Join REETI the robot can show its emotions
I know some of us never want robots to ever have emotions, but I suppose that no one has any qualms about creating a robot that could show emotions.
This is the desktop robot known as REETI, and I am not certain what it stands for, but it is a communication robot and a multi-media tool that could be used to convey a very particular type of message. You can watch the video after the jump if you want to get an idea of how this works.
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You have got to like the SWITL spatula
Sometimes it is the simple things in life that you appreciate the most. For example, something that can clean up a ketchup or mayonnaise stain without leaving any trace evidence (for lack of a better word).
This is the Furukawa Kikou SWITL robot hand, and I have a video of it after the jump removing an ugly stain. What makes it really interesting is how that it is able to put the stain back, as if the stain was never removed in the first place.
Continue reading » You have got to like the SWITL spatula
Mechanical Bird uses its own wings to fly
I remember seeing pictures from DaVinci’s manuscripts of flying machines. Many of them were ornithopters, flying machines that use the flapping power that birds use to defy gravity. I remember even reading a short story once called “DaVinci Rising” that depicts the Renaissance great actually succeeding in his accomplishment.
Festo’s SmartBird is able to replicate the process, and has created a gigantic herring gull that can take off by flapping its wings, and can also land as well. There is no propeller or jet engine required, just the same natural power that sets birds to flight. It is all part of the Bionic Learning Network, adapting natural principles to technology to make things work.
As you can see, the SmartBird is about the size of a large Albatross, and has a massive 6.5 foot wingspan. However, it is made of carbon fiber and a polyurethane foam, so it weighs in at about 1 pound. It is powered by a lithium polymer battery, and it has sensors to relay data to ground operators for better control.
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Cyberdyne’s HAL-5 Exoskeleton, that’s right, Cyberdyne
While I was at CES last January, I passed a booth for Cyberdyne. I saw that and wondered: “don’t they know that this is the organization that ended the world in the Terminator movies?”
Just to let you know, this company isn’t making Skynet, but it is making some serious exoskeletons that you see here known as the HAL-5.
Cyberdyne isn’t stealing from another science fiction film with the name HAL-5. HAL stands for Hybrid Assistive Limb, and the company demonstrated a lower-body suit that is meant for use by health care professionals and factory workers to help with heavy lifting. You can watch the video after the jump.
Continue reading » Cyberdyne’s HAL-5 Exoskeleton, that’s right, Cyberdyne
Check out this 26 foot snakebot camera!
Even though I am based in the United States, I am constantly thinking about Japan after the tsunami and earthquake.
A while ago, we reported on a snake-like robot known as the Omnitread that is essentially a train of treaded cars that can got through rubble. It is a design that I have seen before in the Firegard, and this model here.
This particular device is a self-propelled snakebot developed by Satoshi Tadokoro, and it also has the ability to burrow through collapsed buildings. A light and a camera will show what is buried underneath.
Continue reading » Check out this 26 foot snakebot camera!
Equipois x-Ar makes repetitive tasks easier
This is the x-Ar exoskeletal arm from Equipois, and it is designed for lifting. You might think that this thing is designed to be one limb from a Power Loader like in Aliens, but it is not designed to be a strong arm to give you superhuman strength.
The purpose of the x-Ar exoskeletal arm is to make repetitious tasks easier. So, if you have the job of moving things from one conveyor belt to another conveyor belt, this will come in handy. It will reduce the strength that your arm normally uses, and I would imagine reduce all the arm-strain that would come from such a job.
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Georgia Tech has taught Simon the robot to make certain we pay attention to it
One of the things that I have noticed about robots is that developing an actual functioning one is a lot of baby steps.
I seems like someone develops a good robot arm, someone else has a robot eye, and someone else has to figure out how to make a robot do some minor thing like snap its fingers. In the case of the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, someone has figured out how to make its robot, Simon, get your attention.
Wow, it is hard enough to teach a child to do this properly. I can only imagine that its tricky to teach something that is electronic. You can watch the video here to see more on it.
Continue reading » Georgia Tech has taught Simon the robot to make certain we pay attention to it
Skeletonics Exoskeleton
We have reported on a lot of interesting Power Loader suits before, you know, like the type that were used in Aliens. I still can’t figure out how they did that effect without computer generated effects.
I believe that the reason for creating exo-suits is so that you can lift really heavy objects, but the Skeletonics exoskeleton just seems to be made so you can walk around in an exo-suit. I mean, who wouldn’t want that?
I definitely think that as far as speed goes, this Skeletonics exoskeleton is for you. You can watch the video after the jump if you want to see a man-robot run. Man, I hope he doesn’t trip.
Continue reading » Skeletonics Exoskeleton
