While many of us immediately think of science fiction when it comes to robots with the ability to kill humans with no input from a human operator, we’re not talking about far-fetched Terminator style robots. What the UN is worried about are automomous robots such as aerial drones able to identify targets and launch missiles or drop bombs with no human interaction.

The UN is also concerned about weapons such as small mobile robots using tank-like treads that are equipped with guns and other weapons systems that can roll through an environment engaging targets on their own volition. It is worth noting that most of these weapon systems are available, but they are typically controlled by a human operator from afar.

The UN recently issued a 22 page report talking about lethal autonomous robotics or LARs weapon systems. The UN wants member states to work to articulate a policy for the international community that would ban robots and robotic systems from being able to take human life without human intervention. The human report says, “[LARs] deployment may be unacceptable because no adequate system of legal accountability can be devised, and because robots should not have the power of life and death over human beings.”

[via Inventorspot]

The first flight, according to the Harvard announcement, took place at 3AM one day in the summer of 2012 at the helm of grad student Pakpong Chirarattananon. The robot measured in at half the size of a paperclip, and took flight through a pre-destined route established by presets. This flight was recorded by the student and promptly shared with colleagues.

Such a seemingly small project is the by-product of a lot of work – to the tune of over a decade, according to Harvard. This represents the first controlled flight of a robot as small as an insect; so-called “insect robots”. Its design is inspired by a fly, using two wings that beat 120 times per second. From here, work will be started on things like wireless flight, autonomy, and colony coordination.

Said SEAS professor of engineering and applied sciences Robert J. Wood: “This is what I have been trying to do for literally the last 12 years. It’s really only because of this lab’s recent breakthroughs in manufacturing, materials, and design that we have even been able to try this. And it just worked, spectacularly well.”

[via Harvard]

The $5 note features a picture of Canadarm2 and Dextre, robotic arms that were used in part to construct and further maintain the International Space Station. Given the nature of the bill, it only makes sense, then, that it was unveiled by Commander Hadfield, who said that the image represented on the bill should serve as a reminder of Canada’s space achievements and that the sky, in fact, is not the limit.

Canadians will see the bill – as well as the $10 note – in the wild when they are both released in November, finishing up a series that already contains $20, $50, and $100 notes out in circulation. The polymer notes are boasted as being very secure due to the use of both holography and transparency, as well as being more durable than their cotton counterparts, thus making them more economical and green as well.

Canada’s Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty said: “Canadians can be very proud of their new polymer bank notes. With today’s unveiling of the final two notes in the series, one can see not only the unique story that each of the five denominations tells, but the unifying theme that underlies them all – the profound courage, determination, and ingenuity of our nation and its people.”

[via Bank of Canada]

The image was tweeted by Idealab founder Bill Gross, along with a claim that the self-driving car collects almost 1GB of data every second (yes, every second). This data includes imagery of the cars surroundings in order to effectively and safely navigate roads. The image shows that the car sees its surroundings through an infrared-like camera sensor, and it even can pick out people walking on the sidewalk.

Of course, 1GB of data every second isn’t too surprising when you consider that the car has to get a 360-degree image of its surroundings at all times. The image we see above even distinguishes different objects by color and shape. For instance, pedestrians are in bright green, cars are shaped like boxes, and the road is in dark blue.

However, we’re not sure where this photo came from, so it could simply be a rendering of someone’s idea of what Google’s self-driving car sees. Either way, Google says that we could see self-driving cars make their way to public roads in the next five years or so, which actually isn’t that far off, and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is even interested in developing self-driving cars as well. However, they certainly don’t come without their problems, and we’re guessing that the first batch of self-driving cars probably won’t be in 100% tip-top shape.

[via BuzzFeed]

The robot only stands a couple feet tall, and it uses a giant flyswatter-like bat in order to make contact with the ball, so it essentially can’t hit like Alex Rodriguez, but maybe in the future the robot will give the all-star a run for his money. The robot features an artificial brain with the power of 100,000 neurons that allow the robot to learn and improve on its swing over time.

How the whole thing works is that when a ball is pitched to the robot, an accelerometer behind the robot records information about the flight and speed of the ball, and this data is sent to a separate machine off to the side that holds the robot’s brain. The data gets processed and it lets the robot know when to swing.

The impressive part is that if the speed of the ball changes, the robot can re-learn the swing all over again to try and hit the ball at the new speed. Hopefully the researchers will be able to soon give the robot a real bat instead of a giant flyswatter and be able to hit real baseballs, but that kind of technology probably won’t be on its way for several more years.

