Boston Dynamics Cheetah Robot Breaks Running Land Speed Record

Boston Dynamics unveiled its latest bio-inspired robots, the Cheetah, which has broken the legged-robot land speed record. The Cheetah is capable of galloping at 18 mph (30 kph)!

A more detailed article at ScaryBot.com shows a comparison with a real Cheetah running.

Posted under biomimetic, companies, locomotion, mobility, research, technology

Human Exoskeleton Helps People Walk

An Israeli company Argo Medical Technologies has developed a human exoskeleton that can help people with lower limb paralysis to walk.  The technology is called ReWalk and “enables wheelchair users with lower-limb disabilities to stand, walk, and even climb stairs.”  It is a robotic suit that can be partially concealed by clothing.  The users walk with crutches, and the suit senses changes in the center of mass and the limb position to detect and respond to user intentions.

A Reuters article on the topic can be found here.

Posted under companies, exoskeleton, locomotion, technology

This post was written by admin on September 19, 2008

Tags: , , , ,

Prof. Robert Full discusses Locomotion

Professor Robert Full from UC Berkeley studies feet.
He studies how animals use feet to perform locomotion.
If you think you know feet… think again.

Robert Full gives a talk on TED titled: Secrets of movement, from geckos and roaches
Watch Robert Full’s talk on TED
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/robert_full_on_animal_movement.html

His findings and ideas are currently being used to design new robots that can scale walls and dive through underbrush… again at Boston Dynamics:

RHex from Boston Dynamics

More on RHex here.

RiSE from Boston Dynamics

More on RiSE Here

Posted under companies, locomotion, research

This post was written by admin on September 4, 2008

Tags: , , , , ,

Heartland Robotics

Rodney Brooks, co-founder and chief technology officer of iRobot Corp., has stepped down from his position there to found a new company Heartland Robotics. Heartland Robotics will focus on industrial worker robots.

More here

Posted under companies

This post was written by admin on September 3, 2008

Tags: , , ,

Hierarchical Temporal Memory

In April of 2008, Jeff Hawkins founder of Numenta presented their biology-inspired Hierarchical Temporal Memory as keynote speaker at the 2008 RSA Conference.

This link points to the start page. You will have to register to watch the 45 minute talk online, but the keynote talks are free.

Posted under companies, intelligence, research, technology

This post was written by admin on September 2, 2008

Tags: ,

The Rise of the Robots

Microprocessor developers are acknowledging that the advances in microprocessor technology may soon enable artificial intelligence systems to be as or more intelligent than human beings.

At the Intel Developer Forum, Justin Rattner, Intel chief technology officer announced:

The industry has taken much greater strides than anyone ever imagined 40 years ago.

There is speculation that we may be approaching an inflection point where the rate of technology advancements is accelerating at an exponential rate, and machines could even overtake humans in their ability to reason, in the not so distant future.

Full story here… The Star Online written by M. Madhavan

Posted under companies, intelligence, microprocessors, technology

This post was written by admin on September 2, 2008

Tags: , , , ,

Boston Dynamics Little Dog

Boston Dynamics’ Little Dog is in my opinion more impressive than their Big Dog.
I think it is because it seems to be taking more deliberate steps, although, I expect that it is the same basic control software in operation.

Posted under companies, mobility

This post was written by admin on August 31, 2008

Tags: , ,

Boston Dynamics Big Dog

By now, almost everyone has seen Boston Dynamics’ Big Dog.
This quadruped robot is dynamically stable enabling it to accommodate a wide variety of terrain as well as changes in the dynamical environment, such as slippage or being kicked (my favorite!)

Here are some older, but fun, videos…

Posted under companies, mobility

This post was written by admin on August 31, 2008

Tags: , , ,

Launch of Autonomous Exploration, Inc.

Autonomous Exploration Banner

Autonomous Exploration Banner

Autonomous Exploration Inc. was created in 2008 by former NASA scientist and academician Kevin H. Knuth and the former president of Creative Research Inc. Julian Center.

This company is focused both on practical machine learning solutions for autonomous systems, as well as, novel computer circuitry designs based on the invertebrate ganglia.

Posted under companies, exploration

This post was written by admin on August 31, 2008

Tags: , , , , , ,