USB connected interactive plant (via AkihabaraNews & Keio University)
If the Japanese have not already created enough unusual devices, they have one more invention to add to their list. Researchers from Keio University have created plants that interact with their surroundings. The plants are programmed to show different emotions through their movements by using data collected from sensors. The movements that match with specific emotions were chosen by having many people show how they think a happy plant or an angry plant would move.
The plant sits in a square pot that would look like any other Japanese plant holder on the outside, but on the inside is where the plants mechanics and electronics lie. The plant moves by two stepper motors connected to its leaves and twigs by very thin cords. Additionally, it monitors its surroundings using a microphone and motion sensors. According to the input from the sensors the plant will move based on the movements it picks up and the tones it hears.
The Japanese were hoping to make plants seem more alive and have a greater presence in areas. They have conducted their research for almost a year now and have not had any plants die or wilt, although some research states otherwise. In the future, they look to bring bigger plants to life and possibly trees, they would like environments people travel through to be fully interactive. Technology may soon creep into every aspect of our surrounding world. (The world would hate us)
As I am sure your mother told you, dogs are a huge responsibility to take care of, and if you don’t have the time, chances are you do not have the energy. But, this does not deter many people from getting dogs anyways. For this reason, the company Go-Go Dog Pals has created an interactive dog toys that run on energy that is not your own.
The latest Go-Go Dog Pals creation is a remote control car designed to withstand the predatory chase of the dog. This is not your ordinary dog toy, it comes with a dual 280mm high torque motors, its 4 wheel drive, double suspension so it can be driven on many terrains. The chassis resembles a groundhog, and is made of a smooth durable plastic. The most impressive feature, it can go as fast as 21 mph.
The idea is that you sit back have fun controlling the Go-Go Dog Pal while watching your dog go crazy in the chase. It is difficult to actually catch the toy because of its smooth chassis except for its tail. But if your dog does catch the antenna tail, it only weighs 3.9 pounds so there is no worries of pulling it out. Even if Rufus does fulfill its killer instinct, all parts are replaceable.
The remote uses a long distance 2.4 GHz digital radio control system and the Go-Go Pal comes with a rechargeable Ni-Cd battery and a cool $300 price tag. We love our dogs, so what is $300?
(Left) Burritob0t platform (Right) The bot does not print the tortilla, unfortunately (via Marko Manriquez)
Robots have been showing their love for making food over the past few years like Suzomo’s SushiBot which can pump out thousands of the tasty rolls and the MIT BakeBot that mixes up cookie batter ingredients from scratch. It seems all the major cuisines are being slowly represented from our mechanical friends, but none have the unique technique of printing up delicious burritos like that of Marko Manriquez’s Burritob0t.
The robot uses a Mechatronics/Gantry 3D printing system with RAMPS (RepRap Arduino MEGA Pololu Shield) electronics, based in-part from RepRap’s self-replicating manufacturing machine, as the robots base platform. To actually build a burrito, the robot needs a 3D model representation of the ingredients (cheese and beans) which is done through the use of ReplicatorG software that converts the STL/3D model to GCODE. Once the robot has the converted code, the ingredients are fed into two MakerBot Frostruder MK2 compressed air delivery syringes which pump out ingredients based on the 3D model onto a tortilla.
Marko designed Burritob0t for his thesis project at ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU) as a way to examine the relationship between fast-food practices (conveyor-belt edibles) and human nutritional habits. While the robot does not actually build a burrito from scratch, it does print up 3D piles of tasty ingredients with digital perfection.
Arduino robot used for promotion of RobotC (via RoboMatter)
Robotics and software coding can be daunting to a beginner, but software company RoboMatter works diligently to make these fields accessible to beginners and hobbyist. Their software is already compatible with LegoMindstorm and others platforms alike that aim at brining robotics to the main stream. Now, RobotC has announced they will expand their code to be compatible with one of the biggest development board platform there is, Arduino.
RobotC has released a public BETA version of their code for Arduino. To use RobotC with your existing Arduino, the Arduino will have to be updated to version 3.12. Once this is done, the same version of RobotC is compatible with Arduino as well as NXT, Cortex. This new version will support the Diecimila, Duemilanove, MEGA 1280 and MEGA 2560 and UNO Arduino boards.
