For such small objects, they pack a huge financial punch. How much money are we talking about for Nevada? Governor Sandoval says…a lot. As he told us, "They will bring thousands of jobs to our state, and we estimate that the average wage for those jobs will be $62,000. It could mean 2 point 5 billion...that's with a B...in economic impact." The Reno-Stead Airport could soon be a beehive of drone-buzzing activity. Standing in front of the newly-finished terminal building, spokesman Brian Kulpin told us, "It is an exciting day for us. It can mean big things for the future for us, and we need this type of shot in the arm for our community."
25 states were clamoring for this winged jackpot…only 6 were chosen. How did Nevada win one of those coveted spots? Among the drone's pre-flight check, space is a "go" here. As the governor put it, "We have some very unique assets. We have more airspace than the other 49 states combined." There's plenty of ground space too out at Stead, where the airport backs up to BLM land. But aerospace specialist Tom Wilczek with the Governor's Office of Economic Development says the ace in our hand was our weather: "The clarity, the ability to have 320-plus flying days a year is extremely important to the FAA."
The payoff looks huge. Commercializing drones, from tracking wildfires to checking land for mining and agriculture, will be a hot, high-paying, high-education industry. Manufacturer Hawkeye UAV demonstrated their drones at Reno-Stead Airport earlier this year. Where manufacturers like they go, other makers and vendors will follow. On the phone, Steve Hill, the director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development told us, "We'll have companies moving in and out of the state to do testing for periods of time."
Back out at Reno-Stead Airport, Brian Kulpin is ready: "We're going to market this for economic development. We have a brand new terminal here, we have the 5,000 acres here...lots of room for development up here in Stead." It won't take long. Besides Stead, the state has chosen Fallon Naval Air Station for drone technology testing, along with 2 southern Nevada spots authorized as "test sites for commercial unmanned aerial vehicle development." The state should start to see some real activity in those spots next year. The research and testing that's performed in Nevada will help the FAA develop their national standards for drone operating, licensing and privacy issues, which they expect to issue by late-2015.
"This is wonderful news for Nevada that creates a huge opportunity for our economy," said Senator Harry Reid. "Nevada has long been a leader in the UAS Industry, and no state makes a better candidate than ours. With this application approval, Nevada will continue to lead in new and innovative technologies of the 21st century, along with creating a large and profitable industry. I appreciate the work of all those involved and I look forward to working with Governor Sandoval to ensure a successful implementation of the award, and subsequent creation of the testing sites in Nevada."
In 2012, Senator Reid led passage of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, establishing the Federal Aviation Administration program to begin testing for the integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles--commonly referred to as drones--into the National Airspace System. Awarding Nevada the FAA test sites will have far reaching implications on the economy of Nevada. The range of jobs created includes, but is not limited to: teachers, machinists, aircraft mechanics, software developers, electrical engineers, and human resource professionals.
2013年12月30日星期一
2013年12月27日星期五
Meat Hooks Help Ease Human-Machine Teamwork
Robots and humans, for decades kept separate from each other on factory floors, are inching toward integration. After years of walling off robots to ensure safety, some companies are finding ways to put them alongside people, with lightweight materials and new sensors enabling engineers to build machines that can be employees' partners or even worn on the job.
"Typically we would put up these big gates to keep people and robotics separated," said Scott Whybrew, director for global manufacturing engineering vehicle systems at General Motors Co. (GM) "Human-safe robotics, though, gives us the ability for robots to work side-by-side with the operators."
People-friendly machines hold the potential to propel a global robot market estimated at $8.7 billion in 2012. BMW is testing models that could someday collaborate with workers, while GM is developing its "robo-glove" to give employees a more-muscular grip. Astronauts wrap up successful spacewalk to fix station Google Inc. (GOOG), with eight acquisitions in the past year, is also signaling its interest in robotics. Robot-human teams would combine machines' strength and employees' ability to see, feel, touch and think -- qualities impossible or too costly to replicate mechanically. It's a new frontier in automation after mechanization helped boost U.S. factory output by 53 percent in the past two decades even as manufacturing employment tumbled 28 percent.
"Robots and humans working together are the best of both worlds," said Jose Saenz, research manager for Fraunhofer IFF, a German company that studies factory automation. "How can you have a robot carrying the load while a person guides it? These are future scenarios that we'll be seeing soon." As robots get safer, cheaper and more petite, smaller companies may be able to take advantage of the technology, according Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation trade group in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "Collaborative robots will open up a lot of eyes," Burnstein said. "There's a huge opportunity there."
In Australia, a meat-industry trade group contracted with automation manufacturer HDT Global to mechanize slaughterhouse processes that required workers to snag carcasses with a hook while slicing off beef chunks as heavy as 50 pounds (23 kilograms). That motion often leads to shoulder strain and severe hand cramping. HDT Global, whose products span tactical rescue vehicles to robotic prosthetic hands, devised a motor-driven hook mounted on a robot arm that replaces the need for human pulling power to make a clean cut. It was delivered last year. "What we've definitely proved is that this task does not need to be done by a 6-foot-3 burly Australian guy because the device amplifies the force so much," said Julio Santos-Munne, director of HDT's operations in Evanston, Illinois. "Part of the intent was to be able to have women do this task."
"Typically we would put up these big gates to keep people and robotics separated," said Scott Whybrew, director for global manufacturing engineering vehicle systems at General Motors Co. (GM) "Human-safe robotics, though, gives us the ability for robots to work side-by-side with the operators."
People-friendly machines hold the potential to propel a global robot market estimated at $8.7 billion in 2012. BMW is testing models that could someday collaborate with workers, while GM is developing its "robo-glove" to give employees a more-muscular grip. Astronauts wrap up successful spacewalk to fix station Google Inc. (GOOG), with eight acquisitions in the past year, is also signaling its interest in robotics. Robot-human teams would combine machines' strength and employees' ability to see, feel, touch and think -- qualities impossible or too costly to replicate mechanically. It's a new frontier in automation after mechanization helped boost U.S. factory output by 53 percent in the past two decades even as manufacturing employment tumbled 28 percent.
"Robots and humans working together are the best of both worlds," said Jose Saenz, research manager for Fraunhofer IFF, a German company that studies factory automation. "How can you have a robot carrying the load while a person guides it? These are future scenarios that we'll be seeing soon." As robots get safer, cheaper and more petite, smaller companies may be able to take advantage of the technology, according Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation trade group in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "Collaborative robots will open up a lot of eyes," Burnstein said. "There's a huge opportunity there."
In Australia, a meat-industry trade group contracted with automation manufacturer HDT Global to mechanize slaughterhouse processes that required workers to snag carcasses with a hook while slicing off beef chunks as heavy as 50 pounds (23 kilograms). That motion often leads to shoulder strain and severe hand cramping. HDT Global, whose products span tactical rescue vehicles to robotic prosthetic hands, devised a motor-driven hook mounted on a robot arm that replaces the need for human pulling power to make a clean cut. It was delivered last year. "What we've definitely proved is that this task does not need to be done by a 6-foot-3 burly Australian guy because the device amplifies the force so much," said Julio Santos-Munne, director of HDT's operations in Evanston, Illinois. "Part of the intent was to be able to have women do this task."
2013年12月25日星期三
Astronauts wrap up successful spacewalk to fix station
In a 7-1/2-hour spacewalk, their second in four days, the astronauts, Col. Michael S. Hopkins of the Air Force and Richard A. Mastracchio, installed a new pump module on the outside of the space station. The module, a 780-pound box about the size of a refrigerator, contains a pump and accompanying apparatus that circulate ammonia coolant through one of two loops on the station. "It's like Christmas morning opening up a little present here," said Mastracchio, an engineer, as the spacewalk unfolded on NASA Television. Operations on the space station, including some science experiments, have been curtailed since a valve in the pump module malfunctioned two weeks ago.
Plugging in the last of the electrical connectors on Tuesday afternoon, Hopkins said, "Houston, you've got yourself a new pump module." The pump passed a brief check, and was turned on Tuesday evening. "We have a pump that is alive and well," said Rob Navias, a NASA spokesman who provided commentary during the spacewalk. Nonessential equipment that had been turned off should be switched on by the end of the week or early next week, he said. The first spacewalk, on Saturday, went quickly and almost flawlessly, and the astronauts were able to get far ahead of schedule and remove the old module, a task that had originally been scheduled for the second spacewalk. On Tuesday, they ran into trouble when one of the ammonia fluid lines would not detach. With brainstorming help from mission control, they finally succeeded, but then some toxic flakes of frozen ammonia leaked out. The astronauts had to take a few precautions at the end of the spacewalk to ensure their spacesuits were decontaminated. During a spacewalk in July, the cooling system in an Italian astronaut's spacesuit malfunctioned and the helmet partly filled up with water. There were no such problems this time.
"Fantastic work," Hopkins said as he re-entered the airlock. "Merry Christmas to everybody." The malfunctioning pump module had been installed just three years ago, and the station has only two more spares available. With the space shuttle fleet retired, NASA has no craft big enough to ferry a replacement up from Earth. The module will be stored on the outside of the space station, and NASA officials said it might be possible to return it to service in the future, even with the faulty valve. After a busy few days, the station's six crew members will have a day off on Christmas. On Friday, two Russian astronauts are to conduct a previously scheduled seven-hour spacewalk to install two cameras and replenish some science experiments outside the station.
Plugging in the last of the electrical connectors on Tuesday afternoon, Hopkins said, "Houston, you've got yourself a new pump module." The pump passed a brief check, and was turned on Tuesday evening. "We have a pump that is alive and well," said Rob Navias, a NASA spokesman who provided commentary during the spacewalk. Nonessential equipment that had been turned off should be switched on by the end of the week or early next week, he said. The first spacewalk, on Saturday, went quickly and almost flawlessly, and the astronauts were able to get far ahead of schedule and remove the old module, a task that had originally been scheduled for the second spacewalk. On Tuesday, they ran into trouble when one of the ammonia fluid lines would not detach. With brainstorming help from mission control, they finally succeeded, but then some toxic flakes of frozen ammonia leaked out. The astronauts had to take a few precautions at the end of the spacewalk to ensure their spacesuits were decontaminated. During a spacewalk in July, the cooling system in an Italian astronaut's spacesuit malfunctioned and the helmet partly filled up with water. There were no such problems this time.
"Fantastic work," Hopkins said as he re-entered the airlock. "Merry Christmas to everybody." The malfunctioning pump module had been installed just three years ago, and the station has only two more spares available. With the space shuttle fleet retired, NASA has no craft big enough to ferry a replacement up from Earth. The module will be stored on the outside of the space station, and NASA officials said it might be possible to return it to service in the future, even with the faulty valve. After a busy few days, the station's six crew members will have a day off on Christmas. On Friday, two Russian astronauts are to conduct a previously scheduled seven-hour spacewalk to install two cameras and replenish some science experiments outside the station.
2013年12月19日星期四
Astronauts Finalizing Spacewalk Preparations
The first spacewalk is scheduled for Saturday at 7:10 a.m. EDT when the spacewalkers will set up the worksite on the S1 truss. Monday’s spacewalk will include the removal of the old pump module and the installation of a spare pump module. If necessary a third spacewalk would occur on Christmas day to finalize the installation of the new pump module.
NASA Television will begin coverage of the spacewalks an hour before their 7:10 a.m. scheduled start times. The spacewalks are scheduled to last about six hours and 30 minutes. Shortly after the spacewalks conclude, mission controllers will participate in a briefing at Johnson Space Center to discuss the day’s activities.
A briefing was held Wednesday with International Space Station program manager Mike Suffredini, Flight Director Dina Contella and Lead Spacewalk Officer Allison Bolinger. The mission managers discussed how a faulty pump module forced the launch delay of the Cygnus resupply craft and led to the planning for the contingency spacewalks.
The astronauts are also preparing for the possibility of ammonia leaks during their spacewalk. The pump modules are filled with ammonia for cooling and leaks have occurred while disconnecting cables during previous repair spacewalks. If ammonia flakes get on a crew member’s suit, the spacewalkers would go through a series of decontamination steps before re-entering the space station.
In the Russian side of the space station, Commander Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy are preparing for a Dec. 27 pre-planned spacewalk. The cosmonauts with assistance from Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin resized their Orlan spacesuits, checked batteries and reviewed their translation paths to the external worksites.
The duo will install a foot restraint; install medium and high resolution cameras; jettison gear from a pair of external experiments; and install a new experiment as well as a payload boom on the Zvezda service module.
Kotov and Ryazanskiy also participated in a study that monitored their cardiovascular system. Tyurin later worked on the Russian radiation detection experiment Matryeshka that observes radiation absorption in a mannequin.
NASA Television will begin coverage of the spacewalks an hour before their 7:10 a.m. scheduled start times. The spacewalks are scheduled to last about six hours and 30 minutes. Shortly after the spacewalks conclude, mission controllers will participate in a briefing at Johnson Space Center to discuss the day’s activities.
A briefing was held Wednesday with International Space Station program manager Mike Suffredini, Flight Director Dina Contella and Lead Spacewalk Officer Allison Bolinger. The mission managers discussed how a faulty pump module forced the launch delay of the Cygnus resupply craft and led to the planning for the contingency spacewalks.
The astronauts are also preparing for the possibility of ammonia leaks during their spacewalk. The pump modules are filled with ammonia for cooling and leaks have occurred while disconnecting cables during previous repair spacewalks. If ammonia flakes get on a crew member’s suit, the spacewalkers would go through a series of decontamination steps before re-entering the space station.
In the Russian side of the space station, Commander Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy are preparing for a Dec. 27 pre-planned spacewalk. The cosmonauts with assistance from Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin resized their Orlan spacesuits, checked batteries and reviewed their translation paths to the external worksites.
The duo will install a foot restraint; install medium and high resolution cameras; jettison gear from a pair of external experiments; and install a new experiment as well as a payload boom on the Zvezda service module.
Kotov and Ryazanskiy also participated in a study that monitored their cardiovascular system. Tyurin later worked on the Russian radiation detection experiment Matryeshka that observes radiation absorption in a mannequin.
2013年12月16日星期一
200,000 apply for one-way trip to Mars
According to an announcement, made by The Mars One foundation Tuesday, it has engaged suppliers for an upcoming 2018 unmanned mission. Among the devices provided are robotic lander and a communications satellite. Lockheed Martin is in charge of building the lander, while Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. is focused on the satellite construction.
The first mission is specifically designed to test the technology which would be servicing the first human settlement on Mars. If the tests are successful then the first people on Mars might land in 2025.
According to a statement of Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp, the interest toward the program has been enormous ever since it was first announced with over 200, 000 people filing their applications. The people seem to not mind the fact they are never coming home – a trip made impossible by the absence of a launch platform on the Red Planet, but, on the bright side, The cost of use will be pennies this fact significantly reduces the cost of the journey. For the moment the applications have been submitted and the company is planning on notifying the lucky ones by the end of the year that they have made it to the second round.
Lansdorp said that the unmanned mission is the "most important and most difficult step of actually getting humans to Mars." At the same time, it is going to be the first privately funded space mission. Ed Sedivy, a chief engineer at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, said, "The opportunity to participate in that is just really exciting."
Lansdorp hopes to receive the major share of funding for his project in the form of donations from sponsors and partners, as opposed to public contributions. The cost of the lander and satellite has not yet been established, however, the ballpark figure has already been estimated by Mars one, Lansdorp said.
NASA Phoenix mission has served as prototype for the lander, Lansdorp said. The Mars One probe will consist of a robotic arm with a camera to be shooting continuous video and a water experiment featuring the water production on Mars.
The mission will also bring with it winners of the international university science contest. The winning projects will get an opportunity to be carried out on Mars. Aside from serous scientific findings, Lansdorp wants to see several “fun” experiments, among which is sending a balloon with a camera attached to it to film Mars from an altitude of 200 to 500 meters – something never done before. In the meantime, the communications satellite will provide live video feed from surface of Mars to Earth, representing the first Mars synchronous communications satellite.
Originally, the first humans were planned to be sent over to the Red Planet in 2023, but the project has been delayed. After the first humans have arrived, the plan is to send new crews over, with the number of people gradually growing as soon as the means of transportation are designed to hold more people. According to Sedivy, it would take them nearly 3 years from commitment to initiating a preliminary design to launch, so they’re left with about a year to study the actual concept.
As far as funding is concerned, Mars One is considering various scenarios. The total budget for the project is an estimated $6 billion. According to Lansdorp, who kept the amount secured by partners secret, the donations amounted to over $200,000.
