标签: Robot

Well, I just saw something that sent shivers down my spine. I don’t know whether to be excited or afraid. My chum Arthur Smith -- a man who manages to balance beekeeping with being a world authority on cosmic rays -- just emailed me with a link to this video from the folks at Boston Dynamics (which was acquired by Google back in 2013).   Here we see the latest and greatest version of the Atlas humanoid robot, which is designed to operate both inside buildings and outdoors and is specialized for mobile manipulation. Standing at 5' 9" tall and weighing in at 180 lbs (which is a lot less than yours truly, let me tell you), Atlas uses state-of-the art sensors to balance itself and to detect and avoid obstacles.   And people wonder why I never go anywhere these days without my trusty Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie (AFDB) . In addition to protecting against electromagnetic and psychotronic attack -- while also shielding its wearer from brain-scanning and mind-reading activities -- I like to believe that AFDBs will confuse the socks off our future robot overlords.   What? You don’t believe me? Well, we'll see who is laughing when you hear the metallic stomping approaching outside your office door. Meanwhile, I'll be sporting an AFDB complemented by a cool Hawaiian shirt.

All sorts of things are currently buzzing in my head. For example, I recently ran across this video showing some awesome robots.   I've seen some of these little scamps before, but others were completely new to me. Even the robots with which I'm familiar are displaying ever-more sophisticated capabilities, such as Honda's humanoid ASIMO robot, which we see literally jumping around. There's even one for my chum David Ashton from Down Under -- a robot kangaroo called FESTO.   I also ran across a series of videos by a guy who refers to himself as "Thoughty 2 ," which is a pretty clever name on multiple levels when you come to think about it. Take this video , for example, which features some bizarre human traditions.   Some of these are funny; some are interesting; some are strange; and some make one's eyes water in sympathy. I don’t know what our future robot overlords are going to make of these when they see them, but I fear it bodes ill for us.   Last, but certainly not least, do you recall this video of a guy riding a monowheel at the Burning Man festival? I have to admit that when I first saw this little beauty (the monowheel, not the guy riding it), I thought to myself "Oooh, Daddy's got to get himself one of those!" (Or words to that effect).   Of course, monowheels come in all shapes and sizes. I also like those rinky-dinky miniature personal transporter versions. In fact I saw someone scooting around on something like this a few weeks ago in Silicon Valley when I was attending ESC, and I have to admit that I experienced an "Oooh, Shiny!" moment.     And then, just this morning, someone pointed me at this column on MakeZine.com, which introduced me to the concept of a monowheel that you sit inside. The image below shows Dr. Dave Southall sitting on (or in, I suppose) one of his creations.     From the expression on Dave's face, I fear he's wishing he'd made the seat a tad more comfortable -- either that or his underwear is riding up -- but the overall concept looks sound. I can easily imagine myself tootling around my neighborhood on one of these little beauties, but I don’t have the time to make one -- I wonder if you can buy them ready built?

Festo seems to be on the way to building the robot version of Noah's Ark. The series of bio-inspired robots that have come out of their labs is simply breathtaking. Their latest release is a Kangaroo bot that touts a very energy-efficient jump.   Festo is a company that specialises in pneumatics. Many of their bots are displays of unique pneumatic implementations and control schemes, often pushing the boundaries of what people typically perceive as the best use of pneumatic systems. This Kangaroo is an impressive display of mechanical engineering as well as pneumatic energy harvesting. As the bot jumps, it expends energy, but the landing recaptures some for the next jump. There were actually two designs of this bot: one with an onboard compressor and one with only a high-capacity air reservoir.   The entire bot isn't pneumatic though. The weight distribution in the hips is controlled by electric motors, as you can see in the video. You may also notice that the control scheme is fairly unique. The robot is controlled via a wireless arm-band worn by the operator. Unfortunately, there are no details on how the gesture control system works. Caleb Kraft, Chief Community Editor, EE Times

Festo may well be on the track to building the robot version of Noah's Ark. The series of bio-inspired robots that have come out of their labs is simply breathtaking. Their latest release is a Kangaroo bot that touts a very energy-efficient jump.   Festo is a company that specialises in pneumatics. Many of their bots are displays of unique pneumatic implementations and control schemes, often pushing the boundaries of what people typically perceive as the best use of pneumatic systems. This Kangaroo is an impressive display of mechanical engineering as well as pneumatic energy harvesting. As the bot jumps, it expends energy, but the landing recaptures some for the next jump. There were actually two designs of this bot: one with an onboard compressor and one with only a high-capacity air reservoir.   The entire bot isn't pneumatic though. The weight distribution in the hips is controlled by electric motors, as you can see in the video. You may also notice that the control scheme is fairly unique. The robot is controlled via a wireless arm-band worn by the operator. Unfortunately, there are no details on how the gesture control system works. Caleb Kraft, Chief Community Editor, EE Times