Robotics

DIY robots: Print your own custom bots

In the future, you may go to a "Robo Kinkos" store to have your robots printed.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology today announced a five-year research initiative to let people design personalized robots and have them made with three-dimensional printers.

The ambitious project envisions a day where individuals choose from a set of templates to create a robot to solve a specific task, be it playing with a pet or measuring radon levels in a basement. It is funded by a $10 million National Science Foundation grant and includes the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.

"This … Read more

Robot companies come to bury C-3PO

If the word "robot" conjures up for you machines with two eyes and four limbs, it's time to think again.

The robots having a commercial impact today have little to do with C-3PO, Terminator, Rosie the Maid, or other humanoid robots from popular culture. Instead, working robots are surprisingly diverse and, rather than mimic humans' every move, focus on a few very specific tasks.

For a sign of how robotics is shaping up, consider Amazon's $775 million purchase of Kiva Systems last month. Kiva's machines are designed to navigate warehouses to collect products and automate … Read more

iRobot Warrior, PackBot go to work at S.C. nuclear plant

If you thought military robots were only fighting wars overseas, think again. iRobot's war-bots are now working at a nuclear plant right here on home soil.

The company's Warrior and PackBot military robots are carrying out inspections and other duties at a nuclear power plant in South Carolina, iRobot announced today.

Last fall, operator Progress Energy purchased one Warrior 710 and two PackBot 510 units for its Robinson Nuclear Plant near Hartsville. It marks the first time iRobot's machines are being used at a domestic nuclear plant. … Read more

MIT 'smart sand' and 'robot pebbles' replicate objects

Researchers at MIT have developed a robotic system for duplicating shapes, a potential alternative approach to three-dimensional printing.

The Distributed Robotics Lab at MIT today detailed research aimed at replicating objects by essentially carving them from an unformed pile of "smart sand" or "robot pebbles." The vision is to have these miniature robots automatically create replicas of different sizes with only an original shape to work with.

A key difference from other approaches to replicating objects is that, unlike three-dimensional printing techniques, the smart sand builds by subtracting building blocks from a larger heap, according to … Read more

April Fools: Google's self-driving cars head for Nascar race tracks

As part of its annual April Fools' pranks, Google came up with Google Racing, an almost plausible partnership with Nascar. In a post on the official Google blog, apparent racing car fan Sergey Brin wrote:

...today we're moving the project one great leap forward with Google Racing, a groundbreaking partnership with NASCAR to help self-driving vehicles compete in the world of stock car racing. We think the most important thing computers can do in the next decade is to drive cars--and that the most important thing Google Racing can do in the next decade is drive them, if possible, … Read more

Google self-driving car chauffeurs legally blind man

Google yesterday released a poignant video demonstrating the potential of its self-driving car.

In the short video, a man walks out of his house and gets behind the wheel of one of Google's robotic cars, a Toyota Prius equipped with an array of high-tech gadgetry including radar, lasers, and cameras.

The car takes the man, Steve Mahan, for a ride including visits to a Taco Bell and the dry cleaners without him needing to touch the steering wheel or pedals. Midway through, Mahan says he is legally blind, having lost about 95 percent of his vision.

The three-minute clip … Read more

Ape-headed, ape-controlled, cannon-wielding robot is for real

Imagine a wheeled robot with an ape's head. Now imagine that the robot is actually controlled by an ape -- one wielding an iPad. Now imagine that the robot is chasing you around and shooting at you with a cannon.

No, it's not your latest banana-split-fueled nightmare or a Tim Burton remake of "Bedtime for Bonzo." Apparently this is reality, folks -- or at least it could be, if enough people pony up funds on Kickstarter.… Read more

Robotic jellyfish for U.S. Navy powers itself with seawater

Imagine a military surveillance robot that looks and moves like a jellyfish and can ply the seas indefinitely by powering itself with ocean water.

A team of researchers at Virginia Tech, the University of Texas at Dallas, and several other schools are working to develop just such a device.

In a paper published yesterday in the journal Smart Materials and Structures, team members outlined their recent progress on the "Robojelly" project, which is being funded by the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research.

Made of a combination of silicone and various high-tech materials, the Robojelly uses … Read more

Firefighting humanoid robot gets drafted into the Navy

Queue up The Village People doing "In the Navy." Then follow it up with "Mr. Roboto" by Styx. Next, throw in Hendrix doing "Fire." Put it all together, and you'll have the perfect soundtrack for the Navy's new humanoid firefighting robot, named Saffir.

Saffir stands for "shipboard autonomous firefighting robot." I could just stop here and let that description be enough awesomeness for one day, but there's more.

This humanoid robot comes from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. It is designed to fit through the cramped passageways of Navy ships, interact with the sailors onboard, and fight fires with cool features like the ability to throw PEAT grenades. No, not that kind of peat. We're talking "propelled extinguishing agent technology."… Read more