[via Wired]

The robot is called the FlipperBot, and it features two motor-driven flippers with flexible wrists that are similar to sea turtle wrists. The robot is designed to travel through malleable surfaces like sand, just like sea turtles, and these kids of robots could help engineers further develop robot technology that will allow robots to swim through water, as well as walk on land.

The FlipperBot is quite small, measuring in at about 7.5 inches long and weighing only two pounds. Scientists are using these kinds of newly-developed robots to better understand how turtle flippers work, as well as help researchers understand how sea turtles evolved to be able to walk on land, especially with limbs that were designed for swimming rather than walking.

Daniel Goldman, a physicist at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, says that these kinds of experiments will also work with other animals who have a long history. He says that him and his team are “working with paleontologists on studying what the first animals moving on land were like with more paleontologically realistic robots.” He notes that most animals likely encountered sand and mud, rather than concrete and hard rock, bringing up the question of how animals moved through these malleable substances.

[via Tech News Daily]

The Lego Mindstorms sets are built to actively engage students and teach them about various fundamentals in the fields of science, technology, and engineering. The Lego sets come with digital workbooks, so teachers shouldn’t have a hard time learning about the new platform before handing them over the students.

We briefly got a look at the third-generation Mindstorms EV3 sets at CES 2013 back in January, and they essentially allow you to build different kinds of robots that you can control with an app on your iOS or Android device. The educational kits will come with software that will easily guide students through the process of building a Mindstorms robot.

Kits start at $340, and they’re available to pre-order right now. That may a bit on the expensive side, and to equip an entire classroom with these sets would be quite costly, but as with most other educational tools, they should be able to hold up for a few years and be able to go through hundreds of students hands.

The scientists presented 40 participants with videos of a small robot, shaped like a dinosaur, in two different kinds of situations: one in which it was presented with affection, and another in which it was violently handled. Using physiological responses, the scientists analyzed the reactions the participants had to how the dinosaur was treated, which was that humans had a strong response.

Following up on this was the use of functional MRIs to monitor the effects of watching both violence and affection towards robots and towards humans. According to the study, the participants’ brains had similar patterns when presented with violence and care towards a robot as it did when presented with the same towards a human.

One of the scientists, Rosenthal-von der Putten, discussed the eventual goal of developing companion robots that a human would form a relationship with, aiding individuals who need it with assistance and, for example, offering more independence to the elderly. Understanding how humans react emotionally to robots is essential to this goal.

He said, “A common problem is that a new technology is exciting at the beginning, but this effect wears off especially when it comes to tasks like boring and repetitive exercise in rehabilitation. The development and implementation of uniquely humanlike abilities in robots like theory of mind, emotion and empathy is considered to have the potential to solve this dilemma.”

[via Gizmodo]

The ground vehicle is specifically designed for remote handling and surveillance of hazardous threats. Northrop says that the vehicle uses a modular design to allow the end-user to deal safely with a range of hazardous threats from a distance. The vehicle can be used for detecting and disposing of explosive ordinance among other tasks.

The design allows the vehicle to accommodate a wide range of payloads, sensors, and tools. Northrop says that the CUTLASS’ ability to accommodate a wide range of payloads means that users don’t have to deploy two standard unmanned vehicles. The main tool for the CUTLASS is a three-fingered gripper arm with nine-degrees of freedom.

The mine-degrees of freedom gives the robotic arm greater movement capability and agility allowing it to move inside limited spaces. The arm also has specialized sensing systems allowing for a high level of dexterity and minimizes damage to property. The high level of dexterity for the arm also allows for the preserving of forensic evidence. The vehicle is able to reach speeds of up to 12 kph and features a six-wheel design allowing for mobility on all sorts of terrain and in all sorts of weather conditions.

[via Northrop Grumman]

As described, the flight of a dragonfly is unique over, for example, birds, making it an appealing – and relatively difficult – subject for robotics. A dragonfly can move its two pairs of wings independent of each other, can make sharp turns, go backwards, and speed up quickly. Festo undertook the challenge, and the result is the BionicOpter, which the company says is the first model capable of more flight conditions can a plane, glider, and helicopter all mixed together.

You can see all these flight conditions in action in the video above. Festo boasts that each wing is built with amplitude controllers, which allows it to operate independent of its counterpart wing and the other pair of wings, with both thrust intensity and direction being adjustable. There are adjustments for flight vibrations, and the robot is designed to be operational in both outdoor and indoor settings.

