Robotics Blog » futuristic

Sushi Chef Robot Stirs a Crowd at the International Food Machinery and Technology Expo

Dan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:52:33 +0000

A slew of robots performed delicate acts of edible showmanship this week at the International Food Machinery and Technology Expo in Tokyo, Japan. Creations perhaps destined someday to bring to life a Jetsons-style future of ubiquitous robotics demonstrated their ability to handle food.

Among the crowd pleasers stood a rather beefy, industrial looking robotic arm with a nimble human hand that assumed the position of “sushi chef” and gracefully arranged faux-sushi on a platter. The 5-axis, 0.5mm precision M-430iA robot by FANUC specializes in high speed, ultra precision picking and food handling, according to the company’s website.

This robochef arranged delicate pieces of sushi on a platter.

One day, a robot like this will be making your dinner.

via TokyoMango

Programmable Matter Could Create Shape Shifting Robots

Dan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:16:46 +0000

Programmable matter could be used to create shape-shifting robots capable of changing their shape and adapting to their environment.

DARPA’s programmable matter research could potentially open the doors to a new kind of robotics. Shape-shifters could change their form to fit into tight openings, or work together to create stable structures in a swarm-type mode.

Programmable matter can change shapes on the fly.

Currently, programmable matter is in its infancy. Some programmable matter consists of actuators that allow for almost any shape to be made. Success has even been found using synthetic biology and engineered cells capable of changing their color and shape.

According to DARPA,

The goal of Programmable Matter Program is to demonstrate a new functional form of matter, based on mesoscale particles, which can reversibly assemble into complex 3D objects upon external command. These 3D objects will exhibit all the functionality of their conventional counterparts.

-DARPA
[signal]

Garbage Robot, ‘Dustbot’, Will Take Your Trash Away

Dan — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:00:09 +0000

This unique Italian grown robot has no problem taking out the trash. “Dustbot,” as the trash bot is called, provides a garbage disposal solution for older cities built with narrow streets that modern garbage trucks cannot navigate. The user calls a Dustbot over a telephone when they have trash. The robot navigates to the person’s location using GPS, where the user then places their garbage in the robot’s slide-out garbage bin.

Solving the problems of trash disposal in cities with narrow streets….
[Dustbot Project Presentation PDF]
[found at Botropolis]

Lethal Military Robots will have Ethics.

Dan — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:51:26 +0000

Military robots show no fear in the face of enemy fire, and squeeze the trigger with no remorse. But their effectiveness does not end there. These lethal robots will be built with a deeper understanding of how best to kill their opponents. Related posts:

Robot Follows You, Can Understand Gestures

Dan — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:39:03 +0000

Robot Understands Human Gestures

This robot from Brown University can read human gestures.

While most of us may only think about futuristic robots interacting with us through speech, researchers at Brown have created a robot which responds to human gestures. These non-verbal commands include arm signals which indicate “follow,” “halt,” “wait” and “door breach.”

The robot also understands verbal commands, and has a variety of other sensors onboard.

As part of testing their new robotics project, this new robot was commanded to go through doors, comeback, turn, and follow people. A major goal of the project is to create a robot which follows a person like a shadow, unobtrusively waiting for a task.

[Science Daily]