Takanishi team presented results of the efforts to IEEE, the International conference on a robotics and automation (ICRA) in Germany. More improved human movements of feet, than were their achievements earlier. Researchers of institute addressed to the humanoid robots, WABIAN-2R, which already had a flexible basin and knees. WABIAN-2R feet also represented a curved arch and flexible fingers. Height of the robot is about 148 cm, and weight is 64 kg.
Their work on WABIAN took place together with the government of Japan, touching on a development issue technologies for growing old generation. They want to provide worthy quality of life for elderly people who in old age can’t freely move any more. The team declared for a long time that the robot it “the partner of the person” who will be able to provide the daily help.
Staff of the American Cornell university submitted the modified version of the robot — the housekeeper to PR2. Now the robot is able to predict the future actions of the person.
At the heart of ability of the robot to “predictions” lies the principle of comparison of videos. PR2 has access to a database, where records of the actions, which are carried out by the person in a life, for example are stored, heating of food in the microwave oven, meal and so on.
The robot personal assistant watches the person, is verified with a database and draws conclusions that will make farther. In need of PR2 helps the person.
For example, if the robot saw as the person removes the container with food from a table, he will assume that the container intend to place in the refrigerator. Having made the forecast, the robot will approach the refrigerator and will open a door, having relieved the person of need to carry out this operation.
Tests showed that the most exact are short-term predictions of the robot. The forecast for the next second comes true in 82 percent of cases, for three seconds in 71 percent of cases and for ten seconds in 57 percent of cases.
The American engineers developed the computer algorithm imitating behavior of an ant in tunnels of an ant hill. Scientists claim that problems, which the ant faces, don’t differ from what the rescue robot will face for search of people in blockages.
Those problems, which ants face, in principle, don’t differ from with what the robot should cope. So, they need to move very quickly, and thus to make stable and safe passes. If the scientists want to create the rescue robot – “digger”, they can borrow the basic principles of its work at ants.
Robots bartenders are not novelty, but attitudes towards them a little cool. To awaken to them interest, researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in cooperation with Coca-Cola and Bacardi Rum developed Makr Shakr. Makr Shakr is the robot specializing on mixing of drinks, which debuted at annual conference of the Google developers in San Francisco as the first-ever controlled robot bartender. It uses three hands and programmable system of mixing. Working “hand in hand”, they do drinks and distribute them with help of a set of conveyer belts. The user orders drinks by the appendix in the smartphone, but it not simply choice from in advance defined list. The robot bartender uses the Coca-Cola Freestyle technology for mixing of drinks, which can create more than hundred various mixes. Using the appendix, users can order the alcoholic and soft drinks complete with suitable ornament, which will mix up by means of standard shakers with use of specially developed manipulators.
The group of researchers from the Harvard school of engineering work over some kind of record, they create the smallest flying robot in the world. And years later of works experts presented on public court video presentation of the creation under the name RoboBee. Already judging by only the name it is clear that bees became a prototype of these thrones. The size of these flying robots hardly exceeds the size of a coin. Each of such mini-robots is equipped with two membrane formed wings, which are capable to carry out 120 waves a second and to fly, however for the present at quite low speed. Tiny flying thrones are equipped with also piezoelectric elements, which help robots to fly. Big robots can be operated be electromagnetic motors, but for small thrones it is necessary to look for alternative. According to the founders of the robot, the achievement became possible only thanks to successes in creation of new materials, production technologies and designs. Certainly, considering the flying robot sizes, at once thoughts come to mind that the robot will be used first of all as the spy.
Engineers of Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed the flexible pneumatic robot moving at the expense of bends of “body”, like a snake. The snake robot consists of four independently moving segments. On the opposite sides of the segments are located the air cameras, which are created from elastic polymer and are capable to increase considerably in a size at a rating. Air supply in cameras is carried out with help of the valves located on a joint of segments. Process of movement of the device operates the built-in microcomputer. The maximum speed of the snake robots makes only 19 millimeters a second. In the future authors of development plan to increase this speed at the expense of a covering of inflatable cameras scales from which the robot will be able to make a start. In that case the mechanical supports, which are present at a prototype, become unnecessary. The snake robot is not the first prototype of the moving inflatable device.
According to pessimistic forecasts, in the future the mankind will be enslaved by robots. Just today the Rethink Robotics Company announced the new Baxter Research Robot. This is robot with two manipulators, which received humanoid configuration. It is the humanoid robot of the new generation with expanded opportunities of its use. It is useful practically in any field of activity of the person. Such flexibility of the Baxter Research Robot is caused, first, by two well worked manipulators hands, secondly, very competent software. On the humanoid robot there is standard Robot Operating System OS, but in the package of delivery is included a special set for software developers, it is SDK. Exactly thanks to it developers can create from Baxter Research Robot of the waiter, the housekeeper, the loader and so on. By one word, it is really universal assistant.
Certainly, the most various robots do a lot of useful work for human: from research of Mars up to imitation of movement of sea turtles, but when last time you communicated with one of them?
Developed by artist Alexander Reben and director Brent Hoff, BlabDroid is the human robot partner, which was used on Traybek’s film festival to draw out visitors and openly to talk about things about which they wouldn’t admit to other person. It appeared so successful idea that the small cardboard robot came under the spotlight the Kickstarter project, wishing to send the robot to a mass production. BlabDroid uses the known computer program called “Elisa’s effect”. In 1966 the scientist from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joseph Veytsenbaum noticed that human treat the chatbot, which he wrote, having called ELIZA as though he was the real person. Elisa has very simple algorithm, which is connected with a database of keywords and the programmed answers, which simply reformulates told it or uses indistinct assumptions. BlabDroid appears at people as the lovely small robot with a voice of the seven-year-old boy. It asks private questions, for example, “What is the worst thing, which you have done to someone?” or “Whom do you love above all?” When 20 robots were begin to go freely by Traybek’s festival in New York, they caused inspiring intelligent interactions, from which the documentary film will be shot.
The Northrop Grumman Corporation developed CUTLASS – the robot intended for ensuring remote supervision and fight against dangerous threats, which has to act as replacement of the British army Wheelbarrow (the robot for neutralization of bombs). CUTLASS was developed and made by Northrop Grumman in Coventry, Great Britain. The bomb neutralizing robot can brag of a modular design of the manipulator with three fingers for capture at the end, which is designed with nine degrees of freedom allowing it to work in hard-to-reach spots, such as car salon. It is equipped with six wheels, which help it with cross-country terrain overcoming under any weather conditions and allow to creep at small speeds for delicate operations or to disperse to 12 km/h (7,4 miles/h) when speed is required.