The first mission is specifically designed to test the technology which would be servicing the first human settlement on Mars. If the tests are successful then the first people on Mars might land in 2025.
According to a statement of Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp, the interest toward the program has been enormous ever since it was first announced with over 200, 000 people filing their applications. The people seem to not mind the fact they are never coming home – a trip made impossible by the absence of a launch platform on the Red Planet, but, on the bright side, The cost of use will be pennies this fact significantly reduces the cost of the journey. For the moment the applications have been submitted and the company is planning on notifying the lucky ones by the end of the year that they have made it to the second round.
Lansdorp said that the unmanned mission is the "most important and most difficult step of actually getting humans to Mars." At the same time, it is going to be the first privately funded space mission. Ed Sedivy, a chief engineer at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, said, "The opportunity to participate in that is just really exciting."
Lansdorp hopes to receive the major share of funding for his project in the form of donations from sponsors and partners, as opposed to public contributions. The cost of the lander and satellite has not yet been established, however, the ballpark figure has already been estimated by Mars one, Lansdorp said.
NASA Phoenix mission has served as prototype for the lander, Lansdorp said. The Mars One probe will consist of a robotic arm with a camera to be shooting continuous video and a water experiment featuring the water production on Mars.
The mission will also bring with it winners of the international university science contest. The winning projects will get an opportunity to be carried out on Mars. Aside from serous scientific findings, Lansdorp wants to see several “fun” experiments, among which is sending a balloon with a camera attached to it to film Mars from an altitude of 200 to 500 meters – something never done before. In the meantime, the communications satellite will provide live video feed from surface of Mars to Earth, representing the first Mars synchronous communications satellite.
Originally, the first humans were planned to be sent over to the Red Planet in 2023, but the project has been delayed. After the first humans have arrived, the plan is to send new crews over, with the number of people gradually growing as soon as the means of transportation are designed to hold more people. According to Sedivy, it would take them nearly 3 years from commitment to initiating a preliminary design to launch, so they’re left with about a year to study the actual concept.
As far as funding is concerned, Mars One is considering various scenarios. The total budget for the project is an estimated $6 billion. According to Lansdorp, who kept the amount secured by partners secret, the donations amounted to over $200,000.
2013年12月14日星期六
The cost of use will be pennies
"The cost of use will be pennies on the dollar compared to today's delivery systems," Mr. Templeton said. This, he added, could very quickly eat into the business of many delivery companies."None of the horse and carriage companies of the past ended up becoming automobile companies today," said Mr. Templeton, who is also a consultant on the Google team designing a driverless car.The roadblocks, real and potential, are significant. Safety is one worry. Another is current technology. Drones like the ones showcased by Amazon are electric and are estimated to be able to carry only small packages weighing less than five pounds. That means they would not work for most online purchases.
Hal Bennett, a drone researcher, has a possible answer for that. He wants to build drones powered by tiny jet engines rather than electric ones. He says they could carry 50- and 100-pound packages 45,000 feet up at 250 miles an hour. While his drones are still in a research phase, and very much under wraps, Mr. Bennett said the possibilities were endless."Imagine you're climbing around in Yosemite and you decided you want a Burger King hamburger. You just order it on your GPS," Mr. Bennett said.Many people probably don't want to imagine that. Drones over El Capitan? Delivering, of all things, fast food?Then again, American pizzerias really began routine deliveries only in the 1950s, reflecting the rise of another bit of technology: the automobile.
Then, in the '60s, a man who started out with one pizzeria in Ypsilanti, Mich., came along and made quick delivery a priority. His name was Thomas Monaghan. The company: Domino's.Say hello to Yana and Bo, two robots who want to teach your five-year-old to write code. The newly crowdfunded Play-i system uses music, animation, and stories to teach kids ages 5 to 12+ to program their new robot friends--and have fun in the process. The learning and storytelling platform combines bots designed for interactive play with a visual programming interface that can be accessed on a phone or tablet. It's so simple, it doesn't even require reading or writing skills. With a few intuitive commands, inquisitive kids can control Yana and Bo's motion, regulate their sounds and lights, and even make them interact with the world around them. The pair--whose names are derived from "Robot" and "You Are Not Alone"--even detect each other, playing games like hide-and-seek on command.
Hal Bennett, a drone researcher, has a possible answer for that. He wants to build drones powered by tiny jet engines rather than electric ones. He says they could carry 50- and 100-pound packages 45,000 feet up at 250 miles an hour. While his drones are still in a research phase, and very much under wraps, Mr. Bennett said the possibilities were endless."Imagine you're climbing around in Yosemite and you decided you want a Burger King hamburger. You just order it on your GPS," Mr. Bennett said.Many people probably don't want to imagine that. Drones over El Capitan? Delivering, of all things, fast food?Then again, American pizzerias really began routine deliveries only in the 1950s, reflecting the rise of another bit of technology: the automobile.
Then, in the '60s, a man who started out with one pizzeria in Ypsilanti, Mich., came along and made quick delivery a priority. His name was Thomas Monaghan. The company: Domino's.Say hello to Yana and Bo, two robots who want to teach your five-year-old to write code. The newly crowdfunded Play-i system uses music, animation, and stories to teach kids ages 5 to 12+ to program their new robot friends--and have fun in the process. The learning and storytelling platform combines bots designed for interactive play with a visual programming interface that can be accessed on a phone or tablet. It's so simple, it doesn't even require reading or writing skills. With a few intuitive commands, inquisitive kids can control Yana and Bo's motion, regulate their sounds and lights, and even make them interact with the world around them. The pair--whose names are derived from "Robot" and "You Are Not Alone"--even detect each other, playing games like hide-and-seek on command.
2013年12月10日星期二
At your door in minutes, delivered by robot
But given the explosive growth of e-commerce, some experts say the shipping business is in for big changes. United Parcel Service, which traces its history to 1907, delivers more than 4 billion packages and documents a year. It operates a fleet of more than 95,000 vehicles and 500 aircraft. The ubiquitous Brown is a $55 billion-plus-a-year business. And, like Amazon, UPS is reportedly looking into drones. So is Google. More and more e-commerce companies are making a point of delivering things quickly the old-fashioned way -Making Robots More Like Us with humans.Some of the dreamers in the technology industry are dreaming even bigger. It won't be just drones, they insist. Robots and autonomous vehicles - think Google's driverless car - could also disrupt the delivery business.
"As cities become more automated, you're going to start to see on-demand delivery systems that look like small delivery vehicles and can bring you whatever you want to wherever you are," said Bryant Walker Smith, a fellow at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School and a member of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford. "Rather than go to the store to buy some milk, a robot or drone will go to a warehouse and get it for you, then deliver it."Smith said these delivery vehicles would come in all shapes and sizes. Some might be able to scurry down alleyways and avoid traffic. Others could be refrigerated to store food.
Brad Templeton, a futurist and a member of the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the current systems for delivery - "with the exception of pizza" - were too cumbersome and expensive for today's online shoppers. Autonomous vehicles, including drones, promise a faster, cheaper option."The cost of use will be pennies on the dollar compared to today's delivery systems," Templeton said. This, he added, could very quickly eat into the business of many delivery companies."None of the horse and carriage companies of the past ended up becoming automobile companies today," said Templeton, who is also a consultant on the Google team designing a driverless car.The roadblocks, real and potential, are significant. Safety is one worry. Another is current technology. Drones like the ones showcased by Amazon are electric and are estimated to be able to carry only small packages weighing less than 5 pounds. That means they would not work for most online purchases.
"As cities become more automated, you're going to start to see on-demand delivery systems that look like small delivery vehicles and can bring you whatever you want to wherever you are," said Bryant Walker Smith, a fellow at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School and a member of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford. "Rather than go to the store to buy some milk, a robot or drone will go to a warehouse and get it for you, then deliver it."Smith said these delivery vehicles would come in all shapes and sizes. Some might be able to scurry down alleyways and avoid traffic. Others could be refrigerated to store food.
Brad Templeton, a futurist and a member of the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the current systems for delivery - "with the exception of pizza" - were too cumbersome and expensive for today's online shoppers. Autonomous vehicles, including drones, promise a faster, cheaper option."The cost of use will be pennies on the dollar compared to today's delivery systems," Templeton said. This, he added, could very quickly eat into the business of many delivery companies."None of the horse and carriage companies of the past ended up becoming automobile companies today," said Templeton, who is also a consultant on the Google team designing a driverless car.The roadblocks, real and potential, are significant. Safety is one worry. Another is current technology. Drones like the ones showcased by Amazon are electric and are estimated to be able to carry only small packages weighing less than 5 pounds. That means they would not work for most online purchases.
2013年12月4日星期三
Making Robots More Like Us
The research was not initially focused on solving the problem of human interaction, but the scientists soon realized the implications, recalled Dr. Pratt, who is now the project manager for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Robotics Challenge, an upcoming contest that is intended to advance robotics technology to be used in natural disasters and other emergencies."It actually started with numerically controlled machine tools," he said — using computer-controlled robots to perform milling tasks.For those manufacturing uses, what mattered was the precise positioning of the robot limb. However, Dr. Pratt was focused on developing walking robots that could move in the natural world, and force was more significant than precision to meet that challenge: "There the position of the limb didn't matter so much, but what mattered was how hard was the robot pressing on the world, and how hard the world was pressing back on the robot," he said.
The solution was to put something elastic, like a spring, between the motor and the joint. These are now described as series elastic actuators, and the technique of installing them is now widely used as a low-cost solution for robots that are both nonthreatening to humans and able to move more agilely in the natural world. "In the Darpa Robotics Challenge, almost all of the robots that are being used there have series elastic actuation or other types of compliant control," he said. "The reason is both because it makes the locomotion task easier and the manipulation task easier, and it also makes it possible for the robot to be gentle when it does things and not make things worse."
Dr. Pratt recalled an incident when the researchers first realized that series elastic actuation was the key to freeing robots from their cages. While working on an early humanoid robot named COG, in a project led by Rodney Brooks, the founder of Rethink Robotics who was then director of the M.I.T. artificial intelligence lab, they were demonstrating how the robot could do tasks like writing with a pencil and paper. However, there was a bug in the software, causing the robot's arm to repeatedly bang the table.Dr. Brooks decided it was an opportunity to demonstrate the safety of the technology. He placed himself between the table and the arm, which began spanking him.
The solution was to put something elastic, like a spring, between the motor and the joint. These are now described as series elastic actuators, and the technique of installing them is now widely used as a low-cost solution for robots that are both nonthreatening to humans and able to move more agilely in the natural world. "In the Darpa Robotics Challenge, almost all of the robots that are being used there have series elastic actuation or other types of compliant control," he said. "The reason is both because it makes the locomotion task easier and the manipulation task easier, and it also makes it possible for the robot to be gentle when it does things and not make things worse."
Dr. Pratt recalled an incident when the researchers first realized that series elastic actuation was the key to freeing robots from their cages. While working on an early humanoid robot named COG, in a project led by Rodney Brooks, the founder of Rethink Robotics who was then director of the M.I.T. artificial intelligence lab, they were demonstrating how the robot could do tasks like writing with a pencil and paper. However, there was a bug in the software, causing the robot's arm to repeatedly bang the table.Dr. Brooks decided it was an opportunity to demonstrate the safety of the technology. He placed himself between the table and the arm, which began spanking him.
2013年12月3日星期二
Tiny flying robot soars like a ... jellyfish?
Or centuries, humans looking to tame the skies have tried to mimic the movements of birds and insects. But engineers building flying machines have now found an unlikely muse: the ocean-dwelling jellyfish.A tiny flying robot built at a lab in New York University mimics the gently puffing movements of the efficient swimmer's gelatinous bulb — not to paddle through water, but to stay aloft in air. "Our robot is an aerial jellyfish if you will," Leif Ristroph, assistant professor of mathematics at NYU who designed the tiny machine, told NBC News. The four-winged robot is wire-connected to a power source. Like an umbrella, the robot's four wings collapse and open, "squirting" the air downward and allowing it to lift off."No one's ever built this, and as far as we know nature never built it either to fly in air," said Ristroph, who was to present his design at the Fluid Dynamics Conference in Washington on Sunday.
"Maybe that indicates that it's a bad idea? In any case we got it to work, so maybe not that bad." The four-winged robot built at NYU mimics the movements of a jellyfish, to efficiently stay aloft.Water and air are both fluids, so the rules governing movement in either media are similar. Buoyancy helps stay afloat in water, but the real difficulty staying up in air is generating a lift to balance the body weight of the craft, Ristroph explained.Other flying robots, like the tiny robotic bee built at Harvard's Wyss Institute, or the H2bird flapping-wing drone built at a lab at Berkeley,Vidmar uses software to follow tens of thousands sense the direction and location and adjust their movements to stay in the air.
But Ristroph's pint-sized robots are "sort of dumb," he said. With no fancy sensors, the bots' physical design ensures that they stay upright just by opening and flapping their wings."That's the beauty of the design," Ristroph said, "It doesn't need a 'smart' design to help it recover."Very tiny flying robots, each just centimeters across like his demo prototype, are best suited to adopt this spare design. And how might they ever be used? "[You'd] make a hundred of them and throw 'em up into the air and monitor the air quality above NYC — the pollutants or CO2," Ristroph said, making for a "nice peace-time application."
"Maybe that indicates that it's a bad idea? In any case we got it to work, so maybe not that bad." The four-winged robot built at NYU mimics the movements of a jellyfish, to efficiently stay aloft.Water and air are both fluids, so the rules governing movement in either media are similar. Buoyancy helps stay afloat in water, but the real difficulty staying up in air is generating a lift to balance the body weight of the craft, Ristroph explained.Other flying robots, like the tiny robotic bee built at Harvard's Wyss Institute, or the H2bird flapping-wing drone built at a lab at Berkeley,Vidmar uses software to follow tens of thousands sense the direction and location and adjust their movements to stay in the air.
But Ristroph's pint-sized robots are "sort of dumb," he said. With no fancy sensors, the bots' physical design ensures that they stay upright just by opening and flapping their wings."That's the beauty of the design," Ristroph said, "It doesn't need a 'smart' design to help it recover."Very tiny flying robots, each just centimeters across like his demo prototype, are best suited to adopt this spare design. And how might they ever be used? "[You'd] make a hundred of them and throw 'em up into the air and monitor the air quality above NYC — the pollutants or CO2," Ristroph said, making for a "nice peace-time application."
2013年11月29日星期五
Vidmar uses software to follow tens of thousands
In April, Twitter and the researchers applied the filter. Mr. Vidmar says he remembers the day, because most of his fake accounts were deleted, and he couldn't create new ones. "They cleaned house," he says.But Mr. Vidmar and others say the underground market quickly adapted. The researchers' system flagged accounts with incomplete profiles, no pictures, and little activity. In response, Mr. Vidmar says suppliers now fill out more account details, add pictures, and tweet from the accounts before selling them.That drove up the cost of fake accounts. But marketers and researchers say the black market is again thriving.Just two weeks after the crackdown, Twitter caught only about half the suspicious accounts being offered by merchants previously identified as selling fake accounts, according to the Berkeley researchers.
Mr. Vidmar says one of his suppliers is offering 150,000 fake accounts for sale. "I could go buy fake accounts from about 20 different sources right now," he says.Mr. Ding, the Barracuda Labs researcher, says the fake-account market is "going very strong." He and other researchers say Twitter doesn't appear to be applying the Berkeley researchers' techniques to root out other fake accounts.Mr. Vidmar's robots have helped make his clients "trending topics" on Twitter, giving them special mention on Twitter users' home pages. The trending topics appear just below the "promoted trend" that the company sells for as much as $200,000 a day. The trending topics aren't marked as "sponsored," so they appear more genuine.
Rapper Tony Benson says hiring Mr. Vidmar to promote his account on Twitter is "the best decision I ever made." Mr. Vidmar's robots made the rapper, known as Philly Chase, a trending topic so often around Philadelphia that he attracted attention from local newspapers. Prominence on Twitter led to gigs, fans and ways to promote his videos, Mr. Benson says.Mr. Vidmar uses software to follow tens of thousands of accounts for his clients, another tactic Twitter prohibits. Being followed prompts many Twitter users to return the favor, and follow his clients.In September, Mr. Vidmar used software to follow more than 100,000 Twitter users in a week for the Australian rock band The Contagious; that boosted the band's following by 20,000.
