Automaton

Paleontologists Building Robot Dinos with 3D Printed Bones

Evan Ackerman — Mon, 27 Feb 2012

Robots and dinosaurs have not, historically, had the greatest of relationships, but that doesn't mean we don't all secretly (or not so secretly) want our own robot dinos to cuddle, ride around on, and provide security. Paleontologists have decided that they're going to try to build themselves anatomically correct and fully functional robot dinosaurs to investigate how the animals moved, and definitely not to enact any sort of evil world domination scheme. They promise.

Aldebaran Robotics Introduces Romeo, Finally

Evan Ackerman — Fri, 24 Feb 2012

We've been wondering wherefore art thou Romeo ever since Aldebaran Robotics promised us a March 2011 unveil of their adult-size bipedal humanoid. Now, not quite a year behind schedule, we've got the first video look at what's in store.

Real Fish Get Schooled By Robots

Evan Ackerman — Thu, 23 Feb 2012

Fish, I guess, are not the smartest fish in the... Well, they're not that smart, let's go with that. Stefano Marras of the Institute for the Marine and Coastal Environment-National Research Council, in Torregrande, Italy, and Maurizio Porfiri of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University have convinced some golden shiners to follow a robotic fish in a schooling pattern.

Sebastian Thrun Will Teach You How to Build Your Own Self-Driving Car, For Free

Evan Ackerman — Wed, 22 Feb 2012

Last August, Sebastian Thrun, the brains behind Google's self-driving cars and one of the world's top AI experts, offered an online version of Stanford's Introduction to Artificial Intelligence course to absolutely anyone who wanted to take it, for free. It turned out to be just a little bit popular (over 150,000 students enrolled), and now Thrun is offering a new, totally free, seven-week online course called Programming a Robotic Car. I know, it sounds a little bit ambitious, but this is straight from the class FAQ:

Can I really learn how to build a self-driving car in 7 weeks?

Truss-Climbing Robot Can Build Structures, Take Them Apart

Evan Ackerman — Tue, 21 Feb 2012

Next time you need a new house, Cornell's Creative Machines Lab is betting that robots might have a hand (or lack of hands) in helping you build it. Like other climbing bots we've seen before, their "autonomous truss-structure modifying robot" is capable of clambering around three-dimensional structures, but with a twist: The robot can add and remove bits and pieces as it goes.

DARPA Wants to Give Soldiers Robot Surrogates, Avatar Style

Evan Ackerman — Fri, 17 Feb 2012

In the movie Avatar, humans hooked themselves up to brain-machine-interface pods with which they could control giant genetically engineered human-alien hybrids. It's just a movie, but DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, doesn't care: It wants this kind of system to be real, just replace "giant genetically engineered human-alien hybrids" with "robots."

This Will Be Robonaut's New Job on the ISS, For Now

Evan Ackerman — Thu, 16 Feb 2012

Robonaut 2 has been up on the International Space Station for, geez, like a year now, and it's only over the last few days that he's really gotten to wake up, stretch out, and get to work. What work is that? Well, it's not hand-to-hand combat with invading aliens. Not yet, anyway.

In 1930, Robots Were Stealing Musicians' Jobs

Evan Ackerman — Wed, 15 Feb 2012

I lost my job to a robot once, but I certainly wasn't the first person to have this happen to them. Back in the 1930s, the invention of synchronized sound rendered live musicians who played accompaniment at movie theaters as superfluous. The American Federation of Musicians wasn't about to take the loss of their livelihood lying down, so they orchestrated a PR campaign to try to stop the evil music robots from taking over.

It didn't work.

Jamming Robot Gripper Learns to Throw Stuff, Humans Surrender

Evan Ackerman — Tue, 14 Feb 2012

That squishy dollop of brilliance that is the jamming robot gripper has learned a new trick: Roboticists at Cornell and the University of Chicago have taught it to throw stuff.

Canadians Teach Darwin-OP Robot to Ice Skate, Play Hockey

Evan Ackerman — Mon, 13 Feb 2012

When a Canadian gets their frigid little hands on a robot, you can be sure that one of two things will happen: either they'll send it into space, or they'll teach it to play hockey.