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Springer Handbook of Robotics Debuts at ICRA

Robots! Robots on Mars and in oceans, in hospitals and homes, in factories and schools, robots fighting fires, making goods and products, saving time and lives. Robots today are making a considerable impact on many aspects of modern life, from industrial manufacturing to healthcare. Reaching for the human frontier, robotics is also vigorously engaged in the growing challenges of new emerging domains. Interacting, exploring, and working with humans, the new generation of robots will increasingly touch people's lives. The prospect of practical robots among humans follows half a century of robotic developments that established robotics as a modern scientific discipline.

Robots with a Vision

The deployment of robots in industrial environments is increasing so as to achieve manufacturing economies. This trend is being driven by the technological advancements in the field of robotics. Several important performance parameters of robots have seen a phenomenal change over the past decade—there has been a drastic improvement in the reliability of robots, the payloads robots can handle, and the diversity of applications that can be deployed. Computer-vision-based robotic guidance is a significant technology that has facilitated this change (see Fig. 1). Machine-vision-based feature tracking has replaced encoder-based tracking technology in many applications.

Robots or not?

With so much written and researched about relationships between men and women, it would seem that every detail has been explored. But according to experts, the next revolution will be all about human robots. Researchers say that within four decades, there will be robots with emotions who will talk and display their own personalities. And within five years we can all expect robots which will be used as sex toys. Let's hope they don't go the way of most Durban robots, which lie mangled on our street corners!

Microsoft Announces Winners of "Robots Among Us" RFP

Moving the technology toward these so-called “social robots” are researchers in a variety of disciplines engaged in the growing field of human-robot interaction (HRI). To explore some of the challenges in realizing the potential of HRI, Microsoft Research launched the “Robots Among Us” request for proposals (RFP) last October with the bold declaration, “The robots are coming!” Eight winners will receive a share of more than US$500,000 awarded under the program. Winning research proposals were selected from 74 submissions from academic researchers from 24 countries. The research projects explore a broad range of devices, technologies and functions as robots begin to work with and alongside human beings.

Motoman EH-Series New "Expert Handling" Robots

"Motoman's EH-series 'Expert Handling' robots set a new standard for speed with a large robot," said a company spokesperson. "Compared to general-purpose robots, the EH-series offers up to a 22% increase in speed depending on model. These high-speed, high payload robots are specifically designed for high duty cycle material handling and offer superior performance in machine tending and material handling applications. Large work envelopes and the ability to bend over backwards, allow tools to be stored behind the robot, allowing better clearance for maintenance. Five EH models are available. These robots include an IP67 rated wrist for protection in machining environments.

Designing bug perception into robots

12 May 2008 Insects have provided the inspiration for a team of European researchers seeking to improve the functionality of robots and robotic tools. The research furthers the development of more intelligent robots, which can then be used by industry, and by emergency and security services, among others. Smarter robots would be better able to find humans buried beneath the rubble of a collapsed building, for example. The EU-funded SPARK project set out to develop a new robot control architecture for roving robots inspired by the principles governing the behaviour of living systems and based on the concept of self-organisation.

Emotional Robots: Software Empowers Robots To Learn When A Person Is Sad, Happy Or Angry

A robot with empathy sounds like the stuff of sci-fi movies, but with the aid of neural networks European researchers are developing robots in tune with our emotions. Feelix Growing is developing software empowering robots that can learn when a person is sad, happy or angry.

Soft and squishy chemical robots will one day squeeze through tight spots then expand to 10 times larger, offering an advantage over rigid robots. Once a mission is complete, a chembot would biodegrade.

Soft and squishy chemical robots will one day squeeze through tight spots then expand to 10 times larger, offering an advantage over rigid robots. Once a mission is complete, a chembot would biodegrade.

Nortel: Nortel Wireless Network Liberates Robots at Ashikaga Institute of Technology Wireless Mesh Carries Video and Data To and From Mobile Robots

TMCNet: Nortel: Nortel Wireless Network Liberates Robots at Ashikaga Institute of Technology Wireless Mesh Carries Video and Data To and From Mobile Robots

Robots moving closer to humans

Robots today are making a considerable impact on many aspects of modern life, from industrial manufacturing to healthcare. Reaching for the human frontier, robotics is also vigorously engaged in the growing challenges of new emerging domains. Interacting, exploring, and working with humans, the new generation of robots will increasingly touch people’s lives. The prospect of practical robots among humans follows half a century of robotic developments that established robotics as a modern scientific discipline.

EPSON Robots Announces New G-Series Scara Lineup

EPSON Robots, a leader in PC controlled, precision robots, has introduced the EPSON G-Series, the next generation, high performance SCARA Robots for its Micro PowerDrive Controllers.

