Robotics - SlashGear

‘Robotics’ Stories

Hair Follicle Harvesting Robot Approved by FDA

Kevin Fubar, Apr 25th 2011 Discuss [0]

Baldness is one of those things that our capitalist society manages to rail against something fierce. We have foams, drugs, surgeries, and old-wives tales all centered around the dreaded idea of losing your hair. I think hair loss is similar to how silverback gorillas go silver when they're all alpha-male and in-charge. One time I read it had something to do with testosterone. That said, Restoration Robotics just received clearance to market a new robotic system called the ARTAS. It's designed to assist in the hair transplant process by precisely ripping out a hair follicle and storing it until the doc can manually transplant it into the area where the hair is thin. Read The Full Story

DON-8r Robot

Kevin Fubar, Apr 25th 2011 Discuss [2]

Props to robot designers for finally coming out with stuff that can make a difference, not that robotic factory arms and mechanized food processing and and and... Whatever man, this thing is cute. It's designed on the principle that many organizations depend on charitable contributions for their operating budgets. Usually it takes legions of volunteers to collect these donations, but in our modern world such tasks can be done with robots just as well. Not to mention that people get annoyed with panhandlers. Enter DON-8r bot, designed by Tim Pryde. There's even videos after the break. Read The Full Story

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SlashGear Science Week In Review – April 23rd, 2011

Samia Perkins, Apr 23rd 2011 Discuss [0]

This week in Science, a hybrid car that was green before green was cool, the possible future of solar energy, a couple of interesting concrete concepts, and a whole lot of medical innovations. Oh, and robots. One that takes a licking and keeps on ticking, and others that can go where no man wants to go.

Earth day was this week, so we have featured some green concepts and innovations. We always like seeing more efficient ways of doing things, and a road that powers its own lighting and traffic systems is a great example of that. But first, the world’s first hybrid car.

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Bionic Leg the Next Step in Prosthetics

Samia Perkins, Apr 21st 2011 Discuss [0]

There have been great advances in the use of prosthetic limbs, making them lighter, more comfortable, and easier to move. Scientists at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Center for Bionic Medicine are working on a project to create a robotic prosthesis that would be controlled by the person's own nervous system, and powered so that it can move on its own. Read The Full Story

Your Daily Dose of LEGO

Kevin Fubar, Apr 21st 2011 Discuss [0]

Is LEGO better than coffee for getting through your day? I wouldn't skip the caffeine, but you can definitely check these out. We have here two separate LEGO projects, both impressive in their own right, for distinctly different reasons. They're both built with the Technic line. The first is an adjustable stand so that bad pixel over at instructables could play Game Boy on his Nexus One using a Wiimote. The second is a robotic factory line with four fully articulated picker arms, or as Chris Shepherd aka LegoShep aka TheOnlyShep calls it, the Lego Quad Delta Robot System. Read The Full Story

iRobot Packbots Enter Fukushima Reactor

Kevin Fubar, Apr 18th 2011 Discuss [0]

Sunday, iRobot packbots entered the Fukushima Daiichi reactor building 3 to explore parts of the plant that have been closed to people since the facility was evacuated. Japanese nuclear workers were entering some locations in the plant just after the disaster, but now they've mostly pulled back to safe locations. The shorter term radiation doses were relatively safe, but at sustained elevated levels the threat of damage grows. The repair efforts continue with support from a number of robotic helpers. Read The Full Story

Creepy Robot Afternoon

Kevin Fubar, Apr 15th 2011 Discuss [8]

Creepy robots all night long. These are some robots that inspire a mixture of fear, fascination, and "awwww, cute!". A couple of different designs here, each of them similar only in their relative size. They're both about two feet tall, but were built for completely different purposes. The Omnibot (the one with the glowing blue eyes), is a home watch-bot that wanders around this dude's house all day looking at stuff. The DONO is a specially designed beggerbot. It is designed to work in public spaces soliciting donations. Read The Full Story

SlashGear Science Week In Review

Samia Perkins, Apr 2nd 2011 Discuss [0]

This week in science: a very different kind of "mystery meat", the climate dangers of contrails, and and artificial leaf that does more than make your office look nicer. And robots: a robot that puts the "personal" in PC, a robot that can build other robots, and a robot that makes paper airplanes (but is not a slacker). Also, fighting fire with electricity, a floating solar power plant and T-Rex's new cousin. Stay tuned! Read The Full Story

REETI PCBot tracks users, squirts video and blushes [Video]

Chris Davies, Mar 30th 2011 Discuss [1]

In the robotics world, silicone rubber can be either used for disturbing evil, such as the slug-like Elphoid P1 humanoid cellphone, or for bug-eyed good, like French firm Robopec's endearing REETI. The desktop companion is both a PC, a webcam and a telepresence 'bot, capable of streaming live video from his webcam eyes, responding to touch thanks to various embedded sensors, and making facial expressions. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

iMobot Intelligent, Reconfigurable Modular Robots

Samia Perkins, Mar 29th 2011 Discuss [0]

iMobot modular robots, developed by researchers at UC Davis, are small modules that link together like a chain to form larger robotic modules. The modules have two joints at the center which can rotate 180 degrees. The robots have four degrees of freedom, so they can stand themselves up, roll end over end, stack themselves, and inch along like a caterpillar. They can even carry cameras. And the researchers are looking to make them available commercially soon. Read more, and see a video of the iMobot in action after the break. Read The Full Story

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SlashGear Science Week In Review

Samia Perkins, Mar 26th 2011 Discuss [0]

Welcome to the first SlashGear Science Week In Review. Each Saturday, we will round up our favorite science stories of the week for your perusal. Some are stories that we covered, others we didn’t get to. A sample of this week’s stories: A new form of matter, a hexacopter with superpowers, a robotic cloud, a supercool brown dwarf star, playing music using only your mind, and our ancestors on Mars. Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments!

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Ornithopter Replicates Insect Flight

Kevin Fubar, Mar 25th 2011 Discuss [2]

A team at Cornell University's Computational Synthesis Laboratory has developed tiny hovering Ornithopters. These machines were the first type of design for mechanical flight that people began to experiment with. The team at Cornell has been working on the project design for the past few years, but last year they were able to construct a working model using 3D printing techniques. They mimicked the principles of insect flight to design their hovering machine. These little guys flit around like mechanical lacewings. Read The Full Story