Via LA Times -
Drone aircraft, best known for their role in hunting and destroying terrorist hide-outs in Afghanistan, may soon be coming to the skies near you.
Police agencies want drones for air support to spot runaway criminals. Utility companies believe they can help monitor oil, gas and water pipelines. Farmers think drones could aid in spraying their crops with pesticides.
"It's going to happen," said Dan Elwell, vice president of civil aviation at the Aerospace Industries Assn. "Now it's about figuring out how to safely assimilate the technology into national airspace."
That's the job of the Federal Aviation Administration, which plans to propose new rules for the use of small drones in January, a first step toward integrating robotic aircraft into the nation's skyways.
The agency has issued 266 active testing permits for civilian drone applications but hasn't permitted drones in national airspace on a wide scale out of concern that the pilotless craft don't have an adequate "detect, sense and avoid" technology to prevent midair collisions.
Other concerns include privacy — imagine a camera-equipped drone buzzing above your backyard pool party — and the creative ways in which criminals and terrorists might use the machines.
[...]
Sheriff's Department Cmdr. Bob Osborne said that there's "no doubt" that the department is interested in using drones. "It's just that the FAA hasn't come up with workable rules that we can harness it. If those roadblocks were down, we'd want to use it."
Drones' low-cost appeal has other industries interested as well.
Farmers in Japan already use small drones to automatically spray their crops with pesticides, and more recently safety inspectors used them at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Archaeologists in Russia are using small drones and their infrared cameras to construct a 3-D model of ancient burial mounds. Officials in Tampa Bay, Fla., want to use them for security surveillance at next year's Republican National Convention.
But the FAA says there are technical issues to be addressed before they're introduced in civil airspace. Among them is how to respond if a communication link is lost with a drone — such as when it falls out of the sky, takes a nose dive into a backyard pool or crashes through someone's roof.
[...]
Drones could also be useful to real estate agents to showcase sprawling properties. Oil and gas companies want to utilize them to keep an eye on their pipelines. Even organizations delivering humanitarian assistance want to use drones.
Showing posts with label Robots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robots. Show all posts
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, September 25, 2009
Honda's Unveils U3-X Unicycle for Robots
Honda on Wednesday unveiled the U3-X, a stool with a unique directional wheel system that allows it to travel diagonally, as well as right, left, forward, and backward.
It's basically a robotic unicycle.
The device is able to readjust itself so that instead of riders having to constantly balance themselves, the robotic unicycle does the compensating.
Honda pointed out in its unveiling video that the U3-X's seat is slightly higher than an average person's waistline, forcing riders to jump up slightly to sit on it and place their feet on a foot rest. This elevated height of the robotic unicycle leaves riders at relative eye level with passing pedestrians while in motion, according to Honda.
It's a nice touch. A common complaint among people in wheelchairs are the social and psychological effects of literally being looked down upon while traveling the world in a sitting position. But requiring the rider to be able to hold upright while on a backless seat clearly disqualifies the U3-X as a wheelchair substitute for many.
And in this age of rising obesity, who among the fitness-conscious is really going to ride the streets on a robotic stool when they can get a little chance at some exercise during their busy day by walking?
It's just one of those things you know no one is really going to buy. So why, then, did Honda unveil the U3-X robotic unicycle?
Like the Segway, the U3-X is more about showing off an engineering breakthrough than selling an actual product. In this case, Honda contributes to the ongoing discourse on mobility among roboticists.
[...]
Honda's HOT Drive System (Honda Omni Traction Drive System), the omni-directional wheel Honda claims is the "world's first wheel structure which enables movement in all directions" adds to this ongoing discourse on mobility.
Note Honda's word choice in describing their system.
The U3-X is not the first multi-directional rolling robot and Honda knows this. Carnegie Mellon, for example, unveiled the Ballbot in 2006. But the method Honda uses--which includes synchronizing small motor-controlled wheels to make the U3-X multi-directional--is unique.
Honda's U3-X also includes balance control technology that allows the device to respond to how its load shifts and readjust balance accordingly while on the go.
"The incline sensor detects the incline of the device based on the weight shift of the rider and determines the rider's intention in terms of the direction and speed. Based on the data, precise control is applied to return the device to an upright position, which achieves smooth and agile movements and simple operation by weight shift only," Honda said in a statement.
It's basically a robotic unicycle.
The device is able to readjust itself so that instead of riders having to constantly balance themselves, the robotic unicycle does the compensating.
Honda pointed out in its unveiling video that the U3-X's seat is slightly higher than an average person's waistline, forcing riders to jump up slightly to sit on it and place their feet on a foot rest. This elevated height of the robotic unicycle leaves riders at relative eye level with passing pedestrians while in motion, according to Honda.
