Robohub.org
research
The 400lb CHIMP in the room: CMU’s Tartan Rescue Team prepares for the DRC
Shima Rayej
17 Dec 2013
Carnegie Mellon University’s Tartan Rescue Team has completed assembly of its 400 pound 5-foot-2 inch tall simian-like robot that will compete in the first annual DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) in H...
Russia looks inward and outward at Moscow’s 2013 Open Innovations Forum
Hallie Siegel
17 Dec 2013
I was invited last month to moderate a panel discussion on the “Robotics Renaissance” at the 2013 Open Innovations Forum in Moscow. The brainchild of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the Fo...
Fully autonomous flapping-wing micro air vehicle weighs about as much as 4 sheets of A4 paper
Guido de Croon
16 Dec 2013
The DelFly Explorer, a flapping wing MAV equipped with a 4-gram stereo vision system that can fly completely by itself in unknown, cluttered environments. © Delft University of Technology.
The DelFl...
Google Lunar X Prize leader board: Barcelona Moon Team schedules launch ahead of Astrobotic, Moon Express, and Team Indus
Robert Morris
09 Dec 2013
The private space race is on! With the $40M at stake from the Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) leading other private and pseudo-private investment, this is a real race. I, for one, love racing. By foot, ...
Factory-in-a-Day: EU FP7 invests €7.9M to make robotics affordable for SMEs
Hallie Siegel
07 Dec 2013
Factory-in-a-Day is an EU initiative to develop a robotic system that is inexpensive, leasable, and can be set up and working in 24 hours. The goal is to make advanced robotic systems, which currently...
CubeSats: Launching education into space
Hallie Siegel
06 Dec 2013
Three Cubesats were deployed November 19, 2013 from a Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (SSOD) attached to the Kibo laboratory’s robotic arm. Image Credit: NASA.
Four more student-built CubeSat rese...
Google buys up robotics companies from DRC
Andra Keay
04 Dec 2013
If you've recently wondered where all the roboticists were going, the answer is to an unassuming complex in Palo Alto. Google has backed Android developer Andy Rubin to acquire at least 7 major roboti...
Beginner’s guide to the humanoid robot challenge (DRC)
Andra Keay
03 Dec 2013
The first real world trial in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) will be held on December 20-21 2013 at Homestead Freeway in Florida. Yes, it's open to the public. Anyone can come along and watch huma...
Noisy imitation speeds up group learning
Alan Winfield
03 Dec 2013
Broadly speaking there are two kinds of learning: individual learning and social learning. Individual learning means learning something entirely on your own, without reference to anyone else who might...
ShanghAI Lectures: Shaohua Tan “Qualitative modeling and analysis”
Nathan Labhart
28 Nov 2013
Guest talk in the ShanghAI Lectures, 2009-11-12
"It has increasingly been realized that some of the key characteristics underlying real-world complex dynamical systems (such as economical, financia...
Global Machine Vision market to grow at 9.4% CAGR
Frank Tobe
26 Nov 2013
New report by Research and Markets, Global Machine Vision Market 2012-2016, a $2,500 report, forcasts global machine vision market to grow at a CAGR of 9.4% to 2016....
Medical/surgical simulation and training
Frank Tobe
24 Nov 2013
As the need for training on new-tech devices increases, virtual and physical simulation systems are in demand at medical schools and hospitals worldwide. One novel new robotic invention is Patrick, th...
Two ears, one mouth (or, Somatic analytics, and a talk with Dr. Skip Rizzo)
Mark Stephen Meadows
20 Nov 2013
This article returns to the thread of the last few months by looking at how robots can measure our emotions and body language.
My aunt, a Tennessee tobacco grower, used to remind me that God gave m...
Three new quadrotor videos demonstrate agile control and the power of machine learning
Hallie Siegel
18 Nov 2013
Quadrocopters assembling tensile structures in the ETH Flying Machine Arena. Photo credit: Professorship for Architecture and Digital Fabrication and the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, ETH...
ShanghAI Lectures: SAYA/Hiroshi Kobayashi “Hello, my name is SAYA”
Nathan Labhart
14 Nov 2013
Guest talk in the ShanghAI Lectures, 2009-11-05
In this guest lecture, SAYA, the robotic teacher from Japan, introduces herself and talks about the Tokyo University of Science, where she was const...
Lynne Parker on “What were the highlights at IROS/iREX this year?”
Lynne Parker
13 Nov 2013
I found the plenary speeches at IROS to be especially interesting. Marc Raibert gave an entertaining talk on the robots being developed at Boston Dynamics. It's encouraging to see that robots are beco...
Frank Tobe on “What were the highlights at IROS/iREX this year?”
Frank Tobe
13 Nov 2013
Two images remain in my mind from IROS 2013 last week in Tokyo. The respect for Professor Emeritus Mori and his charting of the uncanny valley in relation to robotics, and the need for a Watson-type s...
Andra Keay on “What were the highlights at IROS/iREX this year?”
