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(Phys.org)—Research seeking to improve the features and functions of robots has made impressive gains with prototypes of robots that can help out in settings that range from assistive living, to hospital care, to inventory-taking retail stores. One area of robot technology receiving special attention at Honda is "robot audition." How effectively can scientists fashion robots that can hear? And, by hearing, how can hearing be ramped up to include speech recognition, even with noise interference? HEARBO, which stands for (HEAR-ing roBOt) is a robot that has been developed at Japan's Honda Research Institute–(HRI-JP), and its creators want HEARBO to stand out as an above-average example of how robots can understand sound. Their line of research is called Computational Auditory Scene Analysis.
In brief, HEARBO can pick up, distinguish, and analyze multiple simultaneous sound sources without difficulty. HEARBO's edge is in the word "analyze," as it can sift and sort different sounds going on at the same time, such as children playing on one side of the room, with a doorbell ringing on the other.
The Honda researchers say that the robot has a three-step process of: localization, separation, and recognition. Sound Source Localization (SSL) in robot audition conveys the location and number of sound sources, used for sound source separation. "Since robots should work in real-time and localize sound sources in a noisy environment, SSL for robots mainly requires noise-robustness, high-resolution, and real-time processing," according to Honda researchers.
On the robotics front, this week saw the unveiling of two very different but equally chilling robots. First up is Disney’s throw-and-catch-and-juggle robot (video above), complete with eerie, human-like gestures when it accidentally drops the ball. Ostensibly this robot would be used to entertain guests at theme parks such as Disneyland, but how long until we have robot baseball players — or robotic soldiers capable of throwing grenades?
Disney doesn’t give us any meaty details about how the system works, other than there’s a camera that tracks the ball, and an algorithm that works out exactly where the ball is going to land (and thus where to position its robotic arm). High-speed robot dexterity combined with computer vision isn’t exactly new, though — and it’s actually one of the areas that robots particularly excel at. The video below is from 2009, and to this day it’s still one of my favorite displays of robot dexterity.
If Disney’s robot didn’t scare you, check this out: The first hamburger made entirely by robot.
The robot, created by Momentum Machines, will soon be the head chef at a chain of fast food restaurants, saving the company millions of dollars in staffing costs. If all goes to plan, Momentum Machines says that its automated burger robot — which does everything from flipping burgers, to slicing tomatoes, to toasting the bun — could save the fast food industry $9 billion in wages.
Sadly, Momentum Machines hasn’t yet published a video of its automated burger flipper in action — just a bunch of photos like the one above, and the diagram you see below.
After automating almost every other production line, fast food seems like the next obvious choice for robotic assimilation. With approximately two million workers employed by the fast food industry in the US alone, Momentum Machines could be on to a winner — if its offices aren’t burnt down by an angry mob first, of course.
Now that Wall-Ye V.I.N. has been built we can rest assured that there are no jobs too sacred to be handed over to the automated expertise of robots. Wall-Ye is a robot that takes the human touch out of caring for those grape vines that make French wines among the best in the world.
Created by Christophe Millot, an inventor based in the Burgundy region of France, Wall-Ye will soon be taking on the most labor-intensive of chores performed in wine vinyards: pruning and de-suckering, or clipping off fruitless shoots. I asked Millot about Wall-Ye and how he might expect French winemakers to feel about putting the fate of their precious grapes in the hands of a robot.
Decked out in white with red trim, Wall-Ye stands about 50 cm (20 in) tall, 60 cm (2 ft) wide and weighs about 20 kg (44 lbs). As it travels up and down the rows of vines six cameras are used to navigate in between, image and cut the plants. Cameras located on the top and bottom ensure that it maintains a straight path in between the vine lanes. Other cameras store the shape and, with GPS, location of every vine. A 3D model AI tells it when to cut the shoots, which it performs with a pair of camera-guided arms with clippers. Unlike its human counterparts Wall-Ye never takes a break and can work day and night to prune up to 600 vines per day. That kind of productivity is why some winemakers are eager to get Wall-Ye working despite its 25,000 euro ($32,000) price tag.
