[ekim68]

Images: Dextre the robot ready for space adventure

On Tuesday, astronauts on the space shuttle Endeavour will have a special Canadian visitor when they rocket off on their trip to the International Space Station (ISS). Canadian Space Agency's Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, aka "Dextre," is scheduled to be installed by Endeavour astronauts to the ISS later this week. Dextre was built to do maintenance tasks that were previously done during long and sometimes dangerous space walks.

http://content.zdnet.com/2346-9595_22-191557.html

[ekim68]

A robotic taxi named robuCAB

According to ICT Results, a EU-funded project named Embounded ‘has achieved the twin, and apparently contradictory goals, of making embedded systems both smarter and tougher.’ One example is the robuCAB, a ‘4 seats automated people mover’ developed by a French company and built from a 4 wheel-drive electric chassis with on-board PC. This autonomous vehicle follows the kerb and carries several embedded systems, with one camera on the path edge, another device tracking the angle and direction of the kerb, while others control the gearing and acceleration. robuCABs are not totally independent. They move over pre-defined circuits which contain a series of sensors below the ground. But read more…

http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=861

[Igboo]

You have to wonder...
With all these new announcements into robotic technologies, it makes me ask, What aren't they telling us?

Its easy to understand (thanks to movies) that at least a few factions would be working on secret and probably military robotics. Americans are most llikely to be sectretly manufacturing new weapons of mass destruction or something similar. I'm not saying that Americans are the only faction likely to be doing this, any other country could be and are very likely to be as well.
It's just that it kind of freaks me out to be thinking about what might be going on in the scientific military bases of the world...

[ekim68]

You have a point. And, something like this is being funded by the DOD..

New video of BigDog Quadruped robot is so stunning it's spooky

http://gizmodo.com/368651/new-video-...ing-its-spooky

[Visionary2]

Robotics is once again doing something amazing...this one writes the Bible.

http://www.tutztutz..com/2008/02/inc...-for-eternity/

[ekim68]

Link doesn't work for me Visionary2.

[ekim68]

A couple of more works in progress...

http://anybots.com/videos.html#walking_080302_title

[ekim68]

Eye-controlled robot may make heart surgery safer

British researchers are developing a medical robot which can work out the intentions of a surgeon performing an operation, making surgery easier and more precise.

They hope new software will lead to less invasive operations, for example when conducting a cardiac bypass or tumour removal, allowing patients to recover more quickly.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...edicalresearch

[ekim68]

Karate robot takes on pugnacious chicken

TOKYO (Reuters) - One by one the fighters strut into the Korakuen stadium hall in Tokyo, accompanied by thunderous applause.

But this is no normal wrestling match -- the contenders are diminutive humanoid robots built and controlled by participants in the twice-yearly Robo-One Championships.

In the featherweight division, "Automo03-Sandan" -- a robot dressed in karate gear -- is no match for "Leghorn," a chicken-like robot known for its vicious "Chicken Chop" martial art moves.

http://www.reuters.com/article/techn...35150620080324

[JEBWrench]

Originally Posted by Igboo

You have to wonder...
With all these new announcements into robotic technologies, it makes me ask, What aren't they telling us?

Its easy to understand (thanks to movies) that at least a few factions would be working on secret and probably military robotics. Americans are most llikely to be sectretly manufacturing new weapons of mass destruction or something similar. I'm not saying that Americans are the only faction likely to be doing this, any other country could be and are very likely to be as well.
It's just that it kind of freaks me out to be thinking about what might be going on in the scientific military bases of the world...

It's a good point, in theory, but the cost is too high for the use of military robots in practicality. More likely, you'd see reconnaisance robots than anything. Much like the OICW, which while really really cool, never saw genuine use, as its cost and its ammunition costs were simply too ridiculously high compared to an M-16A4 with an M-209 launcher.

And, would any military in their right mind risk such advanced technology getting into their adversaries hands? Of course not.

[ekim68]

Cornell robot sets a record for distance walking

We're not sure what brand of batteries it was using, but the Cornell Ranger robot just kept going and going April 3 when it set an unofficial world record by walking nonstop for 45 laps -- a little over 9 kilometers or 5.6 miles -- around the Barton Hall running track.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/...erGoes.ws.html

More photos:

http://ruina.tam.cornell.edu/researc...ger/index.html

[ekim68]

Combat Robot Attempts Rebellion Against Human Masters in Iraq, Army Pulls Plug for 10-20 Years

The army's machine-gun wielding, insurgent-slaying robot SWORDS is no longer spraying foes with hot doom in Iraq. Actually, it never got the chance to notch a single frag, and never will. Apparently, there was an incident where "the gun started moving when it was not intended to move," meaning it totally pointed somewhere it wasn't supposed to—like at friendlies, which resulted in recall from the field and might've set the program back 10-20 years, according to the Army's Program Executive Officer for Ground Forces, Kevin Fahey.

http://gizmodo.com/378523/combat-rob...or-10+20-years

[ekim68]

Laser scanning robot 3D-R1 used to map mines

A UK-based company, 3D Laser Mapping, has developed robots equipped with lasers to automatically scan mines. Its latest mission was to create a 3D map of the San Jose silver mine in Mexico. The remote survey vehicle (RSV) 3D-R1 weighs about 135 kilograms and is 0.6 meter high. It has a width of 0.9 meter and a length of 1.1 meter. For its Mexican mission, the RSV captured about 100 million data points in about 3 days. And it delivered a full 3D vision of the silver mine, including an accurate volumetric calculation of previously ‘worked’ areas. As wrote the 3D Laser Mapping’s owner in a previous document, ‘We already have laser scanners in aircraft, ground vehicles and even robots, what comes next could be down to you.’

http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=888

[ekim68]

Reminds me of a Star Trek episode with Doctor Durnstrum, not sure of the last name, but he did the same thing...

Japan’s cyborg research enters the skull

Researchers at Osaka University are stepping up efforts to develop robotic body parts controlled by thought, by placing electrode sheets directly on the surface of the brain. Led by Osaka University Medical School neurosurgery professor Toshiki Yoshimine, the research marks Japan’s first foray into invasive (i.e. requiring open-skull surgery) brain-machine interface research on human test subjects. The aim of the research is to develop real-time mind-controlled robotic limbs for the disabled, according to an announcement made at an April 16 symposium in Aichi prefecture.

http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/04/...ers-the-skull/

[ekim68]

Taking the plunge - Space robot headed for test in Antarctic lake

First, a swim around an ice-covered lake in Antarctica. Next, through the frozen surface of Jupiter's moon Europa and possibly into a vast, liquid ocean that may host life as we've never known it.

Of course, some 20 or 30 years may separate the deployment of an autonomous robot to these disparate, watery realms. But the search for life on another world has to start on this one.

http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=27735