Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 26th, 2010
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It’s been over four months since I last paid a visit to a robot store in Akihabara/Tokyo, namely the Vstone flagship store . But I have to say the Tsukumo Robot Kingdom [JP] is much cooler, mainly because the shop is larger and offers more robots than its rival. The Robot Kingdom is located on the 4th floor of the Tsukumo PC Store II in central Akihabara. Just like the Vstone store, the Tsukumo counterpart offers a plethora of different parts and bits for your robot pleasure: The humanoid on the left costs the equivalent of $1,100, while the right one sells for $1,300: No robot store without one of the most popular humanoids out there, Robovie-X (pictured below in the middle, price: $1,600): The humanoid on the left costs the equivalent of $1,000, while the one on the right is priced at $1,050: KHR-3 HV costs $1,300: $1,100, that’s the price for this cool Hello Kitty robot: Here’s a short video showing the store/kingdom (not made by me):
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 19th, 2010
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Baseball robots are nothing new (there’s even a dedicated Wikipedia article on them), but that didn’t stop Japan’s Meiji University and Yokohama-based metal recycling company MRC [JP] to come up with the so-called Jet Hitter [JP]. This new model is a batting tee robot that makes it possible for a player to practice hitting baseballs by himself. And the makers say it’s the first of its kind. The way Jet Hitter works is that users need to step on a button at the base of the robot, prompting a baseball to pop up and stay suspended 10-20cm above a nozzle on a jet of air. Users can then practice hitting up to 70 balls one after another (that’s how many balls the robot can hold). Jet Hitter can be filled with both soft and hard balls. Meiji and MRC say Jet Hitter is already being used by several Japanese pro baseball teams. But the robot can actually be bought by anyone ready to spend $7,700 for it.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
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Japan has a lot of different robots so why not develop one that looks like a tower – even if it may make no sense whatsoever? That’s what a total of seven Japanese companies thought and built the Tsutenkaku Robotto [JP] (Tsutenkaku roughly translates to “tower that extends to the sky”). And as the name suggests, the robot is pretty tall: 170cm. In fact, the makers claim their robot is the tallest humanoid ever produced. Tsutenkaku stands on two legs, is battery-powered, has 80 LEDs that help him light up and can strike poses with his arms. The main purpose of the robot is to boost the coolness factor of Osaka (Tsutenkaku is being marketed as Osaka’s own hero). The robot is scheduled to make his public debut next week during a street festival in central Tokyo and will also be showcased during the Shanghai World Expo in May. Watch Tsutenkaku in action in this weird promo clip (in Japanese): Via Yomiuri Shimbun [JP] via Plastic Pals
Posted by 010081
Tech
Friday, March 12th, 2010
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Toshiba is a huge company, but it’s not necessarily known as a maker of robots . Their “Wheelie” for indoor use is an autonomous, 2-wheeled robot, which is still in prototype stage and somehow reminiscent of a Segway in its basic design. Technical details are scare right now, but the main purpose of the robot is to one day help families out with daily chores, for example by serving food. For that you need to place plates and glasses on top of the little guy’s head and he will do the rest by himself. And the way Wheelie can balance out differences in height is pretty impressive (skip to 1.50 in the video below). Here’s a demo clip: Via Plastic Pals
Posted by 010081
Tech
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
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Let the record show: I think motion controllers, like the Wii , Sony Move , or Microsoft’s Project Natal , are sorta dumb. They simply don’t seem to be precise enough for my tastes—I’m far too used to a mouse and keyboard to give that up for the “thrill” of flailing my arms in the arm like the robot from Lost In Space. But it wasn’t always like that. Like many of you, my first experience with a motion-esque controller was in Duck Hunt for the NES. Granted, a light gun isn’t the same as the Wii remote, but it’s the closest thing I get to being “down” with all that jazz. I asked the two fine gentlemen in the chat room right now, Matt and Doug, the simple question: motion control, yea or nay? Of course they couldn’t me a simple, Fox News-friendly soundbite, but instead chose to nuance their way out of the question. “I like it for sports and shooting games,” said Doug. Meanwhile, Matt also echoed my nostalgia for Duck Hunt . I’ll also add the orignial Time Crisis as a “motion control” game I enjoyed. And I played House of the Dead once in a bowling alley—that was neat. But things like painting a wall by slinging globs of paint at it? Eh, I could do without it. Motion control seems to devolve into silliness quite rapidly. Remember this? Oh, look, we’re curling! Woo! That’s not nearly as fun as cranking up the DPI on a fancy Logitech mouse, then sniping a dumb Heavy in Team Fortress 2 with millimeter precision. Is the Sony Move going to be as accurate? I doubt it. Even if it were, holding my arm in the air for any length of time is far too much to ask. I have little girl arms, and they tire very quickly . It’s far easier to rest my hands on a comfy keyboard, or sitting on the couch playing the rubbish Xbox 360 port of Final Fantasy XIII . (I’m very seriously considering buying a PS3 in the next few months simply to play the “real” version of the game. Getting God of War III and Heavy Rain won’t hurt, either.) So I don’t know, clearly Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo see motion controllers as a viable option. As an old man afraid of change and inconvenience, I don’t know that I’m too high on it.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