Mr. Vidmar says one of his suppliers is offering 150,000 fake accounts for sale. "I could go buy fake accounts from about 20 different sources right now," he says.Mr. Ding, the Barracuda Labs researcher, says the fake-account market is "going very strong." He and other researchers say Twitter doesn't appear to be applying the Berkeley researchers' techniques to root out other fake accounts.Mr. Vidmar's robots have helped make his clients "trending topics" on Twitter, giving them special mention on Twitter users' home pages. The trending topics appear just below the "promoted trend" that the company sells for as much as $200,000 a day. The trending topics aren't marked as "sponsored," so they appear more genuine.
Rapper Tony Benson says hiring Mr. Vidmar to promote his account on Twitter is "the best decision I ever made." Mr. Vidmar's robots made the rapper, known as Philly Chase, a trending topic so often around Philadelphia that he attracted attention from local newspapers. Prominence on Twitter led to gigs, fans and ways to promote his videos, Mr. Benson says.Mr. Vidmar uses software to follow tens of thousands of accounts for his clients, another tactic Twitter prohibits. Being followed prompts many Twitter users to return the favor, and follow his clients.In September, Mr. Vidmar used software to follow more than 100,000 Twitter users in a week for the Australian rock band The Contagious; that boosted the band's following by 20,000.
2013年11月25日星期一
Rogue Roomba Switches Self On, Climbs Onto Hotplate, Burns Up
A rogue Roomba has made robot history. After hoovering up stray cereal on the kitchen counter one too many times, the fed-up bot committed suicide.At least that's the way the tale was told by several media outlets that jumped on the story.The little dirt-sucker, model 760, reportedly turned itself on, rolled onto a hot plate, and set itself ablaze in Kirchdorf, Austria. When firefighters arrived on the scene, all that was left of the little fellow was a pile of ash. Freaky."Somehow it seems to have reactivated itself and made its way along the work surface where it pushed a cooking pot out of the way and basically that was the end of it," fireman Helmut Kniewasser told The Daily Mail. "I don't know about the allegations of a robot suicide but the homeowner is insistent that the device was switched off--it's a mystery how it came to be activated and ended up making its way to the hotplate."
The little bot's final revenge? The blaze required the building to be evacuated, and the smoke damage to the apartment reportedly left homeowner Gernot Hackl and his family homeless."Everything is black,"Hackl told Mirror News. "It's not possible to live here at the moment. I would never buy one again, you buy them to keep the place clean,You've got fourth-graders not almost burn it down and ruin everything."12 teams participated in Science Central's 11th annual First LEGO League tournament Sunday. This included more than 120 from ages 9 to 14 in northeast Indiana schools. The students were tasked with designing and building an original robot. The international challenge was "Nature's Fury" and was intended to find solutions to assist in emergency evacuations caused by severe weather conditions.
The first place winner, which will advance to state, was Delaware County's DCbots team. The team consisted of seven students from Burris Elementary, Muncie Community and Yorktown schools. The state tournament is Dec. 14 at IPFW. Students on the winning team, mentored by Tyler Crandall and Joel Replogle, were: Nathan Tollett, John Replogle, Jack Eads, Collin Garrison, Colbey Kring, Tommy Rohlfing and Louis Rohlfing. The team had the top score in RobotPerformance.Also going on to the state tournament, the Fort Wayne Community Schools team J.A.B.bots. Students on this team were Aaron Krie, Ian Krie, Jordan Davis, Aria Baker, Miyabi Baker, Aiden Baker, Braeden Ray, and Tristan Abbott. The team won first place in Robot Design.
The little bot's final revenge? The blaze required the building to be evacuated, and the smoke damage to the apartment reportedly left homeowner Gernot Hackl and his family homeless."Everything is black,"Hackl told Mirror News. "It's not possible to live here at the moment. I would never buy one again, you buy them to keep the place clean,You've got fourth-graders not almost burn it down and ruin everything."12 teams participated in Science Central's 11th annual First LEGO League tournament Sunday. This included more than 120 from ages 9 to 14 in northeast Indiana schools. The students were tasked with designing and building an original robot. The international challenge was "Nature's Fury" and was intended to find solutions to assist in emergency evacuations caused by severe weather conditions.
The first place winner, which will advance to state, was Delaware County's DCbots team. The team consisted of seven students from Burris Elementary, Muncie Community and Yorktown schools. The state tournament is Dec. 14 at IPFW. Students on the winning team, mentored by Tyler Crandall and Joel Replogle, were: Nathan Tollett, John Replogle, Jack Eads, Collin Garrison, Colbey Kring, Tommy Rohlfing and Louis Rohlfing. The team had the top score in RobotPerformance.Also going on to the state tournament, the Fort Wayne Community Schools team J.A.B.bots. Students on this team were Aaron Krie, Ian Krie, Jordan Davis, Aria Baker, Miyabi Baker, Aiden Baker, Braeden Ray, and Tristan Abbott. The team won first place in Robot Design.
2013年11月21日星期四
You've got fourth-graders
"You've got fourth-graders that are truly doing the engineering design process in fourth grade," Fredriks said. "They're researching a problem, devising a unique solution, testing it, prototyping it, revising their solution — it's what engineers do."A core principle of the FIRST LEGO League is that the competitors should do all the work, Fredriks said. The computer programs used allow the competitors to assign "blocks" of commands that can be as simple as moving backward and as complicated as using echolocation to determine how far away an object is, said Orcutt Academy senior Hayden Downum."I can say this with complete certainty: This program changes lives," Fredriks said. "I had a student that, his freshman year, he was getting like a D average and he just wasn't into school. There was nothing that got him excited about it. He started his sophomore year doing the same thing.
We started our team that year, we invited him on, he got excited about it, he ended up being our captain. Last year, he pulled his grade up to a 3.5 and now he's at Hancock studying machinery and engineering. He's going to be going to Cal Poly for mechanical engineering."The robot competition, in which teams' machines complete specific objectives that simulate relief efforts after a natural disaster, was one of three categories judged at the tournament.The other two involve a poster presentation where students find a real-world engineering problem and propose a solution to it and an overall assessment of the group's teamwork and core values.
Lorena Figueroa, whose 10-year-old daughter is on the St. Mary of the Assumption School team, said the environment at the group's weekly meetings has taught her child how to collaborate."Everybody is challenged to do something," Figueroa said. "So think that's one of the main lessons, how to work in a group and learn different skills from others."his robot is my third robot purchase in my robot cleaning swarm - I have a Scooba 230 6" floor washing robot cleaning the bathroom and bedroom floors, and my Roomba vacuuming robot takes on the whole house every day.
We started our team that year, we invited him on, he got excited about it, he ended up being our captain. Last year, he pulled his grade up to a 3.5 and now he's at Hancock studying machinery and engineering. He's going to be going to Cal Poly for mechanical engineering."The robot competition, in which teams' machines complete specific objectives that simulate relief efforts after a natural disaster, was one of three categories judged at the tournament.The other two involve a poster presentation where students find a real-world engineering problem and propose a solution to it and an overall assessment of the group's teamwork and core values.
Lorena Figueroa, whose 10-year-old daughter is on the St. Mary of the Assumption School team, said the environment at the group's weekly meetings has taught her child how to collaborate."Everybody is challenged to do something," Figueroa said. "So think that's one of the main lessons, how to work in a group and learn different skills from others."his robot is my third robot purchase in my robot cleaning swarm - I have a Scooba 230 6" floor washing robot cleaning the bathroom and bedroom floors, and my Roomba vacuuming robot takes on the whole house every day.
2013年11月19日星期二
The productivity gains, the medical advances
"From the way your brain and heart and hormones and sweat glands work, Multivac can judge exactly how intensely you feel about the matter," the machine operators tell him. "It will understand your feelings better than you yourself."Nearly 60 years after Asimov anticipated a decidedly dramatic intrusion of machines into our politics, we may not be offloading our democratic responsibilities to computers, but we are empowering them to reshape our economy and society in ways that could be just as profound. The rise of smart machines—An exoskeleton essentially does the walking technologies that encompass everything from artificial intelligence to industrial robots to the smartphones in our pockets—is changing how we live, work and play. Less acknowledged, perhaps, is what all this technological change portends: nothing short of a new political order.
The productivity gains, the medical advances, the workplace reorganizations and the myriad other upheavals that will define the coming automation age will create new economic winners and losers; it will reorient our demographics; and undoubtedly, it will transform what we demand from our government.The rise of the machines builds on deeper economic trends that are already roiling American society, including stagnant growth since 2001 and a greater openness to trade and foreign outsourcing. But it's the rapid increase in machines' ability to substitute for intelligent human labor that presages the greater disruption. We're on the verge of having computer systems that understand the entirety of human "natural language," a problem that was considered a very tough one only a few years ago.
Whether you are a factory worker or an accountant, a waitress or a doctor, this is the wave that will lift you or dump you.Even the robots so familiar from vintage science fiction are now really making their mark. Worldwide annual shipments of industrial robots have more than doubled in the past decade, according to the International Federation of Robotics. Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, announced in 2011 that it would increase the use of robots in its factories one hundredfold, bringing its total to 1 million robots by 2014.
The productivity gains, the medical advances, the workplace reorganizations and the myriad other upheavals that will define the coming automation age will create new economic winners and losers; it will reorient our demographics; and undoubtedly, it will transform what we demand from our government.The rise of the machines builds on deeper economic trends that are already roiling American society, including stagnant growth since 2001 and a greater openness to trade and foreign outsourcing. But it's the rapid increase in machines' ability to substitute for intelligent human labor that presages the greater disruption. We're on the verge of having computer systems that understand the entirety of human "natural language," a problem that was considered a very tough one only a few years ago.
Whether you are a factory worker or an accountant, a waitress or a doctor, this is the wave that will lift you or dump you.Even the robots so familiar from vintage science fiction are now really making their mark. Worldwide annual shipments of industrial robots have more than doubled in the past decade, according to the International Federation of Robotics. Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, announced in 2011 that it would increase the use of robots in its factories one hundredfold, bringing its total to 1 million robots by 2014.
2013年11月14日星期四
An exoskeleton essentially does the walking
An exoskeleton essentially does the walking for its wearer. The Indego's gyroscopes and accelerometers continuously observe and regulate a person's posture and return them to the balance point. They can also adjust the control level based on how much muscle strength wearers have. To stand up, the wearer tilts his torso forward. Once up, the wearer tilts his upper body forward again, making the device vibrate around the waist of the exoskeleton. That indicates that a step forward is imminent. If he pulls back a bit, it stops, but if he stays tilted slightly it will continue moving his legs until he leans back a little. This is same way we learn to walk, by controlling our fall by stepping a leg forward. Eventually, we stop thinking we're falling and start walking in every direction.
The Indego machine makes the step for an immobile leg, and turning a corner is more about making tiny shoulder turns in the direction you want to go. "The experience is very intuitive and very natural," says Ryan Farris, the young engineer who co-invented the device at Goldfarb's renowned lab at Vanderbilt. Farris is now an engineering manager at Parker Hannifin's Human Motion and Control Unit in Cleveland, Ohio.Human exoskeletons and rehab care are a bit far afield for industrial stalwart Parker Hannifin, but health care offers a nice, high-margin opportunity for a slow-growing company that grosses $13 billion a year from filters, pumps, motors, valves and seals for automotive, aerospace and manufacturing customers.
It's not that far afield when you consider that exoskeletons are well within the wheelhouse of Parker's decades of expertise in motion control and fittings for airplanes and assembly lines.Engineers paid special attention to making Indego very slim-profile. There's no backpack; nothing comes under the feet so you can use whatever shoes you want. "It was designed to be a device people can use in their home or in the community and not require another person to drag it around for them and help put it on. It was designed for independence," says Dr. Goldfarb.
The Indego machine makes the step for an immobile leg, and turning a corner is more about making tiny shoulder turns in the direction you want to go. "The experience is very intuitive and very natural," says Ryan Farris, the young engineer who co-invented the device at Goldfarb's renowned lab at Vanderbilt. Farris is now an engineering manager at Parker Hannifin's Human Motion and Control Unit in Cleveland, Ohio.Human exoskeletons and rehab care are a bit far afield for industrial stalwart Parker Hannifin, but health care offers a nice, high-margin opportunity for a slow-growing company that grosses $13 billion a year from filters, pumps, motors, valves and seals for automotive, aerospace and manufacturing customers.
It's not that far afield when you consider that exoskeletons are well within the wheelhouse of Parker's decades of expertise in motion control and fittings for airplanes and assembly lines.Engineers paid special attention to making Indego very slim-profile. There's no backpack; nothing comes under the feet so you can use whatever shoes you want. "It was designed to be a device people can use in their home or in the community and not require another person to drag it around for them and help put it on. It was designed for independence," says Dr. Goldfarb.
2013年11月11日星期一
How Brooklyn Robot Foundry's programs for budding robot designers can inspire kids
"That's exactly what we want them to do. We want them to know they can take things apart and put them back together," Young said. "Maybe it was a car when it went home and then they want to turn it into an airplane."Young said the space widens the definition of a robot, which can be especially appealing to girls. Kids don't have to build a "fighting ninja robot;" They have to define the basic purpose of a robot, but kids are free to design them however they want. They can take the form of a fluffy pink bunny or a zebra with a top hat. Kids with narrow interests can also find peers to relate to, which may difficult for them at school or home.
The result is a friendly, beginner-safe space where children can channel wild imaginations into cute robotic creations. Young said they sometimes have people ask if they run classes for adults they don't. It's easy to see why they ask; there is no real comparable place for adults to turn to learn basic robotics skills. There are makerspaces and college classes, but they can be intimidating and often aimed at those who already have existing knowledge.We humans enjoy not having knives inside of us. Robots don't know this, three laws be damned. Therefore it's important for humans to explain this information to robots using careful training. Thankfully,Cyberdyne shows new industrial cleaning robot at IREX 2013 the good dudes at Cornell are on the case.
Ashutosh Saxena, assistant professor of computer science, and his team have created a system for fixing robotic motions. In their demo they show the robot lifting a knife from a counter and nearly stabbing a guy. The trainer explains that stabbing is not OK and the robot begins to learn through a process of trial and error that, in the end, ensures minimal stabbage. The system uses trajectory mapping the robot decides on three potentially un-stabby motions and the human selects the best one and moves the robot in order to ensure minimal stabbage. From the paper:Then humans can give corrective feedback. As the robot executes its movements, the operator can intervene, manually guiding the arms to fine-tune the trajectory. The robot has what the researchers call a "zero-G" mode, where the robot's arms hold their position against gravity but allow the operator to move them.
The result is a friendly, beginner-safe space where children can channel wild imaginations into cute robotic creations. Young said they sometimes have people ask if they run classes for adults they don't. It's easy to see why they ask; there is no real comparable place for adults to turn to learn basic robotics skills. There are makerspaces and college classes, but they can be intimidating and often aimed at those who already have existing knowledge.We humans enjoy not having knives inside of us. Robots don't know this, three laws be damned. Therefore it's important for humans to explain this information to robots using careful training. Thankfully,Cyberdyne shows new industrial cleaning robot at IREX 2013 the good dudes at Cornell are on the case.
Ashutosh Saxena, assistant professor of computer science, and his team have created a system for fixing robotic motions. In their demo they show the robot lifting a knife from a counter and nearly stabbing a guy. The trainer explains that stabbing is not OK and the robot begins to learn through a process of trial and error that, in the end, ensures minimal stabbage. The system uses trajectory mapping the robot decides on three potentially un-stabby motions and the human selects the best one and moves the robot in order to ensure minimal stabbage. From the paper:Then humans can give corrective feedback. As the robot executes its movements, the operator can intervene, manually guiding the arms to fine-tune the trajectory. The robot has what the researchers call a "zero-G" mode, where the robot's arms hold their position against gravity but allow the operator to move them.
2013年11月7日星期四
Cyberdyne shows new industrial cleaning robot at IREX 2013
Better known for producing the world's most advanced exoskeletons, Japan's Cyberdyne is expanding its portfolio with a new as-yet-unnamed industrial cleaning robot for very large areas such as factories and warehouses.The first and current model in the Cyberdyne Industrial Cleaning Robot range follows magnetic tape around the factory to do its chores.The latest soon-to-be-released model employs a Sony Playstation controller which is used to direct the cleaner around its designated cleaning areas, then thanks to its greater intelligence and laser range finder, it remembers its areas of responsibility and can do the job on its own from that point. Alternatively, the robot can also explore the area and build its own internal map.
