Technabob » humanoid

SAR-400 Robot is Russia’s Answer to NASA’s Robonaut 2

Shane McGlaun — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 01:00:18 +0000

NASA and General Motors teamed up a while back to create a humanoid robot called Robonaut 2 or R2. R2 is now on the International Space Station where it will be used to conduct repairs and maintenance outside the space station. Russia has how unveiled a new robot called SAR-400, and hopes to send it to the ISS within a couple years as well.

The Russian robot has no legs, just like R2, and is designed to connect to a crane operated on the space station. SAR-400 would be remotely operated by the controller wearing a head mounted display, jacket, and gloves that would relay the movements directly to the robot’s body. One of the most interesting things is that the Russian robot has tactile feedback.

The gloves that operator wears will squeeze the hands to allow them to feel the tool the robot is using in their hand remotely. That same feedback sensation can also alert the operator if the robot’s hand becomes stuck while working outside the space station. I have to wonder if there’s some R2 tech in the SAR-400, given the similarities between the two robots.

[via PlasticPals]

DARPA Robot Climbs Stairs Like a Boss, Another Does More Pushups Than I Can

Technabob — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:30:42 +0000

Hot on the heels of the announcement of the DARPA Robotics Challenge, it’s looking more and more like Boston Dynamics will be a shoe-in for the competition with its latest bi-pedal robots. A recently released video clip shows DARPA and Boston Dynamics bipedal robots climbing stairs, walking on a treadmill and doing pushups.

DARPA plans on releasing a modified version of these robots as a platform for those participating in the Robotics Challenge but are using the government-funded equipment option. It’s expected that the final version of the platform robot will be a complete humanoid, with two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. But even without all of those body parts, the robots shown in this clip are damned impressive.

Those slow-mo sound effects of the climbing ‘bot are going to give me nightmares. Still, it’s pretty amazing to see that we’re on the verge of full-size humanoid robots that can walk, climb and even perform exercises just like us. I also like that these robots are wearing shoes. Now, drop and give me 20, PETMAN!

Preliminary Details of New DARPA Grand Challenge for Humanoid Robots Surface

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:30:44 +0000

Robots can be awesome (and more than a little creepy at times). DARPA is about to start up a new Grand Challenge that involves robots that can walk among other things. DARPA’s Dr. Gill Pratt recently revealed that the new challenge will involve builders competing to create a humanoid robot that can accomplish a specific and rather difficult set of tasks.

The contest will apparently focus towards bipedal designs that are able to navigate rough terrain and can be used for helping during industrial disasters. The robot will have to be able to navigate through a very specific set of obstacles. To start, the robot will have to be able to maneuver itself into, and then drive an open-frame vehicle such as a tractor to a building.

Once at the building the robot will have to get off the tractor, walk to a locked door, and unlock the door with the key. Once unlocked, the robot will have to move through the door and down a hall strewn with rubble and climb a ladder at the end of the hall. After reaching the top of the ladder, the robot will have to be able to turn off a simulated leaking pipe by turning a valve nearby and then replace a faulty pump to complete the exercise.

It’s not 100% clear if the robot will need to do all of these tasks back-to-back. Regardless, it all sounds incredibly complicated for robot that is supposed to be able to do all this with very little human interaction, other than a remote operator. DARPA also plans on controlling the communication layer, which may increase the need for robotic autonomy.

The guys at Robotics blog Hizook have much more to say on the topic, and think that Boston Dynamics’ PETMAN (shown in the video above) is a likely candidate platform for the bipedal robot to be used.

[via Hizook]

Honda’s New ASIMO Robot Shows Off

Conner Flynn — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:00:05 +0000

Honda has been busy, and not on new versions of the Civic or Accord. Today, the company has unveiled their new ASIMO robot, improving upon the 10 year-old design. Now ASIMO can kick balls, (hopefully not human male’s) hop on a single leg and it can even predict the direction a person will walk, so that it can avoid collisions with the person.

