Last Thursday, burglary suspect James A. Prevatt III had been in a Maryland motel room with his pregnant girlfriend when he went a bit nutso. Wanted in four states, he claimed that he would detonate a bomb or set fire in his room. So the man was sent pizza and soda by a robot, but Prevatt threatened to shoot it and didn't take the food. Granted the man was probably exhausted and said that he had been doing some drugs, but that was no excuse to inflict violence on the messenger. He was finally nabbed by humans when the bot brought munchies-curing hamburgers, soda, and cigarettes the next day. No explosives were found.
Industrial robots will have to learn to get along with human co-workers as shown in this clip from the University of Minho, Portugal. Notice that the ARoS berates its helpmate when the human makes a mistake. After a second one, the bot again complains. We hope that at the very least they will make them with kinder tones in the future, say like Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the voice behind the Star Trek's 'puter.
Combine WowWee's Elvis Alive and the Terminator and you apparently get the Elvinator. A work in progress, you can get details to DIY. He was constructed by GW Jax with the addition of a red LED, a jaw piston, a re-skinning, and programming to move, recognize voices, and interact. We are thinking that when the project is finally completed, he will say upon being turned on, "I'll be back, thank ya vera much." Come to think of it, he does resemble the Govinator.
"shrimpy" has created the eyeRobot, a prototype that guides visually impaired and blind users. The owner pushes and/or twists the handle to show it its preferred path, and the bot finds the way using sonar. It was made with an iRobot Create, sensors, potentiometers, and miscellaneous hardware. A winner from Instructable's iRobot Create Challenge, he built the robot for less than $400.00, lots cheaper than a $12,000 guide dog and costs much less to feed.
Wander down to Coney Island and you may see a Grindhouse booth dubbed The Waterboard Thrill Ride, created by artist Steve Powers of the Creative Time Public Art Forum. For a mere dollar, you can check out his take on the torture at Guantanamo Bay with automatons as participants. The exhibit will be in Coney Island until Sept. 15, then it will move to the Park Avenue Armory as part of Creative Time's Democracy in America exhibit. Pretty powerful stuff.
(Note: Those who are sensitive to harsh language might want to mute the audio.)
Lockwasher's designs feature some of the most original robot art we have seen to date. He takes found objects and turn them into rayguns, rockets, robots, etc. We have a special fondness for his team of 23.5" Gigantor and crony Visetti, made with an old electric fence controller, Smoothie maker spin-on lids, an espresso maker base, two golf pull cart flanges, bakelite wheels from an Electrolux and a spin-on oil filter tool. You have to check out the rest of his collection on Flickr, as his pieces are going fast.
Trossen Robotics holds contests every few months for those who like to do it themselves. Their last competition ended July 31 and the top prize went to the Homebrew Wall-E and his creator "4mem8." You can get the complete winners' list to give you some inspiration to enter their next one.
New rover prototypes nicknamed Bradley and Bruno were unveiled by the European Space Agency (ESA.) Tested by space company UK Astrium and expected to land on Mars in 2015, the bots have six-wheel steering and can turn or move sideways. With the ability to plot their own courses and save time, they also have "wheel walking capability" which allows them to anchor with five of them on a steep slope and inch forward. It seemed scary enough when Phoenix turned itself off. Imagine what this one will be able to do as its main mission is to search for past or present life.
We thought this week we would help do our part to save the planet with our Must Have Robot. Use an ordinary aluminum soda and turn it into a Robug with this Green Science kit. It includes a plastic body, wire wings and legs, motor, wires, screws, and detailed instructions. The best part is that you have to recycle your own can, so the kidlets can use Pepsi, jockish geeks can utilize Red Bull but, as for us, we will stick with our Bud. The elementary bot comes in a gift box and has a price starting at $8.99.
The National Science Foundation has been working on Sentry, an underwater bot that can go deep as 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) without linking to a ship. The 1,212 lb. free-swimming device was built and operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI,) who installed 1,000 lithium-ion batteries and various sensors. Designed to swim or hover, it measures such things as ocean temperature and pressure. During its first test, Sentry used a photo-mapping/seafloor imaging system to build maps off the coast of Oregon and Washington.
Lego Mindstorms NXT continues to inspire creativity, as in the form of Alphonso Martone's Pin-Plotter. Finalized after 2 tries, the third is made of one NXT brick, 3 motors, 3 touch-sensors, and lots of Technic bricks. It creates a printable area of 3.6 x 2.7" with a bitmap of 1,500 holes in about 40 minutes. Using a 0.3mm needle, it has a maximum resolution of 1.3 holes/mm (33 dpi.) The gadget runs on 6 1.2 V NiMH AA NXT batteries. We dig that a driver was included in the clever device.
The Ministry of Defence has created a competition for urban warfare equipment. The Mira team's entry is a 3 ft. flying saucer. Team member Chris Mellors says, "The bottom line is, we want our technology to help our Forces."
Sure, until someone freaks and shoots down the little bugger. The winner of the competition gets a trophy and a possible gig at the front line.
Take a peek at HPI's G-Dog, using the same tech as their G-Robot humanoid. The four-pawed canine has 9º of freedom and runs with the aid of his PRU-11 Controller. At about 5.3" long, the G-Dog was recently released in Japan for about $1,000.00. Watch through the end of the video to see him being put through his paces.
Calling Dr. Frankenstein! A robotic rat controlled by a bit of real rat brain has be made by British scientists at the University of Reading, led by Professor Kevin Warwick. The robot is linked wirelessly to 300,000 neurons kept in a cabinet. When the ratbot receives signals, it turns left or right. They are now trying to teach it to get used to its surroundings to prove that memories are retained in nerve connections.
Warwick previously experimented with a silicon chip transponder that was implanted in his forearm in 1998. He then managed to operate computers, doors, lights, and heaters without moving. He even wrote a book on the subject, "I, Cyborg."
It may not be strictly robotic, but it does have botty characters in it. Besides, this beta site is so much fun you just have to try it. Our bud Michael Jacobson and his bud Sammy have created Animasher, which is a very kewl and simple way to make animation. And yes, it has more than its share of bots, and a couple of stars from Warner Brothers in this animated shot.
Man Threatens to Shoot Robot
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