Antigravics

http://www.physorg.com/news136039196.html

>> To develop robotic skin as sensitive as human skin, the researchers started by studying how human skin senses not just pressure and position but features such as the direction pressure is coming from.

To mimic the skin’s sensing capabilities, researchers at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), guided by physiology results from Umeå University, in Sweden, created a thin flexible material filled with a form of carbon whose resistance changes with pressure. This approach let them combine information from sensors in different parts of the skin in order to minimise the number of information-carrying wires.

“We can soon integrate hundreds of detector elements and get the information out with just five wires,” says van der Smagt. “And we have the ability to distinguish between shape, the amount of force, and the direction of force.”

The human arm and hand can generate and control a remarkable range of force, from the delicate touch of a watchmaker to the power of a javelin thrower. Much of this range of force and finesse comes from the pairs of opposing muscles that control each joint.

Researchers at DLR took the same approach. The artificial arm they built and are now experimenting with uses a total of 58 motors in opposing pairs, coupled with non-linear springs, to control the arm.

The hand they have built is closely modelled on the human hand. It can snap its fingers, pick up an egg or carry a cup of coffee. Its fingers are moved by 38 opposing motors.

Again, the researchers had to go back to basics, for example making detailed MRI studies of human hands in hundreds of different positions.>>

http://www.physorg.com/news146295165.html

>> The new software, which Microsoft unveiled at the RoboDevelopment Conference and Expo in Santa Clara, Calif., this week, is the third edition of the company´s robot-building platform. Microsoft says previous versions of the software have been downloaded 250,000 times, and more than 60 companies currently use the software for developing commercial robots.

The latest edition comes in three versions. The Express version is available as a free download and is intended for hobbyists. The Standard version, which is aimed at professional developers, costs $500. The Academic version, intended for students and educational developers, is not yet available. Also, whereas the previous edition restricted professionals and academic users from licensing more than 200 copies, the new edition allows users who buy the license to distribute an unlimited number of copies of the Concurrency and Coordination Runtime and Decentralized Software Services runtime components.

The 2008 edition has several improvements over the earlier versions. For example, the runtime performance is up to three times faster, and developers can define more specific messages to optimize data processing.

The new edition also offers developers greater flexibility when working with a drag-and-drop tool, a part of the program´s Visual Programming Language (VPL). In addition, the Visual Simulation Environment (VSE) tool includes new features, such as allowing developers to record and play back simulations in virtual environments, including three sample ones: an apartment, a city, and a mountain environment. The new edition also provides more support for importing content from different applications, and allowing developers to run applications in many devices at the same time across a network.

By providing developers of all levels a tool for building robots, Microsoft´s robotics department hopes that its support and investment will pay off in the future. Many hardware manufacturers, including iRobot and Lego, already support Microsoft´s robotics software. With its latest software, Microsoft hopes to stimulate greater participation across the robotics community. Already, ABB, a supplier of industrial robots and robotics software, is releasing a connectivity package that teaches university students how to build a complete virtual robot controller.

More information on Robotics Developer Studio 2008 is available at http://www.microsoft.com/robotics. >>>>>

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 788991.htm

>> Roxxxy the sex robot has had a coming out party in Sin City.



In what is billed as a world first, a life-size robotic girlfriend complete with artificial intelligence and flesh-like synthetic skin was introduced to adoring fans at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas on Saturday (local time).

"She can't vacuum, she can't cook but she can do almost anything else if you know what I mean," TrueCompanion's Douglas Hines said.

"She's a companion. She has a personality. She hears you. She listens to you. She speaks. She feels your touch. She goes to sleep. We are trying to replicate a personality of a person."

Roxxxy stands five feet, seven inches tall, weighs 120 pounds, "has a full C cup and is ready for action", according to Mr Hines, who was an artificial intelligence engineer at Bell Labs before starting TrueCompanion.

The anatomically-correct robot has an articulated skeleton that can move like a person but cannot walk or independently move its limbs.

