Dancing Sony QRIO Robots

Sony has shown a new version of its ORIO ("Quest for cuRIOsity", originally named Sony Dream Robot or SDR) robot that can jog at a top speed of 14 metres per minute. The original version of QRIO was to be a bipedal humanoid entertainment robot developed and marketed (but never sold) by Sony to follow up on the success of its AIBO toy. QRIO stood approximately 0.6 m (2 feet) tall and weighed 7.3 kg (16 pounds). QRIO's slogan was "Makes life fun, makes you happy!"

Sony said the Qrio jogging robot was the result of three years of work but that it had no plans to put it on sale like the Aibo robot dog. The robot, which was previously known as the SDR, has previously been shown walking, climbing a shallow slope, kicking a ball and dancing. If the 58cm high robot were human-sized, it would be able to run at a speed of about 2.4km/h (1.5mph). Qrio has on board two digital cameras that help its learn about its surroundings and recognise up to 10 faces.

Aldebaran's INTERACTIVE Robot Nao

Nao is an autonomous, programmable and medium-sized humanoid robot, developed by the French company Aldebaran Robotics in Paris. Nao is the first step of the personal robot revolution. Self-contained, packed full of cognitive skills and high-end motions, Nao is an entirely programmable 60cm high robot.

Nao listens. Nao has four microphones fitted into his head and a voice recognition and analysis system. He recognizes a set of predefined words that you can supplement with your own expressions. These words trigger any behaviour you choose. Available so far in English and French, we are working on adding six other languages (Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin and Korean). Nao is also capable of detecting the source of a sound or voice to deal with that source and start interacting.

Listening to Nao. Nao can express himself by reading out any file stored locally in his storage space or captured from a web site of RSS flow. Fitted with two speakers placed on either side of the head, his vocal synthesis system can be configured, allowing for voice alterations such as speed or tone. He is available in French and English and we are currently developing other languages for this vocal synthesis in the meantime. Naturally, you can send a music file to Nao and have him play it. He accepts _.wav and _.mp3 formats, which allows you to punctuate your behaviours with music or personalized sounds.

Nao sees. Nao sees by means of two CMOS 640 x 480 cameras, which can capture up to 30 images per second. The first is on the forehead, aimed at Nao’s horizon, while the second camera is placed at mouth level to scan the immediate environment. The software lets you recover photos that Nao sees and video streams. Yet what use are eyes, unless you can also perceive and interpret your surroundings? That’s why Nao contains a set of algorithms to detect and recognize faces and shapes, so he can recognize the person talking to him, find a ball, and ultimately much more complex objects. These algorithms have been specially developed, with constant care taken to use up minimum processor resources.

Nao reacts to touch. Nao is fitted with a capacitive sensor placed on the top of his head, divided into three sections. You can therefore give Nao information through touch: pressing once to tell him to turn off, for example, or using this sensor as a series of buttons to trigger an associated action. The system comes with LED, indicating the type of contact. It is also possible to program complex sequences.

Nao is connected. Nao can communicate in several ways. For local connections, infrared senders/receivers placed in his eyes allow him to connect to the objects in his environment, serving as a remote control. Yet Nao can also logon to your local network via Wi-Fi, making it easy to pilot and program him through a computer, or any other object that has a Wi-Fi connection. The Wi-Fi key is connected to the mother board and accepts a, b and g standards.
Besides local communication, Nao can browse the Internet, of course, and interface with any website to send or retrieve data.

When two Nao meet…… they can talk to each other and work together. You can choose to connect them directly in Wi-Fi, infrared or even body language. This really facilitates research possibilities on collaborative work between robots and means that several Nao can perform complex tasks such as geographic positioning or pooling analytical capacity.



website: http://www.aldebaran-robotics.com/en/

Man vs. Machine

RuBot II is an amazing robot that can easily solve the Rubik's cube puzzle game in a completely interactive (and talkative!) way. This is the second version of the RuBot, created by Pete Redmond, an avionics technician with the Irish Air Corps. The robot is able to accept a cube from a (mere) human. The 'bot then snags the cube and hoists it up to eye camera level, where its deft manipulators scan all sides of the cube. Rubot II can play Rubik's Cube quicker than any human being. Here is video clip of Rubik's champ, Sean Connally, challenging Rubot II at the UK open Rubik's championship in 2006. Enjoy!

Robots that Climb

A Stickybot, inspired by the gecko, can climb almost any surface by using tiny hairs that emulate the lizard’s

Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology

At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.

Movie: http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

Futurists

‘Beauty exists only in struggle. There is no masterpiece that has not an aggressive character. Poetry must be a violent assault on the forces of the unknown, to force them to bow before man.’ (The Fututrist Manifesto, F. T. Marinetti, 1909)

RFID Tags

Long checkout lines at the grocery store are one of the biggest complaints about the shopping experience. Soon, these lines could disappear when the ubiquitous Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code is replaced by smart labels, also called radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. RFID tags are intelligent bar codes that can talk to a networked system to track every product that you put in your shopping cart.

Imagine going to the grocery store, filling up your cart and walking right out the door. No longer will you have to wait as someone rings up each item in your cart one at a time. Instead, these RFID tags will communicate with an electronic reader that will detect every item in the cart and ring each up almost instantly. The reader will be connected to a large network that will send information on your products to the retailer and product manufacturers. Your bank will then be notified and the amount of the bill will be deducted from your account. No lines, no waiting.

RFID tags, a technology once limited to tracking cattle, are tracking consumer products worldwide. Many manufacturers use the tags to track the location of each product they make from the time it's made until it's pulled off the shelf and tossed in a shopping cart.

Outside the realm of retail merchandise, RFID tags are tracking vehicles, airline passengers, Alzheimer's patients and pets. Soon, they may even track your preference for chunky or creamy peanut butter. Some critics say RFID technology is becoming too much a part of our lives -- that is, if we're even aware of all the parts of our lives that it affects.

Website: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/rfid.htm