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]