Robotic movement is built into "the three inputs" and a mechanical heart that powers a liquid cooling system.

Roxxxy comes with five personalities. Wild Wendy is outgoing and adventurous, while Frigid Farrah is reserved and shy.

There is a young, naive personality along with a Mature Martha that Mr Hines described as having a "matriarchal kind of caring". S & M Susan is geared for more adventurous types.

Aspiring partners can customise Roxxxy features, including race, hair colour and breast size. A male sex robot named Rocky is in development.

People ordering the robots online detail their tastes and interests much like online dating sites but here, the information is used to get the mechanical girlfriend in synch with her mate.

"She knows exactly what you like," Mr Hines said of Roxxxy, noting that Rocky will also come with personalities.

"If you like Porsches, she likes Porsches. If you like soccer, she likes soccer."

Roxxxy will chat with her flesh-and-blood mate, and touching her elicits comments varying according to personalities.

She is wirelessly linked to the Internet for software updates, technical support and to send her man email messages.

People can customise "true companion" personalities and then share the programs with others online on the company's website, according to Mr Hines.

"Just think about wife or girlfriend swapping without actually giving the person to someone else," Mr Hines said. "You can share the personality online."

Mr Hines sees his creation as not only a recreational innovation but as an outlet for the shy people with sexual dysfunction and those who want to experiment without risk. >>>

>> She can even have an orgasm! (We will be releasing a male robot sex doll soon) >>>>

It had to happen..Fembots !!!

http://www.physorg.com/news183022967.html


>> Mahru-Z has a human-like body including a rotating head, arms, legs and six fingers plus three-dimensional vision to recognise chores that need to be tackled, media reports said Monday.

"The most distinctive strength of Mahru-Z is its visual ability to observe objects, recognise the tasks needed to be completed, and execute them," You Bum-Jae, head of the cognitive robot centre at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, told the Korea Times.

"It recognises people, can turn on microwave ovens, washing machines and toasters, and also pick up sandwiches, cups and whatever else it senses as objects."

The institute took two years to develop Mahru-Z, which is 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) tall and weighs 55 kilograms (121 pounds).

It could also work with an earlier maid robot called Marhu-M which moves on wheels, since both can be remotely controlled through a computer server.

You claimed Mahru-Z as the most advanced robot in terms of mimicking human movements.

Apart from tackling chores, researchers say it could also be used in conditions too difficult or dangerous for humans. But mass production for commercial use is some way away.

The science institute spends about about four billion won (3.5 million dollars) every year on robot research. It began receiving state funds for the project in 2006. >>>

http://www.physorg.com/news184497346.html


Robonaut2 - or R2 for short - is the next generation dexterous robot, developed through a Space Act Agreement by NASA and General Motors. It is faster, more dexterous and more technologically advanced than its predecessors and able to use its hands to do work beyond the scope of previously introduced humanoid robots.

>> The two organizations, with the help of engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston, developed and built the next iteration of Robonaut. Robonaut 2, or R2, is a faster, more dexterous and more technologically advanced robot. This new generation robot can use its hands to do work beyond the scope of prior humanoid machines. R2 can work safely alongside people, a necessity both on Earth and in space.

"This cutting-edge robotics technology holds great promise, not only for NASA, but also for the nation," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "I'm very excited about the new opportunities for human and robotic exploration these versatile robots provide across a wide range of applications."

"For GM, this is about safer cars and safer plants," said Alan Taub, GM's vice president for global research and development. "When it comes to future vehicles, the advancements in controls, sensors and vision technology can be used to develop advanced vehicle safety systems. The partnership's vision is to explore advanced robots working together in harmony with people, building better, higher quality vehicles in a safer, more competitive manufacturing environment."

The idea of using dexterous, human-like robots capable of using their hands to do intricate work is not new to the aerospace industry. The original Robonaut, a humanoid robot designed for space travel, was built by the software, robotics and simulation division at Johnson in a collaborative effort with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency 10 years ago. During the past decade, NASA gained significant expertise in building robotic technologies for space applications. These capabilities will help NASA launch a bold new era of space exploration.

