Robotics

Two-armed robot takes on risky lab work

We've seen robot pharmacists before. Here's a robot lab technician whose speed might make "CSI" plots a little more believable.

Developed by automation giant Yaskawa and Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), co-creator of the HRP series of humanoid robots, Mahoro is a two-armed droid that looks like a modified Yaskawa Motoman assembly robot.

Unlike most assembly robots, its arms have seven joints, allowing it to use human tools and to perform humanlike motions easily. … Read more

Rock, paper, scissors robot can't be beaten

In case you were in any doubt about the superiority of robots to humans, Japanese researchers have unleashed a machine that's unbeatable at that timeless human test of wills, rock, paper, scissors.

The boffins at the Ishikawa Oku Lab in the University of Tokyo call it a "human-machine cooperation system," but this robot hand doesn't seem interested in cooperating at all.

It's only interested in winning, and it does that by cheating, in a sense. … Read more

NASA details looming Mars rover landing, '7 Minutes of Terror'

In just 41 days, on August 5, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover will touch down on the Red Planet, and this will be no ordinary landing. In fact, NASA has dubbed the descent "Seven Minutes of Terror."

"When people look at it, it looks crazy," senior EDL engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Adam Steltzner said in a new video by NASA on the rover landing. "It is the result of reasoned engineering thought, but it still looks crazy."

The recently released video (see below) outlines exactly how crazy the feat of landing … Read more

Google says California legislators could drive away robotic cars

During his testimony Monday, a Google representative said if California legislators amend a proposed driverless car bill to effectively forbid their "driverlessness," the state will be telling autonomous car technology to get out of town.

Authored by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima), the bill -- SB 1298 --aims to establish safety and performance standards for cars operated by computers and not people on California roads and highways. The California Assembly's Transportation Committee discussed the bill today, during which several members expressed concerns over liability issues and fear that the bill doesn't provide enough oversight to guarantee the … Read more

Bosch robot lawn mower gives you more hammock time

Why waste your summer cutting grass yourself? Get a machine to do it. Robot lawn mowers are nothing new, but Bosch is introducing one that's apparently more automated than competitors.

The Bosch Indego is an electric, autonomous mower that can cut up to 10,700 square feet of grass with little supervision, according to IEEE Spectrum.

All you need to do is install a guide wire on the edge of your lawn to keep the Indego in. It will automatically skirt all obstacles on your lawn including your pink flamingos, croquet mallets, and flower beds. … Read more

DASH robot learns cockroach escape trick

Cockroaches are way faster than you and me. Relative to their body weight, they can flee at the equivalent of hundreds of miles per hour and are gone long before your newspaper hits the floor.

But researchers from the University of California at Berkeley recently described how cockroaches can also run toward a ledge and then flip around to its underside in the blink of an eye, effectively disappearing from predators. Now they're working on robots that can do the same. … Read more

U.S. Navy turns to Linux to run its drone fleet

Seeming eager to avoid potential malware attacks that could cripple its drone fleet, the U.S. Navy will begin installing Linux to control some of its autonomous flying vehicles.

The contract, which is worth $27,883,883, calls for a "Linux transition on the tactical control system software for vertical take-off (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle ground control stations."

According to The Register, the Navy has just one VTOL drone model, of which it hopes to eventually have 168, Northrop Grumman's MQ-8B Fire Scout, which "has the ability to autonomously take off and land on any aviation-capable … Read more

Last Moment Robot: 'End of life detected'

As a woman lies on a mattress on the floor, a small white machine attached to her outstretched right arm offers the following words:

I am the Last Moment Robot. I am here to help you and guide you through your last moment on Earth. I am sorry that your family and friends can't be with you right now, but don't be afraid. I am here to comfort you. You are not alone, you are with me. Your family and friends love you very much, they will remember you after you are gone.

Jarred by the notion of someone dying in the company of a machine instead of loved ones (or at least other humans)? That's partly the point. … Read more

You won't be the life of the party with this shoulder robot

Got a chip on your shoulder, pal? Or is that just a 20-axis humanoid telepresence robot?

For cyber-boffins from Japan's Yamagata University, it's the latter. It seems this creepy little golem has been riding around on shoulders in northern Japan, probably freaking citizens out.

The project, dubbed the MH-2 wearable communication robot, was recently presented at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in St. Paul, Minn., where it turned some heads.

As IEEE Spectrum tells us, the MH-2 is a telepresence robot that acts as an avatar for your friends around the world. With its intricate parallel wire mechanisms and 20 axes of motion, it can reproduce their movements in a realistic fashion. … Read more