One of the most interesting aspects of the BionicOpter is that it can be controlled via a smartphone, with the controlling aspect being similar to flying a toy helicopter – only the direction needs to be changed. The software, sensors, and other hardware take care of the particulars, moving all four wings as necessary to achieve the direction needed in the environmental conditions where it is located.

[via Festo]

The researchers achieved this by using robots said to be about the size of sugar cubes and equipped with light sensors. Above the robots was a projector that marked the robots’ trails with light, which the tiny devices were programmed to follow. The light trails were intended to simulate the pheromone trails left by ants that help them navigate.

The robots’ ability to navigate was very rudimentary: they were programmed to avoid obstacles and barriers, to follow light trails, and to move forward, with their forward direction changing angles frequently. It is not surprising, then, that initially the robots moved randomly forward, but that over time as their motions created light trails, they gravitated towards following the light trails.

Said Garnier about this behavior, “The principles that ants use to find shorter paths have actually been the basis of computer programs developed in the last 10 years to help decide what are the best paths for trucks to transport merchandise between cities ― the so-called traveling salesman problem. One of the most efficient algorithms to solve this problem is directly inspired by the same logic studied in our work, and is also used by telecommunications companies to route packets of information between cell phones.”

[via Livescience]

The launch of Raptuya is the first phase of the RoboEarth project. With the help of Ratuya, robots don’t have to individually learn how to deal with objects and situations on their own. Raptuya will help speed up the process by downloading the necessary information to the robot via cloud networking. Raptuya will also help the robot do computation so that it can easily figure out how to navigate around, perform tasks, and recognize languages.

By having this online database for robots, scientists are hoping that the cost of robots will go down because there will be less reliance on on-board storage and computation. The information on the Raptuya database is provided by both robots, who upload their information into the database, and humans, who create information for the robots. All of the information is in a machine-readable format that is easily accessible to the robots.

RoboEarth is designed to lead the way for innovation for robots. It will also prove to be useful for drones, as well as self-driving cars. The scientists at Oxford University were looking for a way for their self-driving car system to be able to download information about their environment though the internet. It looks like they have their answer now. We may see life that has somewhat of a semblance to The Jetsons, with mobile robot servants becoming more affordable and being able to learn how to “fold an item of clothing and understand human speech.”

[via BBC]

Joel Bianchi, the coach of the Harlem Knights, stated, “They struggle with seeing how some of the things they learn in school, like math or science, are really applicable or important.” By constructing the robots for this event, the students are able to see the practical uses of math and science in the real world. Julia Lapino, the captain of the Cyber Warriors, stated, “You see technology very often, like phones and stuff. We don’t think about it, but once you learn how to build it, you appreciate it so much more.”

This year’s competition, the students had to implement flying discs into their robots. The game was called “Ultimate Ascent” and robots had to shoot their discs as far as possible, and also climb up the pyramids on the field in order to score points for their teams. Students were given six weeks to construct their robots. During the competition, the students would work from pits in order to apply any last-minute changes and alterations to their robots before they’re sent off to battle.

The competition encouraged creativity. The students were met with a lot of problems while constructing their robots, and they had to think “outside of the box” in order to come up with solutions. During the event, there were little issues that plagued their robots, causing stress among the students, but in the end, it was a great learning experience. The FIRST program is working to encourage students to venture into careers related to technology and science. Some students who participate at these competitions are even offered internships with the corporate sponsors of the event.

[via NY1]

Boston Dynamics ended up recording a video of the robot throwing the cinder block across the testing field, and it’s quite impressive, but also extremely freaky and scary at the same time. You can watch as the robot grabs onto the cinder block and picks up while attempting to keep its balance. However, just as you think the robot might tip over, it flings its arm around and tosses the cinder block a good 30 feet or so.

Cinder blocks aren’t light by any means. They can weigh anywhere from 20 to 30 pounds, and most of us would have to use two hands to pick one up. After that, we’d probably only be able to throw one half the distant that the robot threw its cinder block. In any case, you now know that robots are capable of throwing heavy objects straight at you.

Of course, we’re not quite sure what the implications would be for a military robot that’s going to be used for carrying supplies. We’re guessing the arm could be used for moving small obstacles out of the way, or maybe hurling heavy objects (like cinder blocks) at enemies. Whatever the case, we now know what robots are capable of if they ever turn on us.

Over the course of the project, 14 silkmoth males were used in the robots, all of which demonstrated an uncanny ability to control the machine. The moths were placed in an area with a female sex pheromone present, and as is demonstrated in the video, they successfully navigated to the source, despite the fact that the researchers didn’t always make it easy.