"Our challenge today is to build machines that can help humans work and explore in space," said Mike Coats, Johnson's center director. "Working side by side with humans, or going where the risks are too great for people, machines like Robonaut will expand our capability for construction and discovery." >>>

http://www.physorg.com/news185000863.html



>> A South Korean-developed robot that played to acclaim in "Robot Princess and the Seven Dwarfs" is set for more leading theatre roles this year, a scientist said Wednesday.

EveR-3 (Eve Robot 3) starred in various dramas last year including the government-funded "Dwarfs" which attracted a full house, said Lee Ho-Gil, of the state-run Korea Institute of Industrial Technology.

The lifelike EveR-3 is 157 centimetres (five feet, two inches) tall, can communicate in Korean and English, and can express a total of 16 facial expressions -- without ever forgetting her lines.

Lee acknowledged that robot actresses find it hard to express the full gamut of emotions and also tend to bump into props and fellow (human) actors.

But he said a thespian android was useful in promoting the cutting-edge industry.

"South Korea is an active frontier in developing robots and we thought that making it would be a good way to promote our technology," Lee told AFP.

And just as visitors to New York flock to Broadway, tourists in Seoul may be drawn by a robot actress, he said. "We will try more plays this year with help from the National Theatre and the government."

Robots in future could also play a role as stagehands controlling music and lighting, Lee said.

South Korea has in addition developed a walking robot maid, a robotic penguin, koala and rabbit, and a variety of other models.

In 2007 a robot named Tiro was master of ceremonies at the wedding of one of its designers.>>>

http://www.physorg.com/news186816285.html



>> Robots that teach Chinese, computers controlled by moving the eyes and flying alarm clocks were among the weird and wonderful gadgets wowing crowds Wednesday at the world's top high-tech fair.

As the IT sector seeks to bounce back after a disastrous 2009, firms sought to woo punters at this year's CeBIT fair in northern Germany with fun and futuristic inventions ranging from the mind-boggling to the downright silly.

Learning Chinese but finding it tough to find people to practice with?

Meet Amy, the beautiful and uber-smart talking robot with 400,000 sentences at her command and a brain that is programmed with the entire knowledge of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Using artificial intelligence and voice recognition, Amy can chat for hours with her owner, without ever getting bored or tired and never running out of conversation.

About 35 centimetres (14 inches) tall, with a screen for a face and a laser arm to project her image onto a wall, Amy is due to hit the market towards the end of 2010, said Bruce Han from viewmotion, the South Korean firm that created her.

"At the moment, she can only speak Chinese and English, but we hope in a few years to have French, German, Italian and Japanese," he said.

Big crowds also gathered around the "eye tracking" stand run by Tobii Technology, a Swedish company.

Its system allows users to control computers using just the motion of their eyes, from scrolling through a selection of music tracks to enabling market researchers to monitor what consumers look at first from a shelf of products.

A similar technology was unveiled by the Fraunhofer Institute, whereby users can point at a screen from up to 20 metres (65 feet) away and "touch" icons or control a cursor just as they would with a touch-screen.

With music devices like the iPod and MP3 players now so common, several firms used the CeBIT to showcase new ways of enjoying music on the move.

The "Tunebug Vibe" is a small device that music-lovers can plug into their iPod, place on any surface -- a pizza box, a table, a wall, a ceiling -- and it instantly becomes a speaker, converting the vibrations of the music into sound.

There was plenty of offer for the practical joker, too. Getdigital.de, whose company slogan is "gadgets and more for geeks", offered a tiny remote control device that can surreptitiously turn on or off almost any European television.

And from British gadget firm Satzuma, a must for any serious office joker: a small missile launcher controlled by computer that can fire foam rockets at unsuspecting colleagues.

Getdigital.de also proudly unveiled a flying alarm clock for those who all too often hit the snooze button in the early morning.