My childhood dream is almost a reality, a real life Transformer.
Designed by Kenji Ishida and JS Robotics, the bot houses 22 servos to perform the transformation. In robot form it is based on the widely copied bipedal humanoid platform. You can see these humanoid bots in a lot of competitions in Japan. There is no information on the bot at JS Robotics
This bot is the latest in a series by Kenji Ishida, version 8 to be exact. See version 7 below.
Wilfried Stoll and an engineering team from Festo in Germany have designed a robot that can compose and perform its own music after ‘listening’ to a melody. The robotic system, called Sound Machines 2.0, simulates two violins, a cello, a double bass and a viola with each using only one string. The string is loosened to change notes by an electric DGE drive unit that runs parallel to the string with a pneumatic cylinder that moves a wooden hammer which strikes the string to play the note.
To make music the robots first listens to a musician playing a melody over a MIDI capable synthesizer or xylophone that’s connected to a computer where modular synthesizer software processes the signal and sends it to the robots in real-time. The computer actually composes the music in its interpretation with the help of open-sourced software that’s programmed with special algorithms that are derived from John Conway’s Game of Life cellular automaton. Once the computer writes the music it is then pieced out to the robots accordingly. The music is heard through the robots own amplifiers and 40 watt speakers which makes the music sound more spatial with a better sense of depth, as opposed to using one speaker for all 5 robots. While the robots don’t exactly play like the string section of the New York Philharmonic, they do play pretty well even if it sounds like the music from TV show Buck Rogers.
(Left) Egestion Vessel for the EcoBot III (Right) Sludge and water distributor for EcoBot III (via Bristol Robotics Laboratory)
Robots are not only difficult to design and build, but they are also a challenge to handle after a project has ended. Robots are manufactured using resilient materials but many are toxic and non-biodegradable and so have a negative impact on the environment if they are not retrieved and disposed of safely.
Dr. Jonathan Rossiter from the University of Bristol and Dr. Ioannis Ieropoulos of the University of the West of England, are embarking on a project that will tackle this problem head on.
To do this, they have received a grant of over £200,000 from the Leverhulme Trust. The team will attempt to build a robot completely out of biodegradable materials. They will apply this technology to an existing project they call the "Ecobot," which is a robot that uses Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology for energy. MFCs function by extracting electrons from the microbial metabolic processes as they feed on things like sugar, fruits or even insects. For this reason, the Ecobot is a perfect candidate to go full biodegradable.
Biodegradable robots will change the way robots can be used for research. Currently, a lot of effort must be put into keeping track of the robot and salvaging them once they are not operating. But if Rossiter and Ieropoulos are successful, researchers could unleash hundreds of robots with no worries of environmental damage after the robots stop functioning.
(Left) Technician working on a Foster-Miller robot (Right) Foster-Miller robot platform under repair (via Dave Bullock)
There are unsung heroes out there who have saved countless lives. Like a true superhero, their only response to a those saved is a simple "I'm only doing my job."
The Joint Robotics Repair Detachment (JRRD) keeps the U.S. military's robot armada up and running. Countless lives have been saved using these robots. These bots are almost exclusively tasked with handling IEDs, improvised explosive devices, and other traps and explosives. Without these robots, Operation Enduring Freedom would have casualties beyond comprehension. Thanks to the diverse crew of military and civilian personnel, many still breath today. Some may never even know the bot that saved their life was once before clown up.
Thousands of robots have been repaired throughout the war. One statistic form the JRRD says that within the year of 2009, over 1,800 robots were repaired or upgraded, where 500 were sent back to Afghanistan front line duty. Not only are these robots repaired to 100% operation functionality, but they are done so in the same day. Master Sgt. Ronald L. Helsley (402nd JRRD noncommissioned officer-in-charge) explained, "We repair and maintain all robots in theater, units bring equipment to the shop and if it can be repaired in four hours or less we will do the work and return the equipment to the unit." If the repair cannot be done on schedule, a one-for-one exchange will take place within the time frame. It is that diagnostic eye that will return a bot on a tight schedule, where a minute of delay could mean the cost of a life.