This new robot also has a much improved intelligence and can adapt to situations. He still can’t sign autographs.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Of course he can still do all of the things that he used to as well, which includes running and stealing the show at whatever events he attends as well as open a thermos and pour a drink. That last should come in handy on Jabba’s Sail Barge, should he ever decide to infiltrate and rescue his friends.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via TechCrunch via Geeky Gadgets]

Robot Learns to Clean Whiteboard, Still Won’t Help If You Used a Sharpie

Technabob — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 01:36:30 +0000

After teaching a robot to flip pancakes and shoot arrows, Dr. Petar Kormushev decided to instruct his robot in a new skill that could come in handy at your next meeting – cleaning whiteboards.

Dr. Kormushev, working with a team from the Italian Institute of Technology and Tokyo City University used a technique called “upper-body kinesthetic teaching,” to help this Fujitsu HOAP-2 humanoid robot learn the approppriate maneuvers to clean the marker-covered whiteboard surface.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

On the surface (pun intended), the idea of a whiteboard-cleaning robot seems a bit silly. However, the process could someday be used to instruct robots to deal with tasks better left to ‘bots than humans – like window washing, painting walls or hanging wallpaper.

AFFETTO Robot Head Will Creep You Out

Range — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:48:34 +0000

I know that this isn’t really supposed to have anything to do with Halloween or scaring people, but what the heck guys, this robot baby head is really disturbing, especially when the guy starts moving the head around and the baby comes alive.

Osaka University’s AFFETTO was created to model a baby’s facial expressions. This was done in order to endear it to human caregivers. Ultimately, I think that the opposite was achieved. Yes, it’s creepy, very creepy.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

This might have something to do with the uncanny valley phenomenon in robotics, where humans are actually repulsed by robots exhibiting near or human-like behavior. You have to admit that this does look like a prop from a horror movie.

[via Ubergizmo]

Kinect Controls Humanoid Robot: Giant Robotic Army Not Far Away

Technabob — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:57:35 +0000

Another day, another Kinect hack. This particular hack is quite cool, mapping the body movements of a human onto the joints of a humanoid robot.

By taking Kinect’s skeletal detection algorithms and sending that data to V-Sido [JP], a real-time control system for humanoid robots, they manage to use the Kinect as a robotic puppet control. Here’s a video clip showing the hack in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

From the looks of the clip, they really should have turned the robot around so the movements weren’t mirrored, but I guess they didn’t want us just staring at his shiny metal ass. Now I just need 100 robots, all piloted by this software, and I could get my robot army going in no time. Heck, I’d just take one big robot connected to this system, and that’d make me happy too.

[via Robots Dreams]

Reem-H2 Humanoid ‘Bot Aims to Scare the Life Out of You

Range — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:23:21 +0000

I don’t know why, but this scary robot isn’t from Japan, no siree, it’s from Spain. It’s safe to say that if these humanoid robots with faces like these take over the world, we’ll all be in trouble. Or at least psychologically scarred.

This ghost-faced killer (ok, we don’t know if he’ll kill anyone) is named the REEM-H2 and it reminds me of the strange faces of the ghosts in Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. REEM is made by PAL Robotics – yes guys, he’s your friend, not your enemy, and is a service/maid robot. It will come with a autonomous navigation system, voice and face recognition, a chest-mounted touchscreen menu, and the power to carry big objects, such as boxes or luggage.

REEM will be used in museums, hotels, shopping malls, airports, and hospitals, where he will be ready to scare all the customers and visitors away.

[PAL Robotics via Plastic Pals]

Honda’S Asimo Robot Turns Ten

Shane McGlaun — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:38:11 +0000

I remember the first time I saw the ASMIO robot from Honda. I wondered why a car company was building a robot to begin with. It has now been a decade since the first ASIMO robot hit the stage and Honda is celebrating the occasion.

To celebrate, Honda has some new apps for the iPhone and Android called Run with ASIMO with the robot and other Honda characters that the user can interact with. That app sounds boring to me, but you can check it out for yourself.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Honda also took the time to talk up its goals with ASIMO and the research around it that the company says goes with develop of robotics and human mobility. The robot may someday develop into something that people can buy to provide assistance in the home. This will happen shortly after Honda adds a red dot for an eye that moved Pong-style across a mono brow. Frakin’ A it will.

Hrp-4c Singing Robot: Robo-Tune

Lambert Varias — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:43:51 +0000

Just like humans, singing is a (synthesized) talent among robots. Some have it, and some don’t. AIST’s HRP-4C, a relative of the HRP-4 humanoid robot, was born to sing like a human being. An in-house developed software called VocalListener is responsible for synthesizing a natural singing voice. The effect is startling, because HRP-4C really does sound like a real person. Also I’m afraid that if I criticize her she’ll find out where I live and destroy me.

