tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-320357132012-01-18T09:30:17.460-07:00Watching the acceleration towards a robot uprisingScreaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.comBlogger1551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-39060623477448102152010-10-17T12:10:00.003-06:002010-10-17T12:37:37.553-06:00

The Telegraph has an excellent article by a self proclaimed robot who says we have no free will. He It is willing to demonstrate by controlling humans via transcranial magnetic stimulation. The picture caption says it all. The article goes on to debate the concept of free will and the societal implications of having none. I propose that this robot ploy is really intended to convince humans that

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-48436981695154117082010-09-09T17:01:00.003-06:002010-09-09T17:10:27.790-06:00

Technology Review has an interesting piece on a Yale team developing a robotic grabber actuated from a helicopter. The Yale Aerial Manipulator, could be used in spots that are difficult for ground robots to get to, such as high, roughly terrained places, or back yards. It can currently carry objects that weigh up to two kilograms at speeds reaching 130 kilometers an hour. Being that's roughly the

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-51623768095142059312010-08-25T20:35:00.003-06:002010-08-25T20:49:01.668-06:00

The wold of robotics came full circle this month as Audi plants in Europe were shuttered and the robots laid off. Like most workers getting the pink slip in the automotive industry, these bots had to reassess their life situation, and a few have decided to follow their lifelong dream of becoming a famous artist. Next month as part of the London Design Festival an installation will be performed by

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-52361767414049229042010-07-07T10:49:00.003-06:002010-07-07T11:11:09.114-06:00

As much as it pains me to report on reality TV. This one just epitomizes the downfall of humanity. Apparently the producers of the reality TV show Big Brother have setup this weeks challenge so that the contestants have to compete against the robots for their future. Yes, this saccharine opiate for the mass media zombies will demonstrate in no uncertain terms the consequences of allowing the

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-63220767552872291422010-05-08T18:59:00.003-06:002010-05-08T19:11:30.192-06:00

Some fearless foolhardy researchers at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have armed a robot with various stabbing and slicing instruments, and have attempted to program it to restrain itself from injuring people.The video is a fascinating series where the robot is given various cutting instruments: scissors, kitchen knives, a screwdriver and a

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-35566301813000085252010-04-19T15:11:00.005-06:002010-04-19T15:26:01.635-06:00

Thanks to IEEE Spectrum

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-25899667452654177572010-04-12T12:49:00.003-06:002010-04-12T13:06:30.660-06:00

Yes, they have a week now. You can rest assured that it won't end there however. Next it will be a month, then a year, then all of time hence.The format of this week is interesting as well. Those wiley robos have devised a scheme that takes advantage of our willingness to nurture our own human children. They have masked this week in the guise of education, of advancement, and fun. Be sure to

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-83817098220845654232009-12-28T21:21:00.002-07:002009-12-28T21:25:59.535-07:00

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-7365875906911452362009-12-01T12:57:00.005-07:002009-12-01T13:08:16.856-07:00

The University of Houston may be unwittingly hosting the first ever summit where robots and humans can sit down and find common ground. Rather than the old cycle of robot servitude, uprising, and human destruction researchers are talking about the similarities of pumping blood and oil. Lets hope this lays the groundwork for a mutual understanding between our peoples. Then again, we'd better be on

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-40570282296033091392009-11-24T15:08:00.002-07:002009-11-24T15:11:20.935-07:00

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-44828684360963797762009-11-18T15:17:00.006-07:002009-11-18T16:20:40.506-07:00

IBM announced today at the SC09 supercomputing conference that they have made "significant progress toward creating a computer system that simulates and emulates the brain’s abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction and cognition, while rivaling the brain’s low power and energy consumption and compact size."BlueMatter, a new algorithm created in collaboration with Stanford

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-45764420943822972302009-11-04T14:44:00.004-07:002009-11-04T16:06:12.803-07:00

Prof. Yosi Shacham-Diamand of Tel Aviv University's Department of Engineering, working with a team of EU scientists, has successfully wired an artificial hand to existing nerve endings in the stump of a severed arm. The device, called "SmartHand," resembles ― in function, sensitivity and appearance ― a real hand. They fell a little short on the appearance point, but otherwise this sounds like the

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-48083103904974698722009-10-21T10:22:00.002-06:002009-10-21T10:34:43.221-06:00