It's a nice touch. A common complaint among people in wheelchairs are the social and psychological effects of literally being looked down upon while traveling the world in a sitting position. But requiring the rider to be able to hold upright while on a backless seat clearly disqualifies the U3-X as a wheelchair substitute for many.
And in this age of rising obesity, who among the fitness-conscious is really going to ride the streets on a robotic stool when they can get a little chance at some exercise during their busy day by walking?
It's just one of those things you know no one is really going to buy. So why, then, did Honda unveil the U3-X robotic unicycle?
Like the Segway, the U3-X is more about showing off an engineering breakthrough than selling an actual product. In this case, Honda contributes to the ongoing discourse on mobility among roboticists.
[...]
Honda's HOT Drive System (Honda Omni Traction Drive System), the omni-directional wheel Honda claims is the "world's first wheel structure which enables movement in all directions" adds to this ongoing discourse on mobility.
Note Honda's word choice in describing their system.
The U3-X is not the first multi-directional rolling robot and Honda knows this. Carnegie Mellon, for example, unveiled the Ballbot in 2006. But the method Honda uses--which includes synchronizing small motor-controlled wheels to make the U3-X multi-directional--is unique.
Honda's U3-X also includes balance control technology that allows the device to respond to how its load shifts and readjust balance accordingly while on the go.
"The incline sensor detects the incline of the device based on the weight shift of the rider and determines the rider's intention in terms of the direction and speed. Based on the data, precise control is applied to return the device to an upright position, which achieves smooth and agile movements and simple operation by weight shift only," Honda said in a statement.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Robot Programmed To Love Goes Too Far, Commences Stalking
Via geekologie.com -
Kenji, a third-generation humanoid, was programmed by Toshiba's Akimu Robotic Research Institute to emulate human emotions, including love. But shockingly, Kenji has gone haywire and will probably end up killing off all his love interests.
Kenji, a third-generation humanoid, was programmed by Toshiba's Akimu Robotic Research Institute to emulate human emotions, including love. But shockingly, Kenji has gone haywire and will probably end up killing off all his love interests.
The trouble all started when a young female intern began to spend several hours each day with Kenji, testing his systems and loading new software routines. When it came time to leave one evening, however, Kenji refused to let her out of his lab enclosure and used his bulky mechanical body to block her exit and hug her repeatedly. The intern was only able to escape after she had frantically phoned two senior staff members to come and temporarily de-activate Kenji.Dr. Takahashi admits that they will more than likely have to decommission Kenji permanently, but he's optimistic about one day succeeding where Kenji failed. "This is only a minor setback. I have full faith that we will one day live side by side with, and eventually love and be loved by, robots," he said.
Oh hell no you crackpot. Ain't no love for robots here. It's kill or be killed. YOUR EXPERIMENT FAILED MISERABLY -- GIVE UP. Seriously, we need this guy behind bars STAT. The day I'm forced to love a robot is the day I stab that mechanical beast through the eye-camera with a rusty screwdriver and sparks fly everywhere as I mash it around in his brain real good until the BEEPITY BOOP BEEPING stops and I push my would-be mechanical lover off me and take a nap.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Military’s Killer Robots Must Learn Warrior Code
Via Times Online UK -
Autonomous military robots that will fight future wars must be programmed to live by a strict warrior code or the world risks untold atrocities at their steely hands.
Autonomous military robots that will fight future wars must be programmed to live by a strict warrior code or the world risks untold atrocities at their steely hands.
The stark warning – which includes discussion of a Terminator-style scenario in which robots turn on their human masters – is issued in a hefty report funded by and prepared for the US Navy’s high-tech and secretive Office of Naval Research .
The report, the first serious work of its kind on military robot ethics, envisages a fast-approaching era where robots are smart enough to make battlefield decisions that are at present the preserve of humans. Eventually, it notes, robots could come to display significant cognitive advantages over Homo sapiens soldiers.
“There is a common misconception that robots will do only what we have programmed them to do,” Patrick Lin, the chief compiler of the report, said. “Unfortunately, such a belief is sorely outdated, harking back to a time when . . . programs could be written and understood by a single person.” The reality, Dr Lin said, was that modern programs included millions of lines of code and were written by teams of programmers, none of whom knew the entire program: accordingly, no individual could accurately predict how the various portions of large programs would interact without extensive testing in the field – an option that may either be unavailable or deliberately sidestepped by the designers of fighting robots.
The solution, he suggests, is to mix rules-based programming with a period of “learning” the rights and wrongs of warfare.
A rich variety of scenarios outlining the ethical, legal, social and political issues posed as robot technology improves are covered in the report. How do we protect our robot armies against terrorist hackers or software malfunction? Who is to blame if a robot goes berserk in a crowd of civilians – the robot, its programmer or the US president? Should the robots have a “suicide switch” and should they be programmed to preserve their lives?