As part of the project, one of the robots was given a turning bias that caused it to veer to the right when navigated. Despite this obstacle, the moth on board still managed to correct for the problem and successfully take the robot to the source of the pheromone. This is all part of a project tasked with improving autonomous robots.

According to Noriyasu Ando, part of the research team: “Most chemical sensors, such as semiconductor sensors, have a slow recovery time and are not able to detect the temporal dynamics of odours as insects do. Our results will be an important indication for the selection of sensors and models when we apply the insect sensory-motor system to artificial systems.”

[via Extreme Tech]

The it’s apparent that the team will not be doing any extensive touring inside the first half of the year, the rumor mill remains strong with notes of a possible support push for late in the year. This same mill of rumors did tip the team to be hitting up Coachella in April, and we know that to not be true in the least, so we’ll be eating a full bag of salty chips with the tour business. As far as the team moving forward with an album, however, we’re ready for that action all day long.

The original note of this change-over for the music team comes from NME where they also suggest that the group Chic’s Nile Rodgers will be joining them for one or more songs. They also suggest that Paul Williams, Giorgio Moroder, Animal Collective’s Panda Bear, and Chilly Gonzales will be collaborating with Daft Punk in this new release. Let’s just call it Animal Sounds and be done with it – if you know what I mean.

This album will be the fourth full original album release from Daft Punk, but fifth if you count their work on Tron: Legacy. The covers of these albums are included in the gallery below, with the Tron: Legacy soundtrack (all made by Daft Punk alone and in a severely original manner) coming in at 2010 and “Human After All” coming before it in 2007. The first album they created and released with enough tracks to be considered an LP was 1997′s “Homework” while the 2001 album “Discovery” was also accompanied by a film release by the name of Interstella 5555, a full animated realization of the album, track by track.

Daft Punk is now a multi-national super-hits group that’s taken the world by storm, being well known not only for their music, but for their elaborate live concerts and appearances in media from high-budget Hollywood films (Tron) down to syndicated television (The Simpsons). We’ll be watching this explosive next release with great interest!

[via Dancing Astronaut]

A main focus to the EV3 system is the central Intelligent Brick, which runs on Linux and an ARM9 processor, both of which make the system even faster and more easily hackable than its predecessor robotic systems. Aside from speed specs, the biggest change on the Brick is the addition of Bluetooth, which allows builders to control their robots via an Android or iOS app. There’s also a USB port and an SD card slot.

Another addition to the system is that the robots’ eyes are actually infrared sensors, which can detect motion, so whenever you wave your hand in front of the robot, it will detect it and either attack, flee, dance, whatever. One of the robots was a dragon, and whenever a person crosses its path, it will extend its body and open its fiery mouth to attack.

The EV3 robotic system from Lego will go on sale sometime this summer for a pretty penny — 35,000 of them, or $350. The Mindstorms EV3 will essentially replace the Mindstorms NXT 2.0 line, which came out in 2009. The programming software kit itself works on both Windows and Mac OS X.

The Mirra 530 deep cleans any type of in-ground pool, both the surface and the water. iRobot has engineered the machine to remove all of the pesky gunk from your pool, including leaves, hair, and dirt. However, it also tackles the things you can’t see, such as algae, pollen, and bacteria as small as two microns.

The pool-cleaning robot can go through up to 70 gallons of water per minute and filter out all the debris that makes its way through. Thanks to its iAdapt Nautiq system, it’ll even automatically figure out the size of your pool to determine which cleaning program is the most efficient.

Furthermore, the company is also unveiling the Looj 330 gutter-washer to those outside of the US, and it’s the first time that iRobot is selling an outdoor unit outside of the US. The Mirra 530 pool cleaner will set you back a cool $1,299 (€1,499 in Europe) and will launch in the spring. The Looj 330 will also arrive in the spring, costing €299.

The Legged Squad Support System (LS3) robot, as it’s called, has evolved into a quieter, and more robust machine compared to past DARPA robots, which were louder than anticipated. The latest LS3 version represents the US military’s best hope for a robotic assistant that can carry combat loads across rough terrain for soldiers.

The new robot can also play “follow the leader” of sorts and be trained to follow a specific person, similar to an actual trained mule or horse. And it can regain its balance if it accidentally tumbles over rough terrain. During field testing, the robot successfully navigated ditches, streams, wooded slopes, and other rough environments.

Aside from carrying precious cargo for the military, these robotic mules could also be used as mobile recharging station for US troops to recharge batteries used in radios, transmitters, and other handheld mobile devices. The US Marines have already experimented with using renewable energy sources such as portable solar panels, but a charging station for soldiers would be pretty convenient as well.