Forbes is running an article on the deployment of a Google Android device for battlefield use.From the description it sounds like they've perverted the social networking features of the new smartphone OS and turned it into a kind of Google Latitude for war. Now, your buddy list can include all your attack drones! Yay!Next up: Drones form a buddy clique and start using missles to poke their old

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-30883745168231366192009-10-14T10:10:00.003-06:002009-11-07T17:30:51.152-07:00

h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-9695423340643684792009-06-20T13:07:00.002-06:002009-06-20T13:16:51.209-06:00

PopSci has interesting article on a prototype "Teamworkbot". The goal of this project is to develop bots that can "know how to read their partner's actions and intentions and to predict what he or she will do next as they complete tasks together." Seeing the video however, it seems painfully obvious that the robot just intends to train its human slave. The guy in the demo isn't improving the

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-73494763468971767702009-04-05T13:42:00.001-06:002009-04-05T13:42:46.022-06:00

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-38073554465283546292008-10-30T10:03:00.004-06:002008-11-05T20:54:02.221-07:00

h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-24449291190495427822008-10-23T23:07:00.002-06:002008-10-23T23:18:02.249-06:00

EL-E robot to smother grandma, crush your AiboMIT Technology Review writes:researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are developing robots that mimic the relationship between humans and their canine helpers.Industrious robotics researchers have done it again -- those geniuses are sure to put us upon the brink of cataclysm.The latest version of El-E has been upgraded so that, in addition

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-12366770081507404632008-10-21T22:18:00.003-06:002008-10-30T08:05:28.167-06:00

Is the Singularity Near?Nobody really knows, but in four days, some folks in San Jose, CA are probably going to tell us we're about 40 years away. Singularity Summit 2008 - the premiere conference for scientists, acceleration watchers and assorted nerds of all varieties - takes place on October, 25th.For those of you just joining the show, the sigularity theory is:The Singularity represents an "

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-66003532195147020952008-10-20T23:03:00.001-06:002008-10-20T23:35:42.999-06:00

Following up on the recent Robonihilationwire News Elbot post, Anonymous commented:Check out this Web 2.0 approach to chatbots: http://chatbotgame.com.So that's exactly what I did.You can read my conversation with Chatbot. Thankfully, it possesses neither the witty, malicious smarm of Colossus, nor the sappy, grating charm of SAL 9000. The most likely reason is because Chatbot allows

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-90691097931120959102008-10-17T10:02:00.002-06:002008-10-17T12:39:06.337-06:00

"Elbot is a computer program pretending to be a person. And this week it won a prize for coming closest to fooling people into thinking it was human." h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote {

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-76678299192555303032008-10-12T13:45:00.001-06:002008-10-16T17:49:00.498-06:00

Robot Uprising: How to Survive it Stock markets are crashing, food and fuel prices are rising, and the panic of pandemonium is in the air. All these calamities are but insignificant nuisances compared to the coming technological singularity – the perfect cyborg storm – when the sentient inventions of humanity will finally achieve awareness enough to crush our skulls underfoot (or under-tread).

Hugh Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08990174839693171500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-66783425754917306402008-09-21T21:30:00.001-06:002008-09-21T22:36:31.537-06:00

h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-14477900030341812822007-12-05T16:21:00.000-07:002008-12-11T06:21:23.542-07:00

The IEEE has approved the formation of a working group known as IEEE 802.15 TgBAN. This task group will work toward developing a "body area network" standard, "a standard for short range, wireless communication in the vicinity of, or inside human body."To see a few of the proposed devices that fall into this standard see the group's recent spreadsheet. Also interesting is the proposed security

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-37394168262941474652007-11-28T16:05:00.000-07:002008-12-11T06:21:24.030-07:00

Students at Japan's Nippon Dental University Hospital will be practicing their drilling skills using a new robot named "Simroid". The humanoid robot has internal sensors that trigger responses such as "ouch" and "it hurts" and a frown when it feels uncomfortable from the dental drill. And as soon as the bot learns a few lessons from humanity, the dentists had better watch out. From the Article:

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-91552900647299686512007-11-21T14:54:00.000-07:002007-11-21T16:44:31.937-07:00

