(Credit:
Evolution Robotics )
Evolution Robotics is introducing an automatic floor cleaner for hard surfaces that can get those tricky spots like corners, edges, and places under furniture.
The Mint robot mop and duster being introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show uses disposable or reusable cleaning cloths to get the job done. You put a Swiffer or Pledge cloth on the bottom, push a button, and off it goes.
The dry cloths trap dirt and dust. When set to mop mode and given a wet cloth, Mint does a back-and-forth movement to scrub floors.
The sexy, compact machine uses Evolution Robotics' NorthStar navigation technology. A small, separate projector unit beams infrared light spots on the ceiling that the robot detects. Instead of pursuing a random pattern, Mint tracks where it has cleaned already.
Evolution Robotics CEO Paolo Pirjanian says Mint can clean a floor three to five times faster than a robot following a random pattern.
He adds that ... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blog
A robot out of Malaga, Spain, can recognize tunes and suggest similar melodies you might like.
(Credit: EFE/Jorge Zapata)A musically gifted robot out of Spain promises to identify a song when you hum it, whistle it, strum chords on the guitar, or play the piano. It can then classify the tune according to musical style and suggest similar songs you might like. In addition, it can determine whether a singer is male or female and group pieces accordingly.
The robot, apparently a Lego Mindstorms NXT, is one of a series of musically inclined bots being created at the University of Malaga to make and manage musical content.
In addition to the song-recognizing robot, the Malaga researchers developed a system that uses augmented reality technology to create a virtual piano keyboard. This method can also be applied to the bars of a xylophone.
The feature could prove useful for music teachers, who would have greater reach to students and venues lacking an instrument of their own, Isabel Barbancho, an associate professor of communications engineering at the school, told Spanish language news agency EFE. Barbancho also is helping to organize the upcoming International Symposium on Computer Music Modeling and Retrieval, to be held from June 21 to 24 in Malaga.
Still another innovation from the university group converts ordinary songs into a game format similar to that of "Guitar Hero." While the game tunes might not be supported by a platform like the PS3, the potential number of songs you could convert into games through the system is unlimited, Barbancho said.
Sounds like it's time for Shimon the autonomous, marimba-playing robot to take a trip to the University of Malaga. We're thinking it and robots by Barbancho's team could make beautiful (or at least very weird) music together.
We at Crave love robots, especially wacky ones built for little or no practical reason. As 2009 closed, we took a quick look back at a few of these tributes to the spirit of innovation, dedication, and sheer silliness. Not surprisingly, most are from Japan. To which we say, Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto. And here's hoping 2010 brings as many weird robots as the year gone by.
Researchers at Japan's Chiba University are developing a hummingbird-style flying robot that could be used to find people trapped in collapsed buildings, search for criminals, or even explore other planets.
Engineering professor Hiroshi Liu said the micro air vehicle, or MAV, is equipped with a mini motor that allows it to flap its wings up to 30 times per second--roughly in the same range as a hummingbird.
(Credit:
Chiba University)
The remote-controlled ornithopter is nearly 4 inches long and weighs about 0.09 ounces. Its rechargeable battery allows for six minutes of flying time, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
It has four polyethylene wings and apparently can be more stable in figure-eight flight than a helicopter, though Liu has yet to make it hover in mid-air.
In earthquake-prone Japan, finding victims in destroyed buildings could be one application of the ornithopter. Liu said it could also be used to track criminals or explore Mars from the air.
Other MAVs in development already have indoor navigation, outdoor navigation, and features that mimic nature. Liu's robot, though, is one of the smallest and most lightweight in its class. He plans to equip it with a tiny camera in the next few months.
It would then be in competition with the DelFly Micro, a similar-sized ornithopter from Delft University of Technology that already carries a camera. The Dutch machine is slightly heavier at 0.1 ounces and can only fly for three minutes. Check out a video of it here.
The Chiba University project cost has already topped $2 million. Liu has drawn inspiration from nature in the design and optimization of MAV wings, running biomechanical simulation models on a supercomputer to find the best wing shape.
(Via Physorg and Agence France-Presse)
Tired of Guitar Hero? Try jamming with your iPhone or iPod Touch and Shimon, an autonomous, marimba-playing, octopus-armed hipster robot.
Gil Weinberg, director of music technology at Georgia Tech, is developing Shimon as a socially dynamic band mate. He says the robot "listens like a human and improvises like a machine" thanks to complex algorithms that allow it to perceive and improvise a groove.
(Credit:
Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)
Weinberg is also behind ZOOZBeat, an app that turns your iPhone into an instrument and sequencer, letting you remix and loop your own music by shaking, tilting, and otherwise getting down with it. Beats come bundled with the app, but you can also download packs with vocals, hooks, and instruments.
If there aren't iPhone-only bands out there already, ZOOZBeat will probably start a trend. But as I mentioned in an earlier post about the exciting new Eigenharp, electronic music concerts can benefit from a more dynamic physical performance, and that's where Shimon, with its bobbing cyclops head, comes in.
As the vid after the jump shows, Shimon can take your ZOOZ loop with a Wi-Fi flick and run with it. Here, it repeats and improvises on a jazzy loop, playing in a variety of styles resembling jazz greats like John Coltrane or Thelonius Monk.
... Read More
(Credit:
Nippon Institute of Technology)
Classrooms in Japan may soon welcome a new 4-foot-tall educational humanoid robot unveiled by Nippon Institute of Technology and other groups.
