MetaFilter posts tagged with robotics

Get away from her, you bitch!

KokuRyu — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:01:15 -0800

"Robot Suit HAL" is a cyborg-type robot that can expand and improve physical capability. HAL, which weighs 23kg, is comprised of robotic 'limbs', and a backpack containing the suit's battery and computer system. It is strapped to the body and controlled by thought. When a person attempts to move, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles, and very weak traces of these signals can be detected on the surface of the skin. The HAL suit identifies these signals using a sensor attached the skin of the wearer, and a signal is sent to the suit's power unit telling the suit to move in unison with the wearer's own limbs. Japan's METI ministry has been jointly working with private firms on the development of robots. This comes in response to growing demand for their use in nursing care and welfare amid the aging of Japanese society. Other robots developed under a project to assist people who need nursing care and rehabilitation, have been shown to the public.

Company Denies its Robots Feed on the Dead

dejah420 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:28:48 -0800

Cyclone Power Technologies Inc. and Robotic Technology Inc. have sent out a press release denying that their new robot will feed on the dead. "It's a vegetarian!", they claim. Desecration of the dead is a war crime under Article 15 of the Geneva Conventions, and is certainly not something sanctioned by DARPA, Cyclone or RTI. “We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission,” stated Harry Schoell, Cyclone’s CEO.

Sometimes the present is just like the future was supposed to be

Kattullus — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:30:09 -0800

Robot penguins of the water and air are manufactured by German robotics manufacturer Festo, as well as aquatic and airborn rays (as in the fish). Here's another aquapenguin video from Festo's YouTube channel. These videos are so futuristic they don't seem real. [via, fittingly enough, William Gibson's Twitterfeed]

Nerd Herd!

ocherdraco — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:09:46 -0800

A group of middle-school-aged self-proclaimed nerds from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, who won the New York City FIRST Lego League Robotics Championship with their motorized robot called Thingamajig are embarking on a trip to the Robotics World Festival in Atlanta. After a lack of funds nearly scuttled their journey, they've been bailed out by British vacuum cleaner exec James Dyson, and have been given the kind of sendoff most young nerds can only dream of: an all-school nerd-cheering pep rally.

Kill all humans / assemble self into chair

Artw — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:18:21 -0800

The Best Robots of 2008 (via)

DOG HUNT!

SheMulp AKA Plus 1 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:15:26 -0800

Who's laughing now! Unlike robots with no emotions I was always pissed when ever that dog popped up from behind that bush. Every duck you missed there he was mocking you. Every duck you shot there he was taking the credit, but now I can finally get revenge on that damn dog!

AquaJelly & AirJelly

homunculus — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 11:20:24 -0800

All Hail Robo-Jellyfish! Behold Festo Bionic Learning Network's AquaJelly & AirJelly.

Terminator, Phase One

dwivian — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:59:35 -0800

Cyberdyne. Works on robotic systems that shouldn't kill you unless you are named John Connor. And, maybe not then. Cyberdyne. Works on robotic systems that could actually help you walk. Does it help any that they named it HAL?

Choe U-Ram

homunculus — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:48:30 -0800

Opertus Lunula Umbra. Kinetic sculpture by Choe U-Ram. [Via]

ANTS in Space

Kronos_to_Earth — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:22:09 -0800

The Autonomous NanoTechnology Swarm (ANTS) "...is a generic mission architecture consisting of miniaturized, autonomous, self-similar, reconfigurable, addressable components forming structures. The components/structures have wide spatial distribution and multi-level organization. This ‘swarm’ behavior is inspired by the success of social insect colonies...." ANTS may one day teem through the solar system.... (last two links large QT files) There's quite a number of video clips on the site, collected here.

Pilots? We don't need no stinkin' pilots!

From Bklyn — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 05:34:20 -0800

These helicopters fly themselves. No mention of arming them, but who do they think they are kidding?

Modular robot takes a kickin' and keeps on tickin'

pyramid termite — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:40:53 -0800

Self-assembling robot. A self-assembling chair. A swarm of robots attempting to assemble. (All you-tube links.)

