DailyDirt: More Robot Servants Will Be Nice...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Robots are getting better at performing complex tasks all the time. It won't be too long before they can drive cars and deliver packages (and replace about a quarter of a million human workers who drive for UPS/FedEx/USPS/etc). The technology isn't quite there yet, but it doesn't seem to be too far off in the future. However, we're nowhere near seeing a Rosie the Robot servant, predicted in the 1960s, but we're getting closer. Check out these marginally helpful robots for the home that could beat flying cars and pneumatic tube transportation to becoming a reality.

• Laundroid is a machine about the size of a refrigerator that can fold your laundry... very slowly. It's currently just a prototype, but maybe in a couple of decades it'll just be part of your washer/dryer setup.
• Boston Dynamics has another cool video of an even smaller version of its "robot dogs" -- and its SpotMini has a creepy appendage with a hand/head at the end. This little guy can apparently put away dishes in a dishwasher and looks like it can pretend to be a puppy (a uncanny valley metal puppy).
• A laundry folding robot from a few years ago can only fold rectangular towels. If you enjoy watching paint dry, though, this is a cool robot to watch as it uses two humanoid arms and stereo camera vision... to complete the one task it knows how to do.

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: ai, algorithms, artificial intelligence, autonomous machines, laundroid, laundry, machine learning, pr2, spotmini
Companies: boston dynamics, willow garage

DailyDirt: It Doesn't Feel Pity, Or Remorse, Or Fear. And It Absolutely Will Not Stop.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Robots can be stronger, more robust and invulnerable to certain hazards than people, but at the same time, they can be quite fragile -- breaking down when conditions are slightly different than expected or shutting down completely when programming errors bring their computations to a halt. Luckily for us puny humans, we haven't needed to go head-to-head with any bloodthirsty robots. In the movies, people seem to find convenient Achilles heels for belligerent robots just in the nick of time, but we might not be so fortunate in real life if we make robots smarter and more adaptable than ourselves.

• Researchers are programming robots that can adapt after injury and keep moving using remaining operational appendages. These developers assure everyone that we'll have plenty of time to build in proper safeguards to prevent a robot uprising. Yup. That's how all the robot uprisings begin. [url]
• Machine learning robots are learning physical skills via trial and error. Practice makes perfect for a Willow Garage Personal Robot 2 (PR2) -- but it can take a really long time if you're in a rush to have your robot fully trained to do something complex. [url]
• MIT's robotic cheetah project can now jump over various hurdles autonomously -- and without any kind of tethered connection. We'll have to watch out for this bot when it starts singing "there are no strings on me." [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: artificial intelligence, autonomous robots, biomimicry, locomotion, machine learning, pr2, robotic cheetah, robots, willow garage personal robot 2

DailyDirt: Open Source Robots

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Robots are getting better and better at performing simple repetitive tasks that most people think are fairly easy to perform. But if you're not paying attention to robot developments, you might have missed some robots that have been taught to do a few more impressive feats. Here are some examples of open source robots that we might want to keep an eye on.

• An open source robot surgeon called Raven is making some impressive progress in the field of medicine. However, its advancements could be threatened by the makers of the da Vinci Surgical System -- and various patents on robot surgery procedures. [url]
• PhillieBot is a one-armed robo-pitcher designed by engineers at Penn that threw a ceremonial opening pitch for an MLB game. The creators credit the open source robot operating system (ROS), but also admit that their robot won't be competing with human pitchers any time soon. [url]
• In 2010, Willow Garage modified its open source PR2 robot to do a laundry task -- successfully folding towels neatly. The towels don't have to be a specific size or color, but it does take some patience to wait for a pile of towels to be completed. [url]
• To discover more interesting robotics-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: baseball, laundry, medicine, open source, philliebot, pitcher, pr2, raven, robots, ros, surgeon
Companies: willow garage