Wall-Ye wine robot takes bow in Burgundy - YouTube
Researchers in the US are developing autonomous robotic systems capable of removing coatings from aircraft.
Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) and Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) are working with the US Air Force Research Laboratory and Ogden Air Logistics Center 309 AMXG to develop and demonstrate a system that uses high-powered lasers to remove coatings from fighter and cargo aircraft.
In a two-year project sponsored by the National Defense Center for Energy and Environment, CTC, under contract with NREC as a subcontractor, will build six autonomous mobile robots, each with a laser coating remover, and deploy them to work in teams to remove paint and other coatings from aircraft at Hill Air Force Base (AFB) in northern Utah.
If you're like us, seeing that transforming RC robot in the spring was a mild form of torture without any clues as to when (and if) we could try it for ourselves. Kenji Ishida has clearly been busy assuaging our fears since then, as he just took the wraps from what should be the finished version of his brainchild. The now Brave Robotics-branded machine is more polished, with a 3D-printed shell, but it's the technical upgrades that will have more of us scrambling for the product page: the production model is toting a missile launcher in each arm as well as a WiFi camera to follow its exploits in both car and robot modes. Anyone who wants the robot as quickly as possible will have to contact Ishida-san, if it's not too late; there are just 10 units in the initial batch, and pricing is only available on request. A one-month wait for shipping will scuttle any hopes of getting one as a timely gift, too. That said, we can only imagine that any robotics fan would be ecstatic to get an IOU under the tree for Brave Robotics' project.
A partnership between Wessex Water and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in England has led to an autonomous robot that runs off the very wastewater it helps to clean. The EcoBot III, which contains microbial fuel cells, is powered by human waste. Because it takes in biomass, uses it to produce electricity and then gets rid of the waste, the robot, in a sense, is able to poop.
Over the last few decades, the fast food industry has remained a bulletproof option for the low wage worker, but thanks to robotics those days appear to coming to an end. A new device promises to revolutionize the fast food world while delivering high-quality meals, Rube Goldberg style.
A company called Momentum Machines has designed a robotic burger maker called Burgeon designed to replace short order cooks in fast food restaurants. The company claims that the Burgeon can make up to 360 burgers per hour. And, in case there's any doubt about the intention of the device, the company's message, posted on its website, is clear, "Our alpha machine replaces all of the hamburger line cooks in a restaurant. It does everything employees can do except better."
Of course, the Burgeon doesn't appear to account for the human skill of actually creating a "tasty" burger, but the company claims that the machine can stamp out beef patties, grill the meat, toast the buns, and even apply pickles, tomatoes, and condiments. The company doesn't show off much of the Burgeon burger bot on its site, but during a recent tour given to the Mercury News, the team offered a rare close-up look at the machine.
The fact that this development is occurring right around the time that U.S. fast food workers have launched the biggest wage protest in the history of the industry doesn't bode well for the future of the usually solid gig. Future versions of the Burgeon will be designed to reduce the burger-making time down to 10 seconds per burger.
Brian Shaffers kids call him Iron Man. He was paralyzed from the waist down in a motor accident, and has been testing out a new robotic exoskeleton that is changing the way he moves. Most recently, hes been giving it a spin around a kitchen setup, opening and shutting the refrigerator and reaching into cabinets--access far beyond the scope of a wheelchair. When he walks up to a doorway, he can pause to open the door for himself, and when through, reach behind to close it behind him.
Therapists whove worked with other exoskeleton designs say this one fits better, moves better, and is easier to use than the two other robotic walking suits in the market. Best yet, its makers say it could also be the most affordable exoskeleton out there.
The new suit is built at the Vanderbilt labs of Michael Goldfarb. The team recently licensed their technology to control and motions systems manufacturer Parker Hannifin, who hopes to have the device in the U.S. market in 2014.
Spaun, the most realistic artificial human brain yet | ExtremeTechA group of neuroscientists and software engineers at the University of Waterloo in Canada are claiming to have built the world’s most complex, large-scale model simulation of the human brain. The simulated brain, which runs on a supercomputer, has a digital eye which it uses for visual input, a robotic arm that it uses to draw its responses — and it can pass the basic elements of an IQ test.
