This is a $2.1 Million Robot Hummingbird and It Could Save Your Life [Robots]

This tiny, flying robot flaps its wings 30 times per second—just like a real hummingbird—and will one day save lives by searching for survivors in wreckage and spots not easily accessible by humans.
So far, the development of this hummingbird has cost $2.1 million and that number's growing. Japanese researchers are hoping to make the robot hover at a point in mid-air—just like the bird which inspired it—as they control it using infrared sensors. Once they manage that and add a tiny camera, they imagine that the robot will "be used to help rescue people trapped in destroyed buildings, search for criminals or even operate as a probe vehicle on Mars."
A space-exploring, human-saving, crime-stopping robot bird? Brilliant.
[Gizmodo via PhysOrg via Engadget]

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Someday, Robots Will Do Our Work and Play [Robots]

This video of the Festo CyberKite shows exactly how we'll arrive at our dystopian future. Robots will do our jobs and play our games. Eventually, completely devoid of feeling, we'll all...say, look at that kite go!
[Gizmodo via IEEE Spectrum]

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Robot Practices Tai Chi And Swordplay In Preparation To Kill Us [Robots]

The first HUBO robot innocently rode a Segway. The HUBO 2 looks like he's ready to turn into a killer ninja-bot as he practices tai chi, hones his swordsmanship, and still has time for a drink.
We are so screwed.
[Gizmodo via Plastic Pals via Crunchgear]

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Japanese rules volleyball: one player must be robotic

There’s not much for me to add here. In addition to walking normally, robots can now play pool, baseball, volleyball, and make ramen. Anybody else feeling a bit like an endangered species?
[CrunchGear]

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Petman Walking/Balancing Robot Is Like BigDog's "Human" Master [Robots]

I'm sure you are all well acquainted with the crazy quadrupled BigDog robot, but if it had a master to walk with, it would probably look something like the Petman.
Actually, the similarity is not surprising considering that the walking robot was designed by Boston Dynamics—the same company behind BigDog. Petman has been in development for some time now, but this is the first chance we have had to view his human-like stride. The military plans on using it to test out protective clothing for soliders that need to be completely protective and not strain or open up under any sort of human articulated movement. It's capable of crawling, as well as walking at 3.2 MPH.
And like the Big Dog, it can keep its balance when you shove it.
[Gizmodo via Danger Room]

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Robot arms demonstrate their physical aptitude again, this time with Fanta

It’s not enough that they make ramen, juggle, and play catch — now robot arms need to play with their food? This robot arm on the right is teasing the one on the left. Want a Fanta? You can’t have one! Your feeble manipulator navigates this six-pack in vain.

These feats are child’s play for a robot designed for precision maneuvers. Just picture this, now: instead of a six-pack, it’s navigating the smoking rubble of one of humanity’s underground hiding places — you know, after the Robocalypse. A fraction of a second after it bursts into the room, it inputs the locations of all the faces, programs a path for its rapid-fire laser cannon, and…. boom, headshots.

[CrunchGear via BotJunkie and Gizmodo]

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Cockroach-Inspired Robot Survives 8-Story Fall, Will Outlive Us All [Robots]

DASH, a UC Berkeley-designed, cockroach-inspired robot, manages to take what makes cockroaches so resilient and even retain the cockroach's singularly creepy movement. This thing is near-indestructible.
The 10-cm long DASH, which stands for Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod, weighs only 16 grams, yet is able to run 15 times its body length per second. It has a uniquely flexible design from nearly all sides that allows it to survive pretty much anything, including a drop eight stories above the ground. It's actually made of what's basically laminated cardboard, which means it's a very cheap robot to build as well. Check out the video - this thing is crazy. [Gizmodo]

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Firefighting robot heads directly into harm's way

The Firefighters Assistant Robot, developed by Hoya Robot of South Korea, is designed to head directly into fires and let firefighters know just what the situation is inside. Able to operate in fires for up to 30 minutes, withstand drops of six feet and spray from a fire hose, this is one tough little bot.
Inside, the remote-controlled robot can transmit images, sounds, temperature, smoke and gas data to firefighters hanging out up to 54 yards away. This lets them stay safe and then, when they have all the info, plan a course of action. Pretty cool stuff.
[DVICE via Hoya Robot via Crave]

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Robots add new arsenal in their war against humanity: singing!

