Robots Everywhere » robotics http://www.brickengineer.com/robots ... and growing exponentially Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:49:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 What is an Anybot? http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2012/02/07/what-is-an-anybot/ http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2012/02/07/what-is-an-anybot/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:49:05 +0000 admin http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/?p=99 Anybots Inc. now offers a personal remote avatar, also known as a telepresence droid. You can control the anybot from a web browser and drive it around and interact with the world remotely:

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]]> http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2012/02/07/what-is-an-anybot/feed/ 0 Quadcopter Swarm Robotics http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2012/02/04/quadcopter-swarm-robotics/ http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2012/02/04/quadcopter-swarm-robotics/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:51:13 +0000 admin http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/?p=93 The General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania is developing algorithms to control swarms of quadrotors, also known as quadcopters or quadricopters.

Their research group has some amazing videos of quadrotors in coordinated flight, and quadrotors working together to perform a coordinated construction task. The GRASP lab is involved in numerous other projects that are worth checking out.

Here is a video of quadrotors in coordinated flight:

Here they perform a construction task:

The latter video was featured on The Colbert Report.
Amazing work (and a little creepy!)


Gyro RC Helicopter
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]]> http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2012/02/04/quadcopter-swarm-robotics/feed/ 1 Knuth Cyberphysics Laboratory http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2010/03/01/knuth-cyberphysics-laboratory/ http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2010/03/01/knuth-cyberphysics-laboratory/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:14:22 +0000 admin http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/?p=89 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.

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]]> http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2010/03/01/knuth-cyberphysics-laboratory/feed/ 0 StratBot http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2010/03/01/stratbot/ http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2010/03/01/stratbot/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:10:35 +0000 admin http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/?p=85 StratBot is a blog on military ground robotics.
We will be adding it to the BlogRoll.

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]]> http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2010/03/01/stratbot/feed/ 0 Don’t Mess with Robots! http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2009/11/15/dont-mess-with-robots/ http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2009/11/15/dont-mess-with-robots/#comments Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:21:37 +0000 admin http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/?p=83 A recent BBC show makes it clear why we really shouldn’t get physically aggressive with today’s computer systems!

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]]> http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2009/11/15/dont-mess-with-robots/feed/ 0 MATLAB Packages for the NXT http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2009/02/11/matlab-packages-for-the-nxt/ http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2009/02/11/matlab-packages-for-the-nxt/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 07:32:00 +0000 admin http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/?p=74 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/

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]]> http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2009/02/11/matlab-packages-for-the-nxt/feed/ 1 European Research in Robotics http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2008/11/08/european-research-in-robotics/ http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2008/11/08/european-research-in-robotics/#comments Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:30:59 +0000 admin http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/?p=70 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…

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]]> http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2008/11/08/european-research-in-robotics/feed/ 0 Knuth: Developing Robotic Scientists for Space Exploration http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2008/10/21/knuth-developing-robotic-scientists-for-space-exploration/ http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/2008/10/21/knuth-developing-robotic-scientists-for-space-exploration/#comments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:57:09 +0000 admin http://www.brickengineer.com/robots/?p=65 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)

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.

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