Posts Tagged «robotics»
Robot hand uses static electricity to pick up almost anything – with no moving parts October 28, 2014 at 10:25 am
Instead of mechanical fingers or clamps, Grabit uses electrostatic attraction to pick up and move objects.
Ebola-killing robots now being used in US hospitals October 8, 2014 at 11:57 am
With Ebola now at large hospitals aren’t messing around. To combat this new threat some have even introduced a special purpose virus-zapping robot to fight back.
Robot butlers with RFID scanners could be used as service animals September 23, 2014 at 3:24 pm
We already use dogs and monkeys as service animals to help people with disabilities, so why not use robots as well? Researchers at Georgia Tech have combined RFID tags, long-distance scanners, and a self-propelled robot to develop a method of reliably locating objects in a real-world setting. With this set-up, people with reduced mobility or short-term memory can ask the robot for help finding important items like medicine or documents.
MIT’s Cheetah robot is let off its leash, can now run and jump silently across fields September 16, 2014 at 8:22 am
MIT’s Cheetah robot has finally been let off the leash — and boy can it run. Watch as it bounds across a grass field, and even jumps over a hurdle. It isn’t quite up to the evolutionary magnificence of its biological counterpart, which can hit 60 mph in a couple of seconds, but it’s still pretty impressive. ‘Our robot can be silent and as efficient as animals. The only things you hear are the feet hitting the ground,’ says MIT’s Sangbae Kim.
Dyson 360 Eye: Dyson’s ‘truly intelligent’ robotic vacuum cleaner is finally here September 4, 2014 at 6:00 am
Dyson, the British company that created the cyclone vacuum cleaner, AirBlade hand drier, and the bladeless fan, is finally stepping out onto the bleeding edge of high-tech suction and blowing: The Dyson 360 Eye, the first ‘truly intelligent’ autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner that can see its entire environment and then plan a route around it, rather than just bumping algorithmically from obstacle to obstacle like a Roomba. Dyson claims that it has more suction power and is designed so that it can actually “clean properly” unlike other robotic vacuum cleaners. Oh, and did I mention that it has tank tracks?
Google begins developing its own quantum computer chips, to prepare for the future September 3, 2014 at 11:18 am
Google’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence team, not content with merely sharing a D-Wave kinda-quantum computer with NASA, has announced that it will now be designing and building its own quantum computer chips. Rather than start from scratch, Google will absorb UC Santa Barbara’s quantum computing group, which recently created a superconducting five-qubit array that shows promise for scaling up to larger, commercial systems. Google, probably just behind IBM, now appears to be one of quantum computing’s largest commercial interests.
Google has built a Matrix-like simulation of California to test its self-driving cars August 22, 2014 at 8:50 am
Google, it has emerged, has built a ‘Matrix-style’ simulation of the entirety of California to test its self-driving cars. While this in itself isn’t massively surprising given Google’s history as a software company (though it is a bit scary), the company is also petitioning California’s state officials to allow safety testing within the Matrix, instead of testing on real roads. This might sound a little terrifying, but it makes quite a lot of sense for a self-driving car, where there are millions of conditions that need to be tested.
Rejoice, commuters and workers! The Chairless Chair exoskeleton lets you sit down anywhere, anytime August 21, 2014 at 10:22 am
The Chairless Chair is an exoskeleton that attaches to your legs and lets you sit back, as if you’re sitting on a chair — but, in the words of Morpheus, there is no chair. Rather than relying on the tensile strength of solid wood or plastic and the gravity-defying nature of three or more supporting legs, the Chairless Chair uses clever battery-powered mechanics to achieve the same effect. When turned off, the Chairless Chair allows you to walk around normally. There are many uses, from production line work, to sitting on a crowded train.
By 2025, ‘sexbots will be commonplace’ – which is just fine, as we’ll all be unemployed and bored thanks to robots stealing our jobs August 14, 2014 at 9:04 am
According to a new report that looks at how continuing improvements to artificial intelligence and robotics will impact society, ‘robotic sex partners will become commonplace’ by 2025. A large portion of the report also focuses on how AI and robotics will impact both blue- and white-collar workers, with about 50% of the polled experts stating that robots will displace more human jobs than they create by 2025.
Harvard & MIT create first self-assembling robots – the first real Transformers August 8, 2014 at 11:00 am
Harvard and MIT engineers, showing reckless disregard for the robocalypse, have created origami robots that can self-assemble themselves — from a flat piece of paper and polystyrene — and walk away in just four minutes. “Getting a robot to assemble itself autonomously and actually perform a function has been a milestone we’ve been chasing for many years,” says Harvard’s Robert Wood, barely stifling a maniacal cackle.