Tag: Robots
Not from the creators of WALL-E: Pictor, the wall painting robot
The day when robots take over all of mankind’s most tedious chores has just got a little bit closer. The Pictor wall painting robot will climb walls all by itself and paint them using various science-fiction sounding techniques. It’ll apparently use a “cleaning laser” to prepare the wall for painting, then use an “airless nozzle” to paint the wall – which apparently results in no “atomised spray”. And apparently that is a good thing…
RoboCop could be a reality on Britain's streets before the 22nd century
The top bod studying artificial intelligence and robotics believes that we could have robot security guards, autonomous police cars, and humanoid traffic wardens patrolling Britain’s streets within the next 75 years.
Professor Noel Sharkey of the University of Sheffield has been studying the evolution of robots and how they’ll be increasingly used in modern society.
Robots will have access to integrated databases of information on Brits’ bank accounts, tax, vehicles, shopping history, criminal records, and even what they’re doing. This would then allow them to identify who people are (accurately, hopefully)…
The "Heart Robot" that just wants to be cuddled
It looks like a Teletubby that’s had all its skin burned off in an industrial accident, but don’t let that put you off – the Heart Robot is very friendly on the inside.
Designed by The University of the West of England’s David McGoran, the robot likes a good cuddle. Its heart starts pounding when it’s particularly excited, plus its eyes flutter when you touch it – and its puny limbs tense themselves for a smack round the head or a shove down the stairs when it hears raised voices…
Scientists working on 1.5-metre long climbing robotic snake
Forget snakes on a plane, for soon there could be snakes in your drains – robotic snakes, that is, which can climb vertical pipes, cleaning them or looking for leaks.
Norwegian scientists are working on a one-and-a-half metre long aluminium-clad robot is constructed with multiple joints, plastic wheels, and a camera, and is programmed with algorithms that tell it how to navigate pipework, and what tasks to carry out while in there…
Life-sized C-3PO and R2-D2 replicas for the rich, obsessed, lonely (or all three)
The R2-D2 projector is so yesterday – the latest geek must-haves are the life-sized C-3PO and R2-D2 replicas from Sideshow Collectibles…
Husqvarna Automower Solar Hybrid trims your lawn, protects the environment, lulls humanity into false sense of security
Thank god I don’t have a lawn. I already struggle to keep up with housework, general home maintenance, paying the stair cleaners, personal hygiene, etc. If there was ‘grass’ to be tended to on my days off, it might just push me over the edge. Unless I had a Husqvarna Automower that is.
Opinion: Why we should all be scared of real robot wars!
Jonathan Weinberg writes… One of the UK’s leading scientists reckons terrorists could soon be using robots to attack their targets – so should we all be worried and run for cover?
Well, I’ve already battened down my hatches, took the tin hat out of storage and stocked up on tins of corned beef and baked beans. Annoyingly, I don’t even like corned beef, but I’m told it lasts.
Anyhow, robots are without doubt one of the biggest technological advances and one of the biggest techno-tests we face in the future. If they can be used for good, it stands to reason they can be used for evil. Anyone who’s seen Steven Spielberg flick Artificial Intelligence: AI starring Jude Law will know how terrifying a world with ultra-realistic human-like robots could be…
Robot dogs just as good as the real things in reducing the emptiness and loneliness of modern life
Researchers at Saint Louis University gave one group of old people in nursing homes a proper biological dog made out of bones and meat, then tried a robotic AIBO out to see how the old folks reacted to the two.
They were both, incredibly, received very similarly, with the oldie subjects bonding pretty much equally with the robotic and real doggies…
CES 2008: Robo-fun with the Clapping Penguin, Attacking Duck, and Probing Robot
I'm afraid I have very little information about any of these robots, other than they were on the stand of Robotis at CES today, and they've got comical names. I mean, it's not as if an Attacking Duck or a Clapping Penguin is going to put fear into the hearts of mankind when the robo-revolution comes. Although the Probing Robot sounds like he could be quite worrying.
CES 2008: WowWee Alive wild cub toys steal our affections
Nothing makes a man look more manly than cuddling up with a furry robocub, right? Oh. Still, WowWee’s new Alive range is still pretty fun. There’s a lion, a white tiger, a panda and a polar bear in the range, and they were all on show at the CES Unveiled press event tonight.
