How do you give a robot a sharper sense of smell? By using genetically modified frog cells, according to Shoji Takeuchi, a bioengineer at the University of Tokyo in Japan.
Today’s electronic noses are not up to the job, he says. Although e-noses have been around for a while – and are used to sniff out rotten food in production lines – they lack accuracy.
Engineer Andy Barry has created a new budget open source 3D scanner. He calls it the MakerScanner and hopes to sell it through the MakerBot web site for around $200. It uses the same laser line, offset webcam than many other systems use. He does a good job of explaining on the MakerScanner.com web site. There are even more details on his web site and Thingiverse.
The system uses galvanometers to move a mirror which moves the laser line. A sine wave is output to one galvanometer so it creates a line from the laser diode. The other scans it across the model. All of the parts appear to be printed with a Makerbot.
Researchers at Tehran University, in Iran, unveiled last month an adult-sized humanoid robot called Surena 2.
The initial pressreports in Iran’s official news media didn’t include many details, saying only it could “walk like a human being but at a slower pace” and perform some other tasks, and there were questions about the robot’s real capabilities.
IEEE Spectrum obtained more information about Surena, as well as images and videos showing that the robot can indeed walk — and even stand on one leg.
Are you a teacher that could use a MakerBot? It’s almost time to go back to school and so we’re giving 10 teachers each a MakerBot Cupcake CNC Deluxe Kit with standard MK4 Extruder and a bonus Heated Build Platform kit.
Before August 23rd send an email to learning@makerbot.com with the following info. We may publish the ideas/lesson plans on the blog or wiki after the contest ends.
Your name
Your school’s name
The address you’d like the MakerBot sent to if you are chosen
A paragraph describing how you would integrate the MakerBot into your curriculum. Include some description of the learning environment and what you teach
A lesson plan that you will implement if you get a MakerBot
Engineers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany built a Ferrari F1 simulator using an industrial robot arm. The driver sits in a simulated cockpit attached to the end of the arm and lets the driver feel what it’s like to take the turns and feel the G’s. The stated purpose is to study how humans respond to movement, but we all know the motivation goes far beyond that!
The picture above is a robot dog made by Philips, somewhere around 1958 I guess. It was taken from the book ‘PRACTICAL ROBOT CIRCUITS: ELECTRONIC SENSORY ORGANS AND NERVE SYSTEMS’ published by A.H. Bruinsma and the ‘Philips Technical Library’ in 1960. The book gives a nice insight of the progressive research that was done in those days. Besides some nice images of electronic dogs and fold-out charts there is also a nice picture of a huge electronic Noughts & Crossesmachine. If somebody happens to run in to this dog… please let me know.
In Bielefeld, work is carried out on a bimanual anthropomorphic platform including the torso BARTHOC as a communication partner. We study interactive robot learning within a object learning scenario, i.e. labeling, grasping, and removing objects, aiming at a more natural human-robot cooperation. In particular, our research focuses on: bimanual action, representation and execution, tactile sensors and manipulation based on tactile feedback, online-learning object detection, integration and coordination of perception and action and principles of human-robot dialog, including non-verbal communication, combination of exploratory and guided learning.
Warning: robots in video are less creepy than they appear.
Earlier this month, future engineers from across Europe put their submarines to the test at a competition organized by NATO’s Underwater Research Centre (NURC) in La Spezia, Italy. The event challenged students to design and build autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) capable of actual missions such as underwater demining and research.
We’re not sure what brand of batteries it was using, but the Cornell Ranger robot just kept going and going April 3 when it set an unofficial world record by walking nonstop for 45 laps — a little over 9 kilometers or 5.6 miles — around the Barton Hall running track. The robot was developed by a team of students working with Andy Ruina, Cornell professor of theoretical and applied mechanics. Unlike other walking robots that use motors to control every movement, the Ranger emulates human walking, using gravity to help swing its legs forward. The goal of the research is not only to advance robotics but also to learn more about the mechanics of walking. The information could be applied to rehabilitation and prosthetics for humans and even to improving athletic performance.
We’re certain there is already a restaurant contacting the makers
The video shows a Barrett WAM 7 DOFs manipulator learning to flip pancakes by reinforcement learning. The motion is encoded in a mixture of basis force fields through an extension of Dynamic Movement Primitives (DMP) that represents the synergies across the different variables through stiffness matrices. An Inverse Dynamics controller with variable stiffness is used for reproduction.
The skill is first demonstrated via kinesthetic teaching, and then refined by Policy learning by Weighting Exploration with the Returns (PoWER) algorithm. Compared to policy-gradient approaches, the reward is treated as a pseudo-probability, which allows Reinforcement Learning to use probabilistic estimation methods such as Expectation-Maximization (EM).
After 50 trials, the robot learns that the first part of the task requires a stiff behavior to throw the pancake in the air, while the second part requires the hand to be compliant in order to catch the pancake without having it bounced off the pan.
The two hit it off quickly — unusual for the 6-year-old, who has autism — and the boy is imitating his playmate’s every move, now nodding his head, now raising his arms.
In a handful of laboratories around the world, computer scientists are developing robots like this one: highly programmed machines that can engage people and teach them simple skills, including household tasks, vocabulary or, as in the case of the boy, playing, elementary imitation and taking turns.
A robotic jumbo dumbo! 8 feet tall and walking at 27 miles per hour. Mr. Stuart’s handmade Elephant has 9,000 parts, a steel frame and a 10 horsepower motor.
Printable catalog (PDF)
