From: The Inquisitr
Roboy, the robot boy being created by scientists, is scheduled to be “born” in March 2013. That would make the human-like robot’s arrival come at a cheeky nine months from its creation date.
Engineers at the University of Zurich’s Artificial Intelligence Lab have announced their intent to create a humanoid robot comprised of artificial muscles that can be used as a helper to humans. Roboy is being modeled to resemble a child and engineers hope that the mechanical helper’s future lies with servicing the elderly and sick.
The Daily Mail reports that approximately 40 engineers and 15 partners are currently on board for the project. Backing for the endeavor will come from combination of sources. Professor Rolf Pfeifer, head of the project, said the following:
“Financing the project through sponsorship and crowd funding enables us to implement an extremely ambitious project in an academic environment.”
Engineers are modeling Roboy after humans by giving the robot artificial tendons to drive movement. Typically robots are are built with motors in their joints which gives them a shaky type of movement. A tendon-driven robot should be able to move as gracefully and fluidly as its human counterparts.
Kurzweil writes that because service robots like Roboy share living spaces with their human owners, the team is making user-friendliness and safety a priority. Engineers plan to use “soft robotic” technology in the robot’s creation including a “soft skin” covering, giving it a more gentle interaction with its users.
You can take a peek at Roboy in the following video:
Upon completion of the ambitious project the Artificial Intelligence Lab team plans to debut Roboy at Zurich’s Robots on Tour event in March of 2013.
Meanwhile, you can make Roboy the robot boy your friend when you visit his official Facebook page.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/461013/roboy-the-robot-boy-will-be-born-in-nine-months-video/#k0lXhGV9KzLhBd3G.99
A Raspberry Pi Suppercomputer:
From: Locker Gnome
By Ryan Matthew Pierson
What do you buy for someone aspiring to become a robotics engineer? You could go all out and hit them with all the parts and software they might need to develop their own advanced robotics projects from scratch, but what about someone who is a bit young or inexperienced?
It might be argued that the best way to get someone started is to take advantage of some of the robotics products already on the market that empower just about anyone to build and design their own robotic creations.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the more interesting kits that make getting started just a little easier.
Arduino Board
Arduino is an incredibly versatile open-source platform. You can create a wide range of things using boards made for Arduino projects, including robots.
This might be a bit on the complex side for a first-time robot builder, but there are plenty of kits out there that work very well with Arduino boards. In fact, there’s an entire book on the subject of building Arduino-powered robots.
With this particular platform, the sky is the limit.
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi made headlines when it became perhaps the cheapest all-in-one computer solution at just $25-35. All you have to do is plug it in, load a low-demand Linux distro on it, and start computing.
While it isn’t exactly intended for use in robotics, it can and has become a popular solution for hobbyist robotics engineers who wish to extend the functionality of existing designs or build something entirely new off the inexpensive platform. The folks at Raspberri Pi have acknowledged this growing trend and dedicated a category of posts to the use of Raspberri Pi boards in robotics.
If you ever thought about building a seriously cheap robot without having to resort to using off-the-shelf kits, this might be an excellent option for you.
LEGO Mindstorms NXT
Few robotics kits out there are as versatile and easy to get into as LEGO Mindstorms NXT. This kit, coming in at around $450, is certainly no impulse buy. The lessons you can learn from building and designing robots using Mindstorms makes it a great value for young folks and adults alike interested in learning a little more about robotics.
It’s a Bluetooth-ready kit that empowers you to design robots to do the simple things that much more expensive kits have problems doing. You get several different robots in a single kit as well, with transitions between one form to another being a matter of disconnecting and rearranging the pieces.
Revell Vexplorer Robotics System
With 300 parts, on-board video with a 150′ foot range, and an endless number of potential configurations, the Revell Vexplorer Robotics System is perhaps one of the best robotics kits out there. Recommended for users 14 or older, this is no simple toy. Vexplorer is a fully functional robotics system that enables you to grab and move objects or spy on your dog.
This system certainly isn’t cheap, but it is a great way to get a real look at what it takes to build a fully-functioning robot. After a while with this system, you’ll be ready to build your battle bot from scratch. Just don’t hook it up to Skynet.
Not that I like robot violence, but it is robot news……..
Merry Christmas from the International Space Station!
From: IEEE Spectrum
POSTED BY: Erico Guizzo / Fri, November 16, 2012
In this edition of Video Friday, we bring you humans controlling robots, humans interacting with robots, humans building robots, and humans tearing robots apart!
Many research groups are developing brain-machine interfaces capable of controlling advanced prosthetics such as bionic arms and hands. But how about using your thoughts to control a full humanoid robot? That’s what French and Japanese researchers demonstrated recently. A team from the CNRS-AIST Joint Robotics Laboratory showed how a person, wearing a cap with electrodes, could control a HRP-2 humanoid and make it perform tasks such as grasping objects. Though the range of tasks the robot can perform appears limited—and controlling a robot this way might require significant mental effort—it’s nonetheless an impressive demonstration of how the lines between humans and machines are blurring.
Automaton readers probably remember the fascinating (and totally weird) jamming gripper originally invented by a group from Cornell University, University of Chicago, and iRobot. It consisted of a balloon filled with a granular material like ground coffee; by applying vacuum to the balloon, researchers could make it harden and conform to the shape of objects, in effect working as a robotic gripper. Researchers have used the jamming approach to build elephant trunk-like manipulators, dart-shooting robot arms, and even creepy crawling hexapods. Now iRobot is finding some more useful applications for the balloon robot hand, such as opening doors.
