Back in February, Fujisoft’s PALRO humanoid got shown off in a nice little video. While the little guy may not be the most advanced of its kind, that’s certainly not from a lack of trying. At this point, PALRO can now dance, walk, look around, and even listen to its surroundings. And yes, it can even speak a few words, here and there. But, a few tweaks to the system, and now the little robot can even remember where things are, and even where it has been.
The little PALRO stands at 40cm, and weighs only 1.6kg. On the robot, you’ll find 5 microphones, 20 joints, integrated WiFi, and even a 3MP camera. In the pair of videos you can watch below, people behind the camera interact with PALRO much like they would an animal. In the first video, you see as the little humanoid stands in a certain area, and “remembers” that this is the spot where he usually dances. When PALRO asks if it should start dancing again, and the person behind the camera says it should, it follows instructions.
In the next video, PALRO remembers that the pink ball he usually plays with has been brought back for some fun. The little guy even calls out, “This is the pink ball I like so much!” Thanks to the technology implanted into PALRO, along with the hardware utilized, it proves that even the smallest of robots can be designed to be pretty advanced, and interact with those around it in such a way that it’s actually enjoyable.
There are several mechanical contraptions out there that use gesture-control to do what they do. But, just as with anything else, there’s always room for some sort of improvement. This new mechanical arm, which is controlled strictly by gestures, is impressive in of itself, but also because of the cameras that are used to track the movements of the human operator.
The whole system isn’t set up to let the arm just react to how the human moves, but has a video working as the middle-man. The robotic arm moves in near real-time, based on the visuals it analyzes via video stream that tracks not only the arm, but also the hand. There are two cameras involved in the process, and they track not only the position and orientation of the controller’s appendage, but also the general movements. It also tracks the shape. It manages to do all of this 100 times per second.
The technology used allows the robotic arm to squeeze a ball, or grab other objects, based on what it analyzes in the video. So, what are the scientists behind this robotic arm aiming for next? They intend to have the arm interacting with 3D displays. Check out the arm working in the video below.
We like us some robots around these parts. The KAIST HUBO 2 robot is a humanoid that reminds me a bit of a naked Robonaut 2 that is less complex. The maker of the HUBO 2 robots, KAIST, has reportedly sold a total of eight of the robots to the US and Singapore.
The eight humanoid robots have been sold it different colleges and universities in the two countries. Each of the robots is 4’1″ tall and weighs in at 99 pounds making them larger than a young child. Each of the bots sells for about $3.4 million.
The US schools that are getting the robots include MIT, Pennsylvania, Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, USC, and Virginia Tech. Drexel University already owns two of the robots. In Singapore, the Institute for Infocomm Research purchased the other two of the eight HUBO 2 bots sold.
Don’t have the airspace required for an AR.Drone? Gearing up for its CES 2011 debut, Sphero is a small, robotic toy ball made by Orbotix, and controlled remotely via Bluetooth and your smartphone’s tilt sensor. A ball that moves by itself? Call us lazy (too lazy to roll a ball even), but we think this is a toy whose time has come. Sure, the whole thing is pretty straightforward, although we hope that once iPhone and Android developers get ahold of that open API we’ll see plenty in the way of augmented reality gameplay: a maze or a racing game of some sort would make this thing quite coveted, in our opinion. Catch a video of the prototype in action after the break.
For those still waiting to hear about the robot revolution, you’ll have to keep waiting a bit longer. Though, finding out that a restaurant in China is now letting a team of robots not only greet customers, but also serve them food, perhaps that day is right around the corner. A new restaurant, called the Delu Rebot Restaurant opened its doors in Jiang, China, and offers up plenty of robot entertainment for those who want to partake.
The new restaurant has two robots that serve as receptionists. They’ll greet you, but the real fun starts when you find your seat. You’ll notice that the tables are set up in a circular fashion. This makes it easier for the robots to follow that pre-ordained path. And they do it on bicycles, no less. But, these robots will not only take your order, but also serve it to you, too. Drinks included.
In the kitchen, though, there are humans preparing the food. At least for now. The ultimate goal? To have the restaurant staffed by up to 40 robots.