The report, compiled by the Ethics and Emerging Technology department of California State Polytechnic University and obtained by The Times, strongly warns the US military against complacency or shortcuts as military robot designers engage in the “rush to market” and the pace of advances in artificial intelligence is increased.
Any sense of haste among designers may have been heightened by a US congressional mandate that by 2010 a third of all operational “deep-strike” aircraft must be unmanned, and that by 2015 one third of all ground combat vehicles must be unmanned.
“A rush to market increases the risk for inadequate design or programming. Worse, without a sustained and significant effort to build in ethical controls in autonomous systems . . . there is little hope that the early generations of such systems and robots will be adequate, making mistakes that may cost human lives,” the report noted.
A simple ethical code along the lines of the “Three Laws of Robotics” postulated in 1950 by Isaac Asimov, the science fiction writer, will not be sufficient to ensure the ethical behaviour of autonomous military machines.
“We are going to need a code,” Dr Lin said. “These things are military, and they can’t be pacifists, so we have to think in terms of battlefield ethics. We are going to need a warrior code.”
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
25C3: Cheap Swarm Robotics
Via HackaDay -
The Formica project was our favorite presentation at 25C3. The goal is to build open source swarm robots as cheaply as possible. The team ended up building 25 robots in an assembly line fashion. With enough lead time, the price could get as low as £15 each. Each bot has two direct drive cellphone vibration motors with tiny neoprene wheels. They’re controlled by an MSP430 microcontroller. The only really specialized chip is a charge controller so the bots can charge without any intervention. They have copper skis on the front that touch the ground plane plus antennas to contact Vcc. On top of the bot are three IR detectors for both navigation and for transferring firmware updates between bots. A reflective sensor is on the underside for detecting “food”. It looks like a great design and any easy way for anyone to start researching swarm robotics.
The Formica project was our favorite presentation at 25C3. The goal is to build open source swarm robots as cheaply as possible. The team ended up building 25 robots in an assembly line fashion. With enough lead time, the price could get as low as £15 each. Each bot has two direct drive cellphone vibration motors with tiny neoprene wheels. They’re controlled by an MSP430 microcontroller. The only really specialized chip is a charge controller so the bots can charge without any intervention. They have copper skis on the front that touch the ground plane plus antennas to contact Vcc. On top of the bot are three IR detectors for both navigation and for transferring firmware updates between bots. A reflective sensor is on the underside for detecting “food”. It looks like a great design and any easy way for anyone to start researching swarm robotics.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
US Military Works to Miniaturize the UAV
Via Yahoo! News -
If only we could be a fly on the wall when our enemies are plotting to attack us. Better yet, what if that fly could record voices, transmit video and even fire tiny weapons?
That kind of James Bond-style fantasy is actually on the drawing board. U.S. military engineers are trying to design flying robots disguised as insects that could one day spy on enemies and conduct dangerous missions without risking lives.
"The way we envision it is, there would be a bunch of these sent out in a swarm," said Greg Parker, who helps lead the research project at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. "If we know there's a possibility of bad guys in a certain building, how do we find out? We think this would fill that void."
In essence, the research seeks to miniaturize the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle drones used in Iraq and Afghanistan for surveillance and reconnaissance.
The next generation of drones, called Micro Aerial Vehicles, or MAVs, could be as tiny as bumblebees and capable of flying undetected into buildings, where they could photograph, record, and even attack insurgents and terrorists.
By identifying and assaulting adversaries more precisely, the robots would also help reduce or avoid civilian casualties, the military says.
Parker and his colleagues plan to start by developing a bird-sized robot as soon as 2015, followed by the insect-sized models by 2030.
The vehicles could be useful on battlefields where the biggest challenge is collecting reliable intelligence about enemies.
"If we could get inside the buildings and inside the rooms where their activities are unfolding, we would be able to get the kind of intelligence we need to shut them down," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.
If only we could be a fly on the wall when our enemies are plotting to attack us. Better yet, what if that fly could record voices, transmit video and even fire tiny weapons?
That kind of James Bond-style fantasy is actually on the drawing board. U.S. military engineers are trying to design flying robots disguised as insects that could one day spy on enemies and conduct dangerous missions without risking lives.
"The way we envision it is, there would be a bunch of these sent out in a swarm," said Greg Parker, who helps lead the research project at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. "If we know there's a possibility of bad guys in a certain building, how do we find out? We think this would fill that void."
In essence, the research seeks to miniaturize the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle drones used in Iraq and Afghanistan for surveillance and reconnaissance.
The next generation of drones, called Micro Aerial Vehicles, or MAVs, could be as tiny as bumblebees and capable of flying undetected into buildings, where they could photograph, record, and even attack insurgents and terrorists.
By identifying and assaulting adversaries more precisely, the robots would also help reduce or avoid civilian casualties, the military says.
Parker and his colleagues plan to start by developing a bird-sized robot as soon as 2015, followed by the insect-sized models by 2030.