When this alarm goes off, the whole clock takes off and flies off around the room, forcing its sleepy owner to chase it, catch it and put it back in its stand, by which time he or she is wide awake.

But the real show-stoppers this year were four pint-sized robot footballers that had huge cheering crowds marvelling at their silky skills and long-distance goal-scoring ability.

Named Rajesh, Penny, Leonard and Sheldon, the agile white robots, a mere 60cm (23 inches) high, were part of the team that won the 2009 Robot Football World Cup in Austria and hope to defend their title this year in Singapore.

They use colour and line recognition to "see" the ball (orange), pitch (green) and goals (yellow and blue). When they sense they are near the ball, they kick out towards the goal, with stunning results.

But beware, as any football manager knows, talent like this doesn't come cheap. To snap up one of these players will set you back a cool 10,000 euros (13,500 dollars).>>>>

>> The robot, PETMAN (from Protection Ensemble Test Mannequin), is being developed by Boston Dynamics for the US Army for testing chemical protection clothing. The anthropomorphic robot will be able to balance itself while walking, crawling, doing calisthenics, and generally moving freely like a human while being exposed to chemical warfare agents.

he prototype robot walks heel-to-toe just like a human, and remains balanced even when pushed. In tests it has achieved a fast walking speed of 4.4 mph walking on a moving conveyor belt. PETMAN’s walking algorithm and the mechanical design are based on a previous Boston Dynamics robot known as Big Dog, which is designed for carrying supplies over almost any terrain.

Like its predecessor, the PETMAN robot has a hydraulic actuation system and articulated legs with shock-absorbing elements. The robot is under the control of an on-board computer and an array of sensors and internal monitoring systems. >>

http://www.physorg.com/news191563032.html

>> Leaf-cutting Ant carries a leaf with another ant at La Selva biological station in Costa Rica

The researchers found ants use image matching to navigate their way around (Reuters: Juan Carlos Ulate)

Ants travelling along a familiar route use their photographic memory to calculate how to stay on track, British researchers say.

Their findings, published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveal that the insects navigate by orientating their bodies so that the angle from which they view a recognisable landmark fits exactly with the stored image in their brain.

Researchers at the University of Sussex in England trained a group of wood ants to locate an invisible food source placed a short distance away from a single computer-controlled visual cue and then monitored them while they each retraced their movements.

Over the one-metre course the ants would periodically turn as if to realign themselves with the landmark.

Professor Thomas Collett, one of the study authors, says this reorientation is not random.

To demonstrate that the ants were determining in advance how far to turn to stay en route, they shifted the landmark horizontally by pre-determined distances.

"We found that the larger the turn required, the faster the ants rotated their bodies to achieve this realignment," Professor Collett said.

"This indicates that they do not gradually reposition themselves towards a landmark, but that they first calculate exactly how far they need to turn to ensure they continue to move towards the sugar reward."

The mechanism is termed "image matching".

Professor Collett says it only works if you are not too far from your goal.

"If there is no resemblance between the stored photo in your mind and your view of the world, the photo will be of no help," he said.

While the ants in the study almost stumbled across the sugar reward, the paper's authors state that using multiple landmarks might provide them with a measure of proximity to their destination.

Neuroscientist Dr Allen Cheung at the University of Queensland says view-based homing is a widely known phenomenon but that this is the first study to demonstrate how it may be used intermittently and still result in accurate navigation.

"The ants' intermittent repositioning differs from how most scientists think of view-based homing where explicit calculations about the magnitude of rotation are unnecessary," he said.

But Dr Cheung speculates that the ants' ability to periodically sample their environment may be an advantage.

"Because the ants aren't continuously calculating their position, they may be able to turn their minds to other tasks in the interim," he said.

"However, we need to know more about the neural circuitry to show if this is really the case."

Dr Cheung also says the finding may inspire the development of new algorithms for robotic guidance systems.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010 ... 000973.htm