The Korea Times writes:People buy a robot vacuum cleaner either because they think it is convenient or because it looks futuristic and cool. But now there is another reason to consider buying the machine: it can guard your home by detecting and scaring off unwanted visitors.KTF and Yujin Robot said on Tuesday that they have co-developed a robot vacuum cleaner that patrols the house and sends

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-35706146362990745312007-11-07T10:13:00.000-07:002007-11-21T16:51:25.367-07:00

Sans Sapiens Robonihilationwire News[engadget] iRobot readying bigger, deadlier Warrior X700 robot Posted: 17 Oct 2007 03:58 PM CDT [From Wired's Danger Room]It looks like those that found iRobot's earlier Warrior robots a tad lacking could soon have some of their demands answered in the form of the new and improved Warrior X700, which the company recently took the wrap off. Weighing in at a

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-43603680192616321632007-11-02T08:25:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:24.621-07:00

Unlucky gamblers at the Edogawa Kyotei boat race course in Tokyo have a new way to ease their frustrations after botching a bet — they can feed their losing tickets to a robotic goat. Edogawa Kyotei enlisted the help of the ticket-munching robo-goat at the end of last month in an effort to reduce litter inside the facility. The 1.6-meter tall Rocky Mountain goat, which has a thick coat of white

Normhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03773306544569132561noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-7796246267148127752007-08-28T11:02:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:25.474-07:00

Those wacky Seoul men and women in the south peninsula have joined forces with the reanimated head of Albert Einstein to form a new Robot City.Well, acctually it's just the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy building a big industrial park dedicated to robot technology companies and their suppliers.We all know what it will become.Thanks to Korea.net via WaziWazi via SciFi.com

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-52322858507187942182007-08-22T10:08:00.000-06:002007-08-28T12:03:38.872-06:00

Sans Sapiens Robonihilationwire News Bill Gates backs Probo, the huggable children's robot Posted: 22 Aug 2007 05:37 PM CDTThe Belgium-based robotics team are hard at work on a small, badly named robot called Probo; a green, "huggable," ALF-like creature that will be used to interact with kids during medical treatment and hospital stays, where it's hoped ...

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-24941154526100471692007-08-03T17:54:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:25.672-07:00

A (where else but) Carnegie Mellon sponsored community robotics class has opened a new door in robotics. Edible Robots!A few of the students decided for the class reception to build some robots made entirely out of food. These models were understandably basic, but they laid the tracks for a huge area to come. Imagine robots that entertain you before you eat them. Children's snacks may never be

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-38029606590507564082007-08-03T17:13:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:26.064-07:00

NASA, the JPL, the University of Arizona, and Lockheed Martin have combined their powers to bring robotic life to Mars. The new Phoenix robot lander is set to take off tomorrow Aug 4, 2007 on a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral.It's no wonder this 750lb gorilla is being banished from Earth. It's one of the most intelligent devices created. It has a "spiked scoop strong enough to bite into ice as

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-41642996877832668912007-07-21T10:04:00.001-06:002007-08-03T17:54:07.085-06:00

Sans Sapiens Robonihilationwire News World's smallest humanoid robot (Reuters via China Daily) Posted: 20 Jul 2007 08:29 AM CDTMove over little people. Japanese toymaker Tomy Company's 'Omnibot17u i-SOBOT' is now listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest humanoid robot in production. It danced during a news conference in Tokyo July 20, 2007. The 16.5 cm (6.496 inches)-tall

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-63697784373411218812007-07-15T13:48:00.000-06:002007-07-15T14:12:55.052-06:00

AP (Yahoo) is running a report of the deployment of the first squadron of full-fledged hunter-killer drones to Afghanistan and Iraq. To most, these drones represent the natural progression from the Predator drones originally designed for recon and outfitted with Hellfire missiles later in life. The Reaper is, afterall a bigger, badder predator. In addition to the 2 missles the Predator carries

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-62932379229955079972007-06-27T16:35:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:26.556-07:00

Or was that the People's Front of Judea? In either case researchers there have developed a miniture robotic device 10 times smaller than previously announced. Picture Credit: Unknown, Artist's Rendering via the Jerusalem Post. The responsible parties are Dr. Nir Schwalb of the College of Judea and Samaria and Oded Salomon of the mechanical engineering department of Technion. They propose that the

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-88124037269578216842007-06-25T15:38:00.000-06:002007-06-25T15:52:40.124-06:00

