Next Generation NAO Robots Ready to Take Over the World

The French company Aldebaran Roboticsjust released their next generation NAO mini-humanoid robot, which boasts a bunch of new features that will make it quite formidable. The compact ‘bot stands 1′ 10″ high, and “sees” using high-resolution cameras. It can understand both visual and audio input, and communicates in eight different languages.

Apparently, NAO can also walk and learn to handle different surfaces via its built-in algorithms. The new model has a 1.6 GHz Intel processor (located in its head) and a secondary CPU in its torso. It has four microphones to track sounds and runs speech recognition software as well. Its two 30fps HD cameras will scan its environment for obstacles and also recognize faces and shapes. In addition, the robot’s movements have also been optimized so that it can avoid collisions. There are also capacitive sensors on the top of the robot’s head, allowing users to provide stimuli for Nao to react to.

NAO has prehensile hands, allowing it to grasp objects. It can walk on a variety of different surfaces and it has a ‘fall manager’, which protects the bot when it does fall to the ground. It supports Wi-Fi and is completely programmable. NAO’s built in 27.6 watt-hour battery should keep it running for as much as 90 minutes on a charge.

There’s no word on how much the latest NAO will sell for, but the last-gen model sold for a whopping $15,999 (USD) over at RobotShop. This isn’t surprising given the amount of technology in this little robot – it’s clearly not a toy. At this point NAO is only available for educational and research customers, but there are plans to make it available to (very wealthy) consumers in 2012.

Iron Man Mk. II Autopsy Movie Suit Up for Auction

Proof that even robotic suits have a corpse: a dismantled Iron Man Mk. II suit. I’m sure most of you who’ve seen Iron Man 2 can still remember the scene where James Rhodes (played by Don Cheadle) took one of Tony Stark’s armor to a military base and tore it down to see how it works. This is the prop used in that scene, and Marvel’s going to auction it off.

The suit stands 6’3″ tall and was handcrafted using “vacuum metalized fiberglass resin.”  Sounds fancy, but obviously fiberglass is weaker than whatever high-tech material Stark used in the movies and comics. As you can see some of the armor plates have been detached from the suit, exposing cables, circuitry and other fake electronics.

The auction will be held at the upcoming Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo on April 14; online bidding will also be possible. The minimum bid for the suit is $60,000(USD). Hopefully whoever gets this turns it into a wearable suit.

Kuratas Mech: Real or Fake, It’s Still Awesome

I’m going to start saying that I’m taking this with a huge grain of salt. This robot looks very realistic, yet has a somewhat cheesy and viral attempt feel to it at the same time. Watch the video for yourself and see what you think. The video is supposed to be a how-to video from a company calledSuidobashi Heavy Industry.

The video goes over how to ride a robot called the Kuratas. The 13-foot-tall wheeled robot is clearly a nod at the Mechwarrior series of video games and any number of Japanese animated shows. In the video, you can see petite Japanese woman climbing into the chest cockpit cavity of the robot and going over the controls, including a remote smartphone-operated mode.

The controls look easy-to-use and seem realistic. You’ll note on the left arm there are twin multi-barreled cannons. How scary would it be as a soldier on about film to have one of these massive robots come walking up? The video claims the top speed of the bot, which has a torso and two arms but rolls on wheels, is 10 km/h. The bot uses a diesel engine and can be driven in high or low modes. The missile launcher appears to be packed with water bottles and will “from time to time” hit its target.

If this is just a fake viral video, it’s extremely well done. If it’s real, we could soon have mechs walking the streets of Tokyo.

Transformer Wine Rack: Merlot in Disguise

Transformers should always carry their own alcoholic beverages. That way they could drink a toast with Shia LaBeouf after they kick each others asses and wreck our cities with their huge bodies. If Transformers did carry wine with them, I imagine they would look just like this.

 This guy is locked and loaded and ready to dispense with the booze. This half-ton wine rack was built using junk auto transmission parts from cars and motorcycles. It even lights up.
If you want to get drunk with this guy you can buy him for $7000(USD). Of course, if you part with that kind of money in this economy, you are probably already drinking in large quantities.

Autonomous Robot Plane is the R/C Toy You’ve Dreamed of

I’ve always wanted to play with R/C aircrafts, but even with my “easy to fly” AR.Drone 2.0, I find myself crashing the thing into walls and the ceiling indoors. Thanks to some impressive work by MIT’s Robust Robotics Group, we might someday be able to fly autonomous planes that are so smart that they can avoid obstacles on their own.

By using a special set of algorithms to calculate the plane’s trajectory, as well as its state (i.e. location, orientation, velocity and acceleration), the fixed-wing plane is able to fly quickly through cramped quarters, avoiding obstacles with ease. In fact, this plane can fly within centimeters of obstacles at a high rate of speed without crashing. The plane uses a laser rangefinder, accelerometers and gyroscopes to figure out its state, and a hugely complex series of computations to navigate through its environment.

While autonomous helicopters and quadrotors have been around for a while, a 2-meter-wide plane that can negotiate confined spaces with aplomb poses a much greater challenge, as it cannot hover, go sideways or make up arbitrary motions like those other aircraft. At this point, it appears that the system requires at least a rough, pre-existing 3-D map of its environment to work properly, but I’m sure with time they can figure out a way for the environment to be mapped in real-time as well. Kinect, anyone?
At this point, MIT isn’t specifying the exact applications for their design, but beyond military and rescue operations, I REALLY want to see a consumer version so I can stop crashing my AR.Drone.

X1 Robotic Exoskeleton Helps Astronauts Exercise and Could Benefit Paraplegics on Earth

A lot of the technology we enjoy here on Earth started out as tech created for the space program. NASA has a very cool robot working on the International Space Station right now called Robonaut 2. New technology that has spun off from the Robonaut 2 program has been unveiled that could help astronauts exercise while in the weightlessness of space – and could possibly help paraplegics on Earth to walk again.

The technology is called the X1 robotic exoskeleton and was developed in cooperation with NASA and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. The exoskeleton weighs 57 pounds and can be worn by humans to help assist or inhibit the movement of leg joints. By inhibiting movement, the exoskeleton could also provide resistive exercise.
The exoskeleton is worn over the legs with a harness that reaches up the back and around the shoulders. It offers 10° of freedom in the joints with four motorized joints at the hips and knees along with six passive joints that allow for sidestepping, turning, pointing, and flexing the foot. The system offers multiple adjustment points allowing the X1 to be used in a variety of ways. For instance, the exoskeleton could be used to help astronauts carry heavy gear on the surface of other planets and could possibly be adapted to military transport use here on Earth.

Alpha Dog Robot Can Move More Quietly (But You Can Still Escape It)

So we recently saw Boston Dynamics updated Cheetah robot which is now capable of outrunning humans, and now we have video of the latest improvements to their DARPA funded Alpha Dog robot. Alpha Dog is slower than Cheetah because it is built for different tasks. For one thing, it will carry a soldier’s load on just about any difficult terrain.

The latest updates to the robotic mule include reducing the noise it produces to just 10% of past models. It’s still not quiet at all, really, but it’s an improvement. It won’t be doing anything stealthy any time soon.

The robots are designed to work as a sort of mechanical herd, so they have improved their ability to work together. Now the herd will follow in the designated leader’s footsteps better than ever.