The vehicles could be useful on battlefields where the biggest challenge is collecting reliable intelligence about enemies.
"If we could get inside the buildings and inside the rooms where their activities are unfolding, we would be able to get the kind of intelligence we need to shut them down," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Running the Turing Test in 2008 - Talking Machines
Via BBC -
An experiment has been taking place in Berkshire to see if robots are capable of intelligent thought.
Scientists at the University of Reading tested five machines to see if they could pass themselves off as humans in text-based conversations with people.
The test was devised in 1950 by British Mathematician Alan Turing, who said that if a machine was indistinguishable from a human, then it was "thinking".
One robot, Elbot, came close on Sunday by reaching 5% below the pass mark.
No robot has ever passed the Turing Test, which requires the robot to fool 30% of its human interrogators.
During the experiment, five artificial conversational entities (ACEs) competed in a series of five-minute long, unrestricted conversational tests.
The ACEs tried to pass themselves off as humans to the judges.
"During the tests, all of the ACEs managed to fool at least one of their human interrogators," a University of Reading spokesman said.
The tests took place as part of the 18th Loebner Prize for artificial intelligence.
[...]
"This demonstrates how close machines are getting to reaching the milestone of communicating with us in a way in which we are comfortable.
"That eventual day will herald a new phase in our relationship with machines, bringing closer the time in which robots start to play an active role in our daily lives."
This year's winner was Elbot, despite failing the Turing Test. The programme's developers were awarded a $3,000 (£1,760) prize.
An experiment has been taking place in Berkshire to see if robots are capable of intelligent thought.
Scientists at the University of Reading tested five machines to see if they could pass themselves off as humans in text-based conversations with people.
The test was devised in 1950 by British Mathematician Alan Turing, who said that if a machine was indistinguishable from a human, then it was "thinking".
One robot, Elbot, came close on Sunday by reaching 5% below the pass mark.
No robot has ever passed the Turing Test, which requires the robot to fool 30% of its human interrogators.
During the experiment, five artificial conversational entities (ACEs) competed in a series of five-minute long, unrestricted conversational tests.
The ACEs tried to pass themselves off as humans to the judges.
"During the tests, all of the ACEs managed to fool at least one of their human interrogators," a University of Reading spokesman said.
The tests took place as part of the 18th Loebner Prize for artificial intelligence.
[...]
"This demonstrates how close machines are getting to reaching the milestone of communicating with us in a way in which we are comfortable.
"That eventual day will herald a new phase in our relationship with machines, bringing closer the time in which robots start to play an active role in our daily lives."
This year's winner was Elbot, despite failing the Turing Test. The programme's developers were awarded a $3,000 (£1,760) prize.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A 'Frankenrobot' with a Biological Brain
Via breitbart.com -
Meet Gordon, probably the world's first robot controlled exclusively by living brain tissue.
Stitched together from cultured rat neurons, Gordon's primitive grey matter was designed at the University of Reading by scientists who unveiled the neuron-powered machine on Wednesday.
Their groundbreaking experiments explore the vanishing boundary between natural and artificial intelligence, and could shed light on the fundamental building blocks of memory and learning, one of the lead researchers told AFP.
"The purpose is to figure out how memories are actually stored in a biological brain," said Kevin Warwick, a professor at the University of Reading and one of the robot's principle architects.
Observing how the nerve cells cohere into a network as they fire off electrical impulses, he said, may also help scientists combat neurodegenerative diseases that attack the brain such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
"If we can understand some of the basics of what is going on in our little model brain, it could have enormous medical spinoffs," he said.
Looking a bit like the garbage-compacting hero of the blockbuster animation "Wall-E", Gordon has a brain composed of 50,000 to 100,000 active neurons.
Once removed from rat foetuses and disentangled from each other with an enzyme bath, the specialised nerve cells are laid out in a nutrient-rich medium across an eight-by-eight centimetre (five-by-five inch) array of 60 electrodes.
This "multi-electrode array" (MEA) serves as the interface between living tissue and machine, with the brain sending electrical impulses to drive the wheels of the robots, and receiving impulses delivered by sensors reacting to the environment.
Because the brain is living tissue, it must be housed in a special temperature-controlled unit -- it communicates with its "body" via a Bluetooth radio link.
The robot has no additional control from a human or computer.
From the very start, the neurons get busy. "Within about 24 hours, they start sending out feelers to each other and making connections," said Warwick.
"Within a week we get some spontaneous firings and brain-like activity" similar to what happens in a normal rat -- or human -- brain, he added.
But without external stimulation, the brain will wither and die within a couple of months.
"Now we are looking at how best to teach it to behave in certain ways," explained Warwick.
To some extent, Gordon learns by itself. When it hits a wall, for example, it gets an electrical stimulation from the robot's sensors. As it confronts similar situations, it learns by habit.