No fixed date has been set for the release of the new model, though we expect there will be a considerable queue for the machine, as Cyberdyne is shaping as a "Rolls-Royce" brand name in the assistive-limb, robot-suit and exoskeleton arenas and there's every reason to believe its industrial cleaning equipment will be viewed similarly.What's more, when we saw the unit on the floor of the International Robotics Expo in Tokyo yesterday, the Cyberdyne rep dropped a clincher into the conversation – the new model will be cheaper than the last model – with a sales pitch like that, we don't expect they're planning on selling many more of the current model.
At ICRA 2012, JPL introduced its microspine gripper system, which uses hundreds of tiny little claws to grip rough surfaces. We saw some video of a robot hanging from one of these, but it was just being used as a passive anchor. At IROS this week, JPL researchers presented a new video showing an upgraded version of their gripper integrated onto their LEMUR IIB robot, turning it into the "world's first rock climbing robot." Each one of these grippers relies on over 750 tiny little claws (all made by hand thanks to JPL summer interns) to latch onto the sort of rough surfaces that you're likely to find on other planets and asteroids. The grippers are particularly relevant to asteroids, since they offer a dependable way to grab onto surfaces even in microgravity.
No fixed date has been set for the release of the new model, though we expect there will be a considerable queue for the machine, as Cyberdyne is shaping as a "Rolls-Royce" brand name in the assistive-limb, robot-suit and exoskeleton arenas and there's every reason to believe its industrial cleaning equipment will be viewed similarly.What's more, when we saw the unit on the floor of the International Robotics Expo in Tokyo yesterday, the Cyberdyne rep dropped a clincher into the conversation – the new model will be cheaper than the last model – with a sales pitch like that, we don't expect they're planning on selling many more of the current model.
At ICRA 2012, JPL introduced its microspine gripper system, which uses hundreds of tiny little claws to grip rough surfaces. We saw some video of a robot hanging from one of these, but it was just being used as a passive anchor. At IROS this week, JPL researchers presented a new video showing an upgraded version of their gripper integrated onto their LEMUR IIB robot, turning it into the "world's first rock climbing robot." Each one of these grippers relies on over 750 tiny little claws (all made by hand thanks to JPL summer interns) to latch onto the sort of rough surfaces that you're likely to find on other planets and asteroids. The grippers are particularly relevant to asteroids, since they offer a dependable way to grab onto surfaces even in microgravity.
2013年11月4日星期一
Robot seals the next big thing in care for fragile dementia patients
Maybe that robot will need to have arms that stick out. But most of these robots will be small. I can imagine a little unmanned aerial vehicle that flies around your backyard and looks for pests on your plants.Is it a flight of fancy to think that we'll have those kind of UAVs? I've read for many years that things like this will be created, but most of them haven't come to pass.We're reaching a tipping point in consumer robotics due to advances in technology. Part of it involves communications. A smartphone can move the entire collection of Shakespeare's works in just three seconds. That sort of data can be stored in the cloud instead of in a phone,Look ma, I made a robot or in a robot. There's also been a boom in data collection and in ways to analyze data.
You're going to see "anticipation robots" that use advance algorithms to figure out what you need before you know you need it.Charlie is a Paro - a baby seal robot that can respond to voice, light and touch and is the next step in improving care in elderly dementia patients.He is just one robot pet that will find a new home in residential care facilities as researchers examine how the Japanese-designed technology can reduce levels of anxiety and even re-engage those suffering from the disease.Griffith Health Institute's Centre for Health Practice Innovation expert in dementia Professor Wendy Moyle is leading the three-year study, funded with $1 million by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
"When a person with dementia comes into residential care there can be a lack of stimulation … these Paros can be used as a companion, a therapeutic means of nurturing an emotional response," Prof Moyle said.Prof Moyle said due to high work demands on staff, the average elderly patient in nursing homes barely received half an hour of face-to-face direct contact in a day.She said it was not about the robots replacing human interaction but helping patients re-engage emotionally."We've had some quite negative comments about robots taking over the world ... but it's about them assisting those in need,'' she said.Petting "Charlie" on the head, Prof Moyle said the robots - about the size of a newborn baby and weighing about 2.7kgs - were similar to a dog or cat in a nursing home but cut out the need for cleaning up after a real animal.
You're going to see "anticipation robots" that use advance algorithms to figure out what you need before you know you need it.Charlie is a Paro - a baby seal robot that can respond to voice, light and touch and is the next step in improving care in elderly dementia patients.He is just one robot pet that will find a new home in residential care facilities as researchers examine how the Japanese-designed technology can reduce levels of anxiety and even re-engage those suffering from the disease.Griffith Health Institute's Centre for Health Practice Innovation expert in dementia Professor Wendy Moyle is leading the three-year study, funded with $1 million by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
"When a person with dementia comes into residential care there can be a lack of stimulation … these Paros can be used as a companion, a therapeutic means of nurturing an emotional response," Prof Moyle said.Prof Moyle said due to high work demands on staff, the average elderly patient in nursing homes barely received half an hour of face-to-face direct contact in a day.She said it was not about the robots replacing human interaction but helping patients re-engage emotionally."We've had some quite negative comments about robots taking over the world ... but it's about them assisting those in need,'' she said.Petting "Charlie" on the head, Prof Moyle said the robots - about the size of a newborn baby and weighing about 2.7kgs - were similar to a dog or cat in a nursing home but cut out the need for cleaning up after a real animal.
2013年10月31日星期四
Look ma, I made a robot
"I wanna hire the guy that makes the machine that makes Pop-Tarts," says Chase Dudley, co-founder of Beyond Theory. The idea is that the Pop-Tart machine "just goes all day and cranks out Pop-Tarts.""For us, one of the main concerns is reliability," says Chase's partner and co-founder, Shane Adams. "To have a functional device is great. But it's not great when it breaks." Especially when the device is your arm. The goal, he says, is to create a robotic device that's as consistent and manipulable as the human arm itself. "Can this be used 22 hours straight?" he asks rhetorically. Not yet, but that's the goal.Just ask Siddhartha Srinivasa, an associate professor in Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, who oversees the Home Exploring Robot Butler project.
Although the immediate goal is to design a machine that can perform "challenging manipulation tasks in places where people live and work," the broader goal is to create a robot that can exist and interact seamlessly with a human environment. A robot that can tell when it's bumping into someone, for instance. Or that can find and retrieve a milk carton from the refrigerator. A robot that can be, in a sense, human. Srinivasa says HERB's not there quite yet. But that's the goal."No one really knows what the robot of the future is going to look like," Srinivasa says. "And that's the beauty of robotics. It's not so rigidly structured — like a car, for example. Robots can be anything. And so, we're still in the stage where we're trying to figure out what these robots should look like, what they should be, how they should behave."
Technology can be a lot of fun. Akshat Dobhal, the Class VII student who stood beside a four-wheeled programmed robot at the Mad About Technology Festival, is a firm believer of this maxim."It will follow voice commands. You can say 'move', 'go back', 'spin' and it will do exactly that," he says. The bystander says "move" and the contraption indeed begins to move forward. "Stop! Go back," says the astounded bystander, and the machine wheels right back. But Akshat is now smiling, and his friends ask him what his hands are doing under the table.Game over. It's not a voice-controlled robot, but a remote-controlled one, which Akshat now reveals with a laugh. "We're trying to see how many people we can fool this way," he said, divulging the scientific intent of the prank.
Although the immediate goal is to design a machine that can perform "challenging manipulation tasks in places where people live and work," the broader goal is to create a robot that can exist and interact seamlessly with a human environment. A robot that can tell when it's bumping into someone, for instance. Or that can find and retrieve a milk carton from the refrigerator. A robot that can be, in a sense, human. Srinivasa says HERB's not there quite yet. But that's the goal."No one really knows what the robot of the future is going to look like," Srinivasa says. "And that's the beauty of robotics. It's not so rigidly structured — like a car, for example. Robots can be anything. And so, we're still in the stage where we're trying to figure out what these robots should look like, what they should be, how they should behave."
Technology can be a lot of fun. Akshat Dobhal, the Class VII student who stood beside a four-wheeled programmed robot at the Mad About Technology Festival, is a firm believer of this maxim."It will follow voice commands. You can say 'move', 'go back', 'spin' and it will do exactly that," he says. The bystander says "move" and the contraption indeed begins to move forward. "Stop! Go back," says the astounded bystander, and the machine wheels right back. But Akshat is now smiling, and his friends ask him what his hands are doing under the table.Game over. It's not a voice-controlled robot, but a remote-controlled one, which Akshat now reveals with a laugh. "We're trying to see how many people we can fool this way," he said, divulging the scientific intent of the prank.
2013年10月29日星期二
The AMBER 2 Robot does its best
The AMBER 2 Robot does its best to emulate human foot movements, with the goal of making a machine that can walk on all sorts of terrain.The AMBER 2 Robot from Texas A&M Amber Lab has almost all of the pivot points necessary to mimic human-like locomotion, which is very complex. You'll note the purposeful stumble at the end of the video, which was intentional to show that the boom only provided lateral stability.I want to see when these kinds of legs will be integrated into a real walking robot. Hopefully, Skynet won't use them to help exterminate us all.
Where once landed sandals of Roman, now rolls the rubberized tread of a robot. Or whatever robot feet are made from. Hewn from the solid rock of Italian mountains, the miles-long ancient aqueducts have stood for 2,000 years, forming a vast network the Aqua Claudio is 45 miles long and the Porta Maggiore is 60 miles. And that means it's tough for scientists and historians to just go blindly skipping through them. Sure, there are some dandy maps drawn up by British topographer Thomas Ashby in the First World War,Poppy, a 3D-printed humanoid robot that defies conventions and 3D scanners are also proving quite handy in mapping the tunnels. But the dirty job of exploring cisterns and drains beneath the Roman Forum goes to what archaeologists are calling an "archeo-robot" named Lucius.
The robot runs via remote control and has high-def cameras, 6 wheels and no aversion to weird smells. Awesome. When will there be a Disneyand-type tour for us to go on?Assistant Professor Luis Sentis of the Cockrell School's Human Centered Robotics Lab greets Dreamer, a mobile humanoid robot who may appear in "Transformers 4″ next summer.This summer, Dreamer, a robot with a bright, cartoon-like face received its first set of wheels and made its acting debut in a major Hollywood film.Dreamer is the brainchild of Luis Sentis, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering who established the Human Centered Robotics Lab in 2010 at the Cockrell School of Engineering.
Where once landed sandals of Roman, now rolls the rubberized tread of a robot. Or whatever robot feet are made from. Hewn from the solid rock of Italian mountains, the miles-long ancient aqueducts have stood for 2,000 years, forming a vast network the Aqua Claudio is 45 miles long and the Porta Maggiore is 60 miles. And that means it's tough for scientists and historians to just go blindly skipping through them. Sure, there are some dandy maps drawn up by British topographer Thomas Ashby in the First World War,Poppy, a 3D-printed humanoid robot that defies conventions and 3D scanners are also proving quite handy in mapping the tunnels. But the dirty job of exploring cisterns and drains beneath the Roman Forum goes to what archaeologists are calling an "archeo-robot" named Lucius.
The robot runs via remote control and has high-def cameras, 6 wheels and no aversion to weird smells. Awesome. When will there be a Disneyand-type tour for us to go on?Assistant Professor Luis Sentis of the Cockrell School's Human Centered Robotics Lab greets Dreamer, a mobile humanoid robot who may appear in "Transformers 4″ next summer.This summer, Dreamer, a robot with a bright, cartoon-like face received its first set of wheels and made its acting debut in a major Hollywood film.Dreamer is the brainchild of Luis Sentis, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering who established the Human Centered Robotics Lab in 2010 at the Cockrell School of Engineering.
2013年10月24日星期四
Poppy, a 3D-printed humanoid robot that defies conventions
One of the main reasons the INRIA Flowers FLOWing Epigenetic Robots and Systems team opted to build its own robot is because none of the available commercial kits are truly biologically inspired. By rapidly-prototyping their own robot, Poppy could challenge some of the usual robot design conventions.To begin with, it has an articulated spine with five motors – almost unheard of in robots of this size, but one of the ongoing topics at INRIA Flowers since its first humanoid, ACROBAN, from several years ago. The spine not only allows Poppy to move more naturally, but helps to balance the robot by adjusting its posture. The added flexibility also helps when physically interacting with the robot, such as guiding it by its hands, which is currently required to help the robot walk.
Looking at the knees, you'll see some springs spanning the upper and lower leg joints. The tension in the springs helps to keep the supporting leg straight during each step without motorization. And farther down, its feet are smaller than most robots of Poppy's size, and its toes are thin, allowing them to bend. Rather than planting each foot parallel to the ground, which is how most robots this size walk, the toes help the robot achieve "heel to toe" walking. And as for those children's shoes Poppy wears? They're equipped with five pressure sensors on each sole, which provide useful data.One of the more obvious deviations in design can be seen in its upper legs, which bend inwards at an angle of six degrees. Despite the fact that this more closely models the human femur, most humanoid robot designs have opted for straight leg linkages.
By bending the thighs in, the distance between the two feet is shortened, moving the supporting leg's foot closer to the robot's center of gravity. And that makes it more stable when standing on one leg and when walking.The INRIA team produced two versions of Poppy: one with straight thighs and another with the bent ones. Experiments showed that the robot with bent thighs swayed far less during its walking gait, making it much more stable. However, the robot still can't balance on its own, so for now it needs a human trainer.In the future, the team hopes to get Poppy walking on its own, and plans to share its designs with other labs to promote more biologically-inspired humanoid robot designs.
Looking at the knees, you'll see some springs spanning the upper and lower leg joints. The tension in the springs helps to keep the supporting leg straight during each step without motorization. And farther down, its feet are smaller than most robots of Poppy's size, and its toes are thin, allowing them to bend. Rather than planting each foot parallel to the ground, which is how most robots this size walk, the toes help the robot achieve "heel to toe" walking. And as for those children's shoes Poppy wears? They're equipped with five pressure sensors on each sole, which provide useful data.One of the more obvious deviations in design can be seen in its upper legs, which bend inwards at an angle of six degrees. Despite the fact that this more closely models the human femur, most humanoid robot designs have opted for straight leg linkages.
By bending the thighs in, the distance between the two feet is shortened, moving the supporting leg's foot closer to the robot's center of gravity. And that makes it more stable when standing on one leg and when walking.The INRIA team produced two versions of Poppy: one with straight thighs and another with the bent ones. Experiments showed that the robot with bent thighs swayed far less during its walking gait, making it much more stable. However, the robot still can't balance on its own, so for now it needs a human trainer.In the future, the team hopes to get Poppy walking on its own, and plans to share its designs with other labs to promote more biologically-inspired humanoid robot designs.
2013年10月22日星期二
This Hybrid Robot Cleaner Vacuums and Mops All the Floors In Your Home
If you've got a mix of hard and carpeted floors in your home that you just don't feel like cleaning, you usually have to rely on two separate cleaning bots to get the work done. But you can write your Roomba and Scooba a letter of recommendation and send them on their way now that Moneual's new Rydis H67 promises to tackle both tasks with one machine.Given a wet mop would only serve to further muck up dirty carpets, the microfiber pad the H67 uses on hard wood and tile floors can be removed depending on what needs cleaning.Exaggerated gait allows limbless R2G2 robot to move quickly in confined spaces And the vacuum is smart enough to actually avoid carpeted surfaces while the mopping pad is attached.
On a full battery it can actually mop for about five hours straight in a back and forth zip-zag motion, but you can expect that battery life to be considerably shortened when the vacuum's motor is running. But like any good robo vac, it will automatically return to its charging station when it's running low.At $400 available at Best Buy starting today, it isn't overly expensive, either, especially considering it does the work of two devices. And as an added bonus, with only a single robo cleaner in your home, it has no one to gossip around the water cooler with and get distracted from work. From personalised searches of Google to the seductive experience of driverless cars, from educational robots that hone your French to prosthetics that are stronger and faster than our own limbs: artificial intelligence is poised to revolutionise our lives.
