HECTOR insect-inspired hexapod walking robot is a smooth operator (video)
We’ve seen some rather nightmare-inducing robots inspired by insects, but, once again, the folks at Germany’s Bielefeld University have managed to turn something inherently creepy into a rather lighthearted affair. HECTOR, or hexapod cognitive autonomously operating robot, was designed to help its creators understand how exactly real animals manage to move so gracefully. Physically speaking, HECTOR sports six legs, with 18 joints in total, that protrude from an exoskeleton made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. Its legs are given a rather life-like range of motion provided by a special set of “elastic joint drives” and a series of “biologically inspired” algorithms, and its exoskeleton can carry a load weighing 30 kilograms — the robot itself weighs a mere 12 kilograms. What’s more, HECTOR’s built to learn from its experiences. Okay, so a three foot robotic insect that can carry nearly three times its weight does sound kind of creepy in retrospect, but HECTOR really does have some smooth moves. You can see for yourself in the video after the break.
Continue reading HECTOR insect-inspired hexapod walking robot is a smooth operator (video)
HECTOR insect-inspired hexapod walking robot is a smooth operator (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 03:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: April 19th, 2011
at 7:17am by Christopher Trout
Topics: Automaton, BielefeldUniversity, HexapodCognitiveAutonomouslyOperatingRobot, InsectRobot, WalkingRobot, bielefeld, german, germany, hector, hexapod, hexapod cognitive autonomously operating robot, insect, insect robot, nature, robot, video, walking, walking robot
NASA’s Global Hawk completes unmanned airborne refueling simulation, will do it for real next year (video)
While some bot makers are busying themselves designing AI to simulate humans’ natural and distinct lack of intelligence, it’s nice to see there are still old-fashioned researchers out there keeping the Skynet dream alive. Northrop Grumman’s aeronautics gurus have paired together a Global Hawk unmanned aircraft with a manned Proteus ship way up in the skies — 45,000 feet, to be precise — with the vessels of ingenuity managing to fly in tandem at a distance as short as 40 feet. Unsurprisingly, this is the first time such intimacy has been reached between UAVs (the Proteus had a monitoring crew on board to ensure the insurance bill wasn’t through the roof) in high altitude, and the ultimate goal of having two Global Hawks doing the deed without any human intervention is said to be within reach by next year. That’s when these light and agile air drones will be able to refuel themselves and go on for a mighty 120 hours in the air… plenty of time to complete a well planned extermination down below, if one were so inclined.
NASA’s Global Hawk completes unmanned airborne refueling simulation, will do it for real next year (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 03:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: March 10th, 2011
at 7:24am by Vlad Savov
Topics: ArtificialIntelligence, Drone, GlobalHawk, HighAltitude, Nasa, Northrop Grumman, NorthropGrumman, RobotApocalypse, Robots, Uav, UnmannedAerialVehicle, War, aerial, air, altitude, artificial intelligence, autonomous, darpa, demonstration, global hawk, high altitude, kq-x, northrop, refuel, refueling, robot, robot apocalypse, rq-4, simulation, test, unmanned aerial vehicle, video, wargadget
Boston Dynamics Cheetah and Atlas robots get DARPA funding, getting ready to find you
Okay, so it may not look quite as impressive as some other mechanical cheetahs we’ve seen in the past, but this new one from Boston Dynamics certainly has a lot of potential. That robot, plus a new humanoid called Atlas, have won DARPA contracts and so will be put into at least limited production, much like the company’s earlier BigDog. Cheetah is said to run “faster than any existing legged robot and faster than the fastest human runners,” while Atlas can “move through difficult terrain using human-like behavior,” meaning neither running nor hiding will work. That leaves only fighting, so get ready to buck up.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Boston Dynamics Cheetah and Atlas robots get DARPA funding, getting ready to find you originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 03:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: March 1st, 2011
at 7:13am by Tim Stevens
Topics: BostonDynamics, atlas, boston dynamics, cheetah, darpa, defense, funded, funding, robot
TiaLinx’s Cougar20-H surveillance robot can peer through walls, see you breath
You may be able to outrun it, but you probably won’t be able to hide from TiaLinx’s new Cougar20-H surveillance robot. While it might not look like much, the bot packs an impressive RF array that’s not only able to detect movement within a building (though concrete walls, no less), but is even able to detect a person breathing inside a building at “long standoff distances.” Perhaps not surprisingly, complete details are largely being kept under wraps (the bot was developed with some help from the U.S. Army), but this isn’t simply a prototype — it’ll be rolling out next month and is expected to be put to use byvarious law enforcement and government agencies. Head on past the break for the official press release.
Continue reading TiaLinx’s Cougar20-H surveillance robot can peer through walls, see you breath
TiaLinx’s Cougar20-H surveillance robot can peer through walls, see you breath originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 03:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink CNET | TiaLinx | Email this | Comments
Posted: February 7th, 2011
at 7:58am by Donald Melanson
Topics: Cougar20-H, LawEnforcement, RF, RfArray, STTW, SurveillanceBot, SurveillanceRobot, bot, law enforcement, rf array, robot, sense-through-the-wall, surveillance, surveillance bot, surveillance robot, tialinx
Iran’s got a walking humanoid robot, too
Two years ago, Iranian students built Sorena, a white humanoid machine that reportedly wheeled about via remote control. For 2010, robots experts at Tehran University decided to update the creature — and apparently, channel a little bit of Asimo. Surena 2 was unveiled by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week, its purpose unknown. Named after a famous Persian warrior, the robot stands 4.7 feet tall, and can walk about slowly carrying its own weight of 99 pounds. Gulf News reports the robot will get vision and speech modules later on down the road. If it ends up conducting orchestras or performing show tunes, we’ll be sure to keep you informed.
Iran’s got a walking humanoid robot, too originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 03:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | AFP , Gulf News | Email this | Comments
Posted: July 5th, 2010
at 7:06am by Sean Hollister
Topics: Asimo, HumanoidRobot, HumanoidRobots, Robotics, Tehran, Tehran University, TehranUniversity, WalkingRobot, humanoid, humanoid robot, humanoid robots, iran, robot, walking robot