Meet Gordon, probably the world's first robot controlled exclusively by living brain tissue.
Stitched together from cultured rat neurons, Gordon's primitive grey matter was designed at the University of Reading by scientists who unveiled the neuron-powered machine on Wednesday.
Their groundbreaking experiments explore the vanishing boundary between natural and artificial intelligence, and could shed light on the fundamental building blocks of memory and learning, one of the lead researchers told AFP.
"The purpose is to figure out how memories are actually stored in a biological brain," said Kevin Warwick, a professor at the University of Reading and one of the robot's principle architects.
Observing how the nerve cells cohere into a network as they fire off electrical impulses, he said, may also help scientists combat neurodegenerative diseases that attack the brain such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
"If we can understand some of the basics of what is going on in our little model brain, it could have enormous medical spinoffs," he said.
Looking a bit like the garbage-compacting hero of the blockbuster animation "Wall-E", Gordon has a brain composed of 50,000 to 100,000 active neurons.
Once removed from rat foetuses and disentangled from each other with an enzyme bath, the specialised nerve cells are laid out in a nutrient-rich medium across an eight-by-eight centimetre (five-by-five inch) array of 60 electrodes.
This "multi-electrode array" (MEA) serves as the interface between living tissue and machine, with the brain sending electrical impulses to drive the wheels of the robots, and receiving impulses delivered by sensors reacting to the environment.
Because the brain is living tissue, it must be housed in a special temperature-controlled unit -- it communicates with its "body" via a Bluetooth radio link.
The robot has no additional control from a human or computer.
From the very start, the neurons get busy. "Within about 24 hours, they start sending out feelers to each other and making connections," said Warwick.
"Within a week we get some spontaneous firings and brain-like activity" similar to what happens in a normal rat -- or human -- brain, he added.
But without external stimulation, the brain will wither and die within a couple of months.
"Now we are looking at how best to teach it to behave in certain ways," explained Warwick.
To some extent, Gordon learns by itself. When it hits a wall, for example, it gets an electrical stimulation from the robot's sensors. As it confronts similar situations, it learns by habit.
--------------------
Robots are already dangerous...and now they are giving them brains. Really? lol
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Firefox 3 - Easter Eggs
A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, or video game. The term draws a parallel with the custom of the Easter egg hunt observed in many western nations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Mozilla#The_Book_of_Mozilla.2C_11:9
-------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Mozilla#The_Book_of_Mozilla.2C_11:9
-------------------------
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Robots to Swarm English Village in UK MoD Contest
Via CNET.com -
A village in England will host a robot hide-and-seek exercise next month, when 11 teams drawn from private companies and universities compete to sniff out snipers, roadside bombs, and other hidden dangers while relaying real-time images to a command post.
The MOD Grand Challenge, as it's called, is billed as the U.K. Ministry of Defense's counterpart to the U.S. DARPA Challenges, except it's military robots that compete against one another instead of robotic cars.
The purpose is to boost development of small robot teams capable of scouting out and alerting troops to potentially dangerous surprises on the urban battlefield. The robots must autonomously negotiate complex, unfamiliar terrain and urban clutter to locate the threats. Points are earned based on the number of threats uncovered in one hour. Points are lost if a team resorts to remote control to maneuver its bots at any stage.
One team, Stellar Consortium, will employ two unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with thermal, visual, and radar sensors to provide surveillance of the village. The data will then be used to direct a small robot on the ground.
The Swarm Systems team will field eight battery-powered, GPS-guided, Frisbee-sized, propeller-driven micro air vehicles (MAVs) called "Owls." These airborne bots hover and dart like birds while communicating with one other and a base station using Wi-Fi.
The highest-scoring team gets a shot at a lucrative MOD contract and a chance to see its system put to work in Afghanistan or southern Iraq.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Killer Robots Pose Latest Militant Threat
Via reuters.com -
LONDON (Reuters) - Killer robots could become the weapon of choice for militants, a British expert said on Wednesday.
Noel Sharkey, professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield said he believed falling costs would soon make robots a realistic option for extremist groups.
Several countries and companies are developing the technology for robot weapons, with the U.S. Department of Defense leading the way. More than 4,000 robots are deployed in Iraq.
"The trouble is that we can't really put the genie back in the bottle. Once the new weapons are out there, they will be fairly easy to copy," Sharkey will tell a one-day conference organized by Britain's Royal United Services Institute on Wednesday.
"How long is it going to be before the terrorists get in on the act? With the current prices of robot construction falling dramatically and the availability of ready-made components for the amateur market, it wouldn't require a lot of skill to make autonomous robot weapons."
Sharkey said a small GPS-guided drone with autopilot could be made for about 250 pounds ($490).
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Nanobots Could Make Us Smarter
Via BBC -
Machines will achieve human-level artificial intelligence by 2029, a leading US inventor has predicted.
