Robots - The Podcast for News and Views on Robotics

Robots: Stroke Rehabilitation

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Ludovic Dovat from the Singapore National University tells us about stroke victims' trouble re-learning to use their hands, and the robotic systems he designed to help with the rehabilitation process. David Brown tells us about the effects of stroke and his company Kinea Design that produces robots that help people learn to walk in unstructured terrain.

Robots: Slithering Creatures

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Howie Choset from Carnegie Mellon University explains the basics of snake robots, and how he hopes to see them used anywhere from disaster areas to industrial inspection or even surgery. Erik Kyrkjebø from SINTEF Applied Cybernetics in Norway speaks about their own pipe inspection robots as well as a snake robot designed for fighting fires.

Robots: Active Touch

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Tony Prescott from the University of Sheffield speaks about active perception in rats, and presents his SCRATCHbot robot that features artificial whiskers. Elio Tuci from the Italian National Research Council speaks of a robot arm that can distinguish between different objects using active perception.

Robots: Emergent Communication

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Sara Mitri, researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne speaks about her bio-inspired experiments on the evolution of communication. Jürgen Jost, director at Leipzig's Max Planck Institute, discusses intentionality in robot communication.

Robots: Celebrating Invention

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Dean Kaman from DEKA research speaks about the spirit of invention that drives him to create products that improve lives, and of the FIRST initiative that encourages young children to get engaged in engineering and science.

Robots: Robot-Assisted Surgery

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Rainer Konietschke at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics of the German Aerospace Centre explains the MiroSurge project for robotic endoscopic surgery. Woung Youn Chung at the Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea explains using the Da Vinci surgical robot to treat thyroid cancer.

Robots: Brain-Machine Interfaces

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Charles Higgins from the University of Arizona tells us how he uses insects to control robot motion. Steve Potter from the Georgia Institute of Technololgy explains how he grows neural circuitry in a Petri-dish and interfaces it with robots.

Robots: Smart Homes

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Roger Orpwood, director of the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering in the UK explains how smart homes can be used to help dementia patients stay independent and receive better care. Andrew Sixsmith, Professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada then shares his experience from a medical perspective.

Robots: Soft Machines

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Richard Jones, Professor of Physics at the University of Sheffield in the UK talks about Soft Machines, the future nanorobots inspired from biology.

Robots: From Animals to Automation

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Markus Fischer, head of the Bionic Learning Network project and head of Corporate Design talks transferring technology from biomimetic research to actual products and their work on the AquaPenguin, AquaRay and AirJelly. Victor Zykov, PhD and PostDoc from Cornell University talks about modular robotics and introduces his bio-inspired Molecubes.

Robots: Celebrity Robots Brought to Life

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Fred Barton, also known as "Robotman", introduces Robby the Robot and talks about building robot collectibles for museums and fellow enthusiasts.

Robots: Autonomous City Explorer

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Dirk Wollherr, senior researcher at the Technical University of Munich, and Astrid Weiss from the University of Salzburg on the design and the goals of the Autonomous City Explorer (ACE) robot.

Robots: Robot actors at the theater

Fri, 22 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Swiss theater director Christian Denisart talks about his latest play where 3 of the 5 main characters are mobile robots. Nicolas Tomatis, CEO of Bluebotics Ltd., describes the three robotic actors, an obedient robot dog, a distinguished robot butler and a sensual female, in more detail.

Robots: Collective Coverage and Self-Assembly

Fri, 8 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT

MIT's Nikolaus Correll on his robot swarms for turbine inspection and his latest research on cooperating networks. In part two Roderich Gross introduces the swarm-bots and his work on robot cooperation, self-assembly and division of labour.

Robots: Giant Roaming Creatures

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Theo Jansen describes his Strandbeest, giant walking creatures that can walk and sense their environments. We then talk to Jaimie Mantzel who is building a giant 6-legged robot on his mountain in Vermont.

Robots: The Race to the Moon

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:00:00 GMT

William "Red" Whittaker, director of the Field Robotics Center at Carnegie Mellon University, talks about his team's bid for the Google Lunar X Prize.

Robots: Learning with LEGO

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:00:00 GMT

In this episode we speak with Chris Rogers about the use of LEGO in educating young children in engineering, math and science. We then speak with Liz Herron on her experiences with children using LEGO MINDSTORMS robotic kits at the LEGO Education Centre.

Robots: The REEM-B and HUBO Humanoids

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:00:00 GMT

In this episode we speak with Davide Faconti, leader of the REEM project, one of the few European contenders in humanoid robotics. We then speak with Jun Ho Oh from South Korea who was the general chair of the last International Conference on Humanoid Robots for his snapshot view of the field as well as the HUBO humanoids developed in his lab.

Robots: Robot Ethics (Part 2)

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:00:00 GMT

This second episode in a two-part series on Robot Ethics interviews Ronald Arkin, Regents' Professor and Associate Dean for Research at Georgia Tech University in the US. Topics include military robots, robots in the society, medical robots and legal responsibilities.

Robots: Robot Ethics (Part 1)

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:00:00 GMT

This first episode in a two part series on Robot Ethics interviews Noel Sharkey, Professor of Public Engagement, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at the University of Sheffield in the UK. Topics include military robots, robots in the society, medical robots and legal responsibilities.

Robots: Human-Robot Love

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:00:00 GMT

David Levy, author of the book "Love + Sex with Robots" and Kathleen Richardson who is a doctor of Robot Anthropology at Cambridge University discuss the future of human-robot relationships, both physical and emotional.