[via Live Science]

The robot gets its name from its size and the fact that it uses a design that was inspired by protein, which can be considered nature’s shape shifter. Milli-motein was revealed in a paper at the 2012 Intelligent Robots and Systems event. What makes the small robot most remarkabe is it protein-inspired motor, a necessity due to the robot’s small size.

What’s so special about the motor? It’s an electropermanent motor, which “is similar in principle” to electromagnet motors. It is composed of two magnets, one of which is weaker than the other. When operated, the magnetic fields can increase or cancel each other. Essentially, this allows them to be utilized as an electromagent without the hassle of actually having one.

The idea for the robot was conceived by MIT’s Head of Center for Bits and Atoms Neil Gershenfeld, who offerd this statement. “[The robot] is effectively a one-dimensional robot that can be made in a continuous strip, without conventionally moving parts, and then folded into arbitrary shapes” The little copper-esque machine can hold its shape even after the power has been turned off.

[via MIT News]

The US military has several robotic weapons systems that are capable of operating autonomously that are equipped with weapons. However, those weapons are controlled by humans when it comes time to attack a target. The same human rights groups want the designers of robots to enact a “code of conduct.” That sounds like an effort to prevent Skynet.

The fear is that numerous automated weapons systems in use around the world that currently identify, target, and give humans only a little time to decide whether the target is obliterated might be turned into fully automated systems. Some of those weapons systems may need only a software upgrade. The human rights groups say, “action is needed now, before killer robots cross the line from science fiction to feasibility.”

A ban on fully automated weapons systems would reportedly require a new and major arms treaty amongst nations. Those who support the ban point out that fully autonomous weapons systems wouldn’t be able to comply with international humanitarian law. Others believe that fully autonomous weapons systems could be more reliable than humans because people can make bad decisions under stress.

John McGinnis, a Northwestern University Law professor, suggests, “artificial-intelligence robots on the battlefield may actually lead to less destruction, becoming a civilizing force in wars.”

[via The Globe and Mail]

NASA and the ESA said yesterday that DTN could one day allow “internet-like communications” with spacecrafts and help support infrastructure on other planets. The experiment took place late last month, and it involved remotely operating a small Lego rover-like robot from the International Space Station.

The Lego robot was located at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany and it was being operated and driven by US astronaut Sunita Williams who used a laptop that was designed by NASA. A command sent from the laptop would start a script to control the Lego rover, which is also actually a prototype designed for use in the ESA’s future missions.

NASA space communications chief Badri Younes says that once the protocol gets past the experimental stage, DTN could be useful for controlling robots on Mars from either a manned orbiting spacecraft or from Earth using satellites as relay stations. DTN is slightly comparable to the Internet Protocol in terms of functionality. However, the big difference is that IP relies on a continuous connection, while DTN allows for more disconnections and errors.

[via ZDNet]

The Hom-Bot square is a small robot vacuum that was previously referred to as the Hom-Bot 3.0 This updated Hom-Bot vacuum features a new square shape (hence its name), as well as longer side brushes and a larger body. According to the announcement, it is 72% more efficient at cleaning corners than the previous model. Check out their “Dirty Nightmare” video for a strange glimpse into its square-shaped goodness.

The top camera performs ceiling localization and mapping, while the sensor creates a map of the room it’s in and keeps the device’s placement within it. The top camera has a sensor that can adjust to darker settings called Illumination Invariant based Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, II-SLAM for short. The device uses ultra-sonic distance sensors, and has a learning function that allows it to adjust to the room it’s in.

Like the versions before it, the Hom-Bot Square features Spiral, Zig Zag, and Cell by Cell models; it also features the new My Space mode, which lets it clean a specific area one time, after which point its memory will reset. The device is now on sale in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. It is also known as the Carpet Master in Germany.

[via LG Korea]

By now, you’ve probably heard plenty of iPad Mini rumors, but today we found out that Apple may reveal a new Mac Mini alongside the bite-sized tablet. Today we saw some pictures that appear to have been snapped by the camera on the yet-unannounced Nexus 4, and Apple has managed to bring former Amazon executive William Stasior on to oversee the continuing development of Siri. Android 4.1.2 was sent out to eager Galaxy Nexus owners today, and just in case you missed Felix Baumgartner’s death-defying jump over the weekend, you can see the highlights again today – complete with terrifying shots from his helmet cam.

