The Week: Most Recent robots

A robo-housekeeper: The secret to advanced tidiness?

The Week — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:36:00 -0400

The video: Cornell roboticists have built and successfully tested a canny new housecleaning bot. Of course, building a machine that "knows" where to put your things isn't easy: The robot has to survey a room, identify the components of the mess you've made, and figure out where everything belongs — before actually getting to work. Cornell's unnamed robo-housekeeper uses advanced algorithms and a 3D Kinect camera to identify misplaced dishes, groceries, books, toys, and trash before putting them in their proper places with a mechanical arm. (Watch a demonstration below.) Though the...

The paralyzed marathoner with an incredible robot suit

The Week — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:00:00 -0400

This week, a 32-year-old British woman named Claire Lomas crossed the finish line of the London Marathon. So did thousands of other people, but Lomas is special: She's paralyzed from the chest down. The former chiropractor was able to complete the grueling 26.2-mile journey with a little robotic aid in the form of the ReWalk system, a bionic exoskeleton that allowed her to walk again. Here, a brief guide to her extraordinary journey:

How was Lomas paralyzed?
In 2007, she was injured in a freak horseriding accident that left her with a broken neck, back, and ribs. "Of course I have bad days...

Why the world might need robotic prostitutes

The Week — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:56:00 -0400

A new scientific paper suggests that by 2050, many bordellos and brothels will have replaced human prostitutes with lifelike robots. The research, published in the journal Futures, imagines a mechanized sex industry that the study's authors believe is not only possible, but preferable. Here, a look at the pros and cons of robotic prostitutes:

What are the benefits of robotic prostitutes?
Beyond being tireless, "commercial sex robots would be free of disease and would reduce the trafficking of real people," write the study's authors, Michelle Mars and Ian Yeoman at Victoria University...

South Korea's mood-sensing robotic prison guards

The Week — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:34:00 -0400

The video: South Korea's robotic prison guards, charged with monitoring prison cells for suspicious activity, have arrived — and they look a lot less friendly than the last time we saw them. The autonomous, mood-sensing droids are touted by Reuters as the "world's first robotic prison guard," and will be used to relieve overworked guards of mundane patrolling duties. The 5-foot-tall "Robo-guard" comes equipped with advanced 3-D cameras and microphones to detect signs of erratic or dangerous behavior — to prevent things such as suicide attempts — and can summon human allies when...

Geminoid F: The creepily lifelike singing fem-bot

The Week — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:55:00 -0400

The video: Renowned Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro wants to make androids that are so realistic they fool humans. And his most advanced effort, Geminoid F — the "F" is for female — is in the midst of her coming-out party at a Hong Kong mall, showing off for, and even singing to, passing shoppers and robot enthusiasts gathered for an international Robots in Motion exhibition. (See Geminoid sing below.) The fem-bot can smile, frown, pout, and make about 60 other facial expressions, powered by 12 mechanical actuators situated under her rubber skin. Most of Ishiguro's androids sell...

'Robojelly': The underwater robot that powers itself with seawater

The Week — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:58:00 -0400

The video: Robots inspired by the animal kingdom come in all shapes and sizes, but are you ready for this jelly? Scientists from Virginia Tech are working on an underwater soft-tissued robot, nicknamed "Robojelly," that takes its cues from jellyfish. The robot triggers a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to provide the energy its carbon nanotube "muscles" need to contract like the invertebrate it's named after and propel the machine through seawater. (Watch a demonstration below.) "What's water?" asks researcher Alex Villanueva. "It's hydrogen and oxygen. So you've got [a...

The 'amazing' robotic wheelchair that lets paraplegics stand tall

The Week — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:25:00 -0400

The video: At first glance, the Tek Robotic Mobilization Device (RMD) looks like a Segway scooter. But it's actually a groundbreaking new alternative to the wheelchair that allows users to sit, crouch, and stand at eye-level with their peers, thanks to a sophisticated robotic suspension system. Developed by Turkish scientists, the RMD allows the wheelchair-bound to move easily between standing and sitting positions, and nimbly perform a variety of tasks. (Watch the demo below.) "We've developed a device that enables paralyzed people to move through narrow passages, sit on a chair like you and I...

The Pentagon's 'freakily fast' robo-cheetah

The Week — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:33:00 -0500

The video: The awkward march of the military's Robo-mule was sturdy, if inelegant. Now, the newest animal-inspired robot sponsored by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) takes its cues from a much faster beast: The cheetah. Built by robotics firm Boston Dynamics, robo-cheetah just set a new speed record for multi-legged robots, clocking in at 18 miles per hour. (Watch a video below.) The machine's cat-like spine actually flexes and extends to maximize the robot's stride, and the galloping machine is "constantly tipping forward, falling and regaining equilibrium...

