Cris Rose has so many talent chops, that I’m thinking about writing this post in a spreadsheet.

Artist, Designer, Fabricator, Collaborator, Customizer, Collector Whew! He’s busier than a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest who designs, builds and sends original robot toys all over the world to collectors and galleries. Though the figures have no traditional “working parts”, they do have incredibly believable details and lovely backstories. Cris is particularly interested in the relationship between robots and nature, and each character shows its wear and tear with pride. I hope to catch up with Cris soon and find out more about his robots, their histories and the art of decay.

This week, we bring you the lovely Nick Donaldson, of GotRobots.com. Nick is often referred to as “That one guy. From RoboGames. With that monkey. The one that sits on his shoulder and high-fives people.” In any case, Nick is a brilliant inventor and robot builder and we were thrilled to have a chance to talk to him!

(more…)

Ray Billings’ Last Rites vs VD6

If ever there was a ComBot that made you say “OH $#!%- RUUUUNNNN!!!!” it was most likely built by Ray Billings, of HardCore Robotics. Ray is an ex-prison guard, and became interested in combat robotics after the fact, when he was working at an adult college, and a colleague introduced him to the sport. He was hooked, and so this week, our BotLight is on Ray Billings. Interview below!

(more…)

If you’ve ever been to a ComBots event, odds are that you’ve run into Wendy and Matt Maxham. Together they form Team PlumbCrazy — the plumbiest, craziest, yellow shirtediest couple of robot fanatics at the competition (They’re the nicest, too. Believe it- they let me use their drill once!). A big thank you to Wendy, who donated her time to appease this starving intern (did I mention I’m a starving intern?), by giving her thoughts and revelations on robotic combat, and what it takes to make a winner.

(more…)

Greetings, humanoids, robots, and humanoid robots. My name is G[REDACTED]io… I… I mean Intern. They call me Intern. At least I think they do. They starve me. The hunger does silly things to your memory. Anywho, I’m here to provide you with awesome interviews and coverage for RoboGames 2010 and beyond, starting with a BotLight On Marco Antonio Meggiolaro of RioBotz.

<– AKA that guy.

Marco has well over a decade of hands-on robotics experience, and has been involved in ComBots since 2003. He graciously offered his time and insight on ComBots, teamwork, and how to avoid pummeling random passersby with 120lb steel cylinders from 100 yards away! See our exclusive interview with the founder of the RioBotz robotics team below!
(more…)

Raise a glass and wipe a tear from your eye. Alvin, that intrepid Navy explorer famed for exploring the Titanic with Dr. Robert Ballard’s team at Woods Hole, is heading for the great metal front porch. He will be replaced by leaner, meaner, raw cast titanium whipper snapper that is costing some 50 million dollars.

From the NYT:

The new vehicle is to replace Alvin, which was the first submersible to illuminate the rusting hulk of the Titanic and the first to carry scientists down to discover the bizarre ecosystems of tube worms and other strange creatures that thrive in icy darkness.

The United States used to have several submersibles — tiny submarines that dive extraordinarily deep. Alvin is the only one left, and after more than four decades of probing the sea’s depths it is to be retired. Its replacement, costing some $50 million, is to go deeper, move faster, stay down longer, cut the dark better, carry more scientific gear and maybe — just maybe — open a new era of exploration.

I personally will definitely be pouring one out for my junked homie; discovering the Titanic and all the attendant wonder of deep sea exploration made realize how bitchin’ science actually is. Alvin is where the scientists who deployed Argo the ROV and Jason the autonomous submersible were stationed.

Badass leader of robots, we salute you.

Enjoy your retirement.

[via Gizmodo and the Grey Lady]

So if wiggling ICE-powered donkey’s weren’t bad enough, Boston Dymanics now gives us robotic spidermen. Well, spiderbugs… (is that redundant?)

RiSE is a small six-legged robot that climbs vertical terrain such as walls, trees and fences. RiSE’s feet have claws, micro-claws or sticky material, depending on the climbing surface. RiSE changes posture to conform to the curvature of the climbing surface and a fixed tail helps RiSE balance on steep ascents. RiSE is about 0.25 m long, weighs 2 kg, and travels 0.3 m/s.

Each of RiSE’s six legs is powered by two electric motors. An onboard computer controls leg motion, manages communications, and services a variety of sensors. The sensors include an inertial measurement unit, joint position sensors for each leg, leg strain sensors and foot contact sensors.

Future versions of RiSE will use dry adhesion to climb sheer vertical surfaces such as glass and metal. Boston Dynamics is developing RiSE in conjunction with researchers at University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, Stanford, and Lewis and Clark University. RiSE is funded by the DARPA Defense Sciences Office.

New Scientist reports that the University of Reading has made a robot using neuron’s from a rat brain.

The robot’s biological brain is made up of cultured neurons which are placed onto a multi electrode array (MEA). The MEA is a dish with approximately 60 electrodes which pick up the electrical signals generated by the cells. This is then used to drive the movement of the robot. Every time the robot nears an object, signals are directed to stimulate the brain by means of the electrodes. In response, the brain’s output is used to drive the wheels of the robot, left and right, so that it moves around in an attempt to avoid hitting objects. The robot has no additional control from a human or a computer, its sole means of control is from its own brain.

