Robotics

BROOKLYN, N.Y.--Given that Maker Faire is being held next month at a Northern California fairgrounds, it's appropriate that one of the attractions will be a petting zoo.

But this will be unlike any you've seen before. There won't be "animals" on display, and there won't be any fur.

Welcome to the Robot Petting Zoo.

The brainchild of the geeks at MakerBot Industries, the zoo will feature a collection of 3D printed robots, each of which will do something unique. Take "Button bot," for example, a happy-looking android with a head … Read more

NASA is trying to shed any "not invented here" attitude for its next missions to Mars.

The space agency announced Friday it is enlisting the help of scientists and engineers worldwide to lay plans for sending a robot to Mars. The planning group's ultimate mission is to send humans to Mars by the 2030s.

NASA is organizing a meeting, called Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration, at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, in June. Scientists and technologists can submit ideas for papers online, some of which will be presented at the conference.

The robotic … Read more

What if kids with special needs had their own robot to work with them every day in school, guiding them toward long-term educational goals that develop not only their cognitive and social skills but also healthy habits such as exercise?

A team of 17 principal investigators from Yale, Stanford, MIT, and the University of Southern California think that with their expertise in computer science, robotics, educational theory, and development psychology, they can do just that.

So does the National Science Foundation, which just handed the team a $10 million Expeditions in Computing award -- one of the agency's largest … Read more

Baby boomers -- and their children caretakers -- may need to warm up to robots as they get older.

In the years ahead, robots could operate in homes to care for elderly people, helping with tasks such as dispensing meds or running virtual doctor's visits. Already, other forms of robots, such as droid-like machines in hospitals or prosthetics, are starting to make a mark in health care.

Many robotics companies are gravitating toward health care which they see as a potential high-volume consumer market for robots. The primary hurdle is finding solid business plans for getting robots in the … Read more

If DARPA gets its way, robots will be able to drive, unlock doors, and fix leaking pipes.

The agency today released details of its Robotics Challenge, an initiative to award up to $34 million in grants to improve robots for disaster response operations. Teams will compete for as much as $2 million for a single entry.

The robots themselves don't need to take a human form, but many of the tasks DARPA's challenge addresses favor robots in humanoid form. The challenge lays out a number of jobs the robot needs to address that would be helpful in the … Read more

Using 3D imagery and robotic helicopters, the Navy plans to scan the seas for pirates.

The Office of Naval Research last week detailed a system that uses high-definition cameras and sensors with laser-radar (LADAR) technology, also called LIDAR, to better identify small boats.

The plan is to equip a drone helicopter, called Fire Scout, with the cameras and the LADAR sensor in a system the Navy calls Multi-Mode Sensor Seeker (MMSS).

Once images are collected, software can sift through the data, comparing collected images to images of reference vessels, to help narrow in on potential problems. Without some sort of … Read more

NASA has released an image of a robotic spacecraft approaching the International Space Station, showing how the delicate operation looks from space.

The European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3) is an unmanned cargo spacecraft that delivered tons of supplies late last month. It brought 220 pounds of oxygen, 628 pounds of water, 4.5 tons of propellant, and nearly 2.5 tons of dry cargo, such as spare parts, food, clothing, and hardware for experiments.

The image shows the ATV-3 approaching from what seems to be a close distance as the International Space Station shines a light onto … Read more

The boffins at robotics startup TheCorpora have released a video showing how long it takes to assemble their charming little droid Qbo.

The bot recently entertained us with vids in which it recognized itself in a mirror, and then recognized Jane234, the female of the species.

Powered by an open-source Linux platform, Qbo is designed to be a communications robot that's part of our everyday environment. It lacks arms and legs, but makes up for limitations on physical interactivity with its charm. It's also fun to dress up.

As described by the startup, which is led by Francisco Paz, the components in Qbo include five open-source hardware boards designed in-house; EMG-30 motors; SRF10 ultrasonic sensors; an LCD screen; a hard drive; and a PC motherboard. … Read more

Webcams and video-conferencing software like Skype have really enhanced the way we communicate with friends, family, and colleagues around the world. Even so, talking to a floating head on a computer screen can still feel pretty cold, and it doesn't look like we're going to get a teleportation device any time soon (le sigh). However, researchers at Stanford University are hoping to make that interaction a little more lifelike with a computer that can mimic human motions.

David Sirkin and Wendy Ju from Stanford's Center for Design Research created a motorized flat-screen display that copycats various human motions like shrugging, nodding, and laughing. The team did so by adding motors to the Apple iMac G4 and then linking it to software that reads a person's movements and instructs the G4's moveable arm to perform one of nine motions. … Read more