The 'DNA robots' that hunt cancer cells

The Week — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:20:00 -0500

In a concept that sounds eerily similar to science fiction, researchers from Harvard University have created tiny nano-sized "DNA robots" that can be instructed to hunt and destroy cancer cells. Scientists created the bio-machines to carry out the duties normally reserved for immune-system-boosting white blood cells, and the mini-robots could potentially lead to treatments for other autoimmune diseases. Here, a brief look at this "exciting" new experimental form of therapy:

How do these robots kill cancer?
The tiny devices were constructed out of DNA strands and folded into a shape resembling a...

The mini flying robots that swarm like 'a 1980s arcade game'

The Week — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:42:00 -0500

The video: Robotic "helicopter bees" are nothing new. But researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's GRASP robotics laboratory have created a squadron of 16 tiny quadcoptors that "hover in near-flawless sync with each other," says Paul Goodman at The Escapist, working together as a team. The advanced, four-rotor machines can flip over, switch directions, stop on a dime, and even fly in a perfect figure-eight formation without a hitch. (Watch a video below.) The researchers hope the advanced flying drones will one day serve as surveillance bots, or perhaps lead the charge for rescue...

The 'awesome' kitchen robots that prepare sandwiches

The Week — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:34:00 -0500

How do you make generally charmless robots a little less intimidating? One word: breakfast. Take James and Rosie, two PR2 bots that are programmed to whip up meals with little more than a simple instruction. Here, a guide to the "awesome" domesticated androids built by artificial intelligence researchers at the Technical University of Munich and Willow Garage:

What do they do?
The real "beauty" of James and Rosie is that they're able to cook up food "without needing any additional programming," says Elizabeth Fish at PC World. Though the two robots were once only capable of making pancakes...

8 robots inspired by animals: A slideshow

The Week — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:30:00 -0500

As with a Transformer, there's more than meets the eye with the MorpHex robot. It's a ball. It's a bot. And it sprouts legs to skitter about like a mechanical crab. "Star Wars destroyer droids and Metroid morph balls might be beyond modern technology," says Sean Hollister at The Verge, "but their basic trappings are within reach." Here, seven more robots that steal their designs from the animal kingdom.

The flying robots that build brick towers

The Week — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:41:00 -0500

The video: A Swiss team is betting that the future of construction lies not with men, but with machines — specifically, swarms of "robotic helicopter bees" that can build brick structures from a blueprint without input from humans. While at work, the robots "reserve air space on one of two 'freeways'" to prevent any mid-air collisions, and use a "specially designed gripper to hold and place the bricks." To demonstrate, ETH Zurich robotics expert Raffaello D'Andrea and a team of experimental architects are having four of their autonomous quadcopter flying robots build a complex 20-foot...

The 'Gumby-like' robot that moves like a squid

The Week — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:30:00 -0500

Robots come in all shapes and sizes. But what about a squirmy, four-legged bot that writhes and wriggles like a headless Gumby? Yep, that exists, thanks to Harvard scientists who created a soft-bodied machine that can wiggle and worm through tight spaces. (Watch a video below.) Here's how they did it:

What is it exactly?
The new 5-inch, "Gumby-like" bot is part of a "growing field of soft-bodied robots," says Alicia Chang for the Associated Press. This particular "bendable and versatile" creation was modeled after squids, starfish, and other sea dwellers that lack skeletons.

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South Korea's 'humane and friendly' robotic prison guards

The Week — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:45:00 -0500

South Korea is testing out a futuristic line of robotic prison guards in the city of Pohang starting next March. But the mechanical sentries are hardly bell ringers for a cold, dystopian future; in fact, designers are working to make the bots as "humane and friendly" as possible. Here's a brief guide:

So these are not Terminator-style enforcers?
No, "the robots are not terminators," says professor Lee Baik-chul of Kyonggi University, leader of the $863,000 project. "Their job is not cracking down on violent prisoners. They are helpers." Their primary task is to patrol prison corridors and monitor...

A robotic polar bear pillow that fights snoring

The Week — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:21:00 -0500

The video: You can now add "fights snoring" to the growing list of things robots can do. A new cuddly polar bear robot named Jukusui-kun — "deep sleep" in Japanese — promises to combat snoring and sleep apnea, a dangerous condition that can leave troubled sleepers unable to breathe. Just strap your hand into a device that measures your blood oxygen level, tuck yourself in under a sheet with built-in sensors, then plop down on the polar bear and get some shuteye. If you're having a hard time breathing, your blood oxygen level will drop, Jukusui-kun will realize it, and the bear...