Way back in March I wrote about the HRP-4C robot that walks and talks. At CEATEC today I saw this thing in person. And now it sings!

An upgraded version of the VOCALOID, with an added conversation function and a new voice, help to make movement of the HRP-4C a bit more sophisticated. And as you can see here, a humanoid robot with human-like singing with an accompanying performance is sure to attract much attention.

VOCALOID is Yamaha’s proprietary vocal-processing technology developed for the manufacture of desktop music.
[CrunchGear]

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Power Loader Exoskeleton Gives Superhuman Strength [Exoskeletons]

The Power Loader 'dual-arm power amplification robot' uses 18 electromagnetic motors that let the wearer lift 220lbs without blinking. It gets its name from the exoskeleton from Aliens (get away from her you bitch!), and even has force-feedback.

It's being developed by a Panasonic subsidiary called ActiveLink, who say they don't expect to see it being used for things like disaster relief efforts until around 2015. At the moment it has an aluminum-alloy frame weighing around 500lbs, so hopefully they can shrink it down a bit. Very cool, though. Check out the vid:

[Gizmodo via Mainichi (translated) via PinkTentacle]

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New video shows Honda’s U3-X Personal Mobility Robot in its full prototype glory [Honda]

Remember the U3-X Mobility Robot from Honda from last year? Well, the auto-unicycle is still a prototype, but Honda has just released a new (and pretty interesting) promo video on its official YouTube channel. The company says the U3-X can run continuously for one hour on a single (lithium-ion) battery charge and can be recharged via a conventional 120-volt power outlet.



The prototype weighs just 22 pounds, can stand by itself and features a foldable seat and retractable footrests. But its main bullet point is the omni-directional driving wheel system, which, according to Honda, is the only one of its kind. It allows U3-X drivers not only to move forward and back but also sideways and diagonally, setting it apart from vaguely similar products like the Segway or Toyota’s Winglet (which is also still just a prototype).

Here’s the promo video (in English, 3:39 min):




[CrunchGear]

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P4: Honda’s Asimo humanoid gets a re-design after 13 years [Robots]

Honda’s Asimo is probably the world’s most famous humanoid robot. The company today leaked the first technical details and pictures of the fourth version of Asimo, the P4. And the new and improved Asimo, which took 13 years for Honda to develop (P3 was unveiled in 1997), looks much more elegant and human astronaut-like than the previous
models.
Standing 160cm tall, Asimo is probably only second in height to “tower robot” Tsutenkaku. P4 is as tall as P3, but Honda managed to reduce his weight from 130kg to 80kg. He now has 34 joints (two more joints in each hand than P3) and is said to be able to dance better than his predecessors (“dancing” was always one of Asimo’s special skills).

The new Asimo has a more flexible waist (which allows him to walk in a smoother way) and completely redesigned chest and shoulder areas. It looks completely different from the P1 Honda showed back in 1993. We’ll let you know when we get the first videos showing Asimo in action.

[CrunchGear via Plastic Pals and Response]

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Artificial Foot Recycles Energy With Every Step [Bionic]

Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a prosthesis that makes walking much easier on amputees than current options. The trick: an artificial foot that recycles the kinetic energy generated by walking.

The device works by mimicking the natural push-off of a human ankle, using a microprocessor to control the device and capture the energy normally dissipated by the leg:

In tests on subjects walking with an artificially-impaired ankle, a conventional prosthesis reduced ankle push-off work and increased net metabolic energy expenditure by 23% compared to normal walking. Energy recycling restored ankle push-off to normal and reduced the net metabolic energy penalty to 14%.

That means less cumbersome dragging of an artificial limb and a more natural walking sensation. It also only requires a small battery to operate, running off of less than one watt of power.

It's just a prototype for now, but assuming the current round of testing goes well, there's no reason not to expect a commercial application in the not too distant future.
[Gizmodo via PLoS ONE via Inhabitat]

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