Somehow is seems only fitting that a techno-rich company receive the first self-driving car in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company says that it has already completed over 200,000 hours of computer led-driving with its Prius. In the video, Santa Clara Valley Blind Center head Steve Mahan takes it through its paces.
The license plate itself is red, features AU (for autonomous) and the infinity symbol. The cars are still in the testing stage, however we expect that as other car companies get involved it won't be long before the streets are filled with automated road rage.
Sharp has finally jumped on the robotic vacuum cleaner bandwagon with its state of the art COCOROBO RX-V100 and RX-V80. Available in June at prices of $1,600 and $1,100 respectively, both models feature ION technology as well as their artificially intelligent Cocoro engine. Good on both hard floor and carpet, the device can connect to a WiFi network and software will become available for remote instructions. Best of all, the RX-V100 is voice controlled. Run, COCO, run.
Tokyo's University of Electro-Communications built Shiri, which literally means buttocks in Japanese. It difficult not to make wise cracks here so we will let them explain it:
"Shiri" is a buttocks humanoid robot that expresses various emotions with organic movement of the artificial muscles.
Example emotions such as "Tension", "Twitch" and "Protrusion" in attempt to express emotions on buttocks were added to SHIRI.
This project has two main points, one is the innovative use of robotics technology and its purpose. And second is to raise the argument as to what perceptions will be manifested in the minds of people who communicate with SHIRI.
Hmm. If you can make it through all 3 minutes and 51 seconds of the video, then you are surely one of those that agrees with New Zealand researchers Ian Yeoman and Michelle Mars that robot hookers will arrive by 2050.
The amazing Claire Lomas finished the London Marathon in 16 days with the aid of a bionic suit made by ReWalk. The $69,000 FDA-approved motorized skeleton helped her by correcting shifts in her balance.
In 2007, Lomas broke her neck, back and ribs and punctured a lung after being thrown from a horse. She will receive a special cup for her participation because she didn't qualify for a medal since she didn't finish the walk in one day.
The courageous marathoner has already raised about £80,000 (~$128,000) for Spinal Research, an organization that funds research and treatments for back and neck paralysis. Although she says she is just glad to have earned the money, a campaign is already underway to see that she is properly awarded for her performance and several other runners donated their medals to her.
The Whimsical Ceiling Fan Light Pull is 2" in length and attached to a 16", 18k-gold plated chain and connector. It can be used with an indoor fan or hanging lamp.
The One Hundred 80 Degrees Robot Alarm Clock comes in 6 assorted styles and is made of plastic. Each is 5.75", is LED lit and runs on batteries (not included.) A great gift for robot fans who are reticent to rise in the morning.
Imagine having a robot that would decompose once it finishes its task. The University of Bristol, UK is working on a £200,000 research grant to do just that. While most outdated or overused bots will tend to resemble Wall-E.
Ecobot will be made of plant textiles and bioplastics that can be digested by organisms. Dr. Jonathan Rossiter, head of the team, claims that, "Once a biodegradable robot has reached the end of its mission, for example having performed some environmental cleanup activity following an oil spill, it will decompose into harmless material."
We could see these environmentally friendly robots hanging out in disaster areas or getting a one-way ticket to a planet far, far away.
We happily brag about the exploits of Watson, IBM's super computer, when he won on Jeopardy and was loaned to the University of Maryland to attend Med School. Now we found a Nova Episode called "The Smartest Machine on Earth" recently run on PBS. Featured prominently is Watson, with a behind-the-scenes look at how the 'puter became a champ. Hit the link to see the entire episode. Pay special attention to the scenes that show comedian Todd Crain prepping Watson for the big event and actually harassing him.
A group from the University of Illinois developed an avian MAV that can land on a human's hand. The autonomous bot has undergone test flights that demonstrates its two phases. First it flies while maneuvering with articulated wings then it pitches up and slows down before landing. Still in the early stages, the team plans to continue to fine tune their project in the future.
Titan the Robot has been around for several years singing, dancing and performing assorted schtik. Created by Cyberstein Robots in 2004, Titan stands 7' 3" and has gone through 5 different metamorphoses. The company's long term goal is to create a fully autonomous version.
We have to give Cyberstein credit for being able pique everyone's interest enough to get him booked at such events as the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix, the UK premiere of both iRobot and Real Steel, and on the UK version of Big Brother. Look for the possibility of Titan being one of the Torch bearers at the 2012 Olympics this summer in London.
While we were searching for appropriate video, we also came across the pseudo King Robota, an extreme disc jockey also available for parties who seems to do his best work at car shows. Maybe we can get them to participate in a Real Steel Match!
If you could take a much-beloved movie robot and commercialize the heck out of it, how would you do it? Well, you could turn it into a Limited Edition Star Wars Xbox 360 Bundle. Add to it custom R2-D2 sounds and the game Star Wars with C-3PO as an unlockable character in Dance mode. Also included is the Adventures game, 320GB hard drive, a wired headset, controller and the first white sensor. May the gaming force be with you.
Those who attend the Maker Faire next month in San Mateo, CA or Queens, New York in September will be treated to a Robot Petting Zoo. The brains behind the attraction are those from Makerbot Industries who created the Replicator 3D printer. They even utilized one to help build parts for the zoo with the results being a collection of bots that perform different actions.
For example, push Button Bot in one of several areas and he may amuse both kids and adults. Tickets for the events can be purchased online for $40.00 per adult, $20.00 for students.
Liverpool recently hosted the Robots and Avatars Exhibition that featured various ideas including Compass, a robotic device that controls where a person can walk. Guided by a magnetic field and torque controlled by heavy weights that can pull the user in alternate directions, BBC Reporter Spencer Kelly seems a bit intimidated by the device. The exhibit is now touring Romania, Slovania, France and the Asian Pacific for the next two years. Here's hoping that they can be persuaded to bring it U.S. as well.
Planetary Resources has great plans to mine asteroids for both precious metals and water and we are not surprised that filmmaker James Cameron is getting involved. The group of celestial miners include engineers, former NASA astronauts and other techies. They plan to send unmanned spacecrafts with telescopes to start. Smaller ones can be dragged closer to earth and robot miners will be dispatched to the larger ones.
While this will undoubtedly be a pricey project, Planetary plans to make some of that telescope observation time accessible to the little people. Another plus is helping to save Earth's environment and if we go in search of asteroids, there should be a lot less odds of them damaging us. The first phase involves sending an Arkyd Series 100 Leo space telescope up within the next two years for observation. Mining may be reachable within the next decade.
China's BYD displayed its Qin plug-in (named after the first Empire) at the recent Beijing Motor Show. The hybrid sedan features a lush interior with two TFT LCDs on the dashboard. After the Qin is turned on, an actual small robot appears on its dashboard that, according to China Car Times, appears to be the terminal of its "i" networking system, including wireless internet, cloud computing, GPS, voice control and music downloads. Price should run between $24,000 - $32,000.
First Autonomous Vehicle Goes to Google
April showers brought May flowers that even robots appreciate. Check out our monthly roundup for last month.
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