LG delivered its Jelly Bean update schedule for a few of its devices today, and speaking of LG, AT&T announced that the Optimus G goes up for pre-order tomorrow with a price tag of $200. We heard that Windows 8 is getting an underwhelming response from vendors today, and Nintendo dropped the price of the original Wii down to just $130 in anticipation of the holiday rush. A new study is claiming that file sharers actually buy more music than people who don’t partake in that rather controversial activity, and Microsoft released a brand new Windows 8 ad today.

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition players found out that they’re in for a treat tomorrow, while Notch was busy showing off new footage from his upcoming game 0x10c and Microsoft was handing out Xbox Live bans to Halo 4 pirates. Activision announced today that Call of Duty Elite will be free with Black Ops II, and we were told that the Wii U gamepad boasts a latency of only 1/60 of a second. Google is in trouble in Europe over privacy concerns again, and we got to take a look at a new robotic wheelchair that can actually walk up stairs. How cool is that?

Finally tonight, we have quite a few original articles for you to have a look at. Chris Burns puts the Optimus G through its gaming paces with Wild Blood, and we pit Xbox Music, Spotify, iTunes, and Google Music against one another to see the strengths and weaknesses of all four. We’ve got a new review of the Huawei Ascend D1 quad XL by Chris Burns, and a review of the Motorola Electrify 2 by your humble wrapper-upper. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night folks!

For those of you who aren’t in the know, telecommunications robots are used for, well, telecommunications. PaPeRo, for instance, is controlled by a remote user, who sees the images PaPeRo is capturing with its camera eyes on his or her own screen. In broad sense, telecommunications robots like PaPeRo allow you to attend important meetings, visit with family, or do some good old fashioned recon without actually being there.

As you can see in our video posted below, PaPeRo is controlled using an app – in this case, on a tablet. This isn’t anything new for telecommunications robots, but with PaPeRo, it does seem like users have more control over the movement of the head. The video we have for you is quite short, but it should give a pretty good idea as to how PaPeRo is controlled remotely.

Of course, there are also speakers and a mic present for recording and playing back sound, so conversation between the two parties is possible, no matter the distance between them. NEC has actually been licensing PaPeRo to companies since 2009 (you’ve probably seen it in videos before today), but what we’re seeing here at Ceatec is the first non-enterprise application of the robot, meaning it should be available commercially relatively soon. We’ll be on the lookout for more details, so keep it right here at SlashGear for additional information!

Naturally, being underground would offer a number of protections for the samples NASA hopes to obtain. The surface of Mars is constantly fried with radiation from our Sun, bombarded with meteorites, and subject to greatly varying temperatures as day shifts to night and vice versa. These underground caverns don’t suffer as much from those issues, so samples collected there could give scientists a better idea of the history of Mars than samples collected on the surface can.

“You just couldn’t get better samples than what can be retrieved from these depths,” Carnegie Mellon University robotics researcher William “Red” Whittaker tells Discovery News. Robots that can descend the depths of these skylights and examine below the surface aren’t some far-off fantasy either, as Whittaker’s firm Astrobotic Technology has been given a $500,000 grant from NASA to develop a prototype of a robot that could do such a thing. Astrobotic is currently considering a number of different of robots for the task, ranging from one that can rappel down the side of the skylight to one that is lowered down through the hole by a suspension line.

There are also these skylights on the moon, and Whittaker says that Astrobotic may be testing these robots there within the next three years. That’s certainly an exciting prospect, especially if going underground can give us a better idea of the evolution of Mars. Sadly, it sounds like we have a number of years to wait before these robots land on Mars, but in the meantime, we have the findings of Curiosity to look forward to. Be sure to have a look at our story timeline below for more posts on the Curiosity rover and its exploits on the surface of Mars!

[Image via HiRISE]

Part informative and part tongue-in-cheek, the video takes you around the mech, detailing the various functions as well as how to operate it. The mech features a motor-controlled cockpit, opened from the outside and inside with small buttons. Once the pilot is safely inside, the robot is controlled using a combination of physical and motion controls, plus a touchscreen. It can also be operated remotely using a master slave device.

The Kuratas will have a top speed of around 6 mph when mobile movement is fully functional, and the pilot can adjust the height of the robot to achieve the best vantage point. It runs on a diesel engine too, so keeping it on the road shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Bear in mind though that the video does make liberal use of CGI as the Kuratas takes to the streets.

The Kuratas features several weapons as well. The first is the LOHAS launcher, which shoots water-filled bottles at enemies with high speed. Suidobashi notes that it’s designed to be an “eco-friendly” solution, to be used more for demonstration rather than actual combat. The twin gatling guns, meanwhile, can shoot out 6000 BBs per minute, activated when the pilot smiles, with facial tracking helping the Kuratas to stay locked on the target.