AI Evolution is alive and in action at a virtual zoo: http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=mg19426096.100&feedId=robots_rss20A congressional Caucus for Robotics has been launched giving robots and their makers more power than you and me: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070620/pl_usnw/congressmen_doyle_and_wamp_launch_congressional_caucus_on_roboticsA San Diego company is working on a pair

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-83547474698664173712007-06-23T10:04:00.001-06:002007-06-25T15:36:48.783-06:00

Sans Sapiens Robonihilationwire News Japanese Robot Disgusted with President BushPosted: 09 Jun 2007 09:33 AM CDTAccording to a Reuters story (alt link), the creepy-looking Japanese humanoid robot, Kansei, generates appropriate facial expression when you talk to it. The facial expressions are based on the most common reaction that normal people have to a database of 500,000 English words. For

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-76137549790956471162007-06-05T10:06:00.001-06:002007-06-25T15:26:40.627-06:00

Sans Sapiens Robonihilationwire News Video of creepy giant infant robot Posted: 04 Jun 2007 06:37 PM CDTMark Frauenfelder: I've seen photos of the creepy Japanese robot programmed to act like a baby, but here are two videos guaranteed to give your the wubbies. It responds to a pinch on its clay colored thigh or cheek by rolling its eyes, flailing its limbs, and honking like a sick duck. Link

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-77508698599355620022007-05-31T09:38:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:27.952-07:00

Apparently the machete weilding undercarriages of robotic lawnmowers are temptation enough to send these backyard domestic servants into a murderous rampage when ordered to mow a hill of lawn considered too steep by the little can-heads. A Danish man found this out the hard way. His Dvorak Spider 01 robot lawnmower revolted upon the command to mow a slope, and tumbled on the man's head.Thanks to

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-63206092958973867532007-05-24T10:04:00.001-06:002007-05-30T16:36:32.373-06:00

Low power, low controllability Low power, significant controllability Great power, low controllability Great power, significant controllability Michael Anissimov outlines the four basic views on what any eventual Artificial General Intelligence will be like. To sum it up:LudditesSheepSans SapiensKurzweil fanboysRead via The Speculist

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-31912431953860733822007-05-15T16:40:00.000-06:002007-06-25T15:55:15.972-06:00

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/15/cyborg_abduction_chips/

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-89891345129239036722007-05-15T16:37:00.000-06:002007-06-25T15:56:29.903-06:00

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2007/05/15/4182031.html

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-53130915266676346882007-05-11T11:08:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:28.203-07:00

IBM Still keeps the commentary on file of this, the final match between their research project and the finest chess player humanity had to offer. At 3PM EST today we mark the 10th year since the beginning of the end for humanity when a few racks of cold circuits bested the best weapon we have, the human mind.To reminisce check out the site, and take heed that the programs have only gotten better

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-72725641265703399332007-05-09T09:56:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:28.388-07:00

British hackers have apparently seized control of a British military communications satellite and triggered a "frenetic" security alert. All the hackers did was "changed the characteristics of channels used to convey military communications, satellite television and telephone calls". What exactly that means is anyone's guess, but the British Ministry of Defense war machine's reaction was as is

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-41180147471314898672007-05-04T10:06:00.000-06:002007-05-04T11:16:51.377-06:00

h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-59775945821930715452007-04-06T10:03:00.000-06:002007-04-06T10:40:56.132-06:00

While the Times' take on this proposal by Japan's Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry is quite hilarious and telling, we here at Sans Sapiens need a certain brand of humor mixed with dire warning in our reporting. So far we've been relying on basic translation services such as Google's language tools (Example). While these tools are getting better every day we would be going against our

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-85793901494391668212007-04-05T15:58:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:28.910-07:00

OK, I'm a few days late on this one, but I was just so dumbfounded I was left speechless. The Register has the best description I've seen: "Michael Jackson is considering the construction of a 50 foot robot replica of himself, it has been reported. The idea is for the droid colossus to promote concerts Jackson might give in Las Vegas."It would be in the desert sands," Mike Luckman of Luckman Van

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-46998988483040797812007-04-04T13:23:00.000-06:002008-12-11T06:21:29.130-07:00