Here she is, entertaining the crowd at HRP-4C:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’m not too sold on the efficacy of VocaWatcher yet, but I guess it’s really the material and make of her face that’s at fault. No software can make that face less creepy. Watch her performance last year so you can have a better idea of how much HRP-4C has improved. All she needs is a better face and a cover of The Humans Are Dead and she’ll be a hit for sure.

[via DigInfo via Gearfuse]

Turkish Iron Man Robot Will Hopefully Not Go Crazy and Kill Us All

Range — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:46:57 +0000

I didn’t expect Turkey to come up with its own Iron Man, but it looks like they did. It was created by a research team at the Sabanci University in Istanbul and is Turkey’s first humanoid robot. They call him SURALP, not Turkish Iron Man, which seems kind of a shame.

SURALP has been in the making for eight years and about $1 million has been spent to construct and design it. The humanoid robot first appeared in a press conference in Turkey, where he was kind enough to perform a little jig and answer a few questions. SURALP is actually an acronym, Sabancı University Robot Research Laboratory Platform, and it stands 5’5″ tall and weighs 250 lbs.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you can see from the video, he’s actually a little bit on the pokey side, but at least he can answer simple questions with a yes or a no, which is pretty cool in my book. However, there are currently no plans to turn his metal grippy hands into weapons.

[via Plastic Pals]

NASA’s Robonaut 2 Will Tweet His Way Into Space

Range — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:26:56 +0000

The spaceship Discovery will leave Earth on its final mission on the 1st of November. It will take along something entirely different, a robot! This is the robot that we’ve heard about before, the Robonaut 2, but there is something new about it: it will be tweeting all the way into space.

Robonaut 2 is heading to the International Space Station and he is the first humanoid robot that will be in space. You can even follow his tweets @ twitter.com/astrorobonaut.

I’m wondering what kind of tweets he’ll send. Probably something along the lines of: “Five humans assimilated today, moving on to more for tomorrow!”

[via Presurfer]

Myon Humanoid Robot Looks Cute, but Only has One Eyeball

Range — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:16:48 +0000

It looks like another company is working on a cute humanoid robot. This time, the ‘bot comes from Germany, and he’s some kind of walking cyclops.

The Myon robot is about 50 inches tall and weighs 33lbs. Myon is an interesting robot because of a few different things. He’s got 48 joints and 192 sensors. His skin is made out of Bayer makrolon and a layer of glass fiber-stabilized polycarbonate to protect him.

What I find most interesting is that this bot is also modular. Any part of him that’s damaged can be easily swapped out – sorta like the robots in Woody Allen’s Sleeper. Here’s some footage of an early incarnation of Myon getting test-driven:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

He was designed by the studio Frackenpohl Poulheim from Cologne and developed at Berlin’s Humboldt University as part of the European ALEAR (Artificial Language Evolution on Autonomous Robots) research project.

[Designboom via Plastic Pals]

Hitachi Emiew2 Robot: Ready to Assimilate You With Cuteness

Range — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:49:39 +0000

Hitachi just unveiled an updated version of its humanoid robot, the EMIEW2. This interesting acronym stands for Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate2, which probably sounds way better in Japanese.

This ‘bot is actually kind of amazing since it can scoot around on uneven ground, including bumps up to ½ an inch. It can also distinguish different human voices and speak with people. Its top speed is around 4mph and it’s about 3 feet tall. The little guy weighs 30 lbs, so you should be able to take him in a fight.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It looks so cute right now, but we all know that in the coming robot apocalypse, these things will take over and become our masters.

[via Crunchgear]

LEGO Mindstorms Walking Robot Legs: What’S Next, a LEGO Terminator?

Range — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:58:34 +0000

I’m always amazed at what some people can do with LEGO building blocks. This is definitely impressive. It’s a LEGO Mindstorms robot that can walk like a human.

The robot is called Pinocchio and the aim of the project is to kinematically imitate a human walking.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I know for a fact that walking like a human is really hard to emulate for robots, which is why this LEGO ‘bot is doubly impressive. Pinocchio was created as part of a project in the Department of Biomechanics at FSU Jena.

