Robots that fly... and cooperate The dynamics of this robot are quite complicated. In fact, they live in a 12-dimensional space. — Vijay Kumar Synopsis Vijay Kumar and his team build flying quadrotors, small, agile robots that swarm, sense each other and form ad hoc teams – for construction, surveying disasters and far more. About the Speaker At the University of Pennsylvania, Vijay Kumar studies the control and coordination of multi-robot formations. Robotic Nation, by Marshall Brain I went to McDonald's this weekend with the kids. We go to McDonald's to eat about once a week because it is a mile from the house and has an indoor play area. Our normal routine is to walk in to McDonald's, stand in line, order, stand around waiting for the order, sit down, eat and play. On Sunday, this decades-old routine changed forever. The woman walks us over to a pair of kiosks in the play area. We sat down at a table. You know what? As nice as this system is, however, I think that it represents the tip of an iceberg that we do not understand. The Iceberg The iceberg looks like this. I got money in the morning from the ATM.I bought gas from an automated pump.I bought groceries at BJ's (a warehouse club) using an extremely well-designed self-service check out line.I bought some stuff for the house at Home Depot using their not-as-well-designed-as-BJ's self-service check out line.I bought my food at McDonald's at the kiosk, as described above. I know what you are thinking. Moore's Law
Actroid Repliee Q2 can mimic such human functions as blinking, breathing and speaking, with the ability to recognize and process speech and touch, and then respond in kind. The Actroid woman is a pioneer example of a real machine similar to imagined machines called by the science fiction terms android or gynoid, so far used only for fictional robots. It can mimic such lifelike functions as blinking, speaking, and breathing. The "Repliee" models are interactive robots with the ability to recognize and process speech and respond in kind. Technology[edit] Internal sensors allow Actroid models to react with a natural appearance by way of air actuators placed at many points of articulation in the upper body. The Actroid can also imitate human-like behavior with slight shifts in position, head and eye movements and the appearance of breathing in its chest. The skin is composed of silicone and appears highly realistic. Further interactivity is achieved through non-verbal methods. Programming[edit]
Advanced Humanoid Male Robot 10 Reasons Why We Need Heroes | Heroes: What They Do & Why We Need Them By Scott T. Allison and George R. Goethals People often ask us why we need heroes. Below we’ve assembled 10 major reasons why people need heroes. 1. 2. When we recognize the great sacrifices that these nurturers and caretakers have made for us, we’re likely to call them our heroes. 3. 4. 5. Heroes lift us up when we’re personally in danger of falling down emotionally, physically, or spiritually. 6. 7. 8. hunger for hero stories and take great delight in building celebrity heroes up and then tearing them down. 9. 10. So there you have them – 10 reasons why people need heroes. Here are more of our articles about why we need heroes.
Actroid-F: Japan’s Super-Realistic Humanoid Gets A Brother (Video) Do you remember Actroid-F, the super-realistic humanoid that we’ve shown you last year? Her makers, robot venture Kokoro and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), have apparently been working hard since then to create a “brother” for her. According to AIST, people kept asking the institute why it only manufactured a female robot, and they not only did that, but also built cameras into the new robot’s eyes to make him look at people (or other robots) while communicating. Here’s a video showing the male humanoid interacting with his sister (in English, shot by Diginfo TV): Unfair Advantages of Emotional Computing Unfair Advantages of Emotional Computing Earlier this week, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son announced an amazing new robot called Pepper. The most amazing feature isn't that it will only cost $2,000, or that Pepper is intended to babysit your kids and work the registers at retail stores. What's really remarkable is that Pepper is designed to understand and respond to human emotion. Heck, understanding human emotion is tough enough for most HUMANS. There is a new field of "affect computing" coming your way that will give entrepreneurs and marketers a real unfair advantage. What are the unfair advantages? Take Beyond Verbal, a start-up in Tel Aviv, for example. Better than that, the software itself can also pinpoint and influence how consumers make decisions. For example, if this person is an innovator, you want to offer the latest and greatest product. Talk about targeted advertising! How can this improve quality of life? She tells a story about how she and her boyfriend were in a nasty fight.
What is robot (insect robot, autonomous robot)? - Definition from WhatIs.com A robot is a machine designed to execute one or more tasks repeatedly, with speed and precision. There are as many different types of robots as there are tasks for them to perform. A robot can be controlled by a human operator, sometimes from a great distance. But most robots are controlled by computer, and fall into either of two categories: autonomous robots and insect robots. An autonomous robot acts as a stand-alone system, complete with its own computer (called the controller). Robots are sometimes grouped according to the time frame in which they were first widely used. Some advanced robots are called androids because of their superficial resemblance to human beings. The term comes from a Czech word, robota, meaning "forced labor." Also see artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and robotics.
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