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Korea unveils humanoid robots designed to help the disabled

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:39:52 +0000

Mobile humanoid robots are nothing new at this point in the history of robotics, but as more advances are made with these kinds of robots we find that they’re given ever more specialized tasks.

DragonBot is one smart toy

admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:04:09 +0000

If you’re a fan of intelligent toys, you might be in for a treat with the DragonBot. Created by researchers from MIT, Harvard and Northeastern, this robot toy features an Android phone for a “brain”, and animated eyes thanks to the phone’s display. The DragonBot is touted to be extremely smart and is capable of learning from other DragonBots thanks to its cloud-connected brain. It is said to be very good with language and can even learn from visual cues and it knows everything that other DragonBots know. So when this robot soft toy hits the markets, you can be pretty sure it’s going to learn a lot of new things within a matter of days.
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DragonBot is one smart toy, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : Asus Transformer Prime Review,

Quartet of robots attempt record-breaking Pacific swim for science

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:38:16 +0000

Two pairs of self-propelled robots called Wave Gliders recently launched from San Francisco on a course that’ll see them collectively covering almost 38,000 miles of the Pacific. If they reach their destinations in Japan and Australia, they could set the world record for the longest distance traveled by an unmanned vehicle.

Helsinki care center imports bots to battle Alzheimer’s, lead sing-alongs (video)

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:37:25 +0000

In what we can only assume is part of their community service, after running amok and devouring all that medicine, robots are now visiting our old people in hospitals, leading them in sing-alongs and helping them battle Alzheimer’s — instead of terrorizing them. The Kustaankartano Elderly Centre in Helsinki has brought in a pair of bots designed by the Korean Institute of Science and Technology to entertain patients and lead them though exercise routines. Of course, without legs or proper arms, their usefulness as fitness instructors is severely limited, and watching them lip sync Bohemian Rhapsody is more creepy than amusing. So, yeah, while robots may have a place in helping care for our elderly, we’re pretty sure these two don’t have a future in the industry. They’ll be moving along just as soon as their court-ordered service is complete. Check out the video after the break.

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Robotic Venus Flytrap eats bugs to generate power

admin — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:18:44 +0000

If you worry about robots taking over the world, it’s reassuring to know that by cutting off power source we can stop them. Now a researcher at the University of Maine has developed a robotic version of the Venus Flytrap, providing a potential fuel source for future robots.

Super Geek juggles Rubik’s Cubes while solving them

admin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:21:08 +0000

Yes, the humans are still winning! After seeing video after video of robots rapidly performing complex human tasks, making us look like flesh-bound simpleton’s, one man has raised the stakes in the human vs. automaton efficiency wars via the ultimate geek totem: the Rubik’s Cube.

LOPES robot legs to help stroke patients

admin — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 15:28:05 +0000

Robots might not yet have taken over the world, but that does not mean they aren’t doing anything about it at the moment. If you’re thinking of cybernetic enhancements for a better life, then you’re right – the LOPES therapeutic robot that you see above is able to perform all of the walking for you, but others who feel that they should do some of the walking themselves can set the level of ‘help’ that they receive.

Scientists over in the Netherlands are working on the implementation of robotic legs in order to improve the movement of stroke patients. Known as Lower-extremity Powered ExoSkeleton in full, LOPES will train the body and mind of a patient to recover a more natural step. It is also undergoing tests on spinal injury patients who have recovered a bit of restricted movement in their legs.

LOPES robot legs to help stroke patients, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : Droid Bionic Review, Motorola Photon 4G Review,

Video: Vortex-Powered Wall-Climbing Robot Parachutes To Safety

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 01:44:38 +0000

The huge variety of robots is a thing to marvel at. Just a few years ago, the best they could do was roll around or walk stiffly on poorly-hinged limbs. Now we have robots that gallop , slither , and fly like a bird . This mode of transportation is totally new to me, though. The Paraswift climbs up walls by generating a suction, then gets itself safely down by jumping off and deploying a little parachute. Why not, right? Check out the video. The action happens about halfway in. Paraswift is a collaboration between Disney Research and the Swiss Federal Research Institute. This demonstration took place during the International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots , held at the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris. It generates the suction by creating a vortex “like a mini tornado” in a central tube; the vortex has a low-pressure center, and this pressure gradient, through a process known as sorcery , causes the robot to stick to the wall. Only the wheels need to be in contact with the climbing surface, which makes it much more useful for climbing surfaces like stone …

Self teaching robot solves problems with child-like ease

admin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:49:20 +0000

Industrious futurists can forget about that career path devoted to training robots to serve humans, it turns out that the best ones will train themselves like this latest creation hailing from Japan.

Video Stabilization Software from SRI Embedded in Google Talk

admin — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:11:44 +0000

Google Talk video chat used while walking by SRI researchers on an Android tablet

Image stabilization is a technology commonly used for digital cameras, but here, we are talking about real-time image stabilization for live video streaming, specifically for video chat services, which requires different algorithms and more computing power. Silicon Valley-based SRI International, a nonprofit research and development organization, is announcing that Google Talk for Android 3.0+ devices integrates its 2D video stabilization software. It is fun to video chat while walking using a tablet, but without video stabilization, picture quality is poor since the transmitted images look shaky – I know, I just tried it with an iPad and Skype, the experience was poor. I will update this article with the test “Video Walk with Google Talk on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ”.

SRI International, (formerly Stanford Research Institute) has been widely recognized worldwide for its disruptive inventions, including the first mouse, invented by Douglas Engelbart in his SRI lab in 1963. The Stanford-based institute is also famous for its robotics and artificial intelligence research, specifically for medical applications, a good example is the da Vinci Surgical System.

Video Stabilization Software from SRI Embedded in Google Talk, By Ubergizmo. Top Stories : HTC Sensation Review, Samsung Infuse 4G Review,