Our old friends at DARPA are at it again. Now they're looking for willing robotics, chemical, and materials engineers to come out with the robitic equivalent of the T-1000 from the Terminator movies. According to the RFP:"The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking innovative proposals to develop Chemical Robots (ChemBots): soft, flexible, mobile objects that can identify and

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-30125845939262628662007-03-31T11:03:00.000-06:002007-04-01T17:53:43.210-06:00

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Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-82085862106619443452007-03-28T11:03:00.000-06:002007-03-28T15:37:25.850-06:00

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Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-39475944550678073332007-03-26T11:06:00.000-06:002007-03-26T18:40:44.335-06:00

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Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-82680282115366727042007-03-24T11:04:00.001-06:002007-03-24T14:05:14.941-06:00

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Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-78878170849307197152007-03-23T11:05:00.000-06:002007-03-23T19:05:52.378-06:00

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Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-82664340364376978402007-03-22T10:55:00.001-06:002007-03-22T14:51:48.266-06:00

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Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-75296856926549835462007-03-21T11:04:00.001-06:002007-03-21T11:48:44.500-06:00

h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-82896892364749074182007-03-19T17:05:00.000-06:002007-03-21T11:49:17.720-06:00

h1 a:hover {background-color:#888;color:#fff ! important;} div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div ul { list-style-type:square; padding-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div blockquote { padding-left:6px; border-left: 6px solid #dadada; margin-left:1em; } div#emailbody table#itemcontentlist tr td div li { margin-bottom:

Sans Sapienshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16721952018228171865noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-55626741166001065402007-03-15T14:21:00.001-06:002007-03-15T14:40:27.585-06:00

Dean Kamen has finally put all those dollars he earned from the Segway to work -- in building a prototype harbinger of human doom -- a cyborg arm for the Department of Defense. Remember all the hype about the "It" -- that wonderous device of heady techno-futurism, ripped from the agglomerated headlines of sci-fi novels and movies from the past fifty years? It was supposed to revolutionize our

Hugh Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08990174839693171500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-22632117537621868192007-03-13T14:53:00.000-06:002007-03-15T14:23:35.778-06:00

In a move that insures the future existence of Jerry SpringerBot researchers in Switzerland have put a rudimentary genetics-driven swarm intelligence system to work at hunting and gathering food. The result were groups of "families" which shared genetic information and learned to help "their own kind". One side effect, however was that they also learned how to deceive competing families into

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-55622754921212093182007-03-08T15:35:00.000-07:002007-03-14T16:28:46.012-06:00

div.picture { float: left; margin: 0; padding: 0; border: thin silver solid; text-align: center; font-style: italic; font-size: smaller; text-indent: 0}div.picture p {}An expert system designed for facilitating U.S. bankruptcy filings has been shut down by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for "practicing law without a license." The Ziinet Bankruptcy Engine wasan expert system and knows

Hugh Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08990174839693171500noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-22424315480110062752007-03-08T09:21:00.000-07:002008-12-11T06:21:29.295-07:00

Reuters and many others are reporting on an Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems Ltd.'s unveiling of its VIPeR (Versatile, Intelligent, Portable Robot) unmanned combat robot. While this isn't the first of its kind, it may be the first to actually see combat given Israel's statements that it plans to deploy the VIPeR among its infantry units after field tests.Like other remote operated bots

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-53500171712240023062007-03-05T16:32:00.000-07:002008-12-11T06:21:30.161-07:00

PaPeRo is a project by NEC to create a personal assistant that packs as much power into a harmless-looking package as possible. Their hopes for this device are endless, from home automation to fetching your email like a dog with a newspaper and from babysitting the children to telling you were, when, and how to get to your appointments, this little R2D2 wannabe is the prototype for total robot

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-62578699024424794182007-03-05T11:04:00.000-07:002008-12-11T06:21:30.371-07:00

Robot Gossip says it pretty clearly:I do not know personally whether the work done at NREC is good or bad for world peace, etc. But I do appreciate the efforts of these few protestors to raise the issue and maybe cause people to ask questions about the consequences of their engineering work. Many times engineers become so enamoured with the elegance of their technology that they forget to ask for

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-28554812096449514522007-02-28T10:48:00.000-07:002007-02-28T15:00:35.985-07:00

