Servo - July 2011

Robytes

Scouting for Robots

A lot has changed within the Boy Scouts of America ( www.scouting.org) since it was founded in 1910, and it's no longer just a bunch of kids tying knots and rubbing sticks together. These days, a scout can earn merit badges in such things as nuclear science, oceanography, composite materials, cinematography, and entrepreneurship. (For the less technically ambitious, choices also include dog care, disabilities awareness, basketry, and salesmanship, but never mind.) The latest introduction to the list is robotics, the requirements for which were developed in

No, this doesn't depict a mutant raccoon crawling out of a wheat field. It's the Boy Scouts' new robotics merit badge, ostensibly resembling NASA's Mars Rover.

by Jeff and Jenn Eckert

consultation with organizations that include NASA, iRobot, Carnegie Mellon, and LEGO. To earn the badge, one must — among other things — discuss three of the five major robotics fields (human-robot interface, mobility, manipulation, programming, sensors), explain how robots are used today, and (of course) design, build, program, and test one. The BSA figures it will take only about 14 hours to meet the requirements, so we're not talking about ASIMO. It is such a popular subject, however, that the organization expects to issue more than 10,000 badges during the first year.

Sort of a Robot

It's not clear how you start with the contemplative enlightenment of Zen Buddhism and end up in Helsinki sorting trash, but the folks at Finland's ZenRobotics ( www.zenrobotics.com) have made the journey. According to the company, "Our world continues to drown in trash. What's more, many of the raw materials we rely on will run out in our lifetime should we fail to establish a solid recycling process. But fear not! The robot boffins at the explosively growing ZenRobotics Ltd. are going to save the world with intelligent robots." The ZenRobotics Recycler is a conveyer system that uses artificial intelligence and a variety of visual sensors, weight measurements, spectrometry, metal detection, and a robotic arm with tactile feedback to separate junk from usable materials in construction and demolition remnants. It recognizes and sorts a range of materials including plastics, concrete, wood, and metal. Semi-interestingly, the unit was originally dubbed the Zendroid, but some legal toady deep in the bowels of Google thought it sounded too much like "Android" and fretted that the public would get the two confused. A lawsuit was threatened and — with zen-like tolerance — the Finns let the name drift into oblivion. Their website is littered with little bits of dry humor, such as the ever-changing range of aphorisms floating under the company logo, such as "Inventing Slogans Since 2007." To see their droll video trailer, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPDH2uSaQe Y.

The ZenRobotics team shows off a gripper.

Moocherbot Hits the Streets

A 21 year old student at the University of Dundee, Scotland, Tim Pryde ( www.timpryde.com), has pushed the boundaries of robotics into the realm of street begging. With Orwellian irony, Tim named his creation DON- 8r (as in "donator"), although BUM-r might be more accurate. First, the little beggar displays a green light and moves randomly for a set length of time, after which it stops, waves a flag, flashes red, and repeats "hello." This continues relentlessly until someone slips a coin into a slot in his back, after which he thanks the mark and flashes blue. Then, the routine starts over.

Tim intends to rebrand the units to suit individual charities, so you might eventually see them sporting Red Cross emblems or Salvation Army uniforms. There appear to be a couple bugs to work out, though. For one thing, DON-8r is said to be equipped with collision avoidance capabilities,

but the video on the website ends with him wandering into traffic, requiring human intervention. Another potential problem is that the bot is lightweight and defenseless, so it wouldn't be too difficult for a competing human panhandler to crack him open like a piggy bank and make off with the loot. But maybe no one else will think of that.