Now scientists, legal experts and philosophers are joining forces to scrutinise the promise of intelligent systems and wrangle over their implications. This week in Brighton, the fourth EuCogIII members' conference is set to tackle these issues head on. "Fundamentally we're interested in considering the ethical and societal impact of such systems," says Alan Winfield, professor of electronic engineering at UWE Bristol. It is time, he says, to make some crucial decisions. "If we get it wrong, there are consequences right now."It's a point well illustrated by IBM's intelligent system, Watson. Two years after thrashing human contestants at the quickfire quiz Jeopardy!, Watson has graduated from gameshows to medical school and could soon be diagnosing diseases.
On a full battery it can actually mop for about five hours straight in a back and forth zip-zag motion, but you can expect that battery life to be considerably shortened when the vacuum's motor is running. But like any good robo vac, it will automatically return to its charging station when it's running low.At $400 available at Best Buy starting today, it isn't overly expensive, either, especially considering it does the work of two devices. And as an added bonus, with only a single robo cleaner in your home, it has no one to gossip around the water cooler with and get distracted from work. From personalised searches of Google to the seductive experience of driverless cars, from educational robots that hone your French to prosthetics that are stronger and faster than our own limbs: artificial intelligence is poised to revolutionise our lives.
Now scientists, legal experts and philosophers are joining forces to scrutinise the promise of intelligent systems and wrangle over their implications. This week in Brighton, the fourth EuCogIII members' conference is set to tackle these issues head on. "Fundamentally we're interested in considering the ethical and societal impact of such systems," says Alan Winfield, professor of electronic engineering at UWE Bristol. It is time, he says, to make some crucial decisions. "If we get it wrong, there are consequences right now."It's a point well illustrated by IBM's intelligent system, Watson. Two years after thrashing human contestants at the quickfire quiz Jeopardy!, Watson has graduated from gameshows to medical school and could soon be diagnosing diseases.
2013年10月17日星期四
Exaggerated gait allows limbless R2G2 robot to move quickly in confined spaces
Hopkins used actively actuated friction pads near the head and tail of the robot to improve its traction, and has found that different terrains require unique kinds of friction pads?a bed of nails for traveling over grass; rubber for carpets.In addition, Gupta and Hopkins used 3D printing technology to create a novel mechanism for expanding and contracting R2G2's body while maintaining a small body cross section. This enabled them to make geometrically complex parts and greatly simplify the assembly of the robot. Other researchers with access to 3D printing will be able to easily replicate R2G2 in their labs.Currently robots that use limbless locomotion do not come close to their natural counterparts in terms of capabilities.
"Unfortunately, we do not yet have access to engineered actuators that can match the natural muscles found in biological creatures," Gupta says, "or highly distributed, fault-tolerant, self-calibrating, multi-modal sensors and materials with highly direction-dependent friction properties. So our design options for limbless locomotion are limited and truly mimicking nature is simply not possible right now."In the short term, Gupta believes robotics engineers are better off "taking a different approach that exploits inspiration from biological creatures." Robots like R2G2 advance the science because they "take a useful feature in nature and exploit it to the fullest extent."Seth Green still can't believe the success he's had with Adult Swim's Emmy-winning series, "Robot Chicken."
"It's so strange to me because it's just something me and my friends make," he told CBSNews.com while at New York Comic Con.Green and his Stoopid Monkey producing partner Matthew Senreich won the 2010 Emmy in the outstanding animated program short format category for the stop-motion animated series they created. And they're heavily involved in the process. The duo executive produces and writes the pop culture parody, with Green doing up to 60 different voices each week. The show's sixth season recently came out on DVD, and Green says it's "jam-packed with all the extras, anything that got cut out, anything that we didn't have time to produce."
"Unfortunately, we do not yet have access to engineered actuators that can match the natural muscles found in biological creatures," Gupta says, "or highly distributed, fault-tolerant, self-calibrating, multi-modal sensors and materials with highly direction-dependent friction properties. So our design options for limbless locomotion are limited and truly mimicking nature is simply not possible right now."In the short term, Gupta believes robotics engineers are better off "taking a different approach that exploits inspiration from biological creatures." Robots like R2G2 advance the science because they "take a useful feature in nature and exploit it to the fullest extent."Seth Green still can't believe the success he's had with Adult Swim's Emmy-winning series, "Robot Chicken."
"It's so strange to me because it's just something me and my friends make," he told CBSNews.com while at New York Comic Con.Green and his Stoopid Monkey producing partner Matthew Senreich won the 2010 Emmy in the outstanding animated program short format category for the stop-motion animated series they created. And they're heavily involved in the process. The duo executive produces and writes the pop culture parody, with Green doing up to 60 different voices each week. The show's sixth season recently came out on DVD, and Green says it's "jam-packed with all the extras, anything that got cut out, anything that we didn't have time to produce."
2013年10月14日星期一
Double Robot Wants to Take Over the Office, Not the World
As I noted, Double's body is really just a tube with wheels, which means it balances itself when standing still or rolling about. An internal gyroscope keeps it upright and, if you give it a gentle push or, as I did, run it into a trash can, it will wobble but not fall down.The robot starts at 47 inches and can extend to a full five feet tall. You manage this remotely, which may also add to the creep factor. That height difference also changes the robot's speed. While it can cruise along pretty quickly when standing at 47 inches, a 60-inch Double slows down significantly. A message on the navigation screen warns you that if you want to go fast, you need to make the robot shorter. This is understandable, considering how the height difference changes Double's center of gravity. In any case, I soon got the hang of shrinking Double whenever I had to travel around the office and growing when I got to a meeting.
Double won't fall over if it runs low on power or if you choose to "Park" it. The robot has two little metal kickstands that quietly fold out when you hit "park" on the Double app.Telecommuting is a fact of our modern work life, but anyone who has done so will likely agree that the lack of face time can be frustrating. You're always the disembodied voice on the conference call, the person people forget to invite to meetings because they never see you. Telepresence robotics like Double can be the solution.First of all,A Robot Making Coffee With a Keurig Is Wonderfully Redundant it's not one robot for one person. Anyone with the proper credentials can log in and control Double. You'll see his or her face on the screen and at that meeting. It may make sense for Double Robotics to add the option of "virtual footsteps" to imitate the sound of walking to the meeting, though, which would significantly decrease the creep factor.
Would I pay $2,499 for a device that my more than half a dozen telecommuters could use? Yes. Do I wish the better in-the-wings solution for charging the robot and iPad was ready today? Absolutely. However, as soon as it is, this is a robot I want in my office. Heck, I want it now.Since the internet giant announced its ambition to create a driverless car within the decade, its fleet of 10 converted Toyota Priuses have led the way in self-driving robotic vehicles. So far they have covered more than 300,000 miles on California's roads without incident. The cars have roof-mounted cameras and sensors that constantly scan their surroundings, building up a 3D map of each route. Last year, a blind man named Steve Mahan was able "drive" one of the cars in Morgan Hill, California.
Double won't fall over if it runs low on power or if you choose to "Park" it. The robot has two little metal kickstands that quietly fold out when you hit "park" on the Double app.Telecommuting is a fact of our modern work life, but anyone who has done so will likely agree that the lack of face time can be frustrating. You're always the disembodied voice on the conference call, the person people forget to invite to meetings because they never see you. Telepresence robotics like Double can be the solution.First of all,A Robot Making Coffee With a Keurig Is Wonderfully Redundant it's not one robot for one person. Anyone with the proper credentials can log in and control Double. You'll see his or her face on the screen and at that meeting. It may make sense for Double Robotics to add the option of "virtual footsteps" to imitate the sound of walking to the meeting, though, which would significantly decrease the creep factor.
Would I pay $2,499 for a device that my more than half a dozen telecommuters could use? Yes. Do I wish the better in-the-wings solution for charging the robot and iPad was ready today? Absolutely. However, as soon as it is, this is a robot I want in my office. Heck, I want it now.Since the internet giant announced its ambition to create a driverless car within the decade, its fleet of 10 converted Toyota Priuses have led the way in self-driving robotic vehicles. So far they have covered more than 300,000 miles on California's roads without incident. The cars have roof-mounted cameras and sensors that constantly scan their surroundings, building up a 3D map of each route. Last year, a blind man named Steve Mahan was able "drive" one of the cars in Morgan Hill, California.
2013年10月11日星期五
A Robot Making Coffee With a Keurig Is Wonderfully Redundant
This particular minnovation comes from a company called FOCUS Integration, and in its defense, the JoeBot does more than just push the brew button on the Keurig. It can load in new capsules, swap out full and empty coffee cups, and even label the cardboard sleeve with a custom design. Now if it could only refill the Keurig's water reservoir, which seems to be perpetually empty whenever you want a brew.Up until he went to college, Japanese media artist Yuri Suzuki thought he was stupid. Music was in his blood, his bones, his thoughts, but he couldn't read it. Suzuki was dyslexic, and as much as he loved music, the only sound a series of notes arrayed upon a musical stave implied was the sound of chaos.
That's why much of Suzuki's work focuses on new ways to visualize music. Looks Like Music is his new project, an alternative to standardized Western musical notation synesthetic enough for even dyslexics to understand. Even cooler? It's music notation done with robots.Even as a child, Suzuki loved music. Raised in a richly musical household where the big band sounds of Glenn Miller seemed to come crashing like thunder from his father's stereo, young Suzuki was inspired to begin his education in the trombone at an age when he would scarcely have been able to hold the thing upright: just three years old. In high school, Suzuki joined a ska band as a trombonist; later, he left the band, and, inspired by musicians such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Devo, and Kraftwerk, Suzuki began to focus on synthesizers and electronic music.
Although musical, Suzuki was working with a disability, one that it took him a long time to realize was there. "I had all these friends asking me to read scores and do music theory stuff, but I couldn't read the notes. I thought I was dumb," Suzuki tells me. "It was only when I got to college that a coordinator took a look at my work and said, 'Yup, you're dyslexic.'"The revelation was eye opening to Suzuki, whose work since college has largely focused upon visualizing music and sound. "I try to design systems that don't require words to explain," Suzuki tells Co.Design. "Think iOS instead of Unix."
That's why much of Suzuki's work focuses on new ways to visualize music. Looks Like Music is his new project, an alternative to standardized Western musical notation synesthetic enough for even dyslexics to understand. Even cooler? It's music notation done with robots.Even as a child, Suzuki loved music. Raised in a richly musical household where the big band sounds of Glenn Miller seemed to come crashing like thunder from his father's stereo, young Suzuki was inspired to begin his education in the trombone at an age when he would scarcely have been able to hold the thing upright: just three years old. In high school, Suzuki joined a ska band as a trombonist; later, he left the band, and, inspired by musicians such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Devo, and Kraftwerk, Suzuki began to focus on synthesizers and electronic music.
Although musical, Suzuki was working with a disability, one that it took him a long time to realize was there. "I had all these friends asking me to read scores and do music theory stuff, but I couldn't read the notes. I thought I was dumb," Suzuki tells me. "It was only when I got to college that a coordinator took a look at my work and said, 'Yup, you're dyslexic.'"The revelation was eye opening to Suzuki, whose work since college has largely focused upon visualizing music and sound. "I try to design systems that don't require words to explain," Suzuki tells Co.Design. "Think iOS instead of Unix."
2013年10月10日星期四
Not Proven
The complexity of medical devices makes safety and efficacy claims hard to evaluate, creating an environment ripe for misleading advertising, including by hospitals, said Robert Steinbuch, a professor of law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. "Hospital advertising is essentially a free-for-all," he said.Bloomberg News reported in February that the FDA was surveying surgeons about the robots after an increase in reported adverse events, including 70 deaths since 2009. Reports of injuries linked to robotic surgery have more than doubled in the first eight months of this year, based on when the reports were received by the FDA, compared with the same period last year.Intuitive Surgical says looking at reporting dates, rather than the dates the incidents occurred, "is likely to seriously misrepresent the true performance of a device."
While Porter Adventist Hospital cannot comment on the Kortz cases due to privacy laws, safety is its top priority and it responds "with swift and immediate action" to clinical concerns, said Thomas Drake, chief medical officer for the hospital, in a statement. "Our approach to robotic surgery marketing is focused on consumer awareness," Drake said.In July, the FDA issued a warning letter to Intuitive Surgical after an inspection found the company hadn't adequately reported device corrections and patient adverse events in some cases.There are questions Sales growth slowed in the second quarter on a decline in robot system sales. Since the first Bloomberg report in February, Intuitive Surgical's shares have fallen 34 percent to $380.99.
"The marketing material that Intuitive puts out is fair and balanced," said Myriam Curet, chief medical adviser for Intuitive Surgical. The company has "a robust program where we review all of the marketing material that goes out and we make sure that discussions of alternative procedures are on the marketing materials as well as discussions about risks," she said.Intuitive Surgical follows regulatory guidance in every market in which it operates, said Angela Wonson, a spokeswoman for the company. It also continually evaluates and updates the informational materials it provides to medical professionals and the public to ensure they reflect recent research, she said."Ultimately, decisions about treatment must be made between the surgeon and the patient during the informed consent process," Wonson said.
While Porter Adventist Hospital cannot comment on the Kortz cases due to privacy laws, safety is its top priority and it responds "with swift and immediate action" to clinical concerns, said Thomas Drake, chief medical officer for the hospital, in a statement. "Our approach to robotic surgery marketing is focused on consumer awareness," Drake said.In July, the FDA issued a warning letter to Intuitive Surgical after an inspection found the company hadn't adequately reported device corrections and patient adverse events in some cases.There are questions Sales growth slowed in the second quarter on a decline in robot system sales. Since the first Bloomberg report in February, Intuitive Surgical's shares have fallen 34 percent to $380.99.
"The marketing material that Intuitive puts out is fair and balanced," said Myriam Curet, chief medical adviser for Intuitive Surgical. The company has "a robust program where we review all of the marketing material that goes out and we make sure that discussions of alternative procedures are on the marketing materials as well as discussions about risks," she said.Intuitive Surgical follows regulatory guidance in every market in which it operates, said Angela Wonson, a spokeswoman for the company. It also continually evaluates and updates the informational materials it provides to medical professionals and the public to ensure they reflect recent research, she said."Ultimately, decisions about treatment must be made between the surgeon and the patient during the informed consent process," Wonson said.
2013年9月29日星期日
There are questions
There are questions that—no matter how often we pose them—it never occurs to us to seek an answer from science: What is the right work-life balance? If you ask for the water, James will hand you the water; if you ask for the Coke, you get the Coke. No, James won't open it."The general exercise here is to make robots more social, or to make them social at all. Robots can do certain things very well—they can certainly move faster than I can—but their social intelligence is very limited," says de Ruiter, a cognitive scientist and professor of psycholinguistics at Germany's Bielefeld University. "We picked a bar setting because it's social but not too complicated."
The researchers filmed patrons placing orders in bars and nightclubs in Germany and Scotland to see how they interact with bartenders and used that data to program James. They found that the most common and successful method for both German and Scots drinkers isn't to wave or gesture or flash a wad of bills—it's simply to stand at the bar, directly facing the barkeep, and make eye contact. The researchers incorporated that data into James's programming.According to de Ruiter, James is even equipped with a "small-talk module" that allows him to banter a bit: Asked how old he is, for instance, James coyly replies that he doesn't like to talk about his age.
In videos available online, James comes across as competent while serving up bottles of water with a flourish. He's friendly and occasionally befuddled. Remember Coach from Cheers, Woody's equally dimwitted but older predecessor? James is a bit like that.An earlier version of James has an animatronic cat head and giant arms swathed in what looks like a Renaissance blouse, and he looks as if he should be tending bar in Jim Henson's Labyrinth.
The researchers filmed patrons placing orders in bars and nightclubs in Germany and Scotland to see how they interact with bartenders and used that data to program James. They found that the most common and successful method for both German and Scots drinkers isn't to wave or gesture or flash a wad of bills—it's simply to stand at the bar, directly facing the barkeep, and make eye contact. The researchers incorporated that data into James's programming.According to de Ruiter, James is even equipped with a "small-talk module" that allows him to banter a bit: Asked how old he is, for instance, James coyly replies that he doesn't like to talk about his age.
In videos available online, James comes across as competent while serving up bottles of water with a flourish. He's friendly and occasionally befuddled. Remember Coach from Cheers, Woody's equally dimwitted but older predecessor? James is a bit like that.An earlier version of James has an animatronic cat head and giant arms swathed in what looks like a Renaissance blouse, and he looks as if he should be tending bar in Jim Henson's Labyrinth.