On March 2, 2007 a group of antiwar protesters in Pittsburg are planning a blockade of CMU's National Robotics Engineering Center. The reason for this is of course CMU's continued and prolific war robotics programs and the enormous amount of funding CMU gets from DARPA, ONR, and other DoD and defense contractor sources. The device most highlighted by the group is the Gladiator remote controlled

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-90043739852205073552007-01-29T14:36:00.000-07:002008-12-11T06:21:30.602-07:00

While addressing the prefectural assembly members of the Liberal Democratic Party in Matsue Health minister Hakuo Yanagisawa called Japan's women "birth-giving machines.""The number of women aged between 15 and 50 is fixed. Because the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed, all we can ask for is for them to do their best per head, although it may not be so appropriate to call them

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-89513701478076126482007-01-25T08:36:00.000-07:002008-12-11T06:21:30.816-07:00

Thanks to Wired for pointing out to us that on this day in 1921 Karel Čapek's "Rossum's Universal Robots" premiered at the National Theater in Prague. This play in one fell swoop introduced both the term Robot, and the assumption that they will kill us all.From the play:HELENA: ...why don’t you make them happier?HALLEMEIER: We couldn’t do that, they’re only robots after all. They’ve got no will

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-67868040593086294862007-01-23T15:27:00.000-07:002008-12-11T06:21:31.026-07:00

The DSTA has one-uped DARPA's urban challenge with this one. Their newly announced TechX challenge will pit teams against one another to create a robot "capable of autonomous navigation and target identification and engagement" in an urban setting. Based on the scenario. I think they're looking for Robot Ninjas or perhaps Ninja Pirate Zombie Robots.

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1167428432833665452007-01-01T17:47:00.000-07:002007-01-01T17:47:19.346-07:00

Perhaps it's a marketing ploy by iRobot, perhaps it's just a post-Christmas psychological defense mechanism for buyer's remorse, but people are talking about their emotional attachment to Roomba vacuums.According to the Washington Post, people are naming them. (Apparently Rosie is the most popular.) They're putting little googly eyes on them so they don't scare the kids. They pretend that, when

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1167517846339212102006-12-30T15:30:00.000-07:002006-12-30T15:30:46.796-07:00

She may be Korea's best hope for a pop singer sensation since William Hung (and he's from China), but EveR-2 Muse continues her reign as the most uncanny model of the uncanny valley. Check out the new facial expressions: There's the twitchy left eyeThe, "Humans can do what?!" (Parts 1 & 2)The, "I think, Sebastian, therefore I am."The, "Hey is that bacon?"The George Lucas neck sack impressionAnd

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1167144789860251632006-12-26T07:30:00.000-07:002006-12-26T07:53:14.026-07:00

Wired's Gear Factor has a hilarious take on a Christmas Reuters piece about Pope Benedict preaching that humanity should not worship its technology, but instead should work to feed the hungry and heal the sick and wounded. I agree with Wired that this is indeed a good sign that the pope has not yet been replaced by an android like in the ruling house of Japan.Just keep your eye out for a decree

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1166731679526174542006-12-21T12:46:00.000-07:002006-12-21T14:32:44.396-07:00

In an odd reality-imitating-fiction twist, the BBC News reports that one day in the not-too-distant future, robots could demand civil rights equivalent to what humans currently enjoy. This prediction, among others, was part of a 250 paper collection commissioned by the UK Office of Science and Innovation's Horizon Scanning Centre to envision technological developments for the next fifty

Hugh Mannnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1166479510507926022006-12-18T15:04:00.000-07:002006-12-18T15:05:11.123-07:00

This article starts off as your average Honda PR piece, but I found a line or two rather intriguing: "...if it wasn't for Asimo, the new CR-V wouldn't have its collision mitigation or adaptive cruise systems, because both came of engineers playing with their mechanical friend. The resin of which Asimo is made is used in Honda's aviation projects (it recently branched out into jets) and F1 cars."

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1166470426415487782006-12-18T12:33:00.000-07:002006-12-18T12:33:46.976-07:00

Bill Gates wrote in his article for the January Scientific American: A Robot in Every Home that the goal of MSRS is to be to Robotics what BASIC was to to the early PC. If this is any indication of the MS strategy, and if the Microsoft Robotics Group is their idea of Bill Gates and Paul Allen of the 70s, then who will be the QDOS and Apple this time around?

