Blog

Learning from the past, drone navigates course with ease

Catwell

“Humans learn from experience: when we try something and fail, we try doing it a different way the next time around. And we are incredibly efficient at this process.” Making mistakes can be an essential step in becoming aware of our progress. They al...
- 28 Jan 2013
Drone tech to mimic nature, moths in particular

Catwell

(via University of Washington) As our self-sufficient robot building capabilities continue to develop, research seems to take a turn inward in the design of autonomous devices that attempt to mimic the human ways of doing things. Take, for insta...
- 24 Jan 2013
Star Wars fan builds working R2-D2 that responds to spoken commands with a Raspberry Pi

Catwell

R2D2 powered by a Raspberry Pi (via Greensheller) There are Star Wars fans and then there are exceptional Star Wars fans that can use their talents to bring things from a ‘galaxy far, far away’ closer to home. One such fan based in China (known ...
- 23 Jan 2013
Grace, the robotic fish, to keep us up to date on water quality

Catwell

Grace, Gliding Robot ACE, to travel waterways and keep tabs of the quality of life's blood (via MSU) Water makes up 71% of our earthly home and is essential for all forms of life on this planet. Thus, monitoring the quality of water is a signifi...
- 22 Jan 2013
Unique website model for the fashion industry takes off

Catwell

Front page of Fab.com. Deceptively simple, giving anyone a shot to be next to the big players. (via fab.com obviously) Now for a different side of industry... The dot com boom of the 90s made people realize the difficulty that any web...
- 18 Jan 2013
Tweet controlled insect - Twitter Roach - an art exhibit

Catwell

Twitter Roach. Uses an Arduino powered backpack, the roach can be controlled by sending tweets (via Brittany Ransom) Looking for an interesting and questionable techy science project to do for fun, or a morbid curiosity for animal experimentatio...
- 17 Jan 2013
Introducing the Robotex Avatar Home Security Robot

Catwell

Avatar Home & Office base model (via Robotex) Do you ever feel like having an extra set of eyes in your home to protect what you care about while you’re away? Perhaps you’re an avid crime fighting enthusiast who enjoys home security measures...
- 16 Jan 2013
Stanford Developed Spacebots Hop their Way to Mars’ Phobos

Catwell

Spacebot concept. Showing the stages of the so called "Hedgehog" probes in action. (via Stanford) A manned exploration to Mars is the next logical step in continuing to expand our knowledge and understanding of the cosmos and its relation to hum...
- 15 Jan 2013
CES 2013 Combat Creatures unleashes robotic Attacknids (Mark 2)

Catwell

Attacknid fighting robot. Low impact and low budget battling robot for the broke-competetive type. (via CombatCreatures) CES is all about showing off new technology and what could fit that bill better than robots? In this case it’s Combat Creat...
- 14 Jan 2013
Recreating the human form, and completely rejecting it - robots are formless

Catwell

www.youtube.com/watch Video demo of the kenzoh humanoid robot )via University of Tokyo) Our attempts to recreate the human body are often remarkably simple approximations compared to the real thing. Most of the time increasing complexity gives r...
- 28 Dec 2012
Toshiba develops a bot for breaching the Fukushima area

Catwell

www.youtube.com/watch In the aftermath of hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis or even human error, nuclear power plants pose monumental hazards that must be addressed immediately. Radioactive environments may impede this fast action and limited pr...
- 6 Dec 2012
Bots play a sweet baseline for Hysteria by Muse, future bassists put to shame

Catwell

www.youtube.com/watch Finally, a robot that actually plays a musical instrument…well sort of. It may not hold a bass guitar but it does pluck real bass strings. James McVay, recent graduate from the Victoria University of Wellington ...
- 6 Dec 2012
Musical swarm bots

Catwell

www.youtube.com/watch Swarms of robots have been designed and demonstrated to move in sync with one another, and analyzing and optimizing movements within the environment. In the case of the environment, the bots optimized how to best approach a...
- 6 Dec 2012
Disney Research develops a humanoid robot that can play catch

Catwell

"Sky" bot from Disney Reasearch (via Playing Catch and Juggling with a Humanoid Robot) Ok, so the robot may induce a sense of fear into children playing with it, but it certainly makes up for its lack of personality with its dexterity. The...
- 4 Dec 2012
Hearing-Robot can isolate specific sounds

Catwell

HEARBO dancing, and sensor location breakdown (via HONDA) Whatever futuristic world you wish to build with robots, one thing must be certain; robots of the future will need highly sophisticated ways of communicating and understanding humans. For...
- 29 Nov 2012
Carnegie Mellon University inducts new members into the Robot Hall of Fame

Catwell

www.youtube.com/watch Back in August (2012) Carnegie Mellon University unveiled that this year the inductee’s to the Robot Hall of Fame would be chosen by popular vote from the general public. After months of deliberation and tallying the voting...
- 20 Nov 2012
ROBO-ONE tournament to see the introduction of Real King Kizer

Catwell

I'm sorry I hurt you! (via robot-dreams) Sure Real Steel was an enthralling look at remote-control robot fighting, and who doesn’t like seeing robots beating the bolts out of each other, but could these bot-bouts be done in real life? It a...
- 20 Nov 2012
Robostroller controlled by the driver... the kid

Catwell

At this point in time, we can automate and robotize almost everything, so why not a baby stroller? Sure, it may seem a tad unsafe at first, but company Xandon Frogget has figured out a way using of the shelf components. First, they integr...
- 16 Nov 2012
Robotic legs - thought controlled

Catwell

www.youtube.com/watch What a day we are living in. Science has done much for able-bodied people, but it has done seemingly miraculous things for disable people as demonstrated by a double amputee being able to run a race at the Paralympics. Scie...
- 9 Nov 2012
Scientists create super-small robotic flea using unique metal alloy

Catwell

Flee jump sequence (via Flea-Inspired Catapult Mechanism for Miniature Jumping Robots) We all know fleas spread disease (the great plague) and are able to jump up to 7 inches vertically and around 13 inches horizontally (ok maybe you didn’...
- 6 Nov 2012
German robotic ping pong, very efficient

Catwell

(via Learning to Select and Generalize Striking Movements in Robot Table Tennis) Artificial intelligence may seem like a fantasy far into the future, but simple forms of artificial learning are already possible, and are quite formidable. Technic...
- 2 Nov 2012
DARPA's Pet-Proto and Robotics Challenge

Catwell

www.youtube.com/watch Progression of robotic ability has developed from infantile to startling quietly in the background. DARPA’s Pet-Proto was probably slow dancing or playing soccer before it got arms and the ability to run. Pet-Proto runs up ...
- 30 Oct 2012
Japanese robotic wheelchair conquers steps

Catwell

Prototypes (via Nakajia Lab) Wheel chairs traverse the smooth pavement without a problem, but how about when there are small obstacles such as a curb or a few steps in the way? Researchers from Chiba Institute of Technology, led by Shuro Nakajim...
- 19 Oct 2012
Body augmenting power suit from Japan, my nightmares

Catwell

www.youtube.com/watch(Thank you SmartKeitai) It's not the fear of zombies or robots that keep me up at night, its the thought of people equipped with artificial muscle suit exoskeletons chasing me, just like the ones being developed ...
- 17 Oct 2012
Robotic artist employed by hotel chain paints your sleeping data

Catwell

Drawing a person's sleep readings (via ibis) In an effort to re-vamp their image an economy hotel chain Ibis, a subsidy of Accor, has enlisted the help of a robotic artist that paints your sleeping data gathered from a totally re-designed mattre...
- 8 Oct 2012