Robots: Industrial Robots in Research

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Raúl Ordóñez from the Motoman Robotics Lab talks about research in industrial robotics and how he hopes to use visual servoing as a feedback mechanism allowing robot arms to accomplish complex tasks such as juggling.

Robots: 2008 New Year's Special

Fri, 2 Jan 2009 07:00:00 GMT

We review the biggest events in robotics in 2008 and look to what 2009 has to offer with our panel of experts: Dan Kara from Robotics Trends, Terry Fong from the NASA Ames Research Center, Dario Floreano from the EPFL, Steve Rainwater from robots.net, and Minoru Asada from Osaka University.

Robots: Robot Toys

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Mark Tilden, passionate robot builder with WowWee Robotics, talks about designing robots for children, and what he thinks that scientists and researchers can learn from the toy industry.

Robots: Robot Musicians

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Gil Weinberg who is the Director of Music Technology at Georgia Tech, presents his wooden robot drummer Haile that is capable of playing with human teachers and even evolving its own beats to reach robotic improvisation. He also introduces his latest robot, Shimon the Marimba player. Our second guest, Atsuo Takanishi describes the Waseda Flutist, a robot that mimics human lungs, vocal chords, and lips to accurately play the flute.

Robots: Bio-inspired locomotion

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Robert Full from UC Berkley presents his research on animal locomotion and how his insights have been inspiring engineers to create robots. Auke Ijspeert from the EPFL then shares some thoughts on bio-inspired locomotion.

Robots: Androids, Human Presence and the Uncanny Valley

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Hiroshi Ishiguro from Osaka University introduces his androids, including the robotic replicate of his then 5 year old daughter, a female android modeled after the NHK news announcer Ayako Fujii and a copy of himself, the Geminoid. He explains Android Science and how his explorations of the uncanny valley may help to understand human presence. This episode then features the last quarter of Science Fiction author Jack Graham's "Selkies".

Robots: Jumping and Crawling in Millirobots

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Sarah Bergbreiter from the University of Maryland gives us an overview of her work with robotic mobile sensor networks, walking and jumping micro-robots as well as fast prototyping of novel robots. Aaron Hoover at Berkeley talks about novel manufacturing techniques with smart composites. This episode then features the third part of Science Fiction author Jack Graham's "Selkies".

Robots: Warehouse Robots

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

In this episode Raffaello D'Andrea of KIVA Systems describes how hundreds of autonomous robots can be used to automate warehouses. This episode then features the second part of Science Fiction author Jack Graham's "Selkies".

Robots: Swarming Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

In this show we dive into the world of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with Navinda Kottege from the Australian National University. In the second part Marc Sherman from Teledyne RD Instruments tells us more about AUV technology and the importance of Doppler Velocity Logs (DVLs) for underwater navigation. Finally we are treated to the first part of Science Fiction author Jack Graham's story "Selkies".

Robots: An Uncertain Revolution

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

In this episode we dive into the revolution brought on by the field of probabilistic robotics with Claudio Mattiussi. We then launch a most "uncertain" competition to see how good our listeners are at making probabilistic predictions to estimate the cleaning capabilities of a Roomba robot.

Robots: Bacteria-propelled microrobots

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT

This episode discusses bacteria-propelled micro robots and their potential for medical applications inside the human body. In the first part Metin Sitti explains how his robots can join forces with bacteria. In the second part gastroenterologist Mark Schattner discusses current uses and future potential from a medical perspective.

Robots: DelFly and Europe's Micro Air Vehicle Competition

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT

In this episode we cover two major events in aerial robotics: the announcement of the DelFly Micro and the 2008 European Micro Air Vehicle (EMAV) Competition. We first speak with Christophe de Wagter, a member of the Dutch team that's been churning out amazing flapping-wing robots in the last few years. Our second interview features Peter Vörsmann, chair of this year's EMAV competition, to explain the latest advances in autonomous flying vehicles.

Robots: The Robot Blogosphere

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT

This episode gives an insight into part of the online robotics community. We interview Steve Rainwater on his experience with robots.net, the first and probably largest robot community site online. Mikell Taylor shares her experience with the IEEE Spectrum Automaton blog and also gives us a quick insight into her current job at Bluefin Robotics.

Robots: Modular and Reconfigurable Robotics

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT

This episode centers on modular robots. We interview Kasper Stoy on research in Modular Robotics. Robert Fitch gives an insight into Self-Reconfigurable Modular Robots.

Robots: Robot Soccer

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Manuela Veloso, President-Elect of the International RoboCup Federation, gives a look behind the scenes of robot soccer.

Robots: A Robot Fly at Harvard and at the MoMA

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:00:00 GMT

This episode centers on the robotic fly, featuring interviews with professor Robert Wood at Harvard university and with Paola Antonelli, the curator of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Robots: Cornell Racing Team and Velodyne's LIDAR Sensor

Fri, 6 Jun 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Our inaugural episode centers on the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, featuring interviews with professor Daniel Huttenlocher from Team Cornell and Rick Yoder from Velodyne, a producer of LIDAR sensors used by several teams in the challenge.

Robots: 23 May 2008, Trailer 1

Thu, 22 May 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Robots: Coming Soon! This is the trailer for the new Robots podcast, your source for news and views on robotics. Our inaugural episode will be released on 6 June 2008.