Humanity is on the brink of advances that will see tiny robots implanted in people's brains to make them more intelligent said engineer Ray Kurzweil.
He said machines and humans would eventually merge through devices implanted in the body to boost intelligence and health.
"It's really part of our civilisation," Mr Kurzweil said.
"But that's not going to be an alien invasion of intelligent machines to displace us."
Machines were already doing hundreds of things humans used to do, at human levels of intelligence or better, in many different areas, he said.
"I've made the case that we will have both the hardware and the software to achieve human level artificial intelligence with the broad suppleness of human intelligence including our emotional intelligence by 2029," he said.
"We're already a human machine civilisation, we use our technology to expand our physical and mental horizons and this will be a further extension of that."
Humans and machines would eventually merge, by means of devices embedded in people's bodies to keep them healthy and improve their intelligence, predicted Mr Kurzweil.
"We'll have intelligent nanobots go into our brains through the capillaries and interact directly with our biological neurons," he told BBC News.
The nanobots, he said, would "make us smarter, remember things better and automatically go into full emergent virtual reality environments through the nervous system".
Machines will achieve human-level artificial intelligence by 2029, a leading US inventor has predicted.
Humanity is on the brink of advances that will see tiny robots implanted in people's brains to make them more intelligent said engineer Ray Kurzweil.
He said machines and humans would eventually merge through devices implanted in the body to boost intelligence and health.
"It's really part of our civilisation," Mr Kurzweil said.
"But that's not going to be an alien invasion of intelligent machines to displace us."
Machines were already doing hundreds of things humans used to do, at human levels of intelligence or better, in many different areas, he said.
"I've made the case that we will have both the hardware and the software to achieve human level artificial intelligence with the broad suppleness of human intelligence including our emotional intelligence by 2029," he said.
"We're already a human machine civilisation, we use our technology to expand our physical and mental horizons and this will be a further extension of that."
Humans and machines would eventually merge, by means of devices embedded in people's bodies to keep them healthy and improve their intelligence, predicted Mr Kurzweil.
"We'll have intelligent nanobots go into our brains through the capillaries and interact directly with our biological neurons," he told BBC News.
The nanobots, he said, would "make us smarter, remember things better and automatically go into full emergent virtual reality environments through the nervous system".
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Rubik's Cube-Solving Robot
Via BBC Business -
Pete Redmond has invented a Rubik's Cube-solving robot, which helped market the game at the Toy Fair. In this clip it competes against Dan Harris, the UK's Rubik's Cube champion.
-------------------
Video requires Windows Media Player.
Pete Redmond has invented a Rubik's Cube-solving robot, which helped market the game at the Toy Fair. In this clip it competes against Dan Harris, the UK's Rubik's Cube champion.
-------------------
Video requires Windows Media Player.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Are We Giving The Robots That Run Our Society Too Much Power?
Panelists discuss whether controversial decisions by the Robot Congress and President Executron indicate robots have too much control over our lives.
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/in_the_know_are_we_giving_the
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/in_the_know_are_we_giving_the
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Army Contractor iRobot Wins Patent Suits
Via physorg.com -
(AP) -- IRobot Corp. on Friday won a pair of federal lawsuits against a competitor company founded by a former employee, resolving the dispute between the companies and putting the competitor out of business.
Burlington-based iRobot filed two lawsuits in August against former employee Jameel Ahed and his company, Robotic FX Corp. - one in Alabama for patent infringement and one in Massachusetts for trade secret misappropriation.
Robotic FX claimed it developed the technology independently.
IRobot won a $286 million contract Tuesday to supply the U.S. Army with bomb-disarming robots, a contract Robotic FX had won in the summer and lost last week.
The Army put the $280 million contract on hold in October, saying it was reviewing whether Robotic FX was a "responsible" choice. The Army's Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation said Tuesday that it was terminating the contract with Robotic FX "without cost" to the Army. IRobot, the Army said, was "the next-lowest-priced, technically qualified bidder."
IRobot, which also makes consumer robots such as Roomba vacuum cleaners, said it would immediately deliver the first 101 robots to the Army for rapid deployment.
(AP) -- IRobot Corp. on Friday won a pair of federal lawsuits against a competitor company founded by a former employee, resolving the dispute between the companies and putting the competitor out of business.
Burlington-based iRobot filed two lawsuits in August against former employee Jameel Ahed and his company, Robotic FX Corp. - one in Alabama for patent infringement and one in Massachusetts for trade secret misappropriation.
Robotic FX claimed it developed the technology independently.
IRobot won a $286 million contract Tuesday to supply the U.S. Army with bomb-disarming robots, a contract Robotic FX had won in the summer and lost last week.
