robot

Geminoid Top 5: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly, the Scary and the Beautiful

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for Geminoid Top 5: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly, the Scary and the Beautiful

Geminoid is a robot-twin — i.e. an (almost) identical mechanical copy, of an actual human being. For the past several years I have been totally fascinated by the incredible progress in life-like geminoid technology and decided to compile a short list with the top 5 most impressive robots. Geminoid DK was constructed to look exactly like Associate Professor Henrik Scharfe of Aalborg University in Denmark. The robot is going to be used for researching “emotional affordances” in human-robot interaction, the novel notion of “blended presence,” as well as cultural differences (from different continents) in the perception of robots. All of the movements and expressions of Geminoid DK are remote controlled by an operator with a computer, who uses a motion-capture system that tracks facial expressions and head movements. Though it is still pretty far from the final version this geminoid [...]

Read the full article →

This Article Was Written By A Robot

by Kieran Griffith
Thumbnail image for This Article Was Written By A Robot

Humans already are robots. One of my favorite quotes by Aubrey de Grey is “the human body is a very complex machine.” Yes, we are complex, self replicating and self-repairing, but we are machines never-the-less. Look at yourself, look at your hands – they are a small part of an extremely complex apparatus that is able to accomplish all kinds of sophisticated actions. Vertebrate life forms are the most complex apparatus ever developed and no definition of a robot says that it has to be man made. So what if the current life forms were created by the trial-and-error process called evolution for over 4.7 billion years?!…

Read the full article →

Funny Or Serious: Are We Giving Robots Too Much Power?

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for Funny Or Serious: Are We Giving Robots Too Much Power?

Automated machines, intelligent software and robots are all playing greater and greater role in our society – they play games with us, clean our floors, connect our phone calls, tell us where we are and how to get where we want to be. Soon enough they will drive our cars, teach our kids, grow all of our food, provide care for the sick and the elderly, guard us when we sleep and fight in our wars. At least in theory, there is hardly anything at which humans are likely to retain their superiority forever. Optimists, such as Ray Kurzweil and Kevin Warwick believe that robotics is one of the 3 super technologies (the other 2 being nanotechnology and genetics) that could enhance out intelligence, improve our physical capabilities and eventually even bring about immortality. On the other hand, pessimists such [...]

Read the full article →

NASA and GM Develop Robonaut 2

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for NASA and GM Develop Robonaut 2

The Robonaut is a robotic astronaut first developed about 10 years ago by DARPA and NASA with the goal of assisting human space exploration or, ultimately, conducting non-human space exploration altogether.  Though the original version never actually made it into space it seems that version 2.0 is being developed by NASA and GM. The new Robonaut R2 is more dexterous, stronger, smarter, faster and more efficient. It is supposed to automate tasks that are dangerous, dull, repetitive or otherwise challenging for human astronauts. One such task, for example, is space walking which requires long and tedious pre- and post-space-walk procedures for all human astronauts. Robots can potentially cut out operation time, minimize risk and even improve the quality of the work carried out during the space-walk missions.   the Original Robonaut Video   the new R2 Humanoid Robonaut Video   [...]

Read the full article →

HRP-4: The Robot Worker

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for HRP-4: The Robot Worker

Reuters News just posted a short video news report about Kawada and AIST’s (Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) newest bipedal robot – the HRP-4. The HRP-4 joins Japan’s growing inventory of humanoid robots designed to replace human manual labor on production lines and factory floors. It is 151 centimeters (5 feet) tall, weighs about 39 kilos (86 pounds) and costs roughly about 300,000 USD to produce. See the original Rob Muir report for Reuters or check out the YouTube video demonstration of the humanoid robot below. As seen in the videos above new HRP-4 humanoid robot is much more diverse in its capabilities than previous generations of humanoid robots. Given its advanced design the robot can be adopted to work in a variety of different fields performing basic manual labor tasks and, since it is not [...]

Read the full article →

Us and Them: Robots Imitating Humans Imitating Robots

by Socrates

Last night I was watching the following 2 YouTube videos together with my wife and it got us talking along the following lines: Robots imitating humans Humans imitating Robots Isn’t it ironic how we try to be more like them and they try to be more like us? What happens if or when both us and them get what we want? Is the grass truly greener on the other side?

Read the full article →

Top 10 Robot Videos

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for Top 10 Robot Videos

Here are the top 10 robot videos that I have seen since the beginning of this year. As you will see the robots in those videos are all very different from each other and range from industrial and mech-warfare robots to androids. Thus they are very hard to compare and for this reason I will not actually rank the videos but simply list them one after another. Fast Speed Robo-Hand This video shows off a stunningly fast robotic hand. Some of the video footage has been slowed so that it is easier to observe the motion. Still, don’t blink or you may miss the action. Robo-Waiter A Japanese restaurant in Thailand called Hajime is served by 4 robo-waiters. After customers place their orders on touchscreens a humanoid samurai robot dressed in full armor delivers the dishes. While samurais were not [...]

Read the full article →

Artificial Intelligence: Its Meaning and Its Future

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for Artificial Intelligence: Its Meaning and Its Future

Professors Noel Sharkey and Kevin Warwick discuss what AI is, and what it might become… Video: Artificial intelligence: Will machines ever out-think us? | silicon.com Related articles by Zemanta the Rise of Robotic Artificial Intelligence (singularityblog.singularitysymposium.com) Call for debate on killer robots (news.bbc.co.uk) Military killer robots ‘could endanger civilians’ (telegraph.co.uk)

Read the full article →