One of the last space shuttle missions that headed to the ISS had a robotic passenger onboard called Robonaut 2 or R2 for short. R2 is a humanoid robot that is designed to allow NASA to study the interaction between humans and robots. The thought is that R2 might be able to be used by astronauts to perform tasks that might be hazardous for humans in the future.
The benefit for GM was the development of the sensor systems used by the robot that can be applied to things here at home like better sensors for vehicles and other tasks. GM reports that R2 is having great success in its mission on the ISS. R2 is able to use all the tools and equipment on the space station that were designed for humans to use because the hands on R2 are very much like human hands.
R2′s hands have a similar range of motion as human hands and are able to apply precise position and force controls. One big difference between the hands on R2 and the hands on other robots is that the thumb and fingers on R2 are slim and use tendons that connect the skeletal joints to sensors and actuators in the palm.
By Chris Scott Barr
You know what’s missing from most DSLRs? Robots. That’s right, I said robots. Granted, I say that about pretty much everything, so it’s safe to say that I’m a little biased. Thankfully someone over at Pentax is running on the same wavelength, because they’re releasing a special edition K-r DSLR that is robot-themed.
Sadly, this is not what I expected from a robot DSLR. I get the color scheme, as it’s taken from a rather famous ‘bot over in Japan. What I really don’t get is why the face and details are drawn on with a marker. I mean, if I’m going to shell out $1,200 for one of these, I’d like someone to take the time to draw some straight lines.
In the medical field, there’s a push to make robots a real presence. Whether that means they take over certain aspects of a particular job, or even just remove the need for a person as a whole, it doesn’t matter. And the new HOSPI robot from Panasonic is one of those robots. While it may not take over an orderlie’s job over night, you can see how a few improvements could indeed put the robot into every hospital in the world.
The HOSPI robot has one job: dispense, and pick up medications from nurses. There are several sensors inside the robot to make sure that it’s able to navigate the lengthy hallways of a hospital without incident, and that includes moving objects, too. And, while other robots in the hospital setting were just starting to see the light of day in some hospitals, Panasonic says that the HOSPI robot is already in full use within 50 hospitals within Japan. Check out the video below to see HOSPI in action.
Considering it is the day after Thanksgiving, how about a little publicity stunt from Panasonic to tide you over during your extended weekend? Even if batteries are one of the most commonly used items in the world, it seems Panasonic doesn’t think they get enough attention. That’s why they put together the EVOLTA robot, and decided to send the little robot on a 500-kilometer trek across Japan. Luckily enough for the EVOLTA, it made it, and actually did it ahead of schedule.
The EVOLTA robot from Panasonic is a design that’s meant to showcase the power of AA batteries. Indeed, the little robot managed to go quite the distance on only 12-AA batteries. The robot didn’t make the trip from Tokyo to Kyoto by itself, though. No, the ‘bot brought along its team of EVOLTA Sisters for the ride. However, thanks to the infrared signal on board a vehicle in front of EVOLTA, it was perfectly capable of finding its own way.
The robot was also allowed to be carried up stairs, when it came across them. Also, it was decided upon that the robot wouldn’t do any traveling if it were raining out. EVOLTA spent two months on the road, traveling 500-kilometers in total, and made it to Kyoto ahead of schedule, which Panasonic was pretty happy about. You can check out the little robot in the video below.
While the United States Army may get all the glory when it comes to load-bearing robots, it’s pretty obvious that the designs are being built all around the globe. Whether it be for general purposes, or one in particular, these robots can usually be pretty small in their own right, but be able to carry quite a large amount given the right circumstances. The Land Crawler exTreme is one of those robots, which is reportedly being built to carry humans.
The Land Crawler exTreme is a small robot, especially considering the job its being given. At just 27 pounds, you wouldn’t think this little walker was capable of doing much. But, it has the ability to hold a single human on its flat surface, as long as they weigh 175 pounds, at the most. Only thing is, it’s so small, that you can’t really lay down on the thing. If you want to ride the Land Crawler exTreme, you’ll need to be able to balance pretty well. Check out the little robot that could in the video below.
