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
This post was written by admin on March 9, 2012
Robonaut 2
NASA’s Robonaut 2 (R2) began operations on the International Space Station (ISS) by greeting Commander Dan Burbank with the first “man-robot” handshake in space.
First Robonaut-Astronaut Handshake
R2 is a telepresence droid and can be controlled either from Earth or from the ISS. R2 boasts 38 PowerPC processors and over 350 sensors.
Here is a video:
Posted under research, technology, telepresence
This post was written by admin on February 22, 2012
Researchers at the University of Chicago, Cornell University and iRobot who developed the Universal Jamming Gripper have recently taught their robot to throw things!
Why is this so cool?
The Universal Jamming Grippers consists of a balloon filled with sand or coffee grounds. When slightly inflated it can wrap itself around an object. Then when the air is removed the balloon tightens its grip and holds tight.
Universal Jamming Grippers in Action Picking up a Glass of Water
Posted under research, technology
This post was written by admin on February 22, 2012
The Knuth Cyberphysics Laboratory investigates the fundamental physics governing the processes of information-driven systems.
Cyberphysics is the physics of information-based control in systems that display a strong coupling between computing and control elements. Such systems are called cyber-physical systems. Cyberphysics is closely related to cybernetics, which is the study of regulatory systems.
Posted under research
This post was written by admin on March 1, 2010
Brickengineer announces MATLAB packages for the LEGO NXT Robotics system:
There are now several MATLAB packages for robotics, and specifically for the NXT. One paradigm is to run the code on a PC and have it communicate direct commands to the NXT Brick via Bluetooth or USB. I have found this paradigm to be a bit dangerous since in the event of a MATLAB crash or a miscommunication, the NXT Brick will continue with its last command until ordered to stop. This has the potential to destroy your robot. The paradigm that I prefer to use is to write several programs that run on the brick. These programs take commands from files on the brick that can be uploaded rapidly from the PC. The MATLAB code then is in charge of sending the command files and starting and stopping programs. In the event of a MATLAB crash or communication failure, the software running on the NXT Brick can be designed to terminate gracefully.
Here are the MATLAB packages that I know of. The first two are specifically geared toward the NXT; whereas the last is a general robotics package.
* LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Toolkit for MATLAB and Simulink
http://www.mathworks.com/programs/mindstorms/
* Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB (Release 7.1) (P.I. Corke)
http://petercorke.com/Robotics%20Toolbox.html
* RWTH Mindstorms NXT Toolbox for Matlab
http://www.mindstorms.rwth-aachen.de/
Posted under research, software
This post was written by admin on February 11, 2009
Mark Yim, associate professor member of the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, introduces reassembling/reconfiguring robots.
The robot below called Ckbot is constructed of 15 modules grouped into 3 clusters of 5 modules each. Each cluster is equipped with a camera (24 frames per second video), a blinker LED, and an accelerometer. The other modules have proximity sensors, servo motors, and a computer. When the system is disassembled, each cluster rights itself and seeks out the other clusters so that they may dock and reconstruct the robot.
Posted under modular, research
This post was written by admin on January 30, 2009
A ScienceDaily article discusses the explosion of research in robotics in Europe. The European Network of Robotic Research (EURON) is funding a mass of projects that are helping to differentiate the field of robotics into sub-fields such as domestic robotics, field robotics, and service robotics. Several particular projects and their advances are mentioned in the article. More here…
Posted under research
This post was written by admin on November 8, 2008
The University at Albany (SUNY) has highlighted Knuth’s research in a recent news piece.
UAlbany Professor Kevin Knuth with a robot built from LEGOs. (Photo Mark Schmidt)
Kevin Knuth has a laboratory in the physics department of the University at Albany that is filled with LEGOs. The bricks are relatively cheap and can be used to rapidly prototype a robot’s body. Knuth’s robots are being programmed to solve such problems as mapping complex terrain.
At UAlbany Day on Saturday, Oct. 25, he will give a demonstration on Robotics and Robotic Exploration in Life Sciences Room 143 at 10:45 a.m.
More here:
http://www.albany.edu/news/update_4522.shtml
Building instructions for the robot shown in the UAlbany article can be found on Brickengineer.com
Visit Autonomous Exploration News for information on Knuth’s company Autonomous Exploration Inc.
Posted under exploration, mindstorms, research
This post was written by admin on October 21, 2008
European researchers are working on an EU-funded project called HISMAR (Hull Identification System for Marine Autonomous Robotics) to develop a robotic hull cleaning system to remove marine growth from ships. Marine growth significantly increases the friction of a ship moving through water, which significantly increases the cost in terms of energy. In addition, marine growth poses an environmental hazard.
Professor Tony Roskilly of Newcastle University in the UK heads the project, and describes the system:
“First a map of the hull is automatically charted, recording the location of every weld, thickness change, rivet and indentation on the ship’s surface. Adjustable jets of pressurised sea water blast the marine growth off the surface of the ship which is then sucked up into the main chamber. Here, 150 litres of water a minute is filtered and the bio-fouling removed and rendered harmless to the local environment. In this way, the ship’s robotic ‘vacuum’ can continuously roam the ship’s hull, preventing the build up of slime and allowing it to travel through the water efficiently by cutting down on drag. This significantly reduces fuel consumption and also pollution such as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.”
More information on the HISMAR project can be found here.
More information can also be found in the article at ZDNet.
Posted under research
This post was written by admin on September 19, 2008
Lobster Robots
Dr. Joseph Ayers of Northeastern University and the Marine Science Center has been performing research in biomimetic underwater robots. He has been working on two types of robots: a lobster and a sea lamprey.
More info can be found here: http://www.huginn.com/knuth/blog/2007/03/24/biomimetic-underwater-robots/
Posted under biomimetic, locomotion, neuroscience, research
This post was written by admin on September 19, 2008
