South Korea has been working on deploying armed sentry robots along the border with North Korea since at least as far back as 2006, and it looks like it's still keeping at it. While complete details are a bit light, they country apparently put a pair of new sentry robots in place in the Demilitarized Zone last month, which pack both a machine gun and a grenade launcher to ward off intruders. Those would of course be controlled by humans, but the robots apparently use heat and motion sensors to do all the monitoring on their own, and simply alert a command center if they spots a trespasser. Of course, they are still just in the testing phase, and the military says it's waiting to see how things work out before it begins a more widespread deployment.
The HULC exo-skeleton, Lockheed Martin's prototype heavy lifter for infantry troops in the field, has its battery and is now ready for human trials. If they're successful, field tests could be close on their heels.
A quick primer though, before anything else: HULC, or Human Universal Load Carrier, could be the military's answer for troops who need to carry heavy loads—in this case 200 pounds—in the field of battle.
It's been in R&D for a while, only recently had its battery finalized, and today is preparing to enter the first of a series of serious $1.1 million biomechanical tests that could very well decide if this ever sees the field, or combat, in a few years' time Reports Danger Room:
"Biomechanical testing will measure the energy expended by a soldier when using the HULC," according to a Lockheed statement. "The laboratory testing will also assess how quickly users learn to use the HULC system when carrying various loads and moving at various speeds. The contract includes options for field trials to test the system's utility in operational environments."
So one small step for HULC, and one small step for the program—it could still be years before this admittedly cool device sees service, regardless of the results. [Wired]
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2010.07.21 11:29:27 AM
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Re: 樂高機器人知道怎樣在短時間玩出魔術方塊來
How workaholics get their beer
Take a look at what the crew at Willow Garage, a company that aims “to lay the groundwork for the use of personal robotics applications in everyday life” has done to make their work time more productive.
If I could have a robot that could do things for me, I’m petty sure this would not be the first thing I’d request. Laundry would probably be first on the list. Then, vacuuming. Weeding the garden would rank high up on the list, too.
However, if I were to show this video to my husband (or come to think of it, my buddies Dori and Val over at More Hip Than Hippie), I’m sure the first words I’d hear would be “I gotta get me one of those!
Michael Waldron was born with a congenital malformation that left him without four fingers on his right hand. Struggling to fit in—and function—his entire life, 18-year-old Waldron found new hope with a brand new bionic hand. Video inside.
Waldron appeared with his mother and NBC Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy on The Today Show this morning to speak with Matt Lauer and show off the functionality he now has, thanks to a brand new type of bionic hand that only 10 people in the United States have been affixed with. It was an inspiring segment—scientifically and emotionally—that makes one stop and really think about what technology is now able to do for those who can most benefit from it.
And if everything else about Waldron's story didn't make you teary-eyed, consider this: his new hand was installed just in time for his high school graduation, allowing him to shake the hand of the man who handed him his diploma.
The Rubik-cube-solving robot race continues. After the classic 3x3x3 cube and the 4x4x4 cube, here comes the Lego Mindstorms robot that can solve a 7x7x7, powered by an Android phone. We are headed to mass self-destruction, I tell you. [AndroidGuys]
Today we've got a Lynxmotion manipulator arm that's been expertly modded to be controlled by a USB mouse. [Insert image of those little green aliens from Toy Story here, gazing upwards in adoration.]
The video shows how perfectly the mouse operates this thing: sliding the mouse controls its movement in all directions, the scroll wheel raises and lowers the claw up and down, and clicking the left or right button closes or rotates the claw. The arm picks up the figurine in the still quickly and accurately.
The brain of this robotic arm is an Arduino Duemilanove (if you've never worked with Arduinos before, they are great microcontroller boards; the Arduino Mega was an integral part of my senior design project in school), and the robot arm itself is a Lynxmotion AL5D, which is used to drive six servos.
Maybe I can make one of these in my house like those claws at the arcade (or in front of the grocery store these days), with an enclosure, some cheap prizes, and a coin slot, and see if I can make a little money when friends come over. [Hackaday via Ubergizmo]
Here's a robot learning to flip pancakes. It's hard not to laugh, watching this dumb bot flub flip after flip. But we won't be laughing when we're running for our lives, slowed down by a stomach full of fluffy pancakes.
Also: the robot seen here is dubbed the Barrett WAM 7 DOFs. IS GIZMODO WRITER BRIAN BARRETT A POTENTIALLY MURDEROUS PANCAKE FLIPPING ROBOT? I'll kill him just in case. [Vimeo]
The fact that I'd be terrified if I saw the Army's prototype Robotic Tentacle Manipulator skittering toward me is just a side effect of its design. The real reason for its snake-like limbs is adaptability.
The robot cooked up by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory is supposed to be useful for rescue missions, diffusing IEDs and everything in between. Plus, we could eventually see giant tentacle robots because the design behind them is meant to scale.
Snake robots are nothing new, but the key here is putting together multiple limbs to work as a team for locomotion and tasks. This gives it a much more delicate touch needed for diffusing an improvised bomb instead of just being able to slither.
The Army says the robot has the ability to "crawl, swim, climb or shimmy through narrow spaces all while transmitting images to the Soldier who is operating the system." And that's not even mentioning the prototype's capabilities for 3D mapping and touch sensitivity, which even helps it open doors, a persistent problem with robots.
Now that it's figured out those pesky doors, who knows how soon it'll decide to open your closet and hide inside.[Army.mil via Cnet]
Most robotpets may not be easily mistaken for the real thing, but that's not likely to be the case with the ChouChou Electric Butterfly, which might even have a few people reaching to free it from its jar. Unfortunately, it's the jar that keeps the butterfly "alive" -- it has some AA batteries in its lid that apparently allow the butterfly to respond to vibrations and flutter about. That may not sound like much, but the effect is pretty striking -- see for yourself after the break. Of course, just because it's simple doesn't mean its cheap. You'll have to shell out a hefty $76 to bring this one home.
When you think of robotic police enforcement, I would hope that your mind would travel first to the most awesome of all part-robot police enforcers, that being of course Robocop. I’m not sure if Jamie Martin had RC in mind when he designed “C.R.A.B.”, but certainly this amazing machine would be right at home in a modern sequel to those fabulous action movies. The letters C.R.A.B. stand for Cybernetic Remote Autonomous Barricade, which means that if you see this death-defying looking metal six-leg at the door to anywhere, you ain’t getting in.
This is a real big deal. For real.
The technology behind the artificial intelligence used in this fabulous machine has been being developed over the past 12 years in relative secret between weapons manufacturer Dalton/Stanley and megacorporation Omni Consumer Products.
Next generation armor and weapons, very possibly on the streets in the real world very soon. In fact, similar all-terrain robots are being developed for military uses, setting in motion what might be the largest change in the way wars are fought in the history of the world.
NOTE: this is a concept right now, but we (humans) have been talking about the day when robots walk around on their own since robots were first conceived. Someday it’s gonna happen. And the CRAB shall command them!
Today we've got a Lynxmotion 