2013年9月25日星期三
Part of the Chris project
Much like a real child interacting with its parent, iCub's eyes swivel from side to side, its luminous pink eyebrows and mouth glowing with excitement. "You have moved the trumpet. Found it. You have moved the trumpet. Found it.""Game over," says Lallée abruptly. iCub tilts its head towards Lallée, fixing him with its large black eyes. If you did not know better you would think iCub was disappointed. "Check on my internal state. That was pretty fun. We keep playing this game."
Part of the Chris project – short for Co-operative Human Robot Interactive Systems – iCub is at the vanguard of a new generation of social robots that is fast changing perceptions of what human-robot interactions will look like in the future. For iCub isn't just any old robot.If an explosives robot becomes your friend, can you still send it off to die? Measuring 93cm, it is a fully fledged humanoid "child" robot equipped with sophisticated motor skills and sense abilities, including vision, sound, touch, balance and proprioception – the ability to sense the position of its arms and body in space. These facilities enable iCub to crawl on all fours, grasp and manipulate balls and other objects and turn its head so as to follow gestures or direct its gaze.
Unlike conventional robots familiar from assembly lines, iCub isn't programmed to perform a specific set of actions or tasks. Instead it acquires skills naturally by using its body to explore the world and gather data about its relation to objects and people in that world, much as a two-year-old learns by interacting with his or her environment. Through its ability to direct its gaze, grasp and manipulate objects, and "read" gestures as it co-operates with human tutors on shared tasks like the Toybox game, iCub can learn words and skills and develop co-operative strategies.
Part of the Chris project – short for Co-operative Human Robot Interactive Systems – iCub is at the vanguard of a new generation of social robots that is fast changing perceptions of what human-robot interactions will look like in the future. For iCub isn't just any old robot.If an explosives robot becomes your friend, can you still send it off to die? Measuring 93cm, it is a fully fledged humanoid "child" robot equipped with sophisticated motor skills and sense abilities, including vision, sound, touch, balance and proprioception – the ability to sense the position of its arms and body in space. These facilities enable iCub to crawl on all fours, grasp and manipulate balls and other objects and turn its head so as to follow gestures or direct its gaze.
Unlike conventional robots familiar from assembly lines, iCub isn't programmed to perform a specific set of actions or tasks. Instead it acquires skills naturally by using its body to explore the world and gather data about its relation to objects and people in that world, much as a two-year-old learns by interacting with his or her environment. Through its ability to direct its gaze, grasp and manipulate objects, and "read" gestures as it co-operates with human tutors on shared tasks like the Toybox game, iCub can learn words and skills and develop co-operative strategies.
2013年9月22日星期日
If an explosives robot becomes your friend, can you still send it off to die?
"When you're deployed you're in a situation where you're potentially lonely and far from home," says Carpenter. "You work in proximity to the robot on a daily basis." She compares the bots to a high-tech version of a military working dog — there's a reason Boston Dynamics named its pack robot BigDog. Designers, she says, actively keep that relationship to a pet-like level, rather than looking for something more autonomous that could take decision-making options away from humans.
But even a pet-like connection could potentially be dangerous. Carpenter's study isn't meant to measure anything statistically, and the people she interviewed didn't believe that their robotic cameraderie affected their decision-making. But it's possible that sympathetic instincts could end up affecting split-second decision-making, she says. That said, how would you stop a process that seems all but inevitable? Carpenter questions, among other things, how much we should be trying to make some robots look like people or animals. BigDog can survive a roll in the mud, but it's almost tragic watching it struggle to its feet.
"Your instinct when you see it fall over is 'That's sad,'" says Carpenter. And that sadness could compromise its use.Not all robots were born to die, though, and there are plenty of benefits to anthropomorphized machines. If someone doesn't have experience interacting with robots, they may be more comfortable with something that suggests a human form. And DARPA is testing disaster response robots that mimic humans or apes, since those bipedal and dexterous designs make it easier to navigate environments designed for people.
But even a pet-like connection could potentially be dangerous. Carpenter's study isn't meant to measure anything statistically, and the people she interviewed didn't believe that their robotic cameraderie affected their decision-making. But it's possible that sympathetic instincts could end up affecting split-second decision-making, she says. That said, how would you stop a process that seems all but inevitable? Carpenter questions, among other things, how much we should be trying to make some robots look like people or animals. BigDog can survive a roll in the mud, but it's almost tragic watching it struggle to its feet.
"Your instinct when you see it fall over is 'That's sad,'" says Carpenter. And that sadness could compromise its use.Not all robots were born to die, though, and there are plenty of benefits to anthropomorphized machines. If someone doesn't have experience interacting with robots, they may be more comfortable with something that suggests a human form. And DARPA is testing disaster response robots that mimic humans or apes, since those bipedal and dexterous designs make it easier to navigate environments designed for people.
2013年9月17日星期二
Dogs Are Perfectly Happy To Socialize With Robots
A handful of teams around the world are building waterproof collars and sensors for pets that are modeled on human wearable computers, but are activated by tugs or bites or even taps of the nose.The tools stand to have real life-saving value —The robot of the future will look like a software-driven thermostat for instance, if a service dogs identifies that its master is having a seizure, it can trigger an alarm on its collar. But these electronics could also serve as gentle reminder that it's time for dinner or a walk. Those researchers told NBC News earlier this year that the dogs were quick to learn and enjoyed the ability to communicate with their human masters.
Maybe the key to keeping our best friends is building the dog translator collar from "Up" ... before the robots do.In the centuries-old best friendship between dogkind and humankind, humans are apparently easily replaced with robots. Seemingly loyal canines are totally willing to interact with cold, hard machines, according to a new study in Animal Cognition, gazing lovingly at their robot faces and finding hidden foodstuffs that the robot pointed to. Robots, stop taking things away from us!
The study investigated whether or not dogs would be willing to interact with an unfamiliar robot. It found that the dogs would interact with a cyborg--if the robot seemed like a social being, as evidence by its ability to talk to the dog and its owner. The PeopleBot telepresence robot used in the study looks a lot like "piece of gym equipment with a white gloved hand attached to it," as the study's press release notes. It would be hard for a dog to actually mistake it for a human being.For the "social" condition, the robot, which has a movable arm and a touchscreen for a face, was programmed with pre-recorded words and sentences spoken by a human voice.
Maybe the key to keeping our best friends is building the dog translator collar from "Up" ... before the robots do.In the centuries-old best friendship between dogkind and humankind, humans are apparently easily replaced with robots. Seemingly loyal canines are totally willing to interact with cold, hard machines, according to a new study in Animal Cognition, gazing lovingly at their robot faces and finding hidden foodstuffs that the robot pointed to. Robots, stop taking things away from us!
The study investigated whether or not dogs would be willing to interact with an unfamiliar robot. It found that the dogs would interact with a cyborg--if the robot seemed like a social being, as evidence by its ability to talk to the dog and its owner. The PeopleBot telepresence robot used in the study looks a lot like "piece of gym equipment with a white gloved hand attached to it," as the study's press release notes. It would be hard for a dog to actually mistake it for a human being.For the "social" condition, the robot, which has a movable arm and a touchscreen for a face, was programmed with pre-recorded words and sentences spoken by a human voice.
2013年9月12日星期四
The robot of the future will look like a software-driven thermostat
At TechCrunch Disrupt today, a panel of connected-device pioneers talked about robots. Not C-3PO, not the Jetsons' domestic, but the robots of the future, which they feel will look a lot more mundane and not as humanoid as sci-fi fans might have imagined."Robotics is about making physical things come to life … with software," said Boris Sofman of Anki, an intelligent-gaming company. "The projects we think of as the Holy Grail of robotics, the humanoid robot and the self-driving car," are old ideas that are becoming outmoded by the robotics of contemporary reality.
"A lot of the work we put into it is software to make it really smart," said Skycatch's Christian Sanz, whose company makes drone-like helicopters, one of which is pictured above."We hired a robotics team to build Nest, because we knew we needed that kind of intelligence," said Matt Rogers of Nest, the smart-thermostat maker. "We had to pack tons of computing hardware into a device that would last for years," he continued.The use cases for the new world of robotics is also not what we might have imagined. Rather than becoming humans' metal-and-silicon slaves, these devices are becoming our eyes, ears, and hands.
Sanz said he tested the Skycatch drone with a farmer, who was able to see his fields and make immediate decisions. "We never had this data set before. One of my guys says, 'This is Google Maps, but in real time and high-def.'""They understand their environment and behave in a way you would not expect a physical device to behave," said Sofman.To that point, the devices are expected to be autonomous, operating without much or any outside control. Again, this requires intense amounts of intelligent software and machine learning.
"A lot of the work we put into it is software to make it really smart," said Skycatch's Christian Sanz, whose company makes drone-like helicopters, one of which is pictured above."We hired a robotics team to build Nest, because we knew we needed that kind of intelligence," said Matt Rogers of Nest, the smart-thermostat maker. "We had to pack tons of computing hardware into a device that would last for years," he continued.The use cases for the new world of robotics is also not what we might have imagined. Rather than becoming humans' metal-and-silicon slaves, these devices are becoming our eyes, ears, and hands.
Sanz said he tested the Skycatch drone with a farmer, who was able to see his fields and make immediate decisions. "We never had this data set before. One of my guys says, 'This is Google Maps, but in real time and high-def.'""They understand their environment and behave in a way you would not expect a physical device to behave," said Sofman.To that point, the devices are expected to be autonomous, operating without much or any outside control. Again, this requires intense amounts of intelligent software and machine learning.
2013年9月10日星期二
Down in the dirt with four flagship robot vacuums
We gravitated pretty naturally towards robot vacuums for one of our first home appliance round-ups. To get our footing in the space, we tackled the flagship model from four different vendors. That gave us a broad price range, from Infinuvo's new, $349 CleanMate QQ5, all the way up to LG's $799 Hom-Bot Square. Surprise: price doesn't always correlate with performance. Of course we looked at a Roomba, too. iRobot sent over its top-of-the-line Roomba 790, which comes in at a heady $699.
One of the most interesting things about our tests was watching each robot make pathing decisions. This upgrade gives him a world of possibilities, linear approach, finding the boundaries of the room, and then moving along in neat rows within that space. iRobot's approach is starkly different. An array of sensors on the Roomba constantly reads its surroundings and sends back information about where to go. The resulting navigation can look data-drunk, and the Roomba can take longer to finish a run than its competitors, but in some circumstances it resulted in the cleanest room.
None of these vacuums will replace a human-driven upright yet. Breaking Bad fans might also remember a Roomba representing a severe form of frivolous consumption on that show. It's hard to disagree entirely with that idea. A robot vacuum does carry the whiff of silly self-indulgence. On the other hand, these devices do pick up dirt, and without much human intervention. Some of them even do the job rather well.Regardless of its round up-low $349 price tag, the Infinuvo's $349 CleanMate QQ5 failed to deliver acceptable performance. We can forgive a certain capability gap between products $300 to $400 apart, but between its hard-to-clean rollers, thoughtless dust bin design, and, in certain circumstances, its inability to clean, we wouldn't recommend this vacuum at any price.
One of the most interesting things about our tests was watching each robot make pathing decisions. This upgrade gives him a world of possibilities, linear approach, finding the boundaries of the room, and then moving along in neat rows within that space. iRobot's approach is starkly different. An array of sensors on the Roomba constantly reads its surroundings and sends back information about where to go. The resulting navigation can look data-drunk, and the Roomba can take longer to finish a run than its competitors, but in some circumstances it resulted in the cleanest room.
None of these vacuums will replace a human-driven upright yet. Breaking Bad fans might also remember a Roomba representing a severe form of frivolous consumption on that show. It's hard to disagree entirely with that idea. A robot vacuum does carry the whiff of silly self-indulgence. On the other hand, these devices do pick up dirt, and without much human intervention. Some of them even do the job rather well.Regardless of its round up-low $349 price tag, the Infinuvo's $349 CleanMate QQ5 failed to deliver acceptable performance. We can forgive a certain capability gap between products $300 to $400 apart, but between its hard-to-clean rollers, thoughtless dust bin design, and, in certain circumstances, its inability to clean, we wouldn't recommend this vacuum at any price.
2013年9月5日星期四
This upgrade gives him a world of possibilities
This upgrade gives him a world of possibilities -- as well as a world of possible weaknesses. And let's not forget, this upgrade was initiated by the Ultron Imperative -- a survival "instinct" buried deep in his programming.The Vision is feeling good -- he's got a new suit, he's got new powers and he's finally moving forward from all the seriously traumatic events that have plagued him for the last ten years or so. Or, his whole life, I guess. And -- he's got a new team of Avengers! He is feeling large and in charge.
But the events of "Age of Ultron" have spawned a sea change in the Marvel Universe, that will lead the Vision to seeing himself in a new role; a role that has the potential to undermine this hard-won confidence.While Vision is more confident, his "brother" Victor Mancha is worried that he might betray his fellow Avengers because of a warning he received from a possible future back when he was with the Runaways. His "grandfather," Hank Pym, has reassured him that he'll be fine, and so far, it seems to have worked. What does it mean for Victor to be part of a super team? And what does it mean for him to on a team with two members of his "family?"
Some kids just need a little direction in life. A sense of place, a calling in this world. Some mentors and inspirational figures to show a little interest in them -- and throw them into cutthroat, life or death situations. What could possibly go wrong for young Victor?Victor and his fellow A.I. Avengers work with Monica Chang, the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s A.I. division. Based on her interactions with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Captain Nelson in issue #2, I get the sense that the rest of the organization doesn't take the A.I. division seriously.
But the events of "Age of Ultron" have spawned a sea change in the Marvel Universe, that will lead the Vision to seeing himself in a new role; a role that has the potential to undermine this hard-won confidence.While Vision is more confident, his "brother" Victor Mancha is worried that he might betray his fellow Avengers because of a warning he received from a possible future back when he was with the Runaways. His "grandfather," Hank Pym, has reassured him that he'll be fine, and so far, it seems to have worked. What does it mean for Victor to be part of a super team? And what does it mean for him to on a team with two members of his "family?"
Some kids just need a little direction in life. A sense of place, a calling in this world. Some mentors and inspirational figures to show a little interest in them -- and throw them into cutthroat, life or death situations. What could possibly go wrong for young Victor?Victor and his fellow A.I. Avengers work with Monica Chang, the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s A.I. division. Based on her interactions with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Captain Nelson in issue #2, I get the sense that the rest of the organization doesn't take the A.I. division seriously.
2013年9月3日星期二
Here come the robots, hungry for jobs
The robots are coming, and they are hungry for jobs. Should humans be worried?Innovation has been destroying jobs for two centuries. So far, our economy has harnessed innovation to create far more jobs than it destroyed, while producing truly dramatic gains in living standards.Yet a growing chorus of economists is wondering if this time might be different. Some worry that we are on the verge of creating a competing intelligent species that could impoverish most of us.Of course, the graveyard of ideas is filled with prophets of doom.
The most sophisticated sex robot today is a product of healthcare. Still, my reporting makes it clear that wrenching change is coming — and much sooner than most people realize.Luckily, San Diego County is home to a thriving cluster of robotics companies that are rapidly shifting from dependence on military contracts to a variety of other industries.Fantastic local job creation could be on the horizon. So might painful job losses.Granted, robot industry Paul Reveres have been riding for a long time.I programmed my first computer-controlled machine in 1979 as a 16-year-old factory worker. Companies lost billions on premature technology before profit-making industrial robots became common.
Yet successful robots have emerged from the factories.The public takes for granted that the U.S. military can send unmanned aircraft to kill enemies – without risking a single American life. And, in real-world road tests, Google's driverless cars have racked up thousands of accident-free miles.How long before a robot cleans my gutters? Breakthroughs typically percolate for years, but then boil over suddenly when business owners learn to exploit them.
The most sophisticated sex robot today is a product of healthcare. Still, my reporting makes it clear that wrenching change is coming — and much sooner than most people realize.Luckily, San Diego County is home to a thriving cluster of robotics companies that are rapidly shifting from dependence on military contracts to a variety of other industries.Fantastic local job creation could be on the horizon. So might painful job losses.Granted, robot industry Paul Reveres have been riding for a long time.I programmed my first computer-controlled machine in 1979 as a 16-year-old factory worker. Companies lost billions on premature technology before profit-making industrial robots became common.
Yet successful robots have emerged from the factories.The public takes for granted that the U.S. military can send unmanned aircraft to kill enemies – without risking a single American life. And, in real-world road tests, Google's driverless cars have racked up thousands of accident-free miles.How long before a robot cleans my gutters? Breakthroughs typically percolate for years, but then boil over suddenly when business owners learn to exploit them.