New Robots Developed to Climb Walls

An anonymous reader writes "SRI International, a nonprofit research and development organization, has developed a new technology that enables some robots to scale walls. The wall-climbing robots could be a boon for the US military, which could use them on reconnaissance or other missions in war zones, said Philip von Guggenberg, director of business development for SRI International, adding that the independent group has received some funding from DARPA, the technology research arm of the Pentagon. Von Guggenberg said that the new electrical adhesive technology called compliant electroadhesion, provides an electrically controllable way to stick machines to a wall. So what can they do? That adhesion lets the robots, using either feet or tracks, scale a vertical wall.

How Robots are Improving the Quality of Healthcare-Automatically

These days, doctors and nurses need to be as efficient as possible. Every minute wasted is a minute that could be better spent elsewhere, giving patients the best possible care. That's why many healthcare facilities have discovered an innovative new approach to freeing up healthcare providers' time: robots. These robots don't take the place of doctors or nurses, but instead bring drugs, equipment, meals, and other healthcare necessities to doctors and nurses, anywhere in a facility. See how Aethon, the leading manufacturer of these courier TUG mobile robots, uses Cisco wireless and security products to make it happen.

How Robots are Improving the Quality of Healthcare-Automatically

These days, doctors and nurses need to be as efficient as possible. Every minute wasted is a minute that could be better spent elsewhere, giving patients the best possible care. That's why many healthcare facilities have discovered an innovative new approach to freeing up healthcare providers' time: robots. These robots don't take the place of doctors or nurses, but instead bring drugs, equipment, meals, and other healthcare necessities to doctors and nurses, anywhere in a facility. See how Aethon, the leading manufacturer of these courier TUG mobile robots, uses Cisco wireless and security products to make it happen.

How Robots are Improving the Quality of Healthcare-Automatically

These days, doctors and nurses need to be as efficient as possible. Every minute wasted is a minute that could be better spent elsewhere, giving patients the best possible care. That's why many healthcare facilities have discovered an innovative new approach to freeing up healthcare providers' time: robots. These robots don't take the place of doctors or nurses, but instead bring drugs, equipment, meals, and other healthcare necessities to doctors and nurses, anywhere in a facility. See how Aethon, the leading manufacturer of these courier TUG mobile robots, uses Cisco wireless and security products to make it happen.

Wanted: a human touch to manage the robots

In a race between the humans and the robots, right now the robots are winning. But there's still time for the humans. It may well be part of the science of manufacturing, but it's no longer science fiction. The idea that robots can perform tasks deemed too dangerous or repetitive for humans is well beyond theory and deeply ingrained in practice in most every manufacturer in America. Good thing, too.

New standard to check visual capability of life-saving robots

Washington, June 13 : The use of rescue robots may prove to be a great technological achievement in saving lives, as these robots search through rubble of a collapsed building or survey a chemical spill area. However, emergency planners, working away from the immediate disaster site face difficulty in co-ordinating with these robots due to lack of the images sent by them from the site.

Swashbot - Mini Robots With Personality

Robots may be getting more sophisticated all the time, yet they still don't have anything on your average pet cat. One difficult thing to ahieve in robotics is the sense that what has been created could be anything more than a bunch of servos and circuit boards. Even super expensive robots like Honda's ASIMO look a bit sterile, even though they mimic human movements pretty well. The Swashbot somehow manages to have a certain appeal to it, despite being constructed from R/C helicopter parts. Maybe that is due to its awkward style of movement, or possibiliy because it might remind you of late eighties movie "*batteries not included". You can check out some movies of the three versions of the Swashbot in action over at Crabfu (creator of the little beasties).

Punk Rock Robots Rock Out to Punk Rock ONLY

Making robots even more hardcore, British roboticists have designed machines that will only dance to punk rock music. Standing 2 meters tall, padded in leather and decked in various punk scene insignias, the pogoing robots wait until they hear the familiar strains of anti-establishment rock before they start dancing. Is it just me, or do these things sound like they'd be a minor threat in the mosh pit?

EtherCAT robots win German open

The soccer robots of the Dutch Team Tech United Eindhoven won the RoboCup German Open in Hanover, Germany. In the finals it took a penalty shoot-out to beat the current number three in the world ranking, the CoPS Team from Stuttgart. The Tech United Robots use EtherCAT for interfacing to drives, sensors and actuators.

Chemical robots squeeze into our future

Soft and squishy chemical robots will one day squeeze through tight spots then expand to 10 times larger, offering an advantage over rigid robots. Once a mission is complete, a chembot would biodegrade.

Robots just as charming as cars during IIMS 2008

Too often we find movies about robots malfunctioning, wreaking havoc and trying to take over the world. But in spite of their popularly destructive portrayals, robots can also be cute -- such as the case with Honda's Asimo -- or educational, as the staff at Klub Robotik would love to attest to.

Inflatable robots could explore Mars in future

LONDON: Engineers have designed inflatable, spherical, and lightweight robots, which one day might economically explore vast regions of Mars and other robots.

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