IN A NANNY STATE
China's Siasun Robot & Automation is developing a 2' 7", 55 lb bot
that can chat it up on an eight hour shift after a two hour charge.
She can also check email, text, check for gas leaks, and call the police
in case of an emergency. The new family Nanny is due out in 2015 at a
price of approx. $1,465.
HUB-A-HUBBA
These brightly colored robots double as two port hubs when you pop
open their front plates. Once you have finished using them practically,
At a size of 7. 5 x 9. 7 x 4. 3 cm, these minibots are compatible with
MAC OS X ( 8.1 or later) and Windows 98/SE/2000/XP and cost about $27.
GOING DEEP
Apparently, South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Transport, and Maritime Affairs is
planning to invest $20 billion won in an underwater robot project. The project
involves about the construction of an “articulated, multiple-mobile” robot which will
be capable of handling various tasks at a maximum of 6,000 meters underwater,
ranging from exploration and rescue operations to such environmental missions as
maintenance of underwater flora. The development of the robot with capabilities to
operate in shallow water is the first phase of the project and scheduled to be
completed by 2012. During the second phase from 2013 to 2015, the robot will
further be improved to perform its planned deep water tasks.
The Korean Ministry is also developing a wireless aquatic robot that can swim
at a speed of 18 meters per second and crawl at a speed of 30 mi/sec. Each one
has six paddles and a camera to find sunken ships. The $17.88 million project hopes
to have a prototype by 2012 that can reach a depth of up to 200 meters, and another
by 2015 that can reach a 6 km depth.
IT’S ALL IN YOUR MIND
Using a combination of a handful of hardware, a bundle of
software, and a bucket of brains and ingenuity, one intrepid
engineer decided to control his Rovio … with his MIND!
Robert Oschler has taken the Rovio to the next level, and is
able to control it remotely, hands-free, with nothing but his
facial movements and concentration. (And a fancy $300
Emotiv EPOC Neuroheadset.)
Here’s how it works: Oschler wears his Emotiv EPOC
headset which has electrodes to detect his brain waves, as
well as two gyroscopes to detect movement. The headset
communicates with Roboclient which interprets the signals,
and sends them wirelessly over Skype to another computer.
The other computer reads the Skype data and sends it to the
Robodance software. Robodance turns the signals into robot
commands which are sent via WiFi to the Rovio.
Pretty darn cool.
FIDDLING
AROUND
Toyota’s reclusive
artistic genius — the
Violin-Playing Robot (not
seen since its unveiling in
2007) — is making its
second major public
appearance at the Shanghai
World Expo 2010 as part of
the Japanese Pavilion.
Rather than playing the
same tune as before, Toyota
has reprogrammed the robot to skillfully play a song that is
distinctly Chinese.
24 SERVO 07.2010
