Chinees restaurant zet 'oberrobots' in. These $10 Robots Will Change Robotics Education. And the future of robotics education in Africa is ...
Chupa Chups? When the African Robotics Network announced their $10 robot design challenge this summer, co-founder Ken Goldberg was careful not to share too many expectations, lest he influence contestants' designs. But he never imagined one of the winning entries would prominently feature a pair of Spanish lollipops. The challenge, hosted by AFRON co-founders Goldberg and Ayorkor Korsah, emphasized inexpensive designs to help bring robotics education to African classrooms. Goldberg announced AFRON's 10 winners in three categories today at Maker Faire, including the lollipop-laden Suckerbot and traditional (roaming) category first prize winner Kilobot, a Harvard-spawned three-legged, vibrating, swarming robot. "The ingenuity that has come from all over the world to address this problem is just astounding," Goldberg said in an interview with Wired Design.
"It's a mix of people who really ... want to make this happen," said Goldberg. How Rethink Robotics Built Its New Baxter Robot Worker. Photo: David Yellen for IEEE Spectrum MEET BAXTER: Rethink Robotics has developed a next-generation factory robot that is versatile, easy to program, and costs just US $22 000.
In the center of an otherwise unremarkable office stand six large robotic torsos mounted on pedestals and positioned along a bench that’s covered with piles of plastic widgets. One robot methodically moves widget after widget onto a conveyor belt, the animated face on its LCD screen displaying an expression of quiet concentration. The task is mundane, but the robot is not: This is Baxter, the culmination of nearly five years of secretive development, based on the vision of Rodney Brooks, possibly the world’s most celebrated roboticist. Now founder, chairman, and CTO of Rethink Robotics, the company that built Baxter, Brooks has his sights set characteristically high: to unleash a revolution in manufacturing with a friendly faced factory robot.
Brooks is clearly thrilled to show off his latest creation. Photo: ABB. Co-working robots like Baxter promise a future for home robotics. My favorite new vocabulary word for the year is "co-working," when applied to robots.
In June I spoke with Dr. Oskar Von Stryk from the University of Darmstadt, who explained the category to me. Little did we know, Rethink Robotics was just months away from introducing "Baxter," a machine which epitomizes the co-working robot — and which will likely rule the category for the foreseeable future. Baxter won't get bored A co-working robot is an industrial robot designed for smaller businesses, and less rigorous tasks. Co-working robots are also need to be easy to program, by definition. Safety is a "new" concern for robots. * 'Eerste 10.000 robots arriveren bij Foxconn-fabrieken' 11 cool robots you may not have heard of. * Double Robotics - Wheels for your iPad. Dutch Robotics. * BotSport.tv. Netherlands - stofzuig- en dweilrobots, Roomba®, Scooba® * Robot chefs taking over China's noodle bars. * Ultra realistic android. Androids (current) Below are some of the androids currently being developed around the world.
This list will be updated as more information becomes available. Actroid. -= TeamDARE -=- High Tech Entertainment =- This Robotic Dragonfly Will Soon Flit Into Your Nightmares For $99. Researchers at Georgia Tech have created a robotic dragonfly that can hover, dive, and climb like a real insect.
With the help of a $1,000,000 grant from the Air Force, the team has built multiple prototypes of the consumer device and is now working on an Indiegogo project to sell the basic dragonfly for $99 and an upgraded version for $179. The ultimate version will cost $399 although they expect it to cost $1,500 retail. Founded by a team of scientists including Dr.
Jayant Ratti and Emanuel Jones, the dragonfly has an SDK and can be used to map spaces, create internal visual models, and automated patrolling. It’s great for hobbyists who want to experiment with biomimetics and these little guys can camouflage themselves and look just like real dragonflies from afar. The “elite” model is the coolest, by far. Early buyer special! You can also get a swarm package of up to 8 dragonflies, which sounds like it could get fun/dangerous. Project Page.