Andra Keay
13 Nov 2013
For me, the highlight of IROS was the Uncanny Valley special session, although the sheer size of the IROS conference and the parallel iRex industrial and service robot expo also gave much food for tho...
Insect-inspired flying robot handles collisions, goes where other robots can’t
Adrien Briod
30 Oct 2013
Gimball is a flying robot that survives collisions. It weighs just 370g for 34cm in diameter. Photo credit: A. Herzog, EPFL.
Generally, flying robots are programmed to avoid obstacles, which is far ...
Transformational robotics and its application to agriculture
John Payne
25 Oct 2013
No, this is not about shapeshifting robots, come to save or destroy Earth. It is about transforming the contexts within which robotic technologies are applied, and about practicing robotics with the i...
UBR-1 robot from Unbounded Robotics revolutionizes affordable mobile manipulation | Automaton
Hallie Siegel
21 Oct 2013
Why Affordable Mobile Manipulation Matters
Why could UBR-1 be so revolutionary for robotics right now? Really, it's the general area of mobile manipulation that has a huge amount of potential for t...
Unbounded Robotics launch affordable, all-purpose UBR-1
Andra Keay
21 Oct 2013
Unbounded Robotics today launched UBR-1, a robot that has many of us very excited. UBR is the first robot with intelligence, manipulation and mobility for below $50k. While UBR definitely resembles a ...
Robotic cornucopia: Robohub focuses on the state-of-the-art and the future of agricultural robotics
Hallie Siegel
18 Oct 2013
With an ever-increasing need to feed the world's hungry, the agricultural sector has long been an important boon to the field of robotics: the sector's widespread acceptance and use of automation tec...
Pioneers kickstarts the start-up scene with a hands-on celebration of innovation
Hallie Siegel
17 Oct 2013
Andreas Tschas (far left) and Juergen Furian (far right) present a cheque to the 2012 Startup Challenge winner Poikos (centre). Photo credit: Heisenberg Media.
When founders Andreas Tschas and Juerge...
25 women in robotics you need to know about (2013)
In celebration of Ada Lovelace Day, we've compiled a short list of some women in robotics that everyone should know about. There are so many many more that we're already looking forward to featuring t...
Is open source a good business model for robotics?
RBI Editors
09 Oct 2013
Open source vs. proprietary software is an age old question. Since the advent of robotics, we also have the question of open source hardware.
In academia, where robotics researchers look to open so...
Robert Morris on “Is open source a good business model for robotics?”
Robert Morris
09 Oct 2013
The premise of this question is that robotics companies are manufacturers and that there is choice between an open source and closed source business model. Robotics companies are best thought of as ...
Brian Gerkey on “Is open source a good business model for robotics?”
Brian Gerkey
09 Oct 2013
The IT economy has powerfully demonstrated what happens when companies can leverage open source infrastructure when they build new products and services. A company like Google would never have come ...
Floating interactive display could be used in ATMs of the future
DigInfo TV
09 Oct 2013
The Aerial Imaging (AI) Plate, developed by Asukanet, is a next-generation display device which can form an image which appears to be floating in midair from light that passes through it. By combining...
Robotics heavyweights keep it entertaining at 2013 Northeast Robotics Colloquium
Richard Moore and Kirstin Hagelskjær Petersen
09 Oct 2013
Prof. Conor Walsh (left) and Dr. Panagiotis Polygerinos (right) discuss a soft robotic glove designed for hand rehabilitation. Photo credit: Kirstin Hagelskjær Petersen.
The 2nd annual Northeast Ro...
Frank Tobe on “Is open source a good business model for robotics?”
Frank Tobe
09 Oct 2013
To be able to choose between proprietary software packages is to be able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a master. Freedom means not using proprietary software.
- Richard Stallman, o...
Boston Dynamics announces new WildCat quadruped robot | Automaton
Hallie Siegel
07 Oct 2013
Boston Dynamics has just updated its YouTube channel with some new videos. One of them is an update on Atlas. Another is an update on LS3. And the third is this: WildCat, a totally new quadruped rob...
MIT deploys swarm of self-assembling robot cubes | Automaton
Hallie Siegel
07 Oct 2013
MIT research scientist John Romanishin has been working on (or at least thinking about) M-Blocks for the past several years, but from the sound of things, everyone thought he was nuts until he manag...
Don’t build robots, build robot systems
Alan Winfield
07 Oct 2013
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Why aren't there more intelligent mobile robots in real world applications? It's a good question, and one I'm often asked. The answer I give most often is tha...
Don’t blame technology for persistent unemployment | Slate
John Payne
06 Oct 2013
Posting on the Slate blog Future Tense, James Bessen takes issue with the notion that technology causes unemployment, illustrating his point by debunking a pair of frequently cited examples, textile w...
Co-robots really ARE a BIG thing
Frank Tobe
05 Oct 2013
UPDATED: October 6, 2013
Small and medium shops and factories (SMEs) are an untapped marketplace for robotics but direly in need of automation to remain competitive in this global economy. Two ne...