From the looks of this, it won’t be long before they could build a fully functional Terminator. Combine this with the Makerbot that can make more Makerbots, and we’re in a world of hurt.

[The NXTStep via Make:]

Omg, Run, It’S Hector! Oh Wait, It’S Just Lola

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:06:19 +0000

When I was a kid, there wasn’t any parental supervision over what I watched on TV. I once watched a flick called Hotel Hell and couldn’t go into the meat area in the grocery store for six months. I can thank the sci-fi flick Saturn 3 for my unnatural fear of humanoid robots like Lola.

In my defense, Lola does look a lot like Hector, the imposing robot from Saturn 3. LOLA thankfully isn’t a murderous robot, she just likes to leisurely stroll around missing chairs and whatnot as she goes.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’m not sure why the German designers pegged it as a girl; it has no jubblies or anything. But it does have a couple of HD webcams for eyes, stands 180cm tall, weighs 60kg, and has 25 joints. The video of the thing walking around does creep me out a little, though. Damn you, Hector!

Isamaro: Another Pricey Japanese Robot

Range — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:35:26 +0000

Even if this robot might seem like it’s too expensive for us, those nutty Japanese apparently have money to burn on robots. At least this new robot was built for people to actually play with, not just as a demo or research ‘bot as we often see.

Isamaro is made by a Tokyo-based firm named Robotma. The humanoid robot itself stands a 17 inches tall and weighs a hefty 37 pounds. It’s powered by a lithium-ion battery and comes with a USB interface. The little guy has got 19 joints in his body, and the makers provide software that lets you program the robot’s every move. Naturally, this robot can be remote controlled too, via Bluetooth.

The first Isamaro robots will be available next month and they sell for about $1,600 (USD). Robotma is currently accepting pre-orders.

[via Crunchgear]

Honda Asimo Robot Gets a Redesign After 13 Years

Range — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:11:39 +0000

You’ve probably seen or heard about this little robot, the Honda Asimo. Well, after 13 years, it was time for a much needed redesign.

This is actually Honda’s 4th version of the robot. The 3rd version was released in 1997, so it took Honda 13 years to do it. I think by now that pretty much everyone has seen video footage of this little robot walking, dancing and entertaining crowds.

This new version has a flexible waist, allowing for a smoother walking style, redesigned chest and shoulder areas. It’s about 5’3″ tall and weighs about half of what the P3 weighed, at 176 lbs. Hopefully it’s less susceptible to falling on its face.

[via PlasticPals]

A Robot Named Twendy-One

Range — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:13:27 +0000

This new robot comes from Japan and has been in development for over a decade. Twendy-One was made by a team of researchers led by Professor Shigeki Sugano at Waseda University, Japan.

The team had help from over 20 different companies to design this robot, which could arguably be able to co-exist with humans. It’s made to help the elderly. What’s really amazing is how dexterous it is. It can even pick up small and flat objects with its four-fingered hand, soft finger tips, and hard fingernails.

The ‘bot can also bend at the waist. This allows it to pick up things lying on the floor. It is also strong enough to support the weight of a midget (77lbs). Actually, they say that it can support a person, but I don’t know many people who weigh 77lbs. Maybe they’ve got more of those in Japan.

Its body is covered in a soft, shock-absorbent silicone rubber, and it’s got tactile sensors, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and a large LED array in its chest. The robot measures 4’9″ tall and weighs 244 lbs. The Twendy-One robot is expected to sell between $110,000 to $210,000 (USD) in 2015.

[via Plastic Pals]

Element Commune: Legohaulic’S Walking LEGO Mech

Range — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:59:09 +0000

Tyler Clites, who’s also known as Legohaulic, put together this amazing LEGO build. He calls it Element Commune. When you first see it, it looks like a great design, but then when you see the thing walking around, it’s takes it to a whole ‘nother level.

If you check out the video, you can see the walker walking about. It’s an amazing feat. Tyler admits that his goal is to create a fully steerable walking biped, which would be really insane!

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The bipedal mech has a great look, and Tyler clearly put a lot of effort into this mechanical marvel. You can check out more photos of his build over at his Flickr site. He was inspired by this decidedly less slick YouTube video:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Brother's Brick]