The JRRD handles robots ranging from the single digit pound range to several tons. Repairs are not always for the IED fatality robots. Normal wear and tear find that the bots need replacement treads or wheels, cameras, motors, and faulty electronics. More extreme cases have the repair technicians replacing major portions of the bots, arms, and other mutilated components.
Shawn Wyzlic talking about some of the robots in repair at Camp Victory, Iraq. (Via MilitaryNews)
JRRD is based in Iraq. As the troops return home, their robot counterparts are kept in the fight. Civilian robot technician from Wixom, Michigan, Shawn Wyzlic is based in Iraq, where he is busy prepping robots from their next frontier. Wyzlic explained, "Our primary goal is to maintain the robots we have here [at Camp Victory in Iraq]; our secondary goal is to assist Afghanistan in the transferring of the robot systems from here to over there." Not only are all battle-worn robots repaired, but they are also upgraded to handle the rough terrain of Afghanistan.
"Last week we had a Talon [Foster-Miller robot] blown up. Thank goodness it was a robot. We can lose a million of them, and it's worth it." - JRRD commander Marine Major John Amiss
As a generous charity for a fundraiser, one brave soul has volunteered to have his head shaved by a robot with three arms (looks similar to Dr. Octopus' extra arms from Spider-Man). The robot is a Multi-Armed Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV ), and was being controlled from an operator through a computer. The charity was for St. Baldrick's Foundation to help cure child hood cancer and the robotics firm helping with the fundraiser and providing their own robot for use was Intelligent Automation, Inc.
The program did a little more than raise money for charity. It demonstrated the flexibility to carry out tasks for their UGV robot. The robot yields three arms, all equipped with cameras, and 29 degrees of freedom. The camera and arm arrangement allows the user to move the arms relative to various frames of reference. As a result, the robot is capable of carrying out tasks that require complex movements and manipulations to objects.
The UGV used has many purposes it can serve. It has shown the ability to handle tools, inspect backpacks, tie knots, breach doors, and IDE disarming. Although the robot gave a far from perfect haircut, it gave a perfect example of how far along robots have come. Not to mention they did have a robot set up for emotional support and one to clean up the hair on the ground. Maybe next time a robot can wash our hair for us too.
Robots have been designed to do just about everything from serving food to bomb defusing, but they don’t typically have the free-range movement that humans do when it comes to navigating uneven terrain. Take climbing a mountainside, wide degrees of motion and agility allow humans (and animals) the ability to handle and obstacle. Bots can only watch.
However, robotics engineers from the University of Texas and Meka Robotics (located in San Francisco) are looking to overcome this obstacle with the introduction of the Hume bi-pedal robot. The team, headed by Louis Sentis from the Human Centered Robotics Lab at UT, has designed the Hume robot to incorporate a HCHA (Human-Centered Hyper Agility) range of movement. To do this, the team used a series of elastic actuators (6 DOF SEA total)for each joint which provides the robot with 6 degrees of spatial movement (including lateral).These powerful modular actuators give the robot its strength, speed, and a certain degree of agility. The Hume design is still in its infancy stage, as there is no internal power source and has yet to acquire feet, but it looks to be a step in the right direction for all-terrain bi-pedal robots. On the other hand, I don’t think robots will replace humans in the sport of Parkour anytime soon.
Toyota, along with the Illinois Institute of Technology, are innovating on an age-old device, the walking cane. This new version resembles the function of a Segway. With a six-axis accelerometer, it can sense if the user is falling forward or backward and exert power in the appropriate direction to help regain balance. This reaction is also controlled by the grip of the user. A stronger grip results in a stronger push from the wheel of the walking cane. Apart from preventing a fall, Toyota also suggests this robotic walking cane can be used as a tool to "exercise or rehabilitate back muscles that are not usually used by people with back injuries." Toyota even plans on incorporating fingerprint recognition to prevent theft and make this smart cane, that much smarter and impressive. This certainly seems appropriate for the younger elders in the digital age.
The days of the old RC car are certainly fading, especially when you see the RC helicopters and quad-copters showing no constraint to the ground. Like many other RC toys, three new controllable vehicles from Swann allow control via iDevices (iPad, iPod and iPhone). Swann has three new helicopters, the iFly Micro Lightning, the SkyEye and the Black Swann that will grant you this level of fun and more for less than $100.
