Robotics - Robot News

“Scientists from the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology are working on a new-generation robot which they say will be the first android capable of walking and dancing. The latest version, EveR2-Muse was unveiled last month at a robot exhibition in Seoul.

Standing like a human the android can “sing a song and move her arms, hips and knees to the rhythm although she cannot lift her feet or walk yet,” So Byung-Rok, one of the team of researchers at the KIIT told AFP.

So said the research team is now working on to improve the mobility of the robot and promote intelligence so that the androids can have a wider range of facial expressions.”

Read more at South Korean Scientists To Work On World’s First Entertainer Robot

“Tests on robot archaeologists are underway in order to send a robot deep inside Egypt’s largest Khufu pyramid near the capital for exploration, Egypt’s MENA news agency reported on Thursday.

The tests will be carried out by a team from Singapore and a joint group from Britain and China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on a specifically designed makeshift milestone-built passage, reported the MENA.”

Read more at Robot archaeologist to be sent to explore Egypt’s largest pyramid

‘MARK Viduka, Harry Kewell, watch out! Robot dogs the size of bulldog pups are taking to the field in Perth in a robot soccer exhibition pitting two Australian teams against one from China.

The robot dogs are competing in the RoboCup Perth today at the University of Western Australia (UWA) as part of the International Symposium on Practical Cognitive Agents and Robots.

The soccer tournament is being held to celebrate 50 years of research in the field of artificial intelligence and help reverse falling enrolment rates in computer science and IT.’

Read more at Soccer robot dogs kick off

‘Over 700 local children aged 10 - 16 will be visiting the University on Monday 27 November for the annual Lego robotics challenge.

This year, children from over 70 schools from the South West region have designed robots that, when scaled down, could carry out missions in the nano-world; one nanometre being 100,000 times smaller than the thickness of a single strand of hair.

The challenges facing their robots include testing stain-resistant fabric, targeting medicine to reach only diseased cells and operating a space-elevator, to mention but a few.’

Read more at Lego robotics challenge

‘George the robot is playing hide-and-seek with scientist Alan Schultz.

For a robot to actually find a place to hide, and then to hunt for its human playmate, is a new level of human interaction. The machine must take cues from people and behave accordingly.

This is the beginning of a real robot revolution: giving robots some humanity.

“Robots in the human environment, to me that’s the final frontier,” said Cynthia Breazeal, robotic life group director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The human environment is as complex as it gets; it pushes the envelope.”‘

Read more at Scientists work on helping robots ‘understand people as people’

‘Japanese schools or businesses looking for a helper with a will of steel now have another number they can call - robot receptionists ready to work for hourly wages.

The blue and white robots, which have cat-like ears and a large video camera lens for an eye, made their debut last month as hospital workers and are now being put up for rent to take additional jobs. The “Ubiko” robots can answer simple inquiries and hand out information, meaning they could be used as receptionists in companies or as guides in airports or train stations.

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Read more at Japan welcomes robot age

‘It can greet people, show DVDs and hand out balloons. “Ubiko,” a robot-on-wheels with a catlike face, is joining the crew of temporary workers supplied by a Japanese job-referral company to stores, events and even weddings.

Next month, the 44-inch tall robot will be selling mobile phones at a store, said Akiko Sakurai, a spokeswoman at the company, Ubiquitous Exchange.

Ubiko can be hired as a temporary worker for two hours for 105,000 yen, or $890. “We see this as serious business. There are jobs that robots are better at,” Sakurai said. “People do develop an attachment with the robot, and it’s lovable.”‘

Read more at Company rents out robot as temp worker

‘After more than 2 1/2 years of physical therapy and electronic stimulation, stroke victim Mike Marin still couldn’t open a door with his left hand.

Now, thanks to a robot, Marin can open a door. His atrophied left arm isn’t completely useless anymore.

Marin is at the forefront of what may seem an unlikely use for robots: providing the caring human touch. For three months in rehab at a suburb north of New York, an unnamed and unlikely looking robot guided his arm repeatedly through an ordinary video game. Where normal therapy failed, the constant robot-guided repetitions worked.’

Read more at Non-human touch makes inroads: Robots good with stroke patients, autistic kids on Sympatico

“he U.S. military plans to expand robot operations in Iraq.

Officials and industry sources said the military plans to use the robots for explosive ordnance disposal. They said the robots would enhance detection and disposal of improvised explosive devices in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

The U.S. military has ordered 1,200 robots for ordnance proposal. The robots would be delivered to the EOD units of every service in the military.”

Read more at U.S. PLANS TO EXPAND ROBOTS IN IRAQ

“It may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but the University of Central Florida’s latest high-tech project is very much rooted in reality.

UCF’s Institute for Simulation & Training has landed a $3.64 million contract from the Army Research Laboratory to develop technology that would enable robots and soldiers to conduct military operations together.

The one-year deal would lay the foundation for creating “a combat force of humans and robots” and investigating “how robots and soldiers might work together” more effectively in the battlefield, project officials said.”

Read more at UCF leads project to develop combat force of robots

“A mechanical lizard developed in part by a Korean engineering student called Stickybot was selected as one of the Best Inventions 2006 by Time magazine. The Stanford University website says mechanical engineering student Sangbae Kim designed the robot that made it into the Toys category.

Stickybot’s feet have fine fibers that give it enough grip to climb straight up a glass wall just like a real gecko. A video of the machine performing this feat has become a top draw on YouTube.”

Read more at Korean Helps Create Robot Gecko

“A US scientist has created a robot that can find a way to keep working on its own after suffering damage, an invention that could prove useful for robotic space missions in distant planets, according to a study.

Joshua Bongard, a University of Vermont engineer whose research article appeared in Friday’s Science Magazine, pulled off one of a homemade robot’s four legs for his experiment.

The robot was programmed to assess the damage by moving in playful-looking sequences allowing it to find the problem, Bongard said.”

Read more at A robot invention with a leg to stand on

“The first robotic security guard for domestic use has been developed successfully on November 15. It can assist security personnel in ensuring an area is safe. The robot was developed by the Robot Research Institute of the China Civil Aviation Land Special Equipment Research Base and Tianjin Ya’an Technology Electron Limited Company.”

Read more at Robotic security guard developed

‘Israel21c interviewed Dr. Moshe Shoham from Haifa’s Technion, who claims the development of a novel propulsion system for a miniature robot, expected at first to swim through cerebrospinal fluid (!) in the central nervous system, and then, possibly, through other fluid-filled cavities for diagnostic purposes.’

Read more at Israeli Researchers Claim Novel Swimming Robot

‘Hundreds of South Korean scientists are working to develop robot caregivers that could tackle the chores and monitor the health of elderly people.

The project is due for completion in 2013, Kim Mun-Sang, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, was quoted by the Korea Times as saying.

When the project is completed, a senior citizen could instruct a robot equipped with voice recognition software to order food from a nearby restaurant for dinner.’

Read more at S. Korean scientists developing robot maids for elderly