The Army put the $280 million contract on hold in October, saying it was reviewing whether Robotic FX was a "responsible" choice. The Army's Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation said Tuesday that it was terminating the contract with Robotic FX "without cost" to the Army. IRobot, the Army said, was "the next-lowest-priced, technically qualified bidder."
IRobot, which also makes consumer robots such as Roomba vacuum cleaners, said it would immediately deliver the first 101 robots to the Army for rapid deployment.
Robot Boats Hunt High-Tech Pirates
Via military.com -
The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have expressed interest in the 30-ft.-long Protector, which comes mounted with a machine gun and could be retrofitted for commercial use.
Robots versus pirates -- it's not as stupid, or unlikely, as it sounds. Piracy has exploded in the waters near Somalia, where this past week United States warships have fired on two pirate skiffs, and are currently in pursuit of a hijacked Japanese-owned vessel. At least four other ships in the region remain under pirate control, and the problem appears to be going global: The International Maritime Bureau is tracking a 14-percent increase in worldwide pirate attacks this year.
And although modern-day pirates enjoy collecting their fare share of booty -- they have a soft spot for communications gear -- they're just as likely to ransom an entire ship. In one particularly sobering case, hijackers killed one crew member of a Taiwan-owned vessel each month until their demands were met.
For years now, law enforcement agencies across the high seas have proposed robotic boats, or unmanned surface vessels (USVs), as a way to help deal with 21st-Century techno Black Beards. The Navy has tested at least two small, armed USV demonstrators designed to patrol harbors and defend vessels. And both the Navy and the Coast Guard have expressed interest in the Protector, a 30-ft.-long USV built by BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Israeli defense firm RAFAEL.
The Protector, which comes mounted with a 7.62mm machine gun, wasn't originally intended for anti-piracy operations. But according to BAE Systems spokesperson Stephanie Moncada, the robot could easily fill that role. "Down the line, it could potentially be modified for commercial use as well," she says. Instead of being deployed by a warship to intercept and possibly fire on an incoming vessel, a non-lethal variant of the Protector could be used to simply investigate a potential threat.
A favorite tactic of modern-day pirates is to put out a distress call, then ambush any ships that respond. The unmanned Protector could be remote-operated from around 10 miles away, with enough on-board sensors, speakers and microphones to make contact with a vessel before it's too late. "Even without the machine gun, it could alert the crew, give them some time to escape," Moncada says.
The 55-mph Interceptor could become the long-range patrol boat of the future, while the jetski-size Sentry (inset) could help prevent a terrorist plot such as Al Qaeda's attack on the USS Cole in December 2000.
The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have expressed interest in the 30-ft.-long Protector, which comes mounted with a machine gun and could be retrofitted for commercial use.
Robots versus pirates -- it's not as stupid, or unlikely, as it sounds. Piracy has exploded in the waters near Somalia, where this past week United States warships have fired on two pirate skiffs, and are currently in pursuit of a hijacked Japanese-owned vessel. At least four other ships in the region remain under pirate control, and the problem appears to be going global: The International Maritime Bureau is tracking a 14-percent increase in worldwide pirate attacks this year.
And although modern-day pirates enjoy collecting their fare share of booty -- they have a soft spot for communications gear -- they're just as likely to ransom an entire ship. In one particularly sobering case, hijackers killed one crew member of a Taiwan-owned vessel each month until their demands were met.
For years now, law enforcement agencies across the high seas have proposed robotic boats, or unmanned surface vessels (USVs), as a way to help deal with 21st-Century techno Black Beards. The Navy has tested at least two small, armed USV demonstrators designed to patrol harbors and defend vessels. And both the Navy and the Coast Guard have expressed interest in the Protector, a 30-ft.-long USV built by BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Israeli defense firm RAFAEL.
The Protector, which comes mounted with a 7.62mm machine gun, wasn't originally intended for anti-piracy operations. But according to BAE Systems spokesperson Stephanie Moncada, the robot could easily fill that role. "Down the line, it could potentially be modified for commercial use as well," she says. Instead of being deployed by a warship to intercept and possibly fire on an incoming vessel, a non-lethal variant of the Protector could be used to simply investigate a potential threat.
A favorite tactic of modern-day pirates is to put out a distress call, then ambush any ships that respond. The unmanned Protector could be remote-operated from around 10 miles away, with enough on-board sensors, speakers and microphones to make contact with a vessel before it's too late. "Even without the machine gun, it could alert the crew, give them some time to escape," Moncada says.
The 55-mph Interceptor could become the long-range patrol boat of the future, while the jetski-size Sentry (inset) could help prevent a terrorist plot such as Al Qaeda's attack on the USS Cole in December 2000.
Monday, November 5, 2007
DARPA Grand Challenge - Urban Challenge
The DARPA Urban Challenge is an autonomous vehicle research and development program with the goal of developing technology that will keep warfighters off the battlefield and out of harm’s way. The Urban Challenge features autonomous ground vehicles maneuvering in a mock city environment, executing simulated military supply missions while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections, and avoiding obstacles.
