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Posted by rebelrobots on Monday, July 28, 2008 (GST)

Saturday, August 23, 2008 (GST) - Rebel Robots

location: Burntwood, Staffordshire

This August bank holiday (23rd - 25th August) join us to watch a spectacle of over 50 robots competing in the ultimate robot combat. Some of the best robots around will be fighting and this is your chance to see what they can do!
Each show is two hours long and there are three to choose from per day.
Please check the website for more information on prices, times, availability and accommodation if needed.

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ROBOtic'08 will include competitions for:

Maze Solvers: follow UK Micromouse rules
Wall followers: follow Wall Follower rules
All-comers Drag Race
mini-SUMO knockout (dependent on number of competitors)

International Robotics competition

iNexus

The international Legged robotics competition

Live robot combat

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Last Refreshed 11/19/2008 5:47:08 AM

robots.net
Recent robots.net articles

Are Robotics the Solutions to the Economic Crisis?

Traditional wisdom, as championed by Marshall Brain, holds that a robotics revolution will displace human workers leading to massive global unemployment. Mobile Robots, Inc. suggests another possibility. Perhaps focusing on robots could create an employment boom, pulling us out of the current global economic crisis. In a recent press release they say, "During the recessionary Eighties, thousands moved into high-paying new jobs in personal computers, building an industry that powered two decades of US economic growth. MobileRobots hopes the autonomous robot industry will behave similarly." To this end, they've announced a new RoboDeveloper discount program to get more robots into the hands of more individuals and companies. They believe this will "lower the barrier of entry into the robotics industry". Jeanne Dietsch, CEO of Mobile Robots, notes, "The government’s too busy bailing out banks and failing corporations to see that they would get far more jobs for the buck building new industries." Will the upcoming change-over to the more tech and science saavy Obama administration make an approach like this more feasible? Or is Marshall Brain right that robots lead to unemployment for humans? Read on for the full text of the Mobile Robots press release.

Random Robot Roundup

I'm back and starting the week with a dump of the editors mailbox. First up is an unusual Craigslist personals posting in search of "creative robot chicks"; but be careful girls, as you face a battle to the death if you're not of up this robot's standards (oh, and enjoy the ad while you can; CL ads tends to vanish pretty quickly). After battling robots in the street, you may need medical attention. A Reuters story has just the thing, all the latest in robotic medical technology. As you recover from your robotic surgery, you can listen to Waseda University's latest musical robot play the flute. The Swirling Brain sent some interesting things our way too, like a story about robotic sculptures that watch you watching them; and how about a new office chair that's a really a robot leg with a seat bolted onto it?; if sitting on a robot doesn't sound like fun, maybe you'd prefer Honda's new mini-exoskeleton that augments just your legs. We also heard about a public radio Marketplace interview with Richard Dooling, author of Rapture for the Geeks. Engineering News posted a short article on RoboCup robot soccer. Our friends at Instructables posted a new DIY telepresence robot. Over at io9, there's a story on the remake of Forbidden Planet - and that means we may be seeing Robby the Robot on the big screen again. Rog-a-matic noticed a cool NASA photo of the ISS robot at work. We've also got several from Roland Piquepaille, one on flying robots inspired by nature, another on low flying robot helicopters, and a new story on that 700 ton Caterpillar robot mining truck that we reported on a while back. Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please.

Mars Phoenix Lander: Triumph and Death

NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander bit the dust today (no pun intended). After five months performing scientific experiments that included digging, scooping, baking, "sniffing", and "tasting" the Martian soil, the seasonal changes in sunlight have ended the mission. The robot's solar panels are no longer generating enough light for the robot to operate. The robotic lander, which had its own Twitter account, posted a final tweet today that said, "01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000 <3" - binary for "triumph". For more see the CNET story or the NASA news release.