2013年8月28日星期三
The most sophisticated sex robot today is a product of healthcare
Rather than creating a sexbot that can simulate real sex to the best of its robotic abilities, True Companion's aim is to provide its namesake: a true companion. It aims to make a girl or boyfriend instead of a mute doll that you hide during dinner parties.True Companion makes Roxxxy more than just a lifeless doll by including various motors and responses in the model. She is able to move her private inputs — as the company calls them — when they are being utilized, thanks to dedicated sensors. The bot is also able to mimic an orgasm, so you aren't the only one having them.
She is able to listen and carry on a conversation with the help of some light artificial intelligence installed on a computer embedded in the sexbot. On top of all that, the sexbot comes with pre-programmed personalities, such as shy, outgoing, experienced, or new to the whole thing and in need of some guidance. The bot also cycles through moods, such as tired or horny, so sometimes it just won't be in the mood, or sometimes you won't be.You can customize you sexbot's personality, and creepiest of all, you can trade them online with friends if you're proud of your amalgamation of a shy, inexperienced, horny sexbot.
True Companion's product page likens this to wife swapping, but without any of the drama.Though more sophisticated than a doll that just slumps over on the couch, True Companion's tech is more or less responsive to stimuli or running on a pre-programmed loop, rather than acting on its own. There is tech out there that, combined with Roxxxy, could create a much more believable companion. A new type of e-skin is responsive to touch, and if combined with Roxxxy, could create a more dynamic response to human advances.
She is able to listen and carry on a conversation with the help of some light artificial intelligence installed on a computer embedded in the sexbot. On top of all that, the sexbot comes with pre-programmed personalities, such as shy, outgoing, experienced, or new to the whole thing and in need of some guidance. The bot also cycles through moods, such as tired or horny, so sometimes it just won't be in the mood, or sometimes you won't be.You can customize you sexbot's personality, and creepiest of all, you can trade them online with friends if you're proud of your amalgamation of a shy, inexperienced, horny sexbot.
True Companion's product page likens this to wife swapping, but without any of the drama.Though more sophisticated than a doll that just slumps over on the couch, True Companion's tech is more or less responsive to stimuli or running on a pre-programmed loop, rather than acting on its own. There is tech out there that, combined with Roxxxy, could create a much more believable companion. A new type of e-skin is responsive to touch, and if combined with Roxxxy, could create a more dynamic response to human advances.
2013年8月26日星期一
Will we ever want to have sex with robots?
In 2007, the British chess player and artificial intelligence expert David Levy said in his book, Love and Sex with Robots, we would be having sex with robots in five years - and be capable of falling in love with them within 40 years.His argument is based on improvements in robotic engineering and computer programming - and extrapolating from the income generated by the porn industry each year.Female robot from Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis Magnificent but malevolent - Maria the robot from Fritz Lang's sci-fi classic Metropolis
Such robots would be a "Brisbane hosts robot display" for mankind, he argued.As for Roxxxy, she weighs in at 60lb is 5ft 7in high and comes with a variety of hair colours, moveable limbs and 'lifelike' skin.She is the brainchild of electrical engineer and computer scientist Douglas Hines, the founder of TC Systems and True Companion, who formerly worked in the artificial intelligence lab at AT&T Bell Laboratories.He says the sex robot developed from his firm's line of healthcare robots, which were designed to look after elderly or infirm patients."Our skill-set is based on commercial and military robotics and what we did is we looked for an opportunity in the marketplace to apply that technology.
"One very obvious market is healthcare - but there's a less-known which is gaining more and more momentum which is the sex industry."'Exciting time'Mr Hines says his aim in developing his robot's artificial intelligence engine, was to go beyond a simple sex aid and to provide companionship."The life experience with a partner goes beyond that - and that's really what we've gone for."However, no matter how well-programmed a robot may be, it is still a machine, and he agrees a plastic and metal humanoid is not capable of replacing the real thing - yet.
Such robots would be a "Brisbane hosts robot display" for mankind, he argued.As for Roxxxy, she weighs in at 60lb is 5ft 7in high and comes with a variety of hair colours, moveable limbs and 'lifelike' skin.She is the brainchild of electrical engineer and computer scientist Douglas Hines, the founder of TC Systems and True Companion, who formerly worked in the artificial intelligence lab at AT&T Bell Laboratories.He says the sex robot developed from his firm's line of healthcare robots, which were designed to look after elderly or infirm patients."Our skill-set is based on commercial and military robotics and what we did is we looked for an opportunity in the marketplace to apply that technology.
"One very obvious market is healthcare - but there's a less-known which is gaining more and more momentum which is the sex industry."'Exciting time'Mr Hines says his aim in developing his robot's artificial intelligence engine, was to go beyond a simple sex aid and to provide companionship."The life experience with a partner goes beyond that - and that's really what we've gone for."However, no matter how well-programmed a robot may be, it is still a machine, and he agrees a plastic and metal humanoid is not capable of replacing the real thing - yet.
2013年8月21日星期三
Brisbane hosts robot display
Of course, when the US market does open, it will be the biggest in the world. The FAA predicts that within five years, there will be over 7,500 drones in operation in the US, taking on tasks like inspecting and dusting crops, checking high-tension power lines and pipelines, providing morning traffic reports and checking for building code violations. Maybe they'll even deliver pizza.A robotic clone hosts a lecture at a Brisbane university for his master, who is more than 7000km away in Japan.
A band plays while flying robots light up the sky around them.This isn't the future. It's Robotronica - a futuristic event held at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane on Sunday.QUT creative director Jonathan Parsons says the event doesn't just showcase future possibilities, but highlights how advanced robotics presently is."We tend to use the term robots when it's something a bit alien or strange, but in the '50s dishwashers were robots, but we don't refer to them as that anymore," he told AAP."Now their'pletely part of the fabric of our society and one day, all these things will be too."
Swarm Farm Robotics Director Andrew Bate says his project is the future of agriculture.One his farm near Emerald in central Queensland, Mr Bates is developing small tractors that will operate unmanned with others in a swarm, to replace the bulky, expensive models currently used."We keep getting bigger and bigger, but now the focus is on being smaller and more efficient," Mr Bate said."It's better for the soil and it's far more cost effective."The star of the show was Geminoid, a robotic "clone" of his creator, Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro.Geminoid, who blinks and has other subconscious human traits, had his crowd entranced when he re-presented a lecture his creator did at QUT just days before.
A band plays while flying robots light up the sky around them.This isn't the future. It's Robotronica - a futuristic event held at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane on Sunday.QUT creative director Jonathan Parsons says the event doesn't just showcase future possibilities, but highlights how advanced robotics presently is."We tend to use the term robots when it's something a bit alien or strange, but in the '50s dishwashers were robots, but we don't refer to them as that anymore," he told AAP."Now their'pletely part of the fabric of our society and one day, all these things will be too."
Swarm Farm Robotics Director Andrew Bate says his project is the future of agriculture.One his farm near Emerald in central Queensland, Mr Bates is developing small tractors that will operate unmanned with others in a swarm, to replace the bulky, expensive models currently used."We keep getting bigger and bigger, but now the focus is on being smaller and more efficient," Mr Bate said."It's better for the soil and it's far more cost effective."The star of the show was Geminoid, a robotic "clone" of his creator, Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro.Geminoid, who blinks and has other subconscious human traits, had his crowd entranced when he re-presented a lecture his creator did at QUT just days before.
2013年8月20日星期二
A day at the don't-call-it-a-drone show
Among the thousands of'panies hawking their wares at the event, there were representatives from some 25 teams of state and local authorities, each vying to make its region one of the coveted designated test locations that will be announced by the FAA in December. Some, like Oklahoma, had their own booths set up to draw support from unmanned system manufacturers.And about the "d" word—the members of the AUVSI want us all to drop the word "drone." In the press room, the password for the Wi-Fi network was "It'snotadrone."
Swimming Robot Tested for Billion-Mile Trip to Saturn Moon, thanks to news reports of the US' drone war against terrorists. And indeed, the unmanned aircraft and other vehicles at Unmanned Systems were largely of the kinder, gentler variety, though the biggest booths still belonged to'panies selling to the US military and other customers who wear camouflage.While there were some US-based'panies showing off their unmanned wares, such as startup Titan Aerospace, the conference was evidence of how much more mature overseas drone markets there, I used that word again really are.
Because of current FAA regulations, even small drones in the range of model aircraft can't be flown'mercially; so far, the FAA has issued a limited number of "Certificates of Airworthiness" to non-federal government agencies, other public institutions, and universities.The only'mercial market in the US for drones is the movie industry, which buys helicopter drones for low-cost aerial shots. "You sell one, and then you're done," a representative of one civil drone manufacturer told me.Meanwhile, other countries, particularly in Europe, are allowing for relatively rapid adoption of small unmanned aerial vehicles for'mercial purposes. In some countries, drones have been in operation for over eight years.
Swimming Robot Tested for Billion-Mile Trip to Saturn Moon, thanks to news reports of the US' drone war against terrorists. And indeed, the unmanned aircraft and other vehicles at Unmanned Systems were largely of the kinder, gentler variety, though the biggest booths still belonged to'panies selling to the US military and other customers who wear camouflage.While there were some US-based'panies showing off their unmanned wares, such as startup Titan Aerospace, the conference was evidence of how much more mature overseas drone markets there, I used that word again really are.
Because of current FAA regulations, even small drones in the range of model aircraft can't be flown'mercially; so far, the FAA has issued a limited number of "Certificates of Airworthiness" to non-federal government agencies, other public institutions, and universities.The only'mercial market in the US for drones is the movie industry, which buys helicopter drones for low-cost aerial shots. "You sell one, and then you're done," a representative of one civil drone manufacturer told me.Meanwhile, other countries, particularly in Europe, are allowing for relatively rapid adoption of small unmanned aerial vehicles for'mercial purposes. In some countries, drones have been in operation for over eight years.
2013年8月15日星期四
Swimming Robot Tested for Billion-Mile Trip to Saturn Moon
The robot works pretty well — as long as the boxes are pretty much rectangular and aren't moving, says Stanford University'puter science professor Gary Bradski, co-founder of Industrial Perception, the start-up that invented the robot. But it isn't quite ready to replace human workers in the mailroom or on the factory floor."It's easy to get 80 or 90 percent of the way there," he said. " But it's getting the speed and reliability to make it economic. You can't fail very often; otherwise, you're not saving any labor."Getting robots to smell is one of the bigger challenges. A recent project out of the University of Tokyo takes a step in that direction. Scientists there recently unveiled a tiny robot that is driven by a male silkworm moth responding to a female moth's seductive pheromone aroma.
The researchers built a motorized wheeled car that moves when a moth, spurred by the smell, launches into a mating dance of repeated zigzags on top of a trackball, similar to the ones used inside a'puter mouse. As the moth does its dance, sensors transmit its motions to the robot's motors, allowing it to follow the path chosen by the male.It's not filled with liquid methane, nor is it -297 degrees Fahrenheit, but otherwise Laguna Negra does a passable impression of an alien sea. That's because it's surrounded by a barren environment with a thin atmosphere and is vulnerable to storms, avalanches, and possibly volcanoes.Due to global warming, the glacial lake is also rapidly changing, ideal circumstances for a robot being taught to recognize shifts in a fluid environment.
Titan has the distinction of being the only other body in our solar system known to have stable liquid on its surface. That liquid is mostly made of the gases methane and ethane, but the fact that the moon has seas, lakes, rain, and glaciers make it closer to Earth than anything else in our solar system. Related: "Saturn Moon Has Tropical 'Great Salt Lake,' Methane Marshes."The lander's science team, led by SETI astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol, first launched the Planetary Lake Lander in Laguna Negra in 2011. The prototype robot has spent the last two years exploring its surroundings, determining the lake's size and depth, measuring its pH, and observing all meteorological phenomena.
The researchers built a motorized wheeled car that moves when a moth, spurred by the smell, launches into a mating dance of repeated zigzags on top of a trackball, similar to the ones used inside a'puter mouse. As the moth does its dance, sensors transmit its motions to the robot's motors, allowing it to follow the path chosen by the male.It's not filled with liquid methane, nor is it -297 degrees Fahrenheit, but otherwise Laguna Negra does a passable impression of an alien sea. That's because it's surrounded by a barren environment with a thin atmosphere and is vulnerable to storms, avalanches, and possibly volcanoes.Due to global warming, the glacial lake is also rapidly changing, ideal circumstances for a robot being taught to recognize shifts in a fluid environment.
Titan has the distinction of being the only other body in our solar system known to have stable liquid on its surface. That liquid is mostly made of the gases methane and ethane, but the fact that the moon has seas, lakes, rain, and glaciers make it closer to Earth than anything else in our solar system. Related: "Saturn Moon Has Tropical 'Great Salt Lake,' Methane Marshes."The lander's science team, led by SETI astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol, first launched the Planetary Lake Lander in Laguna Negra in 2011. The prototype robot has spent the last two years exploring its surroundings, determining the lake's size and depth, measuring its pH, and observing all meteorological phenomena.
2013年8月13日星期二
Grabs In 2014 NASA, WPI Robot Challenge
NASA and the WPI will be looking for robots that can autonomously navigate varying terrain in search of geologic samples. These bits of mineral, soil, rock and more are then collected and returned to be tested. The 2014 Sample Return Robot challenge is held as an extension of NASA's Centennial Challenges program. NASA is responsible for raising the reward money for the'petition with some help from nonprofit organizations and'mercial and private partnerships."The objective of the'petition is to encourage innovations in automatic navigation and robotic manipulator technologies that NASA could incorporate into future missions," explained Michael Gazarik, Speaking robot has sent to the space from Japan.
"Innovations stemming from this challenge may improve NASA's capability to explore an asteroid or Mars, and advance robotic technology for use in industries and applications here on Earth."In June NASA awarded a $5,000 prize purse to Team Survey of Los Angeles when they successfully'pleted the Level 1 portion of the 2013 Sample Return Robot contest. Sam Ortega, the program manager for Centennial Challenges, said at the time that the teams have been improving their robots with each level in the contest."It is evident from the level of improvements the teams have shown from last year's event to this week's Level 1 win that the technology has significantly progressed, and the desired results of this challenge are within reach," Ortega said when the prize money was doled out in June.
Teams are expected to continue improving on their designs as technology improves and teams continue to push their designs to their limits. Registration for the 2014 Sample Return Robot challenge is open now through January 7, 2014."We're honored and excited to once again host the Sample Return Robot Challenge," said Philip B. Ryan, WPI's interim president in a statement."This year, 10,000 people turned out to watch the'petition and to enjoy WPI's fantastic 'Touch Tomorrow Festival' of science, technology and robots. It's a pleasure to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in the wonders of this'petition, this festival and this emerging field."
"Innovations stemming from this challenge may improve NASA's capability to explore an asteroid or Mars, and advance robotic technology for use in industries and applications here on Earth."In June NASA awarded a $5,000 prize purse to Team Survey of Los Angeles when they successfully'pleted the Level 1 portion of the 2013 Sample Return Robot contest. Sam Ortega, the program manager for Centennial Challenges, said at the time that the teams have been improving their robots with each level in the contest."It is evident from the level of improvements the teams have shown from last year's event to this week's Level 1 win that the technology has significantly progressed, and the desired results of this challenge are within reach," Ortega said when the prize money was doled out in June.
Teams are expected to continue improving on their designs as technology improves and teams continue to push their designs to their limits. Registration for the 2014 Sample Return Robot challenge is open now through January 7, 2014."We're honored and excited to once again host the Sample Return Robot Challenge," said Philip B. Ryan, WPI's interim president in a statement."This year, 10,000 people turned out to watch the'petition and to enjoy WPI's fantastic 'Touch Tomorrow Festival' of science, technology and robots. It's a pleasure to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in the wonders of this'petition, this festival and this emerging field."
2013年8月7日星期三
Speaking robot has sent to the space from Japan
He is only 34 centimetres tall and weighs just one kilo, but he's going to be launched into space. Kirobo, a knee-high talking robot, rocketed off from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center on Sunday in an unmanned cargo vessel headed to the International Space Station.The black-and-white bodied robot in red boots was developed by the University of Tokyo, Toyota Motor Corp and Dentsu Inc and will stay in space until late 2014. He'll be there to help the work of Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. Kirobo's name'es from the word "kibo" and "robot".He speaks only Japanese and is equipped with voice- and facial-recognition technology.
