflies are capable of rapid and precise aerial maneuvers that require stability and avoid collisions, said Tuesday Javaan Singh Chahl, Lab Vision Biorrobótica of the university. The enormous structures as Valles Marineris, more than 10 times the Canyon of Colorado in all its dimensions, can only be observed from inside. An aircraft should do. "

Scientists have developed a model electronic ocelli, each eye is a simple compound eye of insects, dragonflies, bees, grasshoppers.The ocelli measured the distribution of ultraviolet and green light to maintain flight level, a response to the problem of stable flight in the atmosphere of Mars ultraleve.

Scientists also programmed computers to avoid collisions, like bees to use the apparent speed of objects to determine distance.
A swarm of miniaeronaves
"The ocelli must weigh no more than a few hundred milligrams, and the sensor to avoid collisions could weigh about five grams," said Chahl. These small sensors allow many small aircraft as light as about 75 grams, to be transported the surface of Mars. "
The bees could also provide a solution to the navigation on Mars, where there is no magnetic field. The bees use a combination of polarized patterns in the sky, sites used as signals and the distance traveled to navigate.

Chahl said they expected to include a navigation sensor operation in its next test model, scheduled for 2003, with a final test of its miniature aircraft to be held next year. NASA's contribution will be $ 310,000. But the project already has funding from the Australian Defense Organization for Science and Technology (DSTO in English), who gave the initial funds in 1996, and the U.S. Agency for Defense and Advanced Research (in English DARPA), which began to contribute to mid-1999.
Chahl said propulsion mechanisms and platforms for microaeronaves were developed by NASA.