Using telepresence robots a hospitalized child can now participate in the classroom. The system, developed by Telbotics Inc., Ryerson U., and the University of Toronto, use two robots, one in the hospital room and one in the classroom, to allow the child to be involved in his class. The child can view and hear the teacher, zoom in to look at things, and raise a robotic hand to signal he has a question. Both robots are also equipped with a scanner and printer for sending papers from classroom to child.

You can find out more about the robots and the research program, PEBBLES, on Telbotics’ website.



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This year marks the 20th birthday of our favorite corporate walking robot, the Honda ASIMO. Honda has a great site detailing the development and growth of the project over the years. I, for one, didn’t even know they’d been working on it for so long.


They started off with just a pair of a legs and teaching it to walk. In four years, by 1990, they’d taught it to dynamically walk at the rate of a human being, followed by the first humanoid debut in 1996 and the P3 in 1997. ASIMO as we know him arrrived in 2000 and is still going strong.

Here’s to another 20 years ASIMO! Perhaps you’ll be helping me do my yardwork by then. Perhaps.


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iRobot says that soliders are bonding with their packbots. They give their little silicone bodyguards nicknames and form emotional bonds with them.


This is exactly what iRobot hopes will happen to robots. They even call them, "physical avatars." Other companies, like Ugobe, have the same asperations for their robot, Pleo. Not only is it a great business idea, but probably better for the humans involved too.

I guess if a robot had saved my life I’d feel pretty bonded with it too.


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My favorite online shopping experience just got a whole lot better. Amazon recently released its " Industrial and Scientific " store beta. Need some sheet metal, plastic rod, compression springs, or set screws? Amazon has them now. While I can’t vouch for the prices, I do know that Amazon’s world-class shopping experience, customer service, and satisfaction will make me think twice before buying elsewhere, like McMaster.

Can anyone else give us an idea of whether these are reasonable prices? Also, don’t forget that Amazon has gift certificates.



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I recently found this article entitled, "The Great Battery Shootout" comparing various brands of recharable batteries. The article is a bit old (last update, Jan 1, 2005) and it’s specifically targeted at digital camera users, it’s still highly interesting and informative for us robot builders.



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RoombaDevTools.com is a great way to get started hacking your Roomba. You can read a review of the RooStick (at left) over at TodBot.com. It allows you to easily connect your computers USB port up to the Roomba’s serial hacker interface.

Other nifty products include the RooTooth, which lets you communicate with the Roomba via Bluetooth, and the Roo232 for serial communication. Their products aren’t exactly cheap, but if you want to quickly get up a running with a controllable Roomba, then this looks like the best bet.



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Ah, summer has struck on the sunny East Coast of the USA. I’ve managed to break free from all the pressing items on my schedule and finally get back to what I love – robots.

In the three or so weeks since I’ve made a decent post here on the site I’ve come to realize something – my personal stress level is inversely proportional to how frequently I post. That means I’ve been pretty unhappy and stressed these past couple of weeks knowing that all you fine robot lovers were languishing without news. So, here’s a link dump to get you caught up:

• Robot runs over water. " The Water Runner, being developed by assistant professor Metin Sitti at Carnegie Mellon University … [is] a robot that can speed across the surface of water like a lizard."

• Boffins invent landmine-proof robo-shoe. "The six-legged shoes protect the wearer by lifting up a leg if it is over a mine so that the device is not triggered. The other five legs continue to support the wearer’s weight."

• Fastest two-legged robot gait. "Unlike most other bipedal robots, RunBot doesn’t provide a computer with intensive feedback on its stability and motion. Instead, RunBot has just a handful of sensors in its feet and hips, as well as software-driven motor neurons, which initiate reflexes according to information gathered by the sensors."
• Robot specialty stoes doing well in Japan. I would love to start seeing these in North America.
• The HRP-2m Choromet is announced. It looks like a miniature version of the HRP-2 Promet robot from Kawada. It is planned to be used in educational settings for developing humanoid control technologies. He’ll cost about $4,500 USD and stands 1.1 feet (35 cm) tall.
• Sony develops brain-wave controlled robot. "Japanese automaker Honda said it has developed a technology that uses brain signals to control a robot’s very simple moves."
• Robots.net has a good summary of details on the DARPA Grand Challenge, Urban Edition.
• Kondo announces a succesor to it’s popular KHR-1 RoboOne robot. Meet the KHR-2V. Looks like quite a steal for the $800 USD that some retailers are selling it for (but only in Japan for now.)
• Lem over at Robots-Dreams spotted a job opening on Segway’s website for a "Robotics Engineer." They’re actually pretty low job requirements. Anyone interested? Lem speculates it’s somehow related to the new relationship between Wowwee and Segway.
• Is iRobot’s new creation going to be a laundry folding ‘bot?
  

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What’s NXT is a bi-weekly column written by Jim Kelly at The NXT Step Blog. Jim writes about LEGO Mindstorms NXT and all the cool news related to it.

