‘Software giant has announced it is ready to plunge into the robotics technology and hopefully dominate the emerging industry.
Tandy Trower, head of the Microsoft Robotics Groups said they aim to bring robotics technology to the masses by creating programming software that will ease the development of new applications. This was the same approach Microsoft did […]
‘SALVATION is at hand for everyone reduced to tears by the challenge of putting together Ikea flatpack furniture. An American university is developing a robot to assemble an Ikea Billy bookcase.
The Swedish company has sold more than 1m self-assembly Billys and that, Andrew Ng of Stanford University has declared, may have given rise to 1m […]
‘A robot waiter (L) serves in the first Robot Restaurant in Hongkong opened on July 17,2006. Robots serve as waiters to take orders and give performances in this restaurant.’
Read more at First robot restaurant opens in HK
‘The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics is a partner in the Integrated Research Project BACS (Bayesian Approach to Cognitive Systems), which is being sponsored by the EU and will run until 2010. In this project, researchers are investigating the extent to which Bayes’ theorem can be used in artificial systems capable of managing complex […]
‘European scientists are working on a new generation of robots that will be capable of responding like humans to changing situations.
Called the Integrated Research Project, the combined effort sponsored by the European Union involves researchers and commercial companies in Germany, Switzerland, France and Portugal.’
Read more at Scientists Working on Smarter Robots
‘What the world needs now, according to a Japanese research group, is a low-cost programmable robot.
To spur more development of robots at the hobbyist level, Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) is promoting a humanoid creature named HRP-2m Choromet. One problem with current robots, AIST says, is that they tend to […]
‘The space shuttle Discovery and the international space station flexed their robotic arms repeatedly today. Down at Mission Control in Houston, engineers are debating what to do about a leaking auxiliary power unit.
The unit is one of three needed to control the hydraulic steering and braking maneuvers for landing the shuttle. It’s unclear whether the […]
‘Two colleges are hoping to make computer science courses more attractive by including personal robots with the textbooks.
Looking to boost enrollment in introductory computer science classes, Microsoft Corp. is working with Bryn Mawr College and Georgia Tech on developing new ways to bring robotics technology into the classroom.
The software company is creating the Institute for […]
‘The latest development in brain-computer interface technology presents a potential way to replace or restore lost motor function in paralyzed humans.
John Donoghue and colleagues at Brown University have demonstrated a patient paralyzed by a spinal cord injury can move a cursor on a screen simply by thinking about it.’
Read more at Computer Brain Implants Aid […]
‘A paralyzed man with a small sensor implanted in his brain was able to control a computer, a television and a robot using only his thoughts, scientists reported today.
The development offers hope that in the future, people with spinal cord injuries, Lou Gehrig’s disease or other ailments that impair movement might be able to better […]
‘Microsoft will create an Institute for Personal Robots in Education in partnership with the College of Computing at Georgia Tech and Bryn Mawr College.
The Institute aims to reinvigorate computer-science curricula by providing robotics technology tailored for teaching purposes, Microsoft said.’
Read more at Robots In Tech Education Get Boost
‘Honda Motor and the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) have jointly developed new technology that enables a robot to mimic the movements of a person by reading the patterns of activity in the person’s brain. Clench your fist, and the robot does the same; hold two fingers up, and the robot does likewise. Researchers […]
‘Astronauts Piers Sellers and Mike Fossum conducted a spacewalk Saturday to determine whether a boom could be used to make repairs to the spacecraft.
Stepping out of the International Space Station at 9:17 a.m. EDT, the shuttle astronauts first immobilized a cable cutter so it wouldn’t accidentally cut a data cable, NASA reported. They then tested […]
‘US boffins have created a poker playing robot that knows when to hold, knows when to fold, knows when to walk away and knows when to run.
Computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a smart learning program that can play a winning hand of Texas hold ‘em.’
Read more at Robot poker player ups the […]
‘Approximately 1,000 families in Seoul will use remote-controlled robots to perform household chores this fall, the Korea Times reports.
Project manager Oh Sang-rok of the Ministry of Information and Communication announced a test project, Ubiquitous Robot Companion, that will include 1,000 households and 40 kindergartens.
The robots will clean up homes, care for pets, read to children […]