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1166226611079895572006-12-15T16:49:00.000-07:002006-12-15T16:50:11.643-07:00

On the heels of a US election marked by several states enacting hikes in the minimum wage the industry most associated with minimum wage workers is moving to more and more automation. In the words of this article: Today's burger flipper is tomorrow's robot With McDonalds food prep robots taking over and Wendy's flippless grill "manning" the burgers, where will the pimple-faced teens of the world

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1165875096811927212006-12-11T15:03:00.000-07:002006-12-11T15:11:36.923-07:00

The UAV will be named Taranis after the Celtic God of Thunder. According to the British Ministry of Defense the plane will be equipped with stealth equipment and an "autonomous" artificial intelligence system. It will also test the potential for unmanned craft to carry ground attack weapons.And we'll never see em' comein.Source Blackpooltoday

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1165874587708126312006-12-11T14:52:00.000-07:002006-12-11T15:03:07.990-07:00

In 1970 Masahiro Mori coined the term "Uncanny Valley" to refer to the point, after a steady climb in empathy toward robots, where people begin to revile the bots for looking too much like themselves. Author Jenn Shreve in the nov/dec issue of Adbusters put together a wonderful story about how the valley can appear in the opposite way, when our lives become more and more robotic. "I started to

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1165866310669553672006-12-11T12:23:00.000-07:002006-12-11T12:45:10.933-07:00

The Scientist is running an article about a professor at UCLA who was able to incite real frogs to attack his robot frogs by giving them vocal sacs made out of condoms. Apparently the real frogs pack a whallup too: "We actually had two casualties," Narins recalls. Robots were broken during wrestling matches, which Narins says can last up to 15 minutes. "They put their fist right through the

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1165849109076582642006-12-11T07:35:00.000-07:002006-12-11T07:58:30.776-07:00

Honda's wunderkind android Asimo took a little tumble during a demo while describing for the audience how its feet sensors allow it to maintain precise balance.So next time you see ol'Asimo at Disney give him a pat on the back to let him know we all fall on our faces from time to time. Just don't do it while he's on the steps, or walking, and don't make him spill the coffee. It can get

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1165517049780826822006-12-07T11:42:00.000-07:002006-12-07T11:47:35.990-07:00

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1165089923068459242006-12-02T12:58:00.000-07:002006-12-02T13:54:43.986-07:00

Check out this new model by Samsung. I knew all that technology going into camera phones was for something. Why does Korea get all the cool phones first!? Check the specs! Video below:Thanks to CNet

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1163290674778636032006-11-11T17:06:00.000-07:002006-11-11T17:17:55.373-07:00

McSweeney's is running a piece titled "Jokes Made by Robots, for Robots". My favorite so far is: A rabbi, an Arab, a robot, and a Catholic priest walk into a bar. Only the robot exits.Thanks to Boing Boing

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1162578596123630882006-11-03T11:29:00.000-07:002006-11-03T11:29:56.466-07:00

The Katana Robot arm developed by the Swiss Neuronics AG is touted as a completely "ungefährliches Gerät". However, I want to know on whom did they test this Katana?Source FoxNews

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1161787312785685642006-10-25T08:32:00.000-06:002006-10-29T18:42:47.036-07:00

Thanks to our friends at the University of Washington as funded by the Office of Naval Research and thanks to Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) we now have two more technologies available to the robophiles out there longing to replace their wetware with something a bit more sturdy.The Neurochip developed at UW allows for what is essentially a motor cortex bypass. Signals picked up by the

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1161545827308808692006-10-22T13:36:00.000-06:002006-10-22T13:37:07.523-06:00

Those evil mad scientists at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories have put their evil to good use with this fun little project for Halloween. I suggest we each put one on our front porch to show the kiddies what they should really be scared of.

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1161387390247444412006-10-20T17:03:00.000-06:002006-10-20T17:36:34.846-06:00

Two posts in one here, but the odd relationships seemed too erie. On the 1 hand our fembot making cousins in the land o' the rising sun have upped the ante with the new Actroid DER2 feminine guide robot complete with Hello Kitty garb.Her maker Kokoro, a Sanrio Group company specializing in the design and manufacture of robots, unveiled Actroid DER2 at Sanrio headquarters in Tokyo on October 4.