I received an email recently requesting information about the NXT Intelligent Brick’s Firmware update process and any other feedback the Brick provided.  Glad you asked…

The first thing you need to be aware of is that the NXT Brick can connect to your PC/laptop either using the USB cable or via Bluetooth.  My screenshots are taken of my brick connection using a USB cable.  The 2nd caveat is that the Lego Mindstorms NXT software must be open.

More after the jump …



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What’s NXT is a weekly column written by Jim Kelly at The NXT Step Blog. Jim writes about LEGO Mindstorms NXT and all the cool news related to it.

While I didn’t get the fancy packaging that the retail version will provide, I was just as happy when a plain brown box arrived .

The motors, brick, and cables were packages separately from the smaller pieces.  The connectors, beams, rods, and misc. pieces were in a large plastic bag that had to first be sorted.

I had a couple of containers for my old RCX that I chose to use because they worked so well for me.  I managed to purchase a larger plastic case to hold all the old RCX parts, and then began the counting.  I first sorted all the parts based on the picture that LEGO released showing them all nicely placed.  Trust me, mine never even came close to looking that good.  After the count was done, I found that I was missing only about 7-8 pieces, and these weren’t critical or unique pieces.  A quick email to LEGO and I they shipped me out my replacement pieces within a week.  Don’t worry – you won’t have this issue.  LEGO will have a very solid Quality Control process in place for the packaging of the retail and education versions.

More after the jump.


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CMU finally revealed Crusher to the public last Friday (yea, I’m behind). The new vehicle, based losely on Spinner, isn’t able to invert itself like its younger brother, but is still amazing nonetheless. WTAE.com has some coverage of the launch with video. Notice the unique way that Crusher turns, by lowering its inner wheels and raising the outer ones. The 6.5 ton vehicle is fully autonomous and is able to travel at a top speed of 25 mph.


Each of its six wheels are powered by an electric motor, which are in turn powered of off banks of batteries which are charged by a deisel engine.

Initial applications for a vehicle like this would be in support positions, remotely delivering goods and weapons to soldiers in the field. The project is funded by DARPA and has cost $35 million USD to date.


Related:

• Crusher, CMU’s Unmanned Ground Combat vehicle

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Here’s a fun link for your Friday enjoyment – a rollar skating Robo-One. A quick check over to our favorite Japanese-related robot site, Robots Dreams, revealed more information. The robot, named Plen, has 18 degrees of freedom and stands 9 inches tall. It retails for about $2,000 USD. More information and video of Plen are on its website.

Wipe away those tears robot lovers! The DARPA Grand Challenge is back (pdf), and in case you’ve grown tired of dangerous mountain passes and arid deserts, this year’s race is in da ‘hood … of sorts.


Additional improvements include prizes to the top three winners, to the sum of $2 million, $500 thousand, and $250 thousand respectively, and two ways to enter the Challenge: 1) Teams may submit a proposal for up to $1 million USD in exchange for government use of their technology or 2) Old-school style qualifying events. The contest is slated for November of 2007.

Getting to and finishing at the National Qualifying Events (NQE) also has its perks – semi-finalists in the NQEs get $50,000 and finalists get $100,000.  So, if you finish first place over-all, you’re looking at a cool $2,150,000 USD, not to mention fame and glory.

DARPA will be holding a Participants Conference for those teams intending to compete. You’d best start talking to your friends now, as the conference is a mere 3 weeks away (May 20th). There will also be a live webcast of the event. More information on the Challenge is at DARPA’s Grand Challenge website.


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LEGO has officially announced that the firmware for the NXT will be opensource. In addition, they will be releasing developer kits for hardware, software, and bluetooth. From the press release:

• The Software Developer Kit will include the NXT driver interface specification and necessary tools for creating third-party programming environments.
  
  

• The Hardware Developer Kit will provide the schematics and detail for the NXT 6-wire digital connector system, enabling the community to design and develop third-party sensors that can interact with and control the NXT motors and intelligent brick.
  
  

• The Bluetooth Developer Kit will detail the Bluetooth protocol embedded in the NXT microprocessor, allowing users to create applications for any Bluetooth device that them to communicate with MINDSTORMS robots.

The source and kits will be available on the Mindstorms website starting August of 2006. Soren Lund, director of Mindstorms NXT says:


Finally! A big company that’s embracing the Maker ethic. Three cheers for LEGO!



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The LEGO Mindstorms NXT "gag order" is finally up! Now all the privileged few that gained access to the holy grail, Mindstorms Developer Program (MDP), can share the glories of their lifestyle. We’re written previously about our favorite NXT site, The NXT Step blog, run by Jim. Jim has agreed to write a weekly column for GoRobotics.net about NXT. Stay tuned for that this coming Wednesday. Jim already has a torrent of information pouring forth on his site about NXT. Also check out Jim’s list-o-links for other MDP participants. As of 11:00AM EST all the sites are informationless, but I’m sure it’ll start coming soon. Flickr pictures tagged "thenxtstep" are here.

Update: Filip, over at bNXT is also covering a lot of NXT news as it happens.



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