The brain, called Spaun (Semantic Pointer Architecture Unified Network), consists of 2.5 million simulated neurons, allowing it to perform eight different tasks. These tasks range from copy drawing to counting, to question answering and fluid reasoning. At this point, you should watch the video below to get a rough idea of how Spaun works — and then read on to find out why Spaun is so interesting.
A prototype of a European combat drone, the Neuron, made its maiden flight Saturday from a base in the south of France, project leader Dassault Aviation announced.
"It inaugurates the next generation of combat aircraft, whether piloted or not, with the ambition of preserving European autonomy in this field," the French defence ministry said in a statement.
"It's a major accomplishment on both the technological and industrial levels," it added.
The aircraft, which has no vertical tail in order to make it as furtive as possible, flew for 25 minutes under the watch of two test pilots based on the ground.
The Neuron is a prototype, or model serving to test and develop technologies that could be used one day in a pilotless fighter plane which would equip European air forces around 2030.
The programme, launched by France in 2003 with support from Italy, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland and Greece, cost 406 million euros ($527 million), of which France contributed about half.
Telepresence Robots Invade Hospitals – “Doctors Can Be Anywhere, Anytime” | Singularity HubA disembodied human face hangs atop a robot chassis next to a Redmond, Oregon hospital bed (not pictured). The doctor on the screen is 20 miles distant, in Bend. But from there he is able to assess the patient and determine whether she should be moved to a better equipped hospital in Bend or further afield.
The doctor’s name is Dr. Kevin Sherer, the volunteer patient Anita Boucher, and together they recently performed a test run using an InTouch Health RP-7i telepresence robot nicknamed Roda (robotic office diagnostic assistant).
Dr. Sherer can pilot Roda down the hall with a joystick, turn its camera to check vitals, and interact with the patient by way of the screen atop Roda’s chassis. In addition to telepresence capabilities—and with the help of a nurse placing a special stethoscope—he can remotely check the patient’s heart beat over headphones.
Though Central Oregon’s latest robot helper kicked up some dust in the press, St. Charles Redmond is not the first hospital to use the technology. According to InTouch Health, their robots are in over 650 hospitals worldwide, enabling an average “5,000 remote clinical sessions per month.”
And it’s not hard to see why. As the sheer volume of medical knowledge increases and becomes more specialized, telepresence robots like Roda bring specialist expertise wherever it is needed, regardless of location.
Building a sensitive robot, and perhaps a future politician? | Cutting Edge - CNET NewsAn MIT spin-off is working on a sensitive robot that can handle handshakes and wine glasses without ruining anyone's musical career or mimosa.
There are few formalities more terrifying than the prospect of having to shake hands with a potentially miscalibrated robot. If it misinterprets the size of your hand, it could end up crushing a few phalanges and create an embarrassing scene for both machine and master.
Boston-based MIT spin-off Robot Rebuilt is working on a solution by creating a more sensitive, perhaps even more gentle robot hand.
Eduardo Torres-Jara first began working on a robot named Obrero that is capable of sensitive manipulation at MIT, and now he's in the process of striking out on his own with a successor bot named Tactico that's even more in touch with its (tactile) feelings.
You gotta hand it to the marketers who come up with robot acronyms. Can it get any better than Extreme Access System for Entry (EASE)?
Sounds innocuous enough, right? Until this little critter tries to float into your room to spy on you. It's one of two bots unveiled by CyPhy Works, headed by iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner.
EASE and PARC (that's Persistent Aerial Reconnaissance & Communication), a communications relay, are compact flying machines that can fly between 3 feet and 1,000 feet while remaining tethered to their human controllers via microfilaments.
Carbon-fiber and plastic polymers are making artificial limbs stronger and lighter. They can be controlled using just a thought or a muscle twitch. They can even be re-engineered for rock-climbing or Olympic sprinting. But a continuing problem is that most prosthetic limbs don’t provide sensory feedback to the user.
As you walk, muscles and neurons constantly send information to your brain about where your legs are, where your feet hit the ground, and how hard they push off. Without that feedback, it can be hard to coordinate movement. As a result, amputees who wear prosthetic legs commonly develop gait abnormalities such as shorter strides, slower walking speeds, and standing on tip-toe to swing the prosthetic leg.