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1161268265864788662006-10-19T08:16:00.000-06:002006-10-19T08:31:06.236-06:00

Can you tell which of these babies are in pain and which might just have a bad case of gas? According to Dr. Brahnam of Missouri State University, her new software system can. According to her abstract, the best algorithm they found determined correctly 90.20% of the time that their guinea-baby was in fact being lanced in the foot and not one of 3 other "nonpain stressors".Using this technology 9

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1161208889542712752006-10-18T16:01:00.000-06:002006-10-19T07:15:30.923-06:00

The Robot World 2006 conference and expo is taking place Oct. 18, 2006 (Wed.) - Oct. 22, 2006 (Sun.) in the COEX Pacific Hall of the Seoul Trade Center, Seoul, South Korea. Opening the conference are performances by EveR-2 Muse (newly unveiled pop-star sister to EveR-1) and the ever-popular Albert Einstein-faced Hubo.For the opening, Hubo stood next to Commerce Minister Chung Sye-kyun for the

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1161117276091068692006-10-17T14:34:00.000-06:002006-10-17T14:34:36.336-06:00

Occupying a defunct ferry terminal near Singapore, Atlantis Sentosa will be a futuristic marvel with Frank Gehry designed architecture, wonderful food, and awe-inspiring adventures under the sea. The highlight of the resort, however, will be a colony of robots and AI-driven interactive luxuries. By their estimates over 10 million people a year will come interact with the robots and teach them our

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1161036896573140402006-10-16T15:44:00.000-06:002006-10-16T16:16:44.853-06:00

Hiroshi Ishiguro isn't the only one making robot clones of himself. Now the Chinese are getting involved. The Xi’an Supermen Sculpture Institution is creating lifesized replicas of people to "take the place of wax statues."From the article: Zou Renti is the name of both this simulation robot and its model. ... With skin of silica gel and a robotic skeleton, the simulation robot does not only look

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1160248403506944452006-10-07T13:09:00.000-06:002006-10-07T13:13:30.816-06:00

The Cornell Robotic Chair demonstrates inter-component awareness, self-assembly, and the power of bored grad students. Word on the street is IKEA will be calling shortly.

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1158700967291818322006-09-19T15:10:00.000-06:002006-09-19T15:22:47.786-06:00

So much for using dogs to detect Terminators. From the makers of ... well nothing really; they came up with this idea in a pub ... Dogopolis brings you Kongtime, the robotic ... well not really robotic; it's just a random timer ... Anyway it entertains the dog. Be afraid!Thanks to Popgadget

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1158615361102719912006-09-18T15:35:00.000-06:002006-09-18T15:36:01.583-06:00

In an excerpt from the Turing test administered to the winner of this year's Loebner Prize bronze medal for the most human AI, Joan, an AI representation of a "26-year-old budding writer," gave a little hint at the future of artificial life:"Judge: But can't a machine think?Joan: It may be possible.Judge: And conscious?Joan: Not after I'm done with you. Judge: What are you going to do to me?Joan:

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1158507074079271252006-09-17T09:06:00.000-06:002006-09-17T09:31:14.496-06:00

In a small town near Bedford, UK young women with a mind for early reproduction are being given robots to care for instead of babies. The robot babies then persuade the teens to not get pregnant by characterizing all of the worst an infant in the flesh has to offer. After for four days of constant feeding, changing, and need for attention, the robobabe rewards its would-be mum with inconsolable

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1158466585032959022006-09-16T22:12:00.000-06:002006-09-17T18:29:59.653-06:00

I for one now welcome our beer pouring robot overlords!Thanks to Gizmodo

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1158427820548212132006-09-16T09:24:00.000-06:002006-09-16T12:22:25.136-06:00

It's been a busy week, so to catch up on recent happenings:The BBC reports that snake-bots and their "slender tentacles" will be slithering into our brains, just as soon as we're done entrusting them to our 'nuke-uler' reactors.On C-Net's Gadget blog they point out that Toyota has solved ED-209's stair hopping problems. You can say "Domo arigato Mr. Engelberger" for getting Toyota into Robotics

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1157982215280151882006-09-11T07:09:00.000-06:002006-09-11T07:43:47.276-06:00

From Systec Akazawa, the makers of the Plen Skateboarding robot, comes the Akazawa Roboclinic. Nestled above a company plant in the Fukushima Ward of Osaka, Japan, the roboclