11.16.2008
Auto robotos
10.24.2008
Packs of robots
Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans
From the article:
From the article:
- robots.jpgThe latest request from the Pentagon jars the senses. At least, it did mine. They are looking for contractors to provide a "Multi-Robot Pursuit System" that will let packs of robots "search for and detect a non-cooperative human".
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10.02.2008
Robot hands
A photo essay on new robot hand designs:
Robot Hands Get a Grip on the Future
From the article:
Robot Hands Get a Grip on the Future
From the article:
- For centuries, people have used the human body, and the hand in particular, as an inspiration and blueprint for engineering innovations.
But copying the human hand hasn't been easy. Its complex muscular and skeletal structure offers a unique, tricky balance: It is dexterous, stable and precise, but also fast moving, strong and flexible.
Despite the challenges, makers of robot hands have called on a host of innovations from a variety of disciplines to bring us closer to fully automated hands.
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9.19.2008
More on Mechanical Turk
Ten Thousand Cents
From the site:
From the site:
- "Ten Thousand Cents" is a digital artwork that creates a representation of a $100 bill. Using a custom drawing tool, thousands of individuals working in isolation from one another painted a tiny part of the bill without knowledge of the overall task. Workers were paid one cent each via Amazon's Mechanical Turk distributed labor tool.
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9.18.2008
Wired Workers
This is the science fiction version of tele-presence, where people control robots at a distance to get work done. In the trailer you can see people doing constuction work, agricultural work and military work:
We already have people flying drone aircraft in this way, but the agricultural and construction robots are still a few years off.
What we do have today is people willing to do more cerebral tasks over the Internet, as described in this article:
Mechanical Turk
From the article:
People checked all the links for a nominal payment (in this case, 2 cents a link).
Both of these ideas fit perfectly into the world of Manna.
We already have people flying drone aircraft in this way, but the agricultural and construction robots are still a few years off.
What we do have today is people willing to do more cerebral tasks over the Internet, as described in this article:
Mechanical Turk
From the article:
- I just finished my first big project using Amazon's Mechanical Turk service. I'm in love.
I had a list of over 6000 business names, addresses and url's of dubious quality that I needed to make sure was accurate. For a brief moment, I thought about checking them myself. But after doing several dozen by hand, I realized that I was violating the principle of Don't Be Silly(TM). So I was stuck. Either I could use half baked data as is or shelve the project entirely.
Enter Mechanical Turk, and the hordes of awesomeness to save the day. I'd heard about Mechanical Turk several years ago, and I had been dying to use it.
People checked all the links for a nominal payment (in this case, 2 cents a link).
Both of these ideas fit perfectly into the world of Manna.
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8.29.2008
When a robot becomes the star of the show
8.26.2008
Robot intelligence
Intel looks into the future:
Robots to be more intelligent than humans in 40 years
From the article:
See Robotic Nation for details.
Robots to be more intelligent than humans in 40 years
From the article:
- The firm predicts in just over 40 years machines may have the reasoning power of humans, though stopped short of saying they will become our masters and we will be forced to do their bidding.
"The industry has taken much greater strides than anyone ever imagined 40 years ago," said Justin Rattner, CTO of Intel said.
See Robotic Nation for details.
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8.19.2008
Lifelike animated people
Watch the video in this article to see how far "animated people" have come:
Lifelike animation heralds new era for computer games
How long will it be before actors and actresses of every sort, along with newscasters, spokespeople, etc. are replaced by animated people like these?
How long before this level of realism is available in games like SecondLife and WoW?
Lifelike animation heralds new era for computer games
How long will it be before actors and actresses of every sort, along with newscasters, spokespeople, etc. are replaced by animated people like these?
How long before this level of realism is available in games like SecondLife and WoW?
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7.11.2008
A Robot That Learns to Use Tools
A Robot That Learns to Use Tools: "To assist humans around the house, robots will need to be able to deal with the unfamiliar. But while researchers can preprogram robots to do increasingly sophisticated tasks, they face a much bigger challenge in teaching them to adapt to unstructured environments. A robot developed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, however, is able to learn to use objects that it has never encountered before..."
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6.30.2008
Robots in the operating room
It is exactly as predicted in a Robotic Nation:
Dr. R2-D2 - The invasion of the surgeon robots
From the article:
Humans prefer robots to people.
Dr. R2-D2 - The invasion of the surgeon robots
From the article:
- There is one realm, however, in which robots really are joining the gang: the operating room. It turns out that Americans love to be operated upon by them. Last year, robots participated in thousands of surgeries, and the years ahead promise even more choices. Cancer surgery, heart surgery, brain surgery, you name it—R2-D2 awaits your call. The robots even have their own medical journal (OK, it's run by the humans who operate the robots, but egad!).
Humans prefer robots to people.
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6.29.2008
Zappos and robot workers
Zappos tries robots on for size
From the article:
The Kiva Systems article is interesting: Kivasystems.com
From the article:
- the company, which now sells more than just shoes, has just finished outfitting it's Kentucky warehouse with a robotic army to help fill orders, the company supplying the system announced Tuesday.
The Kiva Mobile Fulfillment System from Massachusetts-based Kiva Systems, is basically a team of autonomous, stout, orange robots that sort, store, and move inventory in warehouses. The robots essentially bring the assembly line to the warehouse worker to fill orders more quickly.
The Kiva Systems article is interesting: Kivasystems.com
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6.28.2008
Germany's 'robot' restaurant
6.19.2008
Robots' time has almost come
The Economist weighs in on robots:
Robots are getting cleverer and more dexterous. Their time has almost come
"Today, thanks to the relentless increase in the power of computing, the latest robots are being fitted with sophisticated systems that enable them to see, feel, move and work together. Robot engineers call this “mechatronics”: the union of mechanics, optics, electronics, computers and software. Some factory robots are now smart enough to be released from their safety cages to work among humans. And as they become cleverer and more dexterous, they are starting to move from factories to offices and homes..."
Robots are getting cleverer and more dexterous. Their time has almost come
"Today, thanks to the relentless increase in the power of computing, the latest robots are being fitted with sophisticated systems that enable them to see, feel, move and work together. Robot engineers call this “mechatronics”: the union of mechanics, optics, electronics, computers and software. Some factory robots are now smart enough to be released from their safety cages to work among humans. And as they become cleverer and more dexterous, they are starting to move from factories to offices and homes..."
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6.18.2008
Robots with a mind of their own
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6.05.2008
Military-style checkpoints
D.C. Police to Check Drivers In Violence-Plagued Trinidad
From the article:
From the article:
- D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced a military-style checkpoint yesterday to stop cars this weekend in a Northeast Washington neighborhood inundated by gun violence, saying it will help keep criminals out of the area.
Starting on Saturday, officers will check drivers' identification and ask whether they have a "legitimate purpose" to be in the Trinidad area, such as going to a doctor or church or visiting friends or relatives. If not, the drivers will be turned away.
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5.17.2008
Nurse robots
Warwick University robo nurses straight from 'Star Wards'!
From the article:
From the article:
- ENGINEERS at the University of Warwick are helping to design 'R2D2'-type robo nurses which could be in hospitals by 2020. i-WARD is the name of the £2.6 million collaborative EU funded three-year project.
It stands for Intelligent Robot Swarm for Attendance, Recognition, Cleaning and Delivery.
Professor Vinesh Raja, Professor Fellow of Informatics, at the university's International Manufacturing Centre, said the role of the robots was not to replace nurses but to help carry out basic tasks such as leading a patient to a ward, monitoring security surveillance, delivering drugs to a doctor and cleaning a floor.
He said: "i-Ward would mean hospital staff being able to spend more time with their patients, relieving them from the drudgery of mundane tasks."
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11.30.2007
Robots at play and work
Robots at play and work - "The 2007 International Robot Exhibition, which began Wednesday and runs through Saturday, is sponsored by the Japan Robot Association. The show claims to be the largest robotics industry trade show in the world and showcases robots that do everything from manufacture cars to help those in the health care industry..."
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9.24.2007
Drone warship
UXV Combatant, a new class of warship being developed by BAE Systems to fight in the drone wars: "BAE believes that the future battlefield will be full of intelligent robots fighting against each other, probably until they realize they can join together to eliminate all humans from Earth. The ship looks and specs, expected to enter service past 2020, look terrifying: The 8,000-tonne carrier is designed "to launch, operate and recover large numbers of small unmanned vehicles for extended periods" that will operate in land, sea and air."
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9.04.2007
How close are we to immersion?
In The Day You Discard Your Body as well as Manna, people readily discard their carbon-based bodies to live in virtual worlds that are far more interesting and entertaining.
This article talks about a man who has done nearly the same thing with Second Life today:
Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?
He is basically living in Second Life. The only thing he does is "real life" is eat, sleep and use the restroom. His Second Life is far more interesting than his real life, even though Second Life is such a crude embodiment of a virtual environment.
This article talks about a man who has done nearly the same thing with Second Life today:
Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?
He is basically living in Second Life. The only thing he does is "real life" is eat, sleep and use the restroom. His Second Life is far more interesting than his real life, even though Second Life is such a crude embodiment of a virtual environment.
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8.12.2007
China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People
China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People
From the article:
From the article:
- At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets here in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity.
Starting this month in a port neighborhood and then spreading across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by the same company will be issued to most citizens.
Data on the chip will include not just the citizen’s name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord’s phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China’s controversial “one child” policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card...
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8.09.2007
Farms Fund Robots to Replace Migrant Fruit Pickers
Farms Fund Robots to Replace Migrant Fruit Pickers
from the article:
from the article:
- Vision Robotics, a San Diego company, is working on a pair of robots that would trundle through orchards plucking oranges, apples or other fruit from the trees. In a few years, troops of these machines could perform the tedious and labor-intensive task of fruit picking that currently employs thousands of migrant workers each season.
The robotic work has been funded entirely by agricultural associations, and pushed forward by the uncertainty surrounding the migrant labor force. Farmers are "very, very nervous about the availability and cost of labor in the near future," says Vision Robotics CEO Derek Morikawa.
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8.04.2007
Self-service economy arrives gradually
Self-service economy arrives gradually
The article reads like a page from Manna or Robotic Nation. Here is an excerpt:
The article reads like a page from Manna or Robotic Nation. Here is an excerpt:
- At airports, supermarkets and big-box retailers, "customer service" in recent years has meant self-serve — aided by touch-screen kiosks.
As digital kiosks become more user-friendly and capable of handling more complicated tasks, health care providers, fast-food chains and other businesses say trading face-to-face encounters for face-to-monitor transactions improves service and saves money.
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First Armed Robots on Patrol in Iraq
First Armed Robots on Patrol in Iraq
From the article:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e26Gnc3E0yg
From the article:
- Robots have been roaming the streets of Iraq, since shortly after the war began. Now, for the first time -- the first time in any warzone -- the machines are carrying guns.
After years of development, three "special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system" (SWORDS) robots have deployed to Iraq, armed with M249 machine guns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e26Gnc3E0yg
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7.29.2007
Evolutionary algorithms now surpass human designers
A really interesting article on evolutionary algorithms and how they are replacing human designers:
Evolutionary algorithms now surpass human designers
Evolutionary algorithms now surpass human designers
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7.27.2007
Robotic cockroach
A very strange wheeled and legged bug-like robot. Here is a video:
Engadget article:
Halluc II
Archives
Engadget article:
Halluc II
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