All three helicopters include dual joystick IR remotes that require 6 AA batteries but can also be controlled using and iDevice with the included attachment and Swann application. They come with lithium batteries that can be recharged from the remotes or with an included USB cable from a PC. They all have Swann’s Easy-fly Gyro Technology, trim adjustment for stabilization to maximize performance during the 8-minute flight allowed by a charge.
For those of you with an agenda, two of the helicopters have onboard wireless cameras that take pictures and video on remote command. The SkyEye includes 512 MB of memory while the Black Swann has space for a 32 GB micro SD card. These two helicopters have 27 MHz frequency controllers that range for 110 ft.
The iFly Micro Lightning goes for $69.99 and the SkyEye and Black Swann sell for $99.99. Added rotors and a helipad game are included for inevitable accidents and to practice before you embark on your first adventure.
Below is an example of the video output of these helicopters. Seems usable.
Kmel Robotics may have one of the best promotions for their future flagship product, the mini quad-copter, via a collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania's GRASP Lab. The demonstration shows a series of synchronized flying patterns. The video gives the illusion of autonomous swam behavior. At the moment, both Kmel and GRASP are not letting out any information on the project.
The University of Pennsylvania researchers Alex Kushleyev, Daniel Mellinger, and Vijay Kumar put these quad-copters to the test. As the video shows, it was a very successful project. Like small remote control helicopters, we all received one Christmas in the past, these quad-copters will have a very limited battery power source. This is the only information released at the moment. As more develops, I will report back immediately.
(Right) HOVIS bot. (Via Robotshop) (Left) A less advance HOVIS.
Beware Android’s apps are COMING ALIVE!
A South Korean company, Dasarobot, invented a HOVIS humanoid robot. The HOVIS can only be compatibility with any 3.5-inch Android-based smartphone. When the phone is connected to HOVIS, the app then become the robot’s commander. Several Android control apps are planned for the HOVIS bot, though availability outside Korea is not clear. However, when searching through your Android app market, I recommend avoiding the violent ones, unless you want a vicious robot.
The HOVIS humanoid robot added some new kicks. The leading telecommunications company in South Korea, SK Telecom, has made it possible for the robot to use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for control. It not only can retrieve data through thin air, but it can also see, hear and even speak. In order for it to become an eye seeking robot, a camera (computer vision), microphone and speaker (speech recognition, speech synthesis), and the processing power of a fixed PC were added to it.
Wondering how much it would cost for developing a humanoid robot hobby? The phrase, bang for your buck, holds truth with these robots. You have your choice from inexpensive robots to expensive academic humanoids. The price tag attached to these remarkable robots start only at $620 for the basic. The HOVIS brand gives you many styles to pick from. When choosing the style all of them have complete-with-exoskeleton to DIY kits, and one of four levels of software for beginners to knowledgeable programmers.
iZac does not care how attractive you are so do not even attempt to “woohoo” this bartender. iZac is an electrifying machine, the Android Bartender! The barbot was created by Nick Johnson; who was inspired by Evil Mad Scientist Labs’ creation, Drink Making Unit 2.0. Nick was awed by the Drink Making Unit 2.0.; as a follow up, he challenged himself to develop his own version.
If bars own the iZac, would they be able to maintain it without busting their wallets? Nick Johnson took considerable time in determining how the iZac would be able to succeed at its purpose while being easy to maintain. Traditional pumps for the machine are frightfully expensive and impractical. Nick came up with the idea of using a battery powered aquarium pump to pressurize the bottles, lowered the cost and eliminating problems.
The iZac is not plugged straight into an outlet, instead if uses a custom laser-cut pinch-valve designed by Nick Johnson. Pinch valves do not require interrupting the tubing which the liquid flows through. The iZac is food safe. Johnson is determined to bring softdrink style self serve to the local pub.
iZac begins serving a delicious cocktail by choosing a drink from the list provided. You then place your glass onto a scale that measures the amount of liquid that would be appropriate. iZac then activates the aquarium pump and opens the appropriate valve to dispense that liquid gold. Then iZac continues to dispense all the liquid that makes up the drink. Once the barbot is finished dispensing; you take your glass and scream “CHEERS!”