You may ask yourself, how do I work this? David Byrne on robots

whir — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:50:55 -0800

David Byrne writes three thoughtful essays on robots, song, and the uncanny valley on the occasion of the creation of a robot which sings in his voice at a Madrid museum: Visiting the robot factory in Texas, regarding the uncanny valley, on machines and souls.

I Didn't Know That

netbros — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 08:11:17 -0800

Science Hack is a unique search engine for science videos focusing on Physics, Chemistry, and Space. For example, things to do with sulfur hexafluoride. Still growing, the editors are presently indexing other scientific fields of study including Geology, Psychology, Robotics and Computers. Ever wonder why things go bang?

The Uncanny Island

artifarce — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:22:12 -0800

"I began to realize that "robots"-- in all their various forms-- can really be seen as a symbol of a larger relationship between people and technology." In 1988, Frederick Schodt wrote about the Japanese fascination and use of robots in his book Inside the Robot Kingdom, curious by the disparities between American and Japanese manufacturing processes . In 1988, the American public wasn't ready for the book, or for robots. Today, Japan still has embraced robotic automation in a way that arguably no other country has. For more similar topics, Mangobot is a column that reports on Asian futurism.

sudo apt-get install creepyrobotgirlfriend2.0

loquacious — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:40:04 -0800

The uncanny valley just got deeper. "Treat yourself to the perfect woman."

Robot Dog

qldaddy — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:33:11 -0800

Amazing video of BigDog. Described by its developer, Boston Dynamics, as "The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth."

Robot Baseball

jason's_planet — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:35:51 -0800

This is a video of a robot playing baseball.

Lifelike robot helps train doctors in delivering babies

Brandon Blatcher — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:09:38 -0800

Noelle can't stop giving birth.

Get off my lawn photograph!

cashman — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:43:43 -0800

Kitchen Budapest is a collective that is aiming to render photographs on land through robotic grass cutting. The project is called Landprint. They've modded a lawn mower with mixers in the hopes of successfully producing lawn works visible from the air. The artist rendering of what they hope for is pretty neat. The "hello" they nearly got the landmower to cut, is not. [via]. They're also doing other cool projects.

Let's just hope they keep it away from the Bunsen burner

mayfly wake — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:13:03 -0800

In research that may one day help restore mobility to the paralyzed and amputees, Dr. Charles Higgins of the University of Arizona has created a "robo-moth": a 6-inch tall wheeled robot guided by an electrode inserted into a single neuron responsible for vision stability during flight in the hawk moth (aka the Tobacco hornworm). Here's a related paper [pdf] on biorobotics and the hawk moth for anyone realllly interested. Neuroscience and electrophysiology background possibly a plus.

Sexy-smelling deceptive robot cockroaches!

gingerbeer — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:00:13 -0800

Remember that X-files episode? The one with the robot cockroaches from outer space? Well, scientists in Belgium have created robots that act like cockroaches, and are accepted by the real cockroaches because they smell sexy to them. Better yet, the scientists were able to use the robots to change how the cockroaches behaved. The researchers see this as the first step towards other animals: "In a review of biologically inspired devices, Rolf Pfeifer of the University of Zurich describes robot insects, spiders, snakes, lobsters, dogs, monkeys and humans. Such robots, Pfeifer suggests, offer the opportunity to study different patterns of movement, locomotion, navigation, orientation, manipulation, imitation and cooperation. Ultimately, he wrote, these might result in machines that are 'adaptable, robust, versatile and agile.' 'Exciting times are ahead of us,' he wrote." Of course some people are already raising ethical questions, and wondering how robots will change human behavior. Previously. And more previously.

Hey Jules

Blingo — Fri, 04 May 2007 14:26:58 -0800

Meet Jules, a new humanoid robot from Hanson Robotics, the folks who built the Einstein and Phillip K. Dick robots, (the latter's head went missing a while back.) Jules loves you, as much as his newfangled software will allow. He also seems a little awkward and angst ridden for a robot, but it's not his fault; it must be the designers who made his software.

To serve man (and woman)...

ZenMasterThis — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 17:02:39 -0800

Invasion of the TeRKs!

It really tied the room together

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:18:07 -0800

Obviously, you're not a golfer. So let the WiigoBot do all the hard work.