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A Japanese robot manufacturer called BL Autotec has developed a remote-controlled robot hand [JP, PDF] that’s able to grip and turn doorknobs. Once connected to a emergency robot, it can safely open doors at disaster sites, for example in collapsed buildings without putting humans in danger. Autotec says the robot can be used in the case of nuclear, biological and chemical disasters. The hand has a built-in CCD camera and an LED light so a human can operate it remotely in dark areas. Using a total of four shafts, the hand can move up to 1m. It’s also able to move hazardous materials to some extent, for example rubble. BL Autotec says the hand can also be used for industrial applications. The company plans to sell complete sets consisting of its hand and a special, self-developed emergency robot to Japanese and foreign buyers for $110,000. As you can see in the picture above, rescue workers can actually carry the robot on their back (it weighs 34kg though). Sales are expected to start in 2013, with BL Autotec hoping to sell 25 sets in the first year.
Posted by 010081
Tech
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
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The JST, Japan’s Science and Technology Agency , announced [JP] the development of M3-neony (pictured above) and M3-synchy today, two advanced baby-like robots. While “neony” (derived from “neonate”) is intentionally designed to look like a newborn, “snychy” just stands for “synchronous communication” (but as you can see, he looks like a baby, too). The M3 stands for “Man-Made Man”. M3-neony is developed to mimic the behavior of a human baby. The JST says the robot is able to move certain “muscles” randomly, just like a newborn who is learning how to move does. It’s supposed to serve as a research object for scientists who want to explore this process. Needless to say, M3-neony has the body of a baby, too, as he weighs 3.5kg and is 50cm tall. The robot features 90 touch sensors, 22 motors, two CMOS 3.3MP cameras, two microphones, three acceleration sensors, and two gyro sensors. M3-synchy (pictured above), on the other hand, is mainly designed to communicate either with other robots (seriously) or with humans. The JST says synchy is supposed to help scienctists understand the intricacies of verbal and non-verbal communication, especially how humans turn their look or look into each other’s eyes when discussing. The robot stands 30cm tall and weighs 2.5kg. Synchy has a CCD camera with 3.3MP and a wide-angle lens in its head. Other features include 2 microphones, speakers, 15 LEDs (that make the robot’s face blush in certain situations) and a face and voice recognition function for other robots and humans. Via Sankei Kansai [JP]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
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Have you ever wanted to reach out and strangle someone during a conference call? Well now you can. MIT’s crazy MeBot is a tiny robot that sits on your desk and moves around, allowing remote communication partners to roam around your office when you’re talking to them. Presumably this is supposed to get more emotions across because the robot mimics head and arm motions, acting all exasperated when you’re exasperated and tilting its head like Forrest Gump and his son when you’re confused. It’s definitely a cool new way to think about teleconferencing. Here is the project page . Fun stuff. via Hizook
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
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You probably haven’t heard about the Da Vinci surgical robot , but it’s been out for a little while. I had the chance to see it last year (and even try it out a little bit) and it’s an amazing piece of machinery. It’s also extremely expensive and in high demand, so it’s difficult for doctors to find time to train in it’s use. Enter the RoSS Simulator. Using a stand alone simulator it’s possible for a doctor to receive all the training they need on the system without actually using the Da Vinci robot in an operating theater. This cuts down on the training costs significantly, as well as freeing up the real unit for procedures. [via Medgadget ]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
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You probably haven’t heard about the Da Vinci surgical robot , but it’s been out for a little while. I had the chance to see it last year (and even try it out a little bit) and it’s an amazing piece of machinery. It’s also extremely expensive and in high demand, so it’s difficult for doctors to find time to train in it’s use. Enter the RoSS Simulator. Using a stand alone simulator it’s possible for a doctor to receive all the training they need on the system without actually using the Da Vinci robot in an operating theater. This cuts down on the training costs significantly, as well as freeing up the real unit for procedures. [via Medgadget ]