The program is conducted as a series of qualification steps leading to a competitive final event, scheduled to take place on November 3, 2007, in Victorville, California. DARPA is offering $2M for the fastest qualifying vehicle, and $1M and $500,000 for second and third place.
------------------------
1st Place - Tartan Racing, Pittsburgh, PA
2nd Place - Stanford Racing Team, Stanford, CA
3rd Place - Victor Tango, Blacksburg, VA
The program is conducted as a series of qualification steps leading to a competitive final event, scheduled to take place on November 3, 2007, in Victorville, California. DARPA is offering $2M for the fastest qualifying vehicle, and $1M and $500,000 for second and third place.
------------------------
1st Place - Tartan Racing, Pittsburgh, PA
2nd Place - Stanford Racing Team, Stanford, CA
3rd Place - Victor Tango, Blacksburg, VA
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
How to Build a Daft Punk Table Replica
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-Daft-Punk-Table-Replica/
I just like hearing that song...(not to be confused with ATC's Around the World)
If you haven't seen the real music video, you are truly missing out on a part of life....I like when the robots run into each other. lol
Ohh, the late 90s were fun.
I just like hearing that song...(not to be confused with ATC's Around the World)
If you haven't seen the real music video, you are truly missing out on a part of life....I like when the robots run into each other. lol
Ohh, the late 90s were fun.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Beware of the Mico-Size Spy Fly
Via FoxNews -
Ever wish you could be a "fly on the wall" at a closed-door meeting or to hear a foe’s secrets?
Enter the robobug.
Witnesses are buzzing about recent sightings of robotic-looking dragonflies seen at Washington and New York political events. And U.S. government and private agencies have admitted to striving for the spy technology, The Washington Post reports, though no one has confessed to deploying the bugged bugs.
"They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters," New York college student Vanessa Alarcon said after seeing the dragonflies while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month.
The U.S. has used robotic fliers as early as World War II, but their numbers were fewer and the technology more primitive.
"I'd never seen anything like it in my life," Washington lawyer Bernard Crane said. "They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical, or is that alive?'"
Some federally funded groups are implanting live insects with computer chips in hopes using spyware and remote controls to manipulate their flight.
The robobugs could be used to track suspects, guide missiles or find trapped survivors in collapsed buildings.
Ever wish you could be a "fly on the wall" at a closed-door meeting or to hear a foe’s secrets?
Enter the robobug.
Witnesses are buzzing about recent sightings of robotic-looking dragonflies seen at Washington and New York political events. And U.S. government and private agencies have admitted to striving for the spy technology, The Washington Post reports, though no one has confessed to deploying the bugged bugs.
"They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters," New York college student Vanessa Alarcon said after seeing the dragonflies while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month.
The U.S. has used robotic fliers as early as World War II, but their numbers were fewer and the technology more primitive.
"I'd never seen anything like it in my life," Washington lawyer Bernard Crane said. "They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical, or is that alive?'"
Some federally funded groups are implanting live insects with computer chips in hopes using spyware and remote controls to manipulate their flight.
The robobugs could be used to track suspects, guide missiles or find trapped survivors in collapsed buildings.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Roombas Invasion
Via MSNBC -
ATLANTA - They give them nicknames, worry when they signal for help and sometimes even treat them like a trusted pet.
A new study shows how deeply some Roomba owners become attached to the robotic vacuum and suggests there's a measure of public readiness to accept robots in the house — even flawed ones.
"They're more willing to work with a robot that does have issues because they really, really like it," said Beki Grinter, an associate professor at Georgia Tech's College of Computing. "It sort of begins to address more concerns: If we can design things that are somewhat emotionally engaging, it doesn't have to be as reliable."
Grinter decided to study the devices after she saw online pictures of people dressing up their Roombas, the disc-shaped, self-directed vacuums made by Burlington, Mass-based iRobot Corp.
"This sort of notion that someone would dress a vacuum cleaner seemed strange," she said. "A lot more was going on."
ATLANTA - They give them nicknames, worry when they signal for help and sometimes even treat them like a trusted pet.
A new study shows how deeply some Roomba owners become attached to the robotic vacuum and suggests there's a measure of public readiness to accept robots in the house — even flawed ones.
"They're more willing to work with a robot that does have issues because they really, really like it," said Beki Grinter, an associate professor at Georgia Tech's College of Computing. "It sort of begins to address more concerns: If we can design things that are somewhat emotionally engaging, it doesn't have to be as reliable."
Grinter decided to study the devices after she saw online pictures of people dressing up their Roombas, the disc-shaped, self-directed vacuums made by Burlington, Mass-based iRobot Corp.
"This sort of notion that someone would dress a vacuum cleaner seemed strange," she said. "A lot more was going on."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)