[via Twitter, The Verge]

Created by Japanese inventor Modder FRP, the system can measure the flight of air-born garbage so it can make its position to catch it. It’s controlled by a Kinect sensor installed above the room and a code written from scratch that allows it to track anything tossed in the air. Check out the video below to see how the entire thing works.

The high-tech trash bin still needs some improvements to tighten up system accuracy, but for now it’s still pretty fun to watch. If something like this could ever be brought outdoors, polluted parks and streets may never be a problem ever again.

[via Verge]

RP-VITA is designed to be used by a remote caregiver, able to hold video calls for around five hours via an included monitor and webcam. The robot can be controlled remotely using a laptop, desktop, or iPad, and is designed to be used in emergency situations so that doctors can get quick access to a patient. Information about patients can be pulled down over WiFi, and when not used for video calls the RP-VITA can access records via a medical cloud storage system. Just like the Roomba, it will return to a charging base when it needs more power.

The RP-VITA has all the sensors to navigate a hospital without any assistance, but it can’t be used unaided until it’s given the go-ahead by the FDA, which could happen by the end of the year. It isn’t InTouch’s first robot either: the company previously created the RP-7, reportedly at work in around 600 hospitals and serving 70,000 patients each year. RP-VITA, meanwhile, will cost hospitals between $4,000 and $6,000 a month to run.

[via Mashable]

The robot has been entered into an international competition for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles in Italy this week. AUVs generally use sensors and sonar to figure out locations and carry out tasks that have been pre-programmed into them. Team leader Gareth Griffiths said that one of the biggest challenges the team has faced includes building the AUV to be tough enough to work in such hostile environments, like murky deep waters, but advanced enough to be sealed tight for underwater journeys and relatively lightweight at the same time.

If everything goes according to plan, the AUV constructed entirely out of recycled junk could work comparably well to real AUVs in detecting mines. AUVs can also be used to inspect oil rigs or to clean the structural bases of sea wind farms and need to have excellent tracking and vision sensors to ensure safe and accurate movement underwater.

[via Daily Mail]

The robot uses motors that push and pull on kevlar straps, which represent human leg muscles, allowing it to achieve nearly identical human-like movement. Even more amazing than that is the fact that the robot also has a computerized version of the central pattern generator (CPG), which is what humans use to collect information from their body. The CPG is what allows people to walk without thinking about walking, adjust strain on leg muscles, evaluate load patterns from each foot, and so on.

Additional enhancements to the robot are expected to be made in the future, including visual and tactile sensors as well as the ability to pick itself up again after falling down. And even though there have been robots that have previously replicated human movement before, this is the first one that has been able to accurately replicate the underlying human control mechanisms that actually drive the movement.

[via BBC]

It’s not just making more efficient motors. According to DARPA, successful teams might look at a combination of “low-loss power modulation, variable recruitment of parallel transducer elements, high-bandwidth variable impedance matching, adaptive inertial and gravitational load cancellation, and high-efficiency power transmission between joints.”

There will be two different tracks of work ongoing simultaneously, one with a more practical focus and another that will look more at the science and engineering behind actuation. The eye-candy is likely to show up in Track 1, where teams will be required to actually outfit physical robotics systems with their creations:

“Track 1 asks performer teams to develop and demonstrate high-efficiency actuation technology that will allow robots similar to the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) platform to have twenty times longer endurance than the DRC GFE when running on untethered battery power (currently only 10-20 minutes). Using Government Furnished Information about the GFE, M3 Actuation performers will have to build a robot that incorporates the new actuation technology” DARPA

DARPA is now inviting proposals from teams that believe they can put together something along those lines. The Maximum Mobility and Manipulation robotics program will culminate in a live competition in December 2013, followed by a second live final in December 2014.

Shimi can also take advantage of the smartphone’s camera and use its face-detection software to follow anyone as they move around a particular room while the bot continuously positions its speakers in the listener’s direction for the best sound experience. If a listener taps or claps out a beat for Shimi to analyze, it can look through the music library and play up songs with a similar rhythm and tempo. When the music starts playing, get ready to see Shimi dance.

Now a dancing robot that follows you around is pretty cool, but it looks like Shimi still has a bit of growing up to do. Future plans are in the works for apps that will allow any music listener to shake their head or wave a hand at the bot, which Shimi will use to change or skip songs and learn more about the listener’s taste in music.

Professor Gil Weinberg, director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology is expected to reveal the Shimi bot today at the Google I/O conference. SlashGear will be covering the events today, so check back  to see if the Shimi robot is spotted in action!