It will be used to teach software programming and hardware engineering to students, but will also be demonstrated in elementary schools and nursing homes. It will act as a "teacher" in class along with a human teacher.
As explained in Japanese in the video below, the kid-size bot doesn't have a name yet. With its boyish voice, the robot can be heard asking people to give it a "cool name." It then does some dancing and balancing on one leg.
But some details are available. It tips the scales at 33 pounds and has 21 degrees of mechanical freedom. It's equipped with sensing devices including a camera, accelerometers, and gyroscopes, and has a small projector in its head. It can be programmed with Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio.
The price tag is about $132,000, according to Robot Watch.
Its body was engineered by Tokyo robot firm ZMP, known for its small but stylish Nuvo bot. The underlying e-nuvo Humanoid platform is intended for education and research, and is priced around $77,000. The exterior was designed by Znug Design studio.
More photos at the Robot Watch page (in Japanese).
No word yet on how the robot will punish bad students.
"Please, Mommy, tell me this baby is going back to the hospital!"
(Credit: University of Tsukuba)We've written about creepy robot children before, but none as lachrymose as Yotaro, an interactive baby-bot that actually sheds tears when tired.
"No Tommy, real babies don't come with electronic parts."
(Credit: University of Tsukuba)Created in the Uchiyama Lab at Japan's University of Tsukuba, Yotaro is meant to be a baby simulator for teaching new parents and about-to-be-older-siblings the ways of babyhood. As crying is obviously a big part of infancy, warm water comes out of a small opening in the interactive screen that doubles as Yotaro's touch-sensitive face.
Yotaro, just a concept for now, is not a standalone robot, as a rather extensive set of devices must be attached for it to perform its baby-like functions.
The computer controlling Yotaro's changing facial expressions is external, the water that serves as the tired-baby tears is stored in a separate tank, and sensors direct Yotaro's "emotional" responses (tickling Yotaro's belly, for example, results in it wiggling its motorized legs under the blanket). A projector under the bed projects the appropriate countenance upward onto Yotaro's 2D face, while a speaker offers up the right baby sounds.
All that hardware kind of makes you long for the old-fashioned mannequin baby, doesn't it?
Thanks to designboom for bringing Yotaro to our attention and to my erai CNET colleague Takayuki Sakurai for translating the Japanese on the University of Tsukuba Web site. Now please excuse us while we go cry some very real adult tears.
(Credit:
ATR)
A humanoid robot has been deployed to a supermarket in Japan to help senior shoppers with their grocery purchases.
The modified version of the Robovie II robot developed by Japan's Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, or ATR, is working as a temporary shopping assistant at Apita-Seikadai supermarket in Kyoto until March. It's another experiment to test the viability of advanced personal robots in everyday situations.
Robovie can wirelessly receive a list of items selected beforehand by the customer, carry the shopping basket, and make recommendations about what to buy.
In the video below, the robot slowly follows a 67-year-old woman around the supermarket, carrying her basket, as they are followed by reporters. Robovie keeps telling the lady that the fruit she puts in the basket looks delicious, to which she agrees. It then suggests lettuce for a salad.
ATR's Robovie series has been developed into several machines. Some have been used as crowd monitors to detect people who are lost, while others have been miniaturized as hobby robots.
Via Pink Tentacle
(Credit:
Ford)
Ford has been working with a tactile robot arm to evaluate the feel and appearance of surfaces and controls in its vehicles in a bid to make the testing process less subjective and more scientific.
The Robotized Unit for Tactility and Haptics, or RUTH, has been used for several years at the automaker's European Research Center in Aachen, Germany, to check the interiors of the European versions of the new Focus and Fiesta, versions of which are coming to the United States in 2010.
Ford says it's the first carmaker to use a robot like RUTH, which is a modified consumer packaging arm, to scientifically test interiors. Work by the machine is now being seen in production models around the world.
To better respond to customer expectations for quality interiors, RUTH measures parameters such as roughness and temperature on points like the steering wheel, knobs and armrests.
RUTH doesn't have a driver's license yet, but it can manipulate knobs and adjust air vents in design prototypes just like a human driver. The data it collects is used by engineers to ensure controls have the right tactile resistance, firmness, uniformity and other qualities.
By using a machine, Ford can assign specific values to qualities, such as "soft," when designing interiors. Research generated by RUTH is also being used to create vehicles with a consistent look and feel.
Japanese robot maker Kokoro, best known for its Actroid line of ultra-lifelike androids, will make robot clones of people in a special limited-time offer.
Osaka University roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro (right) and his android clone, Geminoid.
(Credit: Tim Hornyak)The New Year promotion is being offered via select department stores in Japan. People willing to pay about $225,000 can have themselves recreated in robot form, with their robot clone having exactly the same face, hair, eyes, and body.
Kokoro will also model the buyer's voice, facial expressions, and upper-body movements to create the most lifelike doppelganger possible.
The Actroid and Geminoid androids are powered by a quiet air servo system that moves their upper bodies. They cannot walk.
Both are based on real people--one version of Actroid was based on a Japanese newscaster, and Geminoid is based on Osaka University roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro.
Kokoro is only offering to make two robot clones. If more than two orders are received, the lucky buyers will be selected by lottery.
(Via Pink Tentacle)