"The lack of sensation can affect mobility and quality of life," says Zachary McKinney, a graduate student in biomedical engineering at UCLA. McKinney and his colleagues have been working on a simple feedback system that can be incorporated with almost any below-the-knee prosthetic leg. "Our goal is to improve sensory awareness of the prosthetic," he said at a meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society in late October.
Call it too little, too late.
Mitsubishi is the latest Japanese conglomerate to show off a new robot to work at the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, following Toshiba's flubbed demo of a quadruped walker.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Japan's largest defense contractor, yesterday unveiled the Maintenance Equipment Integrated System of Telecontrol Robot (Meister), a two-armed unit that rolls around on four tracks.
The remote-controlled bot can wield a variety of tools such as cutters and drills, clear obstacles, and pierce through concrete to check radiation levels, according to MHI.
Just like human arms, its robotic appendages can move along seven axes. Check it out cutting a pipe in the video below.
Since 2008, roadside bombs and other IEDs have accounted for the deaths of more than half the U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Moving cargo in large convoys put many of those soldiers at risk. The Kaman K-Max autonomous helicopter removes the people from those supply lines.
The pilotless copter can haul 6,000 pounds up to 250 miles, with its load suspended from a 75-foot tether. The only human intervention comes when a Marine with a laptop and an Xbox-like controller presses the start button; after that, K-Max’s autonomous flight controls take over, using data collected by onboard altitude and orientation sensors to fly along preprogrammed GPS routes, day or night. Since last December, the two pilotless K-Max choppers deployed in Afghanistan have carried more than 2 million pounds of cargo.
Automation can "increase efficiency and yield by having many of the manual tasks of farming performed by specially designed agricultural robotic devices," says Professor Salah Sukkarieh. Australia's potential to become the 'food bowl' of Asia has triggered a drive to develop robots for use in farming and agriculture and University of Sydney mechatronics experts are leading the way.
Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems Salah Sukkarieh at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies leads a team that is developing robotic devices with the ability to autonomously sense, analyse and respond to their own surroundings.
Traditionally it has been necessary for someone to actually walk through the orchard, taking and analysing soil and other samples and making decisions on the health and yield quality of the plants," he says. "The devices we've developed can collect, analyse and present this information autonomously, so a major part of the farmer's job can be done automatically."
The second stage, which the team will commence in the new year, involves applying this technology to standard farm tractors, so that as well as being able to perceive their environment and identify any operations required, they will also be able to perform many of these operations themselves, such as applying fertilisers and pesticides, watering, sweeping and mowing.
The third and most complex stage will be to enable the devices to carry out harvesting. "The devices we've developed already can identify each individual fruit on the tree and its degree of ripeness, which is about 80 percent of the job done. But being able to harvest them is our ultimate goal." As well as developing the technology, the team is working with farmers to determine how small changes to traditional agricultural practices can allow them to make the most of this new technology.
Does it seem believable that the wars of the future will be fought entirely with robots while humans are safely miles away, monitoring and controlling? The US military is certainly making a case for such a scenario. The latest installation is a JUH-60A Blackhawk helicopter that flies, lands, and avoids threats – all without a pilot.
The autonomous Blackhawk’s official name is Rotorcraft Airscrew Systems Concept Airborne Laboratory, or RASCAL, and it has just completed its first test flight at the Diablo Mountain Range in San Jose, California. Pilots were actually aboard during the two-hour test flight for an emergency takeover, but turned out they weren’t needed.
RASCAL’s navigation system successfully negotiated an obstacle field with terrain-sensing and statistical processing. It flew within a range of 200 to 400 feet above ground and identified a landing site – a forest clearing – and was able to hover 60 feet above the site within 1-foot accuracy. Risk assessment and threat avoidance tests were also considered a success.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have taken another step towards creating a robot with a faithfully recreated human skeleton and muscle structure. Called Kenshiro, the robot has been demonstrated at the recent Humanoids 2012 conference in Osaka, Japan.