Hierarchical Models in the Brain

The human brain has a unique ability to easily model all sorts of data, allowing us to estimate things, predict things, identify things, and learn things in ways that would traditionally require the use of complex domain-specific modeling algorithms if they were done by a computer or a scientist with pencil and paper. A new paper, Hierarchical Models in the Brain, by Karl Friston of the Wellcome Trust Centre of Neuroimaging at the University College of London, offers a possible explanation. He describes hierarchical dynamic models and a generic method for their inversion. He goes on to show that "the brain has evolved the necessary anatomical and physiological equipment to implement this inversion, given sensory data." This means the brain could use this single Bayesian mechanism to implement a wide range of algorithms including models with unknown parameters such as state-space models, probabilistic dynamic models, static models, neural networks, nonlinear system identification, general linear models, and identification of nonlinear dynamic systems; as well as models with unknown states such as estimation with static models, hierarchical linear observation model, covariance component estimation, Gaussian process models, and deconvolution; and even models with unknown states and parameters such as Principal Components Analysis (PCA), factor analysis, probabilistic PCA, Independent component analysis (ICA), sparse coding, and blind deconvolution. Obviously, this paper has a lot of math in it, but even if you skip the math, it's an interesting read.

Vernor Vinge, the Singularity and Free Software

If you're in San Diego, California, we heard about a really interesting event you'll want to attend. Two topics that are always of interest to robot builders are the Singularity and Free Software. The Free Software Foundation is holding a pizza party and Vernor Vinge, the originator of the modern version of the Technological Singularity idea, will be there. The event will be from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, on Tuesday, November 11 at the Best Western, 411 Hotel Circle S, San Diego. And since this is California, they'll even have vegan Pizza available. This event is for FSF members but you're already a member right? If not, it's easy to join the FSF and your money will go to support the development of great software like gcc that you probably use everday. So go if you can, have some fun, and throw in a good word about robots.net.

Last Refreshed 11/19/2008 5:47:08 AM

KurzweilAI.net Accelerating Intelligence News
A collection of news articles and stories relating to the accelerating nature of technology

Quantum calibration paves way for super-secure communication

A new approach to calibrating quantum mechanical measurement has allowed scientists to calibrate a detector that can sense the presence of multiple individual photons. This means that devices that rely on information being transmitted via light, such as the fiber-optic technologies used in everyday communications, could detect the safe arrival of that light energy with an unprecedented level of accuracy, leading to ultra-secure communications technologies in the future via long-distance quantum communication networks. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news146150726.html)

Prophesy of economic collapse 'coming true'

A real-world analysis of a controversial prediction made 30 years ago in the book Limits to Growth concludes that economic growth cannot be sustained and we are on track for serious economic collapse this century. Graham Turner at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia has compared the book's predictions with data from the intervening years. Changes in industrial production, resource depletion, population growth, food production, and pollution are all in line with the book's predictions of collapse in the 21st century, he found. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16058-prophesy-of-economic-collapse-coming-true.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news)

Broken nerves can be fixed in a flash

Rats with breathing problems caused by damage to their nerves have had normal breathing restored by bursts of visible light aimed onto the spinal cord. This achievement raises hopes that a miniature light source implanted near the spine might one day allow people with similar injuries to breathe normally. A similar device might be used to relieve constriction of the bladder caused by nerve damage. (Source: New Scientist Health)

Tunnelling nanotubes: Life's secret network

Recently discovered tunneling nanotubes may be responsible for the spread of HIV and prion infectivity from cell to cell, scientists have found. At 50 to 200 nanometers thick, they are wide enough to allow proteins to pass through, and can span distances of several cell diameters, wiggling around obstacles to connect the insides of two cells some distance apart. Nanotubes may also play a role in tumors becoming resistant to chemotherapy, so a drug that inhibits the growth of nanotubes could reduce the resistance to chemotherapy. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026821.400-tunnelling-nanotubes-lifes-secret-network.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news)

Making Graphene More Practical

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have found a simple way to make large pieces (tens of micrometers wide) of the carbon material graphene that can be deposited on sheets on silicon wafers to make prototype field-effect transistors. Electrons flow through graphene sheets tens of times faster than they flow in silicon, so graphene could lead to electronic devices that are smaller, faster, and less power-hungry than those made of silicon. Thin and transparent, graphene is also a promising replacement for the indium tin oxide electrodes and the silicon thin-film transistors used in flat-panel displays. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/21683/?a=f)

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