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
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
Kilobots made by the Self-Organizing Systems Research Group
Kilobots are quarter-sized robots that move on three little legs designed to interact and coordinate their behavior. Created by the Self-Organizing Systems Research Group at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) these little robots can be used to experiment with swarming algorithms. They have recently teamed up with the K-Team Corporation, a Swiss manufacturer of high-quality mobile robots, to mass produce kilobots so that researchers and enthusiasts alike can experiment with their own robot swarms.
More information can be found at Science Daily.
Here is a video of Kilobots in action!
Posted under swarm robotics, technology
This post was written by admin on February 9, 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
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
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
The LEGO Mindstorm NXT robotics system is an excellent testbed for research in machine learning and artificial intelligence. At Knuthlab Robotics at the University at Albany, we are developing intelligent instruments using LEGOs.
Our first instrument is a robotic arm that is designed to locate a characterize a white circle on a black background using the LEGO light sensor. It relies on Bayesian inference, which is implemented using a technique called Nested Sampling, which was developed by John Skilling. This software allows the robot to learn the characteristics of the circle using the light sensor data that it has collected. The real advance here is the inquiry engine, which uses Bayesian adaptive exploration to decide which measurements to take next. It does this by considering all the possible measurements that it could take, and computes the expected gain in information from each possible measurement. It then chooses to take the measurement with the greatest expected information gain. The process then repeats as the robot learns about the circle.
The system is easily generalized to solving other problems, such as exploring rooms, interpreting people’s emotions, and doing real science.
We recently presented our research at the MaxEnt 2007 workshop in Saratoga Springs NY. Below are links to a video of the talk, my slides, and our research paper.
Video: Designing Intelligent Instruments, K.H. Knuth
Slides: Designing Intelligent Instruments, K.H. Knuth
Research Paper:
Knuth K.H., Erner P.M., Frasso S. 2007. Designing intelligent instruments. K.H. Knuth, A. Caticha, J.L. Center, A. Giffin, C.C. Rodriguez (eds.), Bayesian Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA, 2007, AIP Conference Proceedings 954, American Institute of Physics, Melville NY, In press.
Posted under intelligence, mindstorms, research
This post was written by admin on August 31, 2008
