Mechanical Dreaming

theperplexedobserver:

A new technology makes it possible for a quadriplegic to use only thought to move a robotic arm. According to a report out yesterday, a Massachusetts woman was one of two patients to use the arm. She picked up a bottle with coffee in it and drank it, using a straw. This is the first time in 15 years that she was able to feed herself.

And to explain how the technology works, we’re joined now by Dr. Leigh Hochberg, who is a neurologist, an engineer and the lead author on this study. Welcome to the program.

[Listen Here]

Also see “The Brain-Computer Interface That Let a Quadriplegic Woman Move a Cup.”

This is fantastic. A truly amazing advancement in prosthetics!

(via scinerds)

So! The Kojiro Humanoid Project! Ain’t he a cutie? Makes me think of Astro Boy somewhat.

Kojiro is under development by the JSK Robotics Laboratory of Tokyo University, in an effort to better understand the musculoskeletal functions of the human body, how they create movement etc. with an aim of building a fully functioning robot with the same physical aptitudes of an average/strong human being.
Currently, Kojiro’s fame stems from his spine, being the first truly functioning spinal column in a mechanical form. With 3DOF, (More than you think. See how many individual, seperate movement forms you can achieve with YOUR spine.) it is hoped that one day the design may be used to repair or replace damaged spinal columns in humans.
Sadly, Kojiro, for all his good looks and kickass dance moves, is a fully RC robot, (being controlled with a PS2 controller no less!) with no memory function, no audio/visual input or response programming. He really is more of a research project in to the function of the human body than anything else right now, but he paves the way for the next generation of lithe, mechanically-sound androids…so thankyou Kojiro, thanks JSK!

Sorry this has taken SO long to publish folks. Stuff and things etc.

BELOW: A link to a complete, detailed PDF evidence report on Kojiro’s functions and development process, published by JSK themselves. Have fun!

• Kojiro Humanoid Evidence Report

Next time: A breakdown of the development history and future of NASA’s “ROBONAUT” project!

So, as promised, I bring news of TITAN MK5, the remote-control entertainment droid from Cyberstein Robots Ltd. (Note; Not affiliated with Terminator or any attempts to kill John Connor, promise.)

Where to start? Well, how about a little bit of technologically orgasmic knowledge? TITAN is believed to have the LARGEST solid-state memory bank in the WORLD, so he really is an Iron Giant! Well, he would be, save for being made predominantly of carbon-fibre, aluminium, and some polywhatsit plastic. He also has a two-way glass dome in his chest, but I’ll get back to that in a bit. Now, though information is a little vague and hushed-up, it’s time for a run-down of TITAN!

• His Stats - Developed in Cornwall, UK by Nik Fielding, TITAN is 7.9/8.0ft tall and 60 kg standing weight, increasing to 350 kg including transport cart with equipment.
• His Mind - As stated above, it is widely believed that TITAN has the largest solid-state memory in the world, though this is a yet unfounded claim. He (The development model) does however spend all time not operational wired in to the internet, constantly downloading and exchanging information for improved human-robot interaction.
• His Power - Operating on the most recent developments in LiFePO4 (Lithium Ferrous Phosphate) batteries, lasting for up to eight hours on one charge.
• His Control - Whilst upholding some semblance of random-access AI function in regards to interaction, TITAN  is first and foremost an RC robot, being controlled by a long-range communication from a controller in a motion suit. (This is where the shiny panel thing comes back in) The two-way mirror on TITAN’s chest covers an assortment of camera and motion sensor link-ups back to the controller at base. However, it doesn’t just allow the controller to react appropriately, it also triggers the RAM function in TITAN’s memory bank to permit verbal response and interaction.
  
  • “In order to have varied results across the board to the emotions recorded by Titan, every dialogue, song or punch line used is completely random, even the character voices used come from limitless bank of well know stars making Titan the first robot impressionist on the planet.”
• His Origin - Though we know TITAN’s development history, there is speculation and rumour as to the actual origin of the TITAN  project. Here is the most commonly circulated quote, though it’s rather circumspect and should, I feel, be taken with a hefty pinch of salt:
  
  • “Some say the Titan began life in the minds of a government quango back in the 90’s under the last Tory government. Their remit was to study human emotions and reactions in a variety of ways and to develop techniques of gaining and storing information for future generations. They came up with the idea of using a robot to collect the data because as it could not show any emotions and so not affect the results of the experiment. But once the Labour party came into power in 1997 all funding was stopped and the project scrapped, well at least that is what we were lead to believe. Recently released documents show that government officials received a large so called ‘Hand out’ from a private sector and told to proceed with the experiment. Titan was then completed in 2004 and has now been collecting this information for some years now but there are still a lot of unanswered questions.”

So! Finally, having re-typed it twice now (thankyou very much Firefox, your crashing was GREATLY appreciated), I give you TITAN! Impressive ain’t he? The relevant links are, as always, positioned throughout the article, so go, read up and learn more about the wonder that is TITAN!

Next time: An in-depth look in to the Kojiro Humanoid Project!

Stolen form KC Green’s “Gunshow” (link in pic) as soon as it came out.

Why?

Because it’s a damn good point, though he probably didn’t intend it that way. There are so many pointless, meaningless robots being built, that don’t push boundaries or advance old technology in any way and don’t actually do anything much aside from show off what the creator can do with a handful of wires.

To put it simply: The Furbie was a robot. It achieved nothing, it advanced nothing, it went nowhere as an idea, simply sat and jabbered and whined for hours. What use are these? If we wish to build robots for entertainment, then we must focus on robots that can interact with people legitimately and have the appropriate AI-based recognition functions to do so, not just stick a voicebox and motor on wheels and be vaguely amused as it trundles around doing a grand total of fuck all.

Here’s to the new generation of entertainment robotics with pioneers such as Cyberstein with their Titan robot(whom I’ll write about next, in more detail), already seen dancing on stage with Rihanna and posing with everyone’s favourite Robot hunter, The Fresh Prince himself, among other situations.
These Robots are innovative, they push and BREAK boundaries. These robots are the future of entertainment and Human-Robot relations and should be the focus of non-labour Robotics Engineers.

Gunbots…GUNBOTS EVERYWHERE!!! ASDFGHJKL.

Today, a military robot or two; Robotex AH and Robotex MH.
At 2ft tall, with dual MG’s and a 300rpm fire rate…these little bastards will make short work of any light-armoured personnel…and as such should be banned immediately.

Warfare is rampant and destructive enough as it is, without employing robots to do it for us. These things are only about $30,000 dollars a piece, cheaper than sending infantry out to die, plus easier to move around and practical in most terrain…slaughtering civilians is already second nature to the Army, imagine what’ll occur when we have robots on the job? It’s not even like they’re particularly intricate like the Robotex Avatar, which in itself is little more than a Roomba on Cat.Tracks, sans brushes. On such a note, I’d like to make it very clear that anything Robotex can do, iRobot probably did it first and better, for example, their entire range of UGV’s massivley outrank the Avatar in skill, range, dexterity, ability and overall technology.

Either way, as anything other than labour-intensive machines (construction, bomb-disposal etc.) I think it can generally be agreed that gluing an SMG to a jumped-up lawnmower is probably a bad idea.