Future-ish: Robotics

Showing posts with label Robotics. Show all posts

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60th annual Merry Monoarch Festival celebrating Hawaiian Hula and culture starts April 9th | Big Island Now | merriemonoarch.com
Afgan girls robotics team finds home in Quatar | NBC News

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NewsFusion for September 2019

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Astronauts make cement in space | Space.com
Global robotics investments exceed $16 billion | Business Wire
New field of ecological forecasting integrates many and diverse sciences | Science Magazine

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Fast Company names 2019 Innovation By Design Awards | Fast Company
Tailoring a sustainable future for fashion | PBS News Hour
Design Week Mexico runs October 3-27, 2019 | Design Week Mexico

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Hawaii's Mauna Kea Protests Strike Common Chord Around The Globe | Forbes
New South Wales passes laws to recognize and revive aboriginal languages | Voice of America
Nepal Selects 'Bulbul' for International Feature Category Oscars | The Hollywood Reporter

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Noel Sharkey is an Irish computer scientist and a specialist in the ethics of robots, particularly the use of robots in military or political applications. Sharkey was a Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and a Professor of Public Engagement at the University of Sheffield. He later served as a chair in the Department of Computer Science before his retirement. He also holds a doctorates in psychology and science and is a credentialed electrical engineer and IT professional. Hw ia also a fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the British Computer Society, and the Royal Institute of Navigation.

Sharkey is the founder and editor-in-chief of Connection Science and an editor for Artificial Intelligence Review and Robotics and Autonomous Systems. Sharkey also chairs The International Committee for Robot Arms Control. Sharkey participates frequently in radio, TV, and newspaper articles regarding issues concerned with ethical application of robotics and AI in areas such as the military, child care, elder care, policing, surveillance, medicine/surgery, education and criminal/terrorist activity.

>> Contributions at The Guardian
>> ICRAC Twitter: @stoptherobotwar
>> Wikipedia

Articles on Noel Sharkey

Kornwitz, J. 2013. The Case against killer robots. News @ Northwestern

RobotWatch | Achilles Walks the Walk

University of Arizona robotics engineers Theresa Klein and Anthony Lewis published a paper in the July 2012 issue of Journal of Engineering on their robot Achilles that has mastered the art and science of walking. Achilles doesn't just walk like a human though, the the robot has neural and musculoskeletal features that are based on human biology and mobility as well. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for robots.

Below is a video of Achilles in action:

Elephant-inspired Robotic Arm

German design and engineering firm, Festo, has proven once again the biomimicry (looking to nature for inspiration and solutions to human challenges) holds many insights and opportunities. For their new Bionic Handling Assistant, Festo looked to the elephant to model their flexible and lightweight robotic arm that can be implemented across a wide variety of fields from medicine to construction. Working with multiple universities, institutes and companies as part of their Bionic Learning Network that promises to bring many revolutionary new technologies to market based on structures, systems, and processes found in nature.

More Robotics for Bieber

Pop culture and pop science collided in January of 2012 when singer/songwriter Justin Bieber appeared at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to promote TOSY Robotics latest far out product, mRobo Ultra Base, a new concept in portable audio speakers that doubles as a dancing robot. Nothing could take STEM subjects and robotics mainstream faster than some love from the Bieb.

This isn't his first foray into the techno future. In October of 2011, Bieber posted a photo on his Instagram feed sporting a pretty fantastic 'Cy-Bieb' arm.

Kinetic Sculpture of Ocean Waves

An installation of the tele-present water series by David Bowen was exhibited recently in Poland's Muzeum Narodowe we Wrocławiu as part of the 2011 WRO Biennale. The installation translates real-time wave data from a NOAA buoy in the Pacific Ocean into the undulations of this mechanical grid sculpture in the video below. It is amazing.

This sculpture gives us a glimpse into the dynamics of ocean waves in a remote patch of the Pacific Ocean that we would never otherwise see.

Bowen is an American artist who works in kinetic sculpture, creating mechanical devices that interact with natural processes and systems. His fascination with machines is evident in the intricate design of his sculptures and the integration of real-time field data makes those in Bowen's tele-present water series even more compelling as they are mechanical representations of physical phenomena. BP

RobotWatch | Swarmanoid, The Movie

The book never stood a chance. The swarm of robots (aka the "swarmanoid") that set out to retrieve it was just to fast and organized...well, maybe not so fast. The project is a Future and Emerging Technologies (FET-OPEN) experiment of Marco Dorigo at Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and funded by the Commission of the European Union. It's a great example of current research on robots communicating and working together to accomplish a task. Lucky for us, the swarmanoiod has a way to go before it reaches Borg status. And yes, we did notice the C3PO poster in the background. Bonus points!

Watch the award winning video on the project below:

More information on swarm bot projects can be found at www.swarm-bots.org.

RobotWatch | Lingodroids devise their own language

Led by Dr. Janet Wiles, an Australian research team is teaching robots how to talk amongst themselves. The team recently presented their work at the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Shanghai, China titled "Lingodroids: Studies in Spatial Cognition and Language". The robots use cameras, sonar, and lasers to explore their environment and then use beeps to communicate information. Along the way they make up new words to describe novel situations and places thus inventing their very own language. They would certainly make C3PO proud. Hopefully the robots are not as good at keeping secrets.

Tod Machover: Hyper-instruments, Robotic Operas, and Guitar Hero

Tod Machover, an American composer and inventor, works in cutting-edge music technology at MIT's Media Lab and it was recently profiled by The Economist. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles was the inspiration behind his work on hyperinstruments, which are 'smart' instruments that interpret and enhance the music played on them. The album was too complex to play live and hyperinstruments, like the one he built for Prince, enable musicians to more fully realize their musical vision live.

In his 20 years in the Hyperinstruments/Opera of the Future group, Machover has also worked on developing technology that enables non-musicians and disabled persons to compose and perform music through physical gestures and vocalizations. As you may have guessed, he's been a speaker at TED on his inventive work. His latest project is a robotic opera that visualizes the sound and movement of performers on robotic walls that move and display animated visuals.

Perhaps Machover's most widely-used technology is the one that was instrumental to the development of Guitar Hero. BP

RobotWatch | HRP-4C, Japan's robotic rockstar

Our friends at Pink Tentacle just reported the latest activities of HRP-4C, the humanoid robot created by the Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). HRP-4C has already wowed the fashion and science scene in Japan, now she is taking on pop music and dance. Watch out Janet and J-Lo, she's got some good moves.

RobotWatch: little robot lies

Robots just became a little more human. Computer scientists at Atlanta's Georgia Institute of Technology have shown that one robot can deceive another...unless the first robot is clumsy of course. Should we be teaching robots how to deceive each other, to deceive humans? Don't ask a Battlestar Galactica fan! Read a quick story on the subject in Science Magazine's Science Now or read Wagner and Arkin's full article here.

RobotWatch - Feline feedback

Philips Research Technologies recently created a new robot to help research human-robot interactions. With the ability to generate a wide range of emotional facial responses, to see, and to speak, iCat is the 'purr-fect' platform to study human-robot interactions because it offers the ability to give clear and concise feedback to its human counterparts. Whoever said all cats are aloof has obviously not met iCat.