His job will largely consist of talking with Wakata, who will be his partner during the first robot-human chats in space until his take off for the space station with six other crew members in November.On Sunday a rocket launched from Japan bound for the ISS with about five tons of supplies for the astronauts aboard the space station. Also on board for Japan's future astronaut Koichi Wakata was a 13-inch-high robot, said to be the first talking robot in space.The small humanoid machine, called Kirobo, was specifically designed to be a digital'panion for Wakata. Kirobo was designed with the help of Toyota and will'municate with another robot back on Earth.
It's capable of more or less natural speaking interactions, and can choose its responses to conversational gambits from among the words it has learned.Kiribo builds on a Japanese trend of using cute robots as'panions. Experiments with the robotic seal toy Paro after the earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster in early 2012 showed great success in helping lift the spirits of survivors.Kirobo will join the much larger and future-facing Robonaut 2 humanoid robot aboard the ISS. Robonaut is an experimental tool that may be able to replace astronauts in some dangerous space-walking tasks.
His job will largely consist of talking with Wakata, who will be his partner during the first robot-human chats in space until his take off for the space station with six other crew members in November.On Sunday a rocket launched from Japan bound for the ISS with about five tons of supplies for the astronauts aboard the space station. Also on board for Japan's future astronaut Koichi Wakata was a 13-inch-high robot, said to be the first talking robot in space.The small humanoid machine, called Kirobo, was specifically designed to be a digital'panion for Wakata. Kirobo was designed with the help of Toyota and will'municate with another robot back on Earth.
It's capable of more or less natural speaking interactions, and can choose its responses to conversational gambits from among the words it has learned.Kiribo builds on a Japanese trend of using cute robots as'panions. Experiments with the robotic seal toy Paro after the earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster in early 2012 showed great success in helping lift the spirits of survivors.Kirobo will join the much larger and future-facing Robonaut 2 humanoid robot aboard the ISS. Robonaut is an experimental tool that may be able to replace astronauts in some dangerous space-walking tasks.
2013年8月6日星期二
Kirobo the talking robot blasts into space on historic mission
Kirobo, a knee-high talking robot with red boots and a black and white body, has blasted off from Japan for the International Space Station to test how machines can help astronauts with their work.The Japanese-speaking robot, equipped with voice- and facial-recognition technology, was packed into an unmanned cargo vessel along with tons of supplies and equipment for the crew of the orbital research base.The cargo vessel, launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan on Sunday, will arrive at the outpost on Friday, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's website.
Six-legged robot loses a leg, thinks about it, trundles on regardless, Kirobo said it "hoped to create a future where humans and robots live together and get along".As it carries on the first robot-human chats in space, Kirobo's main conversation partner will be Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is expected to take off for the space station with six other crew members in November.Wakata is due to take'mand of the'plex, a $100 billion project by 15 nations, next March. Kirobo - jointly developed by the University of Tokyo, Toyota Motor Corp and Dentsu Inc - will stay in space until late 2014.No need to feel alone in the vastness of space anymore -- thanks to the world's first talking robot astronaut.
Kirobo, the 2.2 pound creation of Tokyo University's Tomotaka Takahashi , has taken off in an unmanned rocket also carrying supplies for crew onboard the International Space Station. He will a'pany astronaut Kochi Wakata the future'mander of the International Space Station once he makes it to his destination.What for? To keep him'pany, of course. Kirobo is part of a study to see how machines can lend emotional support to humans that have to be isolated in space for extensive periods of time. He will relay messages from the control room to Mr. Wakata, record all their conversations, and is even capable of remembering Mr. Wakata's face once they meet again up among the stars.
Six-legged robot loses a leg, thinks about it, trundles on regardless, Kirobo said it "hoped to create a future where humans and robots live together and get along".As it carries on the first robot-human chats in space, Kirobo's main conversation partner will be Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is expected to take off for the space station with six other crew members in November.Wakata is due to take'mand of the'plex, a $100 billion project by 15 nations, next March. Kirobo - jointly developed by the University of Tokyo, Toyota Motor Corp and Dentsu Inc - will stay in space until late 2014.No need to feel alone in the vastness of space anymore -- thanks to the world's first talking robot astronaut.
Kirobo, the 2.2 pound creation of Tokyo University's Tomotaka Takahashi , has taken off in an unmanned rocket also carrying supplies for crew onboard the International Space Station. He will a'pany astronaut Kochi Wakata the future'mander of the International Space Station once he makes it to his destination.What for? To keep him'pany, of course. Kirobo is part of a study to see how machines can lend emotional support to humans that have to be isolated in space for extensive periods of time. He will relay messages from the control room to Mr. Wakata, record all their conversations, and is even capable of remembering Mr. Wakata's face once they meet again up among the stars.
2013年8月1日星期四
Six-legged robot loses a leg, thinks about it, trundles on regardless
Kawasaki Heavy Industries has created the world's first stainless-steel robot, a robotic arm actually, with seven degrees of freedom. This new robot has unprecedented levels of movement, due to those seven degrees, for a robot made of this material. The seven degrees translate into seven joints which give it precision and agility to get its work done. The robot will be used to automate experiments that use dangerous chemicals in the drug discovery and pharmaceutical fields.Creating the robot with a stainless steel body allows it to work in a sterile environments and withstand sterilization with hydrogen peroxide gas. Kawasaki plans to introduce the robotic arm to market in January 2014.
What good is a robot if, when left to its own devices, it breaks down at the first sign of trouble? What if that robot has been sent off to some inhospitable place where rescue is impossible, much less repair. Robots on the cutting edge are expensive things, so the ability to self-repair could be extremely valuable. But if it can't self-repair, the ability to simply make do would be rather useful too. That's the thinking behind this hexapod robot which can work out how best to adjust its gait in the unfortunate event that it loses a leg.Developed by roboticists at the Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University, the hexapod uses what the team calls a T-resilience the T standing for Transferability-based algorithm.
With six legs, the hexapod tootles along quite happily at 26 cm/s. But cut one of its front legs in half and, attempting to walk with the same gait, it manages only 8 cm/s. But after running 20 minutes' worth of simulations and tests, the robot has worked out a new way of walking, and is able to cover 18 cm/s, more than twice its initial post-damage speed.Essential to this approach is that the robot is fore-armed with what the researchers refer to as a self-model, which is basically an understanding of its ideal undamaged anatomy. Previous thinking on the issue had it that it's necessary for the robot to analyze its new gait to diagnose the damage and 'pensate accordingly.
What good is a robot if, when left to its own devices, it breaks down at the first sign of trouble? What if that robot has been sent off to some inhospitable place where rescue is impossible, much less repair. Robots on the cutting edge are expensive things, so the ability to self-repair could be extremely valuable. But if it can't self-repair, the ability to simply make do would be rather useful too. That's the thinking behind this hexapod robot which can work out how best to adjust its gait in the unfortunate event that it loses a leg.Developed by roboticists at the Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University, the hexapod uses what the team calls a T-resilience the T standing for Transferability-based algorithm.
With six legs, the hexapod tootles along quite happily at 26 cm/s. But cut one of its front legs in half and, attempting to walk with the same gait, it manages only 8 cm/s. But after running 20 minutes' worth of simulations and tests, the robot has worked out a new way of walking, and is able to cover 18 cm/s, more than twice its initial post-damage speed.Essential to this approach is that the robot is fore-armed with what the researchers refer to as a self-model, which is basically an understanding of its ideal undamaged anatomy. Previous thinking on the issue had it that it's necessary for the robot to analyze its new gait to diagnose the damage and 'pensate accordingly.
2013年7月30日星期二
Robots To The Rescue
Robotic development has come a long way since the days when mechanical robots could execute just a small number of repetitive tasks. But as the world was reminded following the nuclear reactor meltdown at Fukushima, Japan, following the tsunami of 2011, there is a pressing need for more agile and autonomous robots to aid first responders, especially in risky situations.Unfortunately, robots are not yet sophisticated or adaptable enough to handle many of the tasks that arise during disasters. Despite advances in programming and micro mechanics, robots have limited mobility, dexterity and ability to recognize and make decisions autonomously.
That's what's behind the focus of the latest DARPA Robotics Challenge, the fourth in a series of robotics development contests sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.In the first round of the competition, DARPA asked competing developers to tackle something different than the usual robotics challenge: create software to control a virtual robot.For robots to succeed in disaster environments, they require not only complex hardware to handle a variety of tasks but also software that operators can use to direct them remotely through many jobs and across difficult terrain. Spanish Museum Relies On Robot To Catch Cracks In Artwork, in a disaster, operators are more likely to be first responders than trained robotics specialists, so the virtual robots have to be relatively intuitive to direct.
That requires testing virtualized environments and exercises to develop and perfect the software for first responders.More than two dozen teams from eight countries qualified to compete in DARPA's Virtual Robotics Challenge held in June. Using a simulator developed for the DARPA Robotics Challenge by the Open Source Robotics Foundation, the teams created software to direct a virtual robot through three different tasks -- drive a vehicle, walk across rugged terrain, and attach a hose and turn a valve -- in a simulated environment.
That's what's behind the focus of the latest DARPA Robotics Challenge, the fourth in a series of robotics development contests sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.In the first round of the competition, DARPA asked competing developers to tackle something different than the usual robotics challenge: create software to control a virtual robot.For robots to succeed in disaster environments, they require not only complex hardware to handle a variety of tasks but also software that operators can use to direct them remotely through many jobs and across difficult terrain. Spanish Museum Relies On Robot To Catch Cracks In Artwork, in a disaster, operators are more likely to be first responders than trained robotics specialists, so the virtual robots have to be relatively intuitive to direct.
That requires testing virtualized environments and exercises to develop and perfect the software for first responders.More than two dozen teams from eight countries qualified to compete in DARPA's Virtual Robotics Challenge held in June. Using a simulator developed for the DARPA Robotics Challenge by the Open Source Robotics Foundation, the teams created software to direct a virtual robot through three different tasks -- drive a vehicle, walk across rugged terrain, and attach a hose and turn a valve -- in a simulated environment.
2013年7月25日星期四
Spanish Museum Relies On Robot To Catch Cracks In Artwork
I spy with my little eye, a crack in a Renaissance masterpiece! Well, that particular "job" has fallen onto the shoulders of a robot now, at least at Madrid's Reina Sofia museum in Spain. A huge robot will scan a painting of a masterpiece, where it will do so in an extremely slow process since it has to snap hundreds of microscopic shots via the use of infrared and ultraviolet photography. This particular robot will allow restorers to check out cracks, scratches and creases which are difficult to see at times with the naked eye, in addition to underlying preparatory sketches and other touch-ups. This unique robot has been given the nickname "Pablito", and that is because its first work involved Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" canvas that showcased the resulting carnage of the Spanish Civil War.
Pablito is no graceful robot, as it measures a whopping 9 meters long and 3.5 meters high, tipping the scales at approximately 1,200kg when fully assembled. In fact, its work on Guernica involved snapping 22,000 or so photos, so good luck trying to pore through all of that! You might expect a book with the title Sad Robot Stories to make you laugh. Sure, a robot with human emotions is nothing new. But wouldn't it be kind of funny if C3PO sang the blues? You know, if his verses were written by, say, Mason Johnson, one of the Chicago writers most likely to make me ROTFLMAO? This was my thinking, and if you're anything like me, you're already hunting-and-pecking your way through this review to find a release date and some purchasing information.
Turns out, though, in Mason Johnson's Sad Robot Stories, a fictional novella rather than a blues song, we see that there's a great deal more than laughter to be found in the woes of a machine.The title character of this book is Robot with a capital R, and he's sad because there are no more people on Earth. Some unnamed cataclysmic event wiped us all out. "Even the minute sound of blood rushing through veins and arteries, speeding through the heart and up to the brain--which sounded to Robot's technologically advanced thingymajigs like a warehouse filled with porcelain toilets constantly being flushed--was gone. Robot missed the toilet sound that was the human race." He means this in the nicest way possible.
Pablito is no graceful robot, as it measures a whopping 9 meters long and 3.5 meters high, tipping the scales at approximately 1,200kg when fully assembled. In fact, its work on Guernica involved snapping 22,000 or so photos, so good luck trying to pore through all of that! You might expect a book with the title Sad Robot Stories to make you laugh. Sure, a robot with human emotions is nothing new. But wouldn't it be kind of funny if C3PO sang the blues? You know, if his verses were written by, say, Mason Johnson, one of the Chicago writers most likely to make me ROTFLMAO? This was my thinking, and if you're anything like me, you're already hunting-and-pecking your way through this review to find a release date and some purchasing information.
Turns out, though, in Mason Johnson's Sad Robot Stories, a fictional novella rather than a blues song, we see that there's a great deal more than laughter to be found in the woes of a machine.The title character of this book is Robot with a capital R, and he's sad because there are no more people on Earth. Some unnamed cataclysmic event wiped us all out. "Even the minute sound of blood rushing through veins and arteries, speeding through the heart and up to the brain--which sounded to Robot's technologically advanced thingymajigs like a warehouse filled with porcelain toilets constantly being flushed--was gone. Robot missed the toilet sound that was the human race." He means this in the nicest way possible.
2013年7月23日星期二
Inquisitive robots can help make us better teachers
To
be more effective, robots need a more robust model of the world that
includes the simple variations in terminology or knowledge that we take
for granted. Consider the fact that something called a "red dish" or a
"burgundy bowl" may in fact be the same object, or that "clean up this
room" means different things to different people.To help train robots to
pick up on those nuances, Chernova turned to the model of microtask
management, which uses the Internet to enable short-term business
tasks—transcribing audio files or categorizing a.pany's inventory, for
example—Robot Frogs Trick Females in 'Bizarre' Example of Evolution
to be done by workers around the world."If it's not being used, we want
to have the robot say, 'I'm free right now. I want to post a job on
CrowdFlower,'" said Chernova, referring to a.pany that employs a million
microtask workers in 90 nations.
"'I need someone to teach me what these objects in my world are.' Hopefully a Crowdflower worker will take the job and spend five minutes labeling things in the environment for the robot, or teaching it in some other way."Recruiting people can be a challenging and inefficient project," she added. "So we like having the robot be in charge of it.""Teaching Robots to Anticipate Human Actions."To truly jumpstart their learning, robots need to ask more.plex questions, such as, "Am I doing this correctly?"Maya Cakmak, a post-doctoral student who is spending time at Willow Garage, said it's important for robots to ask questions because people aren't all that good at training them via demonstration.Humans generally don't like repeating tasks, can't perform those tasks the exact same way every time, and are disinclined to demonstrate different methods a robot might use to.plete the same task.
Inquisitive robots can help make us better teachers. Cakmak has performed studies that have helped to prove that—especially when robot programmers are non-experts.In 2012, Cakmak led a team that had volunteers guide robots through assembly tasks to construct a toy house by.bining a square block foundation with a triangular top. With passive learning, only one person in four showed the robot enough examples that it could understand how to.plete the task on its own.But when the robot asked questions about how to assemble the house, volunteers answered them—and the robot success rate soared to 100 percent. The robots processed the feedback into new actions and into mathematical functions that they could replicate later.
"'I need someone to teach me what these objects in my world are.' Hopefully a Crowdflower worker will take the job and spend five minutes labeling things in the environment for the robot, or teaching it in some other way."Recruiting people can be a challenging and inefficient project," she added. "So we like having the robot be in charge of it.""Teaching Robots to Anticipate Human Actions."To truly jumpstart their learning, robots need to ask more.plex questions, such as, "Am I doing this correctly?"Maya Cakmak, a post-doctoral student who is spending time at Willow Garage, said it's important for robots to ask questions because people aren't all that good at training them via demonstration.Humans generally don't like repeating tasks, can't perform those tasks the exact same way every time, and are disinclined to demonstrate different methods a robot might use to.plete the same task.
Inquisitive robots can help make us better teachers. Cakmak has performed studies that have helped to prove that—especially when robot programmers are non-experts.In 2012, Cakmak led a team that had volunteers guide robots through assembly tasks to construct a toy house by.bining a square block foundation with a triangular top. With passive learning, only one person in four showed the robot enough examples that it could understand how to.plete the task on its own.But when the robot asked questions about how to assemble the house, volunteers answered them—and the robot success rate soared to 100 percent. The robots processed the feedback into new actions and into mathematical functions that they could replicate later.
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