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New Events

Live robot combat

Power Tool Drag Racing

Event: Silverline Power Tool Drag Racing
At: Haynes International Motor Museaum, Somerset, UK
On: Sunday 10th August 2008
Price: £7.50 per person to spectate, £10 to enter your creation
Tickets sold at door to spectate or to take part download a booking form at www.silverlinetools.co.uk
See you there!

National Space Centre, Robots Event 17-18 May 2008

The National Space Centre in Leicester Uk is currently organising a large scale robots event on the weekend of the 17th and 18th May.

We currently seek interest from anyone who may want to have some form of input into this event.

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Last Refreshed 8/28/2008 9:02:21 PM

robots.net
Recent robots.net articles

Random Robot Roundup

Pat Meier-Johnson let us know about VIA's press release on the use of their Pico-ITX boards in several robots demonstrated at the Taipei International Robot Show. On a more philosophical note, see the new Search Magazine interview with the always fascinating Daniel Dennett. He talks about consciousness, free will, and science vs religion. Another interesting read is crabfu's review of the Bioloid robot kit. Your remember crabfu, the guy makes the amazing steam-powered machines. The craziest link of the week has to be the one jlin sent us about a breadboard made of real bread. Speaking of jlin (aka RoboJenny); in case you didn't notice her recent blog post, she's been nominated as one of the hottest bloggers of the year. I can't imagine why no one nominated me but as long as we have at least one roboticist on the list, I'm happy. So help us out by voting for RoboJenny. The Swirling Brain reports that a man in Maryland threatened to shoot a police robot after it delivered burgers and soda to the hotel room where he and his girlfriend were having a stand off with the police. He also spotted a Computerworld article where an Intel rep claims robots will be as smart as humans by 2050. And our last swirling news article of the week is a LinuxDevices story on some new laser-guide French robots running Linux. Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please.

Would Julian Jaynes Kick a Robot?

Stevan Harnad gave an interesting keynote talk at the recent Julian Jaynes Conference on Consciousness that both reminisces about Julian Jaynes and addresses the question of whether consciousness depends more on language or feeling. Harnad updates the classic question asked of Julian Jaynes about whether or not is was alright to kick a dog if dogs were not conscious. And what can we learn about consciousness from speculating on the likelihood of Jaynes kicking dogs and robots? More than you might think. Harnad's talk can be found in a newly released paper titled, "What it Feels Like to Hear Voices: Fond Memories of Julian Jaynes" (PDF format).

UAV Destroys Unmanned System in Real Combat in Iraq

An article in Aviation Week states that last week, a MQ-9 Reaper UAV destroyed a "vehicle carrying a remotely controlled explosive device in southeast Iraq". Gizmodo claims that this is "the first time in history" that two unmanned systems "engaged and destroyed" each other. Other articles do not go that far; they only state that this is the first combat engagement for this particular UAV. The Reapers have reportedly have been in combat in Iraq since July 18 of this year, and in Afghanistan since last year. One source says that "the Reaper costs about 80 percent less than a manned fighter-bomber," "uses more than 90 percent less fuel, and can stay in the air over a target three or four times longer than a jet fighter". The smaller and less powerful MQ-1 Predator UAV is also being used in combat missions.

Robots Walking in a Wiggly World

Traditional robotics applications such as CNC and welding have relied on the idea that robots should be extremely rigid, with very precise mechanics and encoders. This leads to robots that are very bad at interacting with the real world. Animals, which are very good at interacting with the real world, are full of wiggly, springy, imprecise actuators. A new paper (PDF format) from the CMU Robotics Institute looks at the benefits of adopting this principle in robot leg design. Using compliant, spring-like mechanisms, the robot can recycle energy and exert higher mechanical power when walking or running. The researchers examine a range of compliance using a variable stiffness leg, called the Electric Cable Differential (ECD) Leg.

Kidbots Turns Old Computers into Robots

With the goal of inspiring and educating young robot builders everywhere, kidbots.com's mission is to show how millions of old, obsolete computers can be turned into programmable robots. Included is a brief introduction to electronic components, PC components, CPU operation, and programming. Special attention is paid to use of the PC's parallel printer port as general purpose I/O to control actuators and read digital sensors, along with simple code examples in BASIC. The site is summed up with a fun animated gif showing a tin-can robot walking across a pile of old motherboards.

Last Refreshed 8/28/2008 9:02:22 PM

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

Big step in tiny technology

University of St Andrews researchers have developed a method of creating self-assembling nanostructures just one molecule thick -- no sophisticated equipment or special environment (such as a high vacuum) required -- as an alternative to conventional lithography, which is imprecise on a scale of a few nanometers.

(Manfred Buck) The solution-based chemistry method assembles molecules into tiny dimples, themselves created when molecules self-assemble into a honeycomb-shaped network on a gold surface. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news139066118.html)

Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Humans will soon have the ability to modify and greatly enhance muscle fiber strength, enabling speeds of 45 miles per hour and five-seconds times for 100 meters, says Professor Peter Weyand, Southern Methodist University (Texas), known for his expertise in terrestrial locomotion and human and animal performance. DARPA is also spending 3 billion to enhance strength and endurance. (Source: http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/08/gene-therapy-for-ultimate-human-running.html)

Wind Energy Bumps Into Power Grid's Limits

Expansive dreams about renewable energy from wind power and other sources are bumping up against the reality of a power grid that cannot handle the new demands. An Energy Department plan to source 20 percent of the nation's electricity from wind calls for a high-voltage backbone spanning the country, but it would cost $60 billion or more and would be contrained by multistate regulatory restrictions. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/business/27grid.html?ref=science)

Researchers Report Advances in Cell Conversion Technique

Biologists at Harvard have converted cells from a mouse's pancreas into the insulin-producing cells that are destroyed in diabetes, using master proteins called transcription factors that control which sets of genes are active in a cell and thus what properties the cell will possess. The research suggests that the natural barriers between the body's cell types may not be as immutable as supposed. This and other recent experiments raise the possibility that a patient's healthy cells might be transformed into the type lost to a disease far more simply and cheaply than in the cumbersome proposals involving stem cells. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/science/28cell.html?ref=science)

Textured graphics can be captured in a flash

University of Manchester scientists have developed a simple technique to add depth to textured surfaces displayed as backdrops in computer games and digital dome presentations. They found they could reconstruct the depth of a surface simply by taking two photos of it -- one with a flash and one without -- and processing the resulting shading patterns to capture the surface's 3D texture. (Source: http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/dn14612-textured-graphics-can-be-captured-in-a-flash.html?feedId=online-news_rss20)

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Last Refreshed 8/28/2008 9:02:33 PM