The researchers are now working towards getting the robot to learn by applying different signals as it moves into predefined positions. It is hoped that as the learning progresses, it will be possible to witness how memories manifest themselves in the brain when the robot revisits familiar territory.

…

This is no ordinary robot control system – a plain old microchip connected to a circuit board. Instead, the controller nestles inside a small pot containing a pink broth of nutrients and antibiotics. Inside that pot, some 300,000 rat neurons have made – and continue to make – connections with each other.

As they do so, the disembodied neurons are communicating, sending electrical signals to one another just as they do in a living creature. We know this because the network of neurons is connected at the base of the pot to 80 electrodes, and the voltages sparked by the neurons are displayed on a computer screen.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Warwick, one of the leaders in the experiment, at TechFest in Bombay 2 years ago. I’ve read his books, and at first glance, he seems like a nut. But then, so did Einstein. He’s one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met, and I am certain that he’ll both cure Parkinson’s (some would say he already has done so, it’s just that the friggin’ Fed’s will take forever to approve it) and be a Nobel laureate for doing so.

Finally, here is a little snippet of video of Chassis being put through his beer-serving paces. Notice the Head Rotor operating in the background, and Al Honig adjusting my grip on the robot’s. . . um. . .appendage.

Congrats to Al and The Rotor, Chassis is a heck of a guy. And shiny!

In the “See “More” but after the video ends, there is lots and lots of coverage of RoboGames 2007! Lots of which was uploaded by Lem Fugitt! Thanks Robots Dreams!

In yet another episode of living the life you wish you had, last Friday I extracted myself from the RoBunker and went to witness The Head Rotor and Al Honig, world famous artists, show off Chassis the beer pouring robot.

Ky00t, thy name is Chassis:

More pics after the break.
(more…)

This clip starts out GREAT, but then the geek starts talking and kind of spoils it. Note to NASA: more dancing robots! Whatta we payin’ taxes for anyway!?!?

ATHLETE Moon Robot at NASA JPL

I’ve seen a lot of hexapods in my life. Heck, a 480 pound hexapod was the ringbearer at our wedding.

But Matt Denton at Micro Magic Systems has made a hexapod that blows everything else away. Even bipeds. Not only is it dynamically balancing, but it can shift it’s weight over it’s feet without lifting them. Kind of like geeks when they try to dance at a hipster bar.

Watch how the ‘bot shifts its weight as Matt moves in and out. The robot not only tracks his proximity, but “keeps its distance.”

Want.
One.

[via robots-dreams]

I dunno if this has been posted before, but it’s one of my all time favorite robots:

Eat your heart out, Michael Bay.

Oh this is super good my friends, it seems that our agents in the field have reported back with the Inductees of the 2007 Robot Hall of Fame (put on by all our clever friends at CarNAYgie Mellon). The winners were announced at the RoboBusiness conference and a good time is still being had by all.

–Update–

In the SciFi category, only one robot made it in this year:

Data from Star Trek: Next Gen

He joins C-3PO, R2-D2, Maria, and Gort, among others. Trekkies can rejoice. No longer is the hall of fame filled up with Star Wars bots. Data finally got in… I kinda expected him to end up as the Susan Lucci of robots.

The real question is, will the borg queen make it in next year?

3 robots from the “real world” made it in:

Lego Mindstorms

Where would the world of robot builders be without Legos? Almost every professional robot builder I know does prototyping in Lego Mindstorms. It’s the one kit that I recommend everyone should buy. It teaches you the basics of mechanical engineering, sensors, and how to program. You can make everything from a line follower to a copy machine (darn you, Tony Fudd.)

At RoboGames this June, there will be 10 different Mindstorms competitions, not to mention the combat robots, androids, and soccer players.

NAVLAB 5

NAVLAB 5 was the first attempt at a self-driving car. It could follow the lanes, turn, and do other simple maneuvers. If you think that Stanley is cool, remember that NAVLAB was done back in the dark ages of 1995.

12 years ago, it drove coast to coast all by itself. Beat that, Junior.

The Raibert Hopper was the fourth inductee. Almost all walking robots can trace their lineage back to the Hopper. You think it’s hard making a two legged robot walk? Try a one legged robot. Not only could it hop around the room, it was dynamically stable, and it could do backflips.

I bet you can’t do that.

Suicidebots.com does award you the dubious honor of

COOL ROBOT OF THE WEEK

Everybody party.

Update to the Update: CNET has pretty things to say about this as well.

. . .the Uncanny Valley, that is.

Meet Eva. She’s the creation of robotics designer David Hanson.

Hanson is best known for his work with KAIST (the Korean Advanced Institute for Science and Technology) the people who brought you the KHR-1 bipedal robot kung fu artist [digression: I ask you, is there any better phrase that "Robot Kung Fu"? We didn't think so either].

Hanson is also known for the eerily awesome Philip K. Dick Conversational Android, and now, Eva. Eva takes you on a screaming fast road trip through the Uncanny Valley and doesn’t even let you stop to pee.

Take a look at this demo Hanson did at the Exploratorium a while back:

Three cheers will make her smile, but will probably make small children cry.