From IEEE Spectrum
POSTED BY: Erico Guizzo and Randi Silberman Klett / Tue, November 27, 2012
We know you love robots. We love robots, too. In fact, who doesn’t love robots? Robots are one of those things that capture the imagination of people of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities. So we’re really proud to unveil this project. Robots for iPad is an app featuring the world’s coolest robots. If you want to know how robotics is going to change the world, this app is for you.
The app, which is now available in Apple’s App Store, includes 126 robots from 19 countries. I could go on and describe the main features, but I think the best way to see what the app is about is to watch this video.
As the video shows, you can spin robots 360 degrees, review detailed technical specs, see photos and videos, and much more. For all the features and screenshots, check out the app’s website: http://robotsforipad.com.
We hope you like the app as much as we do. And if your favorite robot (maybe a robot you helped to build) is not in the app, don’t worry. Send us an email and we’ll try to include it in a future update. If you have other suggestions for the app (should we build an Android version?), send those as well. We want your feedback to make this app even better.
Finally, we would like to thank the hundreds of roboticists, researchers, engineers, and other folks who provided ideas, information, and images for the app. Without YOU this project would not have been possible. So thank you, and keep making awesome robots!
Yesterday, 26 teams from around the region gathered at the University of Memphis for the Western TN First Lego League Pilot Championship.
This years theme was Senior Solutions and the students had to build a robot that ran missions based on the theme as well a research and propose a solution to a problem seniors face every day. The teams did a great job in both the robots and the solutions proposed.
Opening Ceremonies
The event was sponsored by the TN Society of Professional Engineers and the University of Memphis. With special thanks to the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (Memphis Professional Section and the University Student Branch) and the many volunteer who made the event a success!
from: PopSci
By Gregory Mone Posted 12.06.2012 at 9:59 am
You Build What?!
A Remote-Controlled Robo-Arm
A 16-year-old’s homemade wireless robotic limb.
Two summers ago, Easton LaChappelle thought it would be fun to build a robotic arm controlled wirelessly using a glove. LaChappelle, then 14, knew nothing about electronics, programming, or robots—but he was bored and desperate for a challenge. So over the next couple of years, the teen, now a high school junior, toiled in his cramped bedroom workshop in Mancos, Colorado, ironing out the details. In time, he emerged with a robo-arm operated by a gaming glove—and his mind.
LaChappelle began his bionic quest by scouring online forums and tutorials to glean as much know-how as he could about sensors, motors, and coding. His first model won him third place at the state science fair in 2011, but its fingers, made of flimsy electrical tubing, could not grasp anything heavy.
Unsatisfied, LaChappelle started over. He designed a new hand with computer modeling software, and then asked MakerBot Industries in Brooklyn, New York, to print the plastic “bones.” The new hand had human-like digits with multiple joints and a thumb that could bend inwards. Small electric motors in the wrist could curl the fingers by pulling a piece of ligament-like fishing line through each digit to its fingertip.
But the stretchy fishing line loosened up over time. LaChappelle’s mother, a former jeweler, suggested using nylon-coated steel wire instead. The wire could close the fingers but proved too rigid to recoil them, so LaChappelle rigged tiny dental rubber bands leftover from his awkward, brace-faced years into faux tendons for the joints. “The rubber bands provide a kind of spring-back mechanism,” he explains.
To control his robo-limb, LaChappelle modified a 1980s-era Nintendo Power Glove to convert real hand movements into robotic motion. Next, he made a brain-based controller by hacking parts of a headset from the board game Mindflex, which can read a player’s brainwaves. Simply by concentrating, LaChappelle says he can open and close the robo-hand.
The glove-based system earned him second place at an international science fair in 2012, and his parents rewarded him with his own 3-D printer, now housed in his bedroom closet. For his next goal, LaChappelle plans to evolve the current robo-arm into an inexpensive yet highly capable prosthetic. “I’m going to keep going and trying to make it better and better,” he says.
HOW IT WORKS
BUST A MOVE
LaChappelle built a skeletal frame out of scrap metal with industrial chain for a spine. A custom-built robotic arm rotates the hand at the wrist and bends at the elbow and shoulder. Two battery-powered, geared DC motors can lift the arm 90 degrees and lower it down.
MIND GAMES
Our minds emit faint frequencies of electrical energy called brainwaves, which doctors use to analyze everything from seizures and coma to sleep and focus. LaChappelle hacked Mattel’s focus-measuring Mindflex headset by writing software to convert the device’s data for his robo-hand. As a wearer’s brainwaves shift above or below a set frequency, the hand opens or closes.
SENSITIVE GRIP
When he’s not using the headset, LaChappelle controls his robotic limb with a 1989 Nintendo Power Glove. Flex sensors in the glove provide data for the robotic fingers to mirror his motions. To feel the robo-hand’s grip, he added eraser-size force sensors to the robotic fingertips. A wireless radio relays this data to the Power Glove and activates a cellphone’s vibrating motor: The stronger the squeeze, the more vibration he feels in the glove.
BUILDING A ROBOT ARM
Well, if you didn’t already spend all of your pocket money on one of those NanoQ quadrotors, here’s something that you’ll want to blow the rest of it on: a robotic dragonfly that manages to be nearly as impressive as just about every other bio-inspired micro flying robot that we’ve ever seen, except somehow, this one is up for pre-order on Indiegogo for just a couple hundred bucks.
First, you’ll want to watch the video, which shows some prototypes of this thing actually flying around:
It’s not exactly like the rendering, but it’s close enough that we’re ready to believe that these guys can deliver.
So, uh, yeah, who are these guys and where did this thing come from? Well, the company, TechJect, is a spinoff from Georgia Tech’s Robotics & Intelligent Machines Lab, and their robotic dragonfly has already been funded, with a million dollars (!) from the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research. I dunno what sort of super secret laser canon totin’ version of this robot the USAF is currently playing around with, but the specs of the robot Dragonflies that are being offered on Indiegogo are pretty damn impressive. Here are the basics:
TechJect will be offering several different versions of the robot, from a basic one that just (“just”) flies around, to the super top of the line version that comes with more powerful motors, two cameras, Wifi, GPS, and more. And that’s not the end of things, either:
“Our prototypes have gone through multiple design cycles. We’ll be offering a number of Apps that the users can download from Google Play and App stores to perform pre-defined operations like: Indoor mapping, automated patrolling and more. If you’re an entrepreneur, you can literally kickstart your own Next-Gen application market using our Software Development Kit (SDK). If you are a researcher or a hobbyist, skip to the next most versatile and compact platform to do your research. Create your own remarkable Apps on the coolest robot on the market!”
The cheapest “Alpha” version of the Dragonfly is already sold out, but while supplies last on Indiegogo, you can get an upgraded “Delta” Dragonfly for $180. The top of the line “Omega” is yours for $500, about $1,000 less than it’ll eventually retail for. All of the Indiegogo rewards are limited, and the project is already half funded, so you’ll have to jump on this fairly quickly if you want in. Delivery is estimated to be in mid to late 2013, which gives you plenty of time to think up of fun (and nefarious) ways in which to use a camera-toting robotic insect.
Indiegogo and TechJect via DYI Drones
The Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech released one of the newest viral videos demonstrating the popular “Gangnam Style”—in the form of a robot. Tech developed the humanoid robot as a research platform to study walking and independent behaviors within the robot community. The video was posted by The Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa), which explained:
“The CHARLI series humanoid robot is developed as a research platform to study bipedal walking and autonomous behaviors for humanoid robots. It is designed to be ultra light weight (under 15 kgs) for safety and low cost. As the next generation of the CHARLI series humanoid robots, CHARLI-2 improves stability and speed in walking, intelligence and autonomy, and soccer playing skills. CHARLI-L2 is also designed to participate in the autonomous robot soccer competition, RoboCup, in the Adult size league.”
If you do not know who Tesla is, he is probably the most prolific inventor EVER! He out invented Edison and actually beat him toe to toe in the DC vs AC war between them. Over the past month or two I have found a number of websites / articles summarizing his life. Here are a few:
Theoatmeal.com website did a “Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived.” This is a very good summary of his life, presented in a brief and humorous way. If you do not know of Tesla, this is a GREAT PLACE TO START.
Also EDN Network did a wonderful slideshow on Nikola Tesla back in September.
The famous Van Gogh painting Starry Night has received a very modern makeover
From the Herald Sun
By Erinna Giblin
Oct 3, 2012
THE picture is iconic, inspiring artists, astronomers and lovers for generations. Now new tribute has been paid to Vincent Van Gough’s “Starry Night”
Astrophysics student Alex Parker’s work involves a lot of starry nights, focusing on the formation and evolution of planetary systems.
So when cloudy weather stopped the PhD student from exploring space from his office at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, he decided to get creative.
He moulded some of the stunning images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope into an homage to Vincent Van Gogh’s famous 1889 painting, ‘Starry night’, using photo-mosaic software.
click on picture to see full (zoom-able) version
Alex Parker, a PHD astronomy student took Van Gogh’s 1889 painting, and built it back up from arguably humanity’s other most famous space portraits – those taken by the Hubble telescope over the last 20 years. Picture: Supplied
While the original artwork is set outside the painter’s asylum room window, where he was staying after a mental breakdown the year before at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, in France, Parker’s version is a lighter take on the awe-inspiring night sky.
Parker explained to Michele Banks at thefinchandpea.com :“The idea came up around the time of Hubble’s 22nd birthday, when I thought it would be neat to assemble a collage of a bunch of Hubble images from over its history.”
The prototype can move about a house, be operated by a tablet computer and lift and retrieve objects.
By Charlie Wells / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 5:58 PM
Toyota has developed a new product that seeks to give the elderly and disabled a hand — a robotic one, that is.
The car giant debuted a human-support robot Wednesday in Japan, a country whose graying population has created a growing need for in-home care.
Even though Toyota’s new robot doesn’t act like Rosie from the Jetsons, it does have a folding arm and a pair of fingers which can pick up objects weighing almost three pounds from the floor, open curtains, and perform several other household tasks that would be difficult for a person with limited mobility.
To determine which of these functions to include in the robot, Toyota worked with the Japan Service Dog Association, which recommended focusing on picking up and retrieving objects from hard-to-reach places, according to a company release.
Weighing in at 70 pounds, the robot stands about four-feet tall. It travels at speeds of up to 1.8 miles per hour and was designed to move slowly enough to be safe for indoor use.
A tablet computer can be used to operate the machine, which also has a space for a tablet to be worn on its “head,” allowing those far away to communicate with users in the home by video chat.
The company worked with the Foundation for Yokohama Rehabilitation Service in 2011 and now plans to collaborate with universities and healthcare professionals to come up with new functions for the machine.
Its price has not yet been released and it is only a prototype, but the robot will be on display Wednesday through Friday at Tokyo’s International Exhibition Center for the “Forefront of the Development of Home Care and Rehabilitation Equipment” event.
This isn’t the first time Toyota has unveiled a robot. In 2007, the car company introduced a series of humanoid “partner robots,” including one that could play the violin.
Then, the company billed its robots as an important step in the development of more advanced helper robots.
How Rethink Robotics Built Its New Baxter Robot Worker
Rodney Brooks’s new start-up wants to spark a factory revolution with a low-cost, user-friendly robot