Check out this little guy, a small Japanese humanoid called Robi. I know, we want one too! But apparently it’s not for sale. You have to build your own, using parts that come with issues of a weekly Japanese hobbyist magazine you have to subscribe to. According to Gizmag, it will take 70 issues (at a cost of $25 apiece) to get all the parts. The fully-assembled Robi is about 30 centimeters (12 inches) tall and weighs 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds). It’s a creation of famous Japanese robot designer Tomotaka Takahashi of ROBO GARAGE, known for developing the Evolta humanoid robot for Panasonic. I hope more robots like Robi could be mass produced and sold for reasonable prices. Robot makers, what are you waiting for?
I don’t know much about Aisoy Robotics. All I know is they’re a Spanish start-up and have built a little robot that loves to talk. They’re offering it as a platform for AI research. The video below shows how to program the robot to understand speech, detect touch, and respond accordingly. It’s all done through a browser-based visual interface. Like other modular robots such as the TurtleBot and Qbo, the Aisoy bot runs ROS and users can install “apps” to give the robot new capabilities. Developing easy-to-use, effective user interfaces is one of the biggest challenges for consumer robotics. Aisoy has a nice voice recognition and synthesis engine, so we’ll keep our eyes on them.
What’s almost as cool as building robots? Tearing robots apart to see how they work, of course! The evil geek geniuses at Adafruit Industries got one of the new Furbies and took it apart “as much as possible while still keeping it (semi) functional.” Poor robot owl. Or is it a hamster? Check out the vid below to see the result. And if you want to do the same to your Furby (don’t!), check out their step-by-step “epidermectomy” tutorial.
From: Jameco
How Servo Motors Work
This little motor-that-could is high in efficiency and power
By Frances Reed – Jameco Content Manager
Servo motors have been around for a long time and are utilized in many applications. They are small in size but pack a big punch and are very energy-efficient. Because of these features, they can be used to operate remote-controlled or radio-controlled toy cars, robots and airplanes. Servo motors are also used in industrial applications, robotics, in-line manufacturing, pharmaceutics and food services. But how do the little guys work?
The servo circuitry is built right inside the motor unit and has a positionable shaft, which usually is fitted with a gear (as shown below). The motor is controlled with an electric signal which determines the amount of movement of the shaft.
What’s inside the servo?
To fully understand how the servo works, you need to take a look under the hood. Inside there is a pretty simple set-up: a small DC motor, potentiometer, and a control circuit. The motor is attached by gears to the control wheel. As the motor rotates, the potentiometer’s resistance changes, so the control circuit can precisely regulate how much movement there is and in which direction.
When the shaft of the motor is at the desired position, power supplied to the motor is stopped. If not, the motor is turned in the appropriate direction. The desired position is sent via electrical pulses through the signal wire. The motor’s speed is proportional to the difference between its actual position and desired position. So if the motor is near the desired position, it will turn slowly, otherwise it will turn fast. This is called proportional control. This means the motor will only run as hard as necessary to accomplish the task at hand, a very efficient little guy.
How is the servo controlled?
Servos are controlled by sending an electrical pulse of variable width, or pulse width modulation (PWM), through the control wire. There is a minimum pulse, a maximum pulse, and a repetition rate. A servo motor can usually only turn 90 degrees in either direction for a total of 180 degree movement. The motor’s neutral position is defined as the position where the servo has the same amount of potential rotation in the both the clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. The PWM sent to the motor determines position of the shaft, and based on the duration of the pulse sent via the control wire; the rotor will turn to the desired position. The servo motor expects to see a pulse every 20 milliseconds (ms) and the length of the pulse will determine how far the motor turns. For example, a 1.5ms pulse will make the motor turn to the 90-degree position. Shorter than 1.5ms moves it to 0 degrees, and any longer than 1.5ms will turn the servo to 180 degrees, as diagramed below:
When these servos are commanded to move, they will move to the position and hold that position. If an external force pushes against the servo while the servo is holding a position, the servo will resist from moving out of that position. The maximum amount of force the servo can exert is called the torque rating of the servo. Servos will not hold their position forever though; the position pulse must be repeated to instruct the servo to stay in position.
Types of Servo Motors
There are two types of servo motors – AC and DC. AC servo can handle higher current surges and tend to be used in industrial machinery. DC servos are not designed for high current surges and are usually better suited for smaller applications. Generally speaking, DC motors are less expensive than their AC counterparts. These are also servo motors that have been built specifically for continuous rotation, making it an easy way to get your robot moving. They feature two ball bearings on the output shaft for reduced friction and easy access to the rest-point adjustment potentiometer.
Servo Motor Applications
Servos are used in radio-controlled airplanes to position control surfaces like elevators, rudders, walking a robot, or operating grippers. Servo motors are small, have built-in control circuitry and have good power for their size.
In food services and pharmaceuticals, the tools are designed to be used in harsher environments, where the potential for corrosion is high due to being washed at high pressures and temperatures repeatedly to maintain strict hygiene standards. Servos are also used in in-line manufacturing, where high repetition yet precise work is necessary.
Of course, you don’t have to know how a servo works to use one, but as with most electronics, the more you understand, the more doors open for expanded projects and projects’ capabilities. Whether you’re a hobbyist building robots, an engineer designing industrial systems, or just constantly curious, where will servo motors take you?
Resources:
Seattle Robotics Society
AI Shack Blog
Wikipedia
Jameco Workshop