The new Roomba comes with a remote control that will allow users to navigate the robot manually if they so choose. You can also order the robot to go back to its charging base, and set specific cleaning schedules. To top it all off, there’s a big, green “Clean” button just waiting to be pushed.

There’s also a room-to-room navigation feature called “Virtual Wall Lighthouses”. Using infrared sensors, the Roomba will work solely on a single room until it’s completely clean before moving on to the next rather than cleaning at random. Sound like the way of the future to you? Then be preapred to cough up $700 for the Roomba 790 starting from today.

[via Engadget]

The Omnibot i-SODOG features realistic movement through 15 custom servo motors. It also features voice recognition and motion sensors for understanding hand signals. It comes with a dedicated remote control but can also be controlled via a smartphone, likely through a Bluetooth connection.

Pricing for the i-SODOG hasn’t been revealed yet but it’s expected to arrive sometime in 2013. The i-SOBOT was priced at around 31,500 Japanese yen or close to $400 USD. The i-SODOG will likely be priced similarly.

[via Robot Dreams]

“We would like to use these robots for guiding fish away from danger. What we try to understand is how we can design visual features of the robot so that they can elicit attraction for the fish … We want to make sure first that we do have an attraction and that the fish are conditioned for the attraction” said Maurizio Porfiri, an engineer at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University where the study was conducted.

Because of their very predictable movements and easily replicated design, robotic fish have become a favorite experiment among researchers. There are even some bodies of water that already have robot fish swimming around for purposes like pollution tracking. This latest experiment furthers the proof that robots can perform the same functions as their living counterparts – if this can expand to other creatures that would be incredible.

[via MSNBC]

Yes, it’s called the “Joggobot” and it is programmed to stay ahead of the jogger to encourage him or her to keep going at it. Although, calling it a robotic jogging buddy is a bit disingenuous. It is actually a flying robot that is just designed to move alongside you. Obviously keeping a robotic creature to be moving its joints at a constant and frequent pace would be impractical.

So here’s how it works – users customize the robot with a smartphone app to tell it how high off the ground it wants it to be, and how fast it wants to go. The robot has a camera, and the jogger has to wear a special t-shirt that can be identified by the camera. Then, the robo companion can continue to keep an eye on the jogger’s progress. It’s not the most life-changing robot we’ve seen, but anything that expands robotics to applications beyond very high-end governmental and industrial purposes is cool to us.

[via Times of India]

“Rosemary” is said to be the size of a lawnmower and capable of traversing obstacles thanks to the four extended treaded feet, able to swivel up and down in order to navigate terrain. The robot is capable of climbing up angles of 60 degrees, and can carry a total weight of around 132 lbs. An onboard camera and laser rangefinder are used to determine surroundings, and the internals of the robot are also shielded to prevent damage from radiation and other elements.

All video data is sent back to a remote unit in real time, and the robot is controlled using a console gamepad for ease of use. The original prototype of the robot was originally meant to be used in collapsed subway tunnels, but eventually made its way to the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in light of the disaster. The new prototype will be demonstrated by the Future Robotics Technology Center at the Tokyo Skytree broadcast tower in Tokyo before making its way to Fukushima in the next few months.

[via CIO]

What exactly are we talking about? That would be CSIRO, a company that, at a cost of 3.5 million Australian dollars (about $3.4 million), has developed a robotic museum patron. The robot can move freely about just like a human, and is just about as tall. The idea is that people who can’t physically be at the museum could control the robot remotely, and use the panoramic cameras installed to get a sense that they’re actually there.

So, think of Avatar except without the whole “being lifeless in a pod” thing. The program is being tested with students in Australia so that schools from throughout the nation can experience the Australian National Museum. The robot will in fact walk alongside regular museum guests, but it has sensors to prevent it from running into anyone. “It could change the way schools interact with institutions like the museum,” said CSIRO research director Jonathan Roberts. What’s next? Amusement parks for people who are too afraid to go on roller coasters?

[via Stuff.co.nz]

The mecha features four legs that are supported by wheels, allowing both support and ease of movement. Everything is controlled using a smartphone, master-slave control, and the Kinect sensor bar. The robot isn’t operational yet, but the group say they’re hoping to have everything up and running by the end of the year.

When it is finished, the group plan to sell the mech, which can be customized with weaponized water guns, a camo paint job, and other such luxuries depending on the buyer’s needs. It’s an impressive piece of kit, even if we’re not entirely sure what the practical purpose for it is. The two videos below show some of the behind the scenes work on the mech, so check them out.

[via Plastic Pals]