Wednesday, October 31, 2012

PR2 Learns How To Be a Robobutler Without Destroying Things


While IEEE Spectrum has not yet seen fit to hire me my own butler (like most bloggers tend to expect), as far as I can tell (and let me just clarify that I have absolutely no idea about this whatsoever) being a butler requires mastery of three things: looking good in a tux, having a butler-y attitude, and not spilling things on trays. PR2 might be able to cover those first two, but we now have video proof that it's nailed the third one: PR2 is officially a traymaster.
The deal with moving things around on trays, if you've ever tried it, is that your goal should be to minimize the lateral force on whatever is on the tray, because lateral forces make things fly off and crash to the ground and then your mom yells at you and you don't get to play butler anymore. Sigh. This involves tilting the tray in just the right way, and Tobias Kunz, a PhD student from Georgia Tech, has taught PR2 how do pull it off during his internship at Willow Garage:
And somebody from Willow had better comment and let us know what's going on at the very end there: it looks like some sort of mechanical bull surfing thing with only a questionable relationship to robotics, but maybe they're going to stick a PR2 on there at some point? I'll tell you what: I'd pay money to see that. Good money.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Robots in Bristol for FIRA RoboWorld Cup



More than 200 robots are heading to Bristol for the first FIRA RoboWorld Cup to be held in the UK.
Twenty-seven teams will take part in football, basketball and weightlifting events in the At-Bristol science centre over six days, starting on Monday.
Advanced robots and their creators are travelling from Mexico, Canada, India and China for the competition.
The UK has a team from the Bristol Robotics Laboratory and another from the University of Plymouth taking part.
The city won the chance to host the event due to the work of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL), a joint research project between the University of Bristol and UWE Bristol.
Guido Herrmann, who led the BRL bid, said: "We are looking forward to welcoming teams from around the world to Bristol.
"The competition promises to be both exciting and insightful, pushing the boundaries of robotics to the limit.
"This will be a fantastic opportunity for the public to see just what autonomous robots are capable of.
"Although very different to the Olympics, it's another opportunity to show the world just what Great Britain is capable of, both as event hosts and being pioneers of engineering."
The FIRA RoboWorld Cup was founded in 1996.

Mr. Iron Robot Theme Park in Jiaxing, China


Artist Zhu Kefeng checks a metallic "dragon head" at his studio at the Mr. Iron Robot Theme Park in Jiaxing, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 24, 2012. The theme park is set up in a deserted factory, featuring some 600 robot-shaped sculptures assembled by parts salvaged from old vehicles and machine tools. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)
Pupils are attracted by a steel artwork at the Mr. Iron Robot Theme Park in Jiaxing, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 24, 2012. The theme park is set up in a deserted factory, featuring some 600 robot-shaped sculptures assembled by parts salvaged from old vehicles and machine tools. (Xinhua/Xu Yu) 

Tell Us the One About the Robots, Mr. President


Call me a geek, but Monday's foreign-policy debate between President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney was exciting not only for the new attention it brought to "horses and bayonets," but also as a sort of coming-out party for the world of robotics. Four years ago, this field that was once the province of science-fiction writers but now covers everything from self-driving vacuum cleaners to military drones did not merit any mention on the campaign trail. Neither Obama nor Sen. John McCain was asked about it in their debates. But in Boca Raton this week, robotics finally made the list, joining such primetime issues as China, Iran, and the economy.

But while the candidates were asked what they thought about drones, unfortunately Americans still don't know much about their answers. Obama literally didn't have to respond to Bob Schieffer's question because, as the moderator put it, "we know President Obama's position on this" -- a very odd way for a moderator to pose a question, especially on a topic on which government policy has been far from transparent. Romney, meanwhile, provided the deep insight that "drones are being used in drone strikes" before swinging far to Obama's left with a call to counter extremism, channeling the new UNDP wing of the Republican Party.

This is a shame because, like it or not, robotics -- and not just the ubiquitous drone -- has become a signature part of the 21st century presidency and its use of power. The U.S. military now has more than 8,000 unmanned systems in the air and another 12,000 or so on the ground in its inventory, and they are used every day to protect soldiers in places like Afghanistan. More controversially, agrowing civilian intelligence agency fleet is also used not-so-covertly in places like Pakistan and Yemen, where the United States has reportedly carried out more than 375 air strikes, despite the fact that there has been no specific congressional vote on the matter. The technology's use in the last few years has arguably set a weighty precedent for the presidency, blurring civilian and military roles in war and potentially even circumventing the original intent of the Constitution's division of powers.
But the story is even bigger. Robotics is akin to gunpowder, the steam engine, or the computer. It's a game-changing technology not merely because of its power, but because of its impact both on and off the battlefield. While modern unmanned systems are still in the first generation of use -- the Model T Ford stage, so to speak -- operators for these systems are already the fastest-growinggroup in the U.S. Air Force, potentially reshaping its long-term identity as more and more pilots never leave the ground
And the push forward is only going to continue. A few weeks ago, the Defense Science Boardunveiled plans to widen the range of tasks taken on by robots in the U.S. military and to enhance their automation so that these robots can do more of these tasks on their own. Whether it's Obama or Romney, the next American president is going to be wrestling with a series of questions that will determine the future contours of this robotics revolution.
Take, for example, the areas of military purchasing and research. In a time of tight Pentagon budgets, should we continue the current planned trillion-dollar purchase of F-35 manned fighter jets, or invest some portion in the next generation of unmanned jets -- like the X-47 UCAS that the Navy is testing out on Maryland's western shore? Similarly, the next commander in chief will preside over the purchase of the Air Force's next generation of strategic nuclear bombers. It would be fascinating to know whether Obama and Romney thinks that planes carrying nuclear weapons should be manned, unmanned, or, as presently planned, convertible?

Robot Dances “Gangnam Style”



Sometimes a pop phenomenon makes a bigger splash than ever anticipated — this robot, designed for firefighting fighting on US Navy vessels, has picked up the “Gangnam Style” dance craze.
Read the full article on the military capabilities of this dancing king at NBCNews.com.


Russian robots won Olympic gold in China

If you thought the London Olympics was the only major international competition on this summer, you would be wrong: in the city of Fujin, in China’s Northeastern Heilongjiang province, robots were in a heated dancing competition.
29 teams from countries including China, Russia, Mexico and Korea competed in nine categories, including solo dance, pas de deux, group dance, ballet, yangge, street dance and folk dance. A pair of giant panda-shaped robots drew attention as they had to move over 20 joints in costumes when they were dancing.



Chinese microbot walks on water, skims the surface of insect-inspired design


Bugs are creepy. You don't need to be an entomophobe to empathize with that sentiment. But bugs are also inspiring -- to researchers in China, that is. Taking a cue from nature, a team of engineers from the country's School of Chemical Engineering and Technology have devised a microbot weighing just 0.02 lbs (11 grams) that can repeatedly jump across the surface of water without tanking. How'd they do it? Well, by using a highly repellent foam coating, the strider-like bot's legs are able to stay afloat with every 5.5 inch (14 cm) leap it makes, buffering the force that would normally plunge it below the H20. The creation of this hydrophobic mini-insectoborg isn't exactly the first of its kind, other aquatic gliders have come before, but this itty bitty fella's the first to successfully and repeatedly hop along an aqueous top. Unfortunately, there's no video demo for you to feast your eyes upon, so you'll just have to take our word for it.


PRESS RELEASE
"Why Superhydrophobicity Is Crucial for a Water−Jumping Microrobot? Experimental and Theoretical Investigations"
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
The first bio-inspired microrobot capable of not just walking on water like the water strider – but continuously jumping up and down like a real water strider – now is a reality. Scientists reported development of the agile microrobot, which could use its jumping ability to avoid obstacles on reconnaissance or other missions, in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Qinmin Pan and colleagues explain that scientists have reported a number of advances toward tiny robots that can walk on water. Such robots could skim across lakes and other bodies of water to monitor water quality or act as tiny spies. However, even the most advanced designs – including one from Pan's team last year – can only walk on water. Pan notes that real water striders actually leap. Making a jumping robot is difficult because the downward force needed to propel it into the air usually pushes the legs through the water's surface. Pan's group looked for novel mechanisms and materials to build a true water-striding robot.
Using porous, super water-repellant nickel foam to fabricate the three supporting and two jumping legs, the group made a robot that could leap more than 5.5 inches, despite weighing as much as 1,100 water striders. In experiments, the robot could jump nearly 14 inches forward – more than twice its own length – leaving the water at about 3.6 miles per hour. The authors report that the ability to leap will make the bio-inspired microrobot more agile and better able to avoid obstacles it encounters on the water's surface.
The authors acknowledge funding from the State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System of Harbin Institute of Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

China Is Building an Army of Noodle-Making Robots



In the face of rising labor costs, Chinese restaurateur Cui Runguan is selling thousands of robots that can hand slice noodles into a pot of boiling water called the Chef Cui. Runguan says in the report below that just like robots replacing workers in factories, "it is certainly going to happen in sliced noodle restaurants." The robots costs $2,000 each, as compared to a chef, who would cost $4,700 a year. According to one chef, "The robot chef can slice noodlesbetter than human chefs." News of Runguan's invention hit the internet in March of 2011, but they've since gone into production and are starting to catch on: 3,000 of them have already been sold. But why do their eyes glow, and why do they look so angry? Here's video of this nascent robot army

All-Robot Staff Serves, Cooks at China's Robot Restaurant



The robot overlords continue their steady ascension to the top of the food chain: Haohai Robot Restaurant in Harbin, China is staffed entirely by robots. 18 robots cook, serve, and even entertain diners (there's a singing robot), all the while addressing them as "Earth Person." Wait, so these aren't just robots, they're alien robots?

The robots serve up dumplings and noodles, and menu items cost between 40 and 50 yuan (US$6.30 to $7.90). Not too bad, considering the robots themselves cost about 200,000 yuan each (US$32,000) and can only work for five hours before they need a two hour battery recharge.
Not terrified of the impending robot takeover yet? Keep in mind this is China'sfourth robot restaurant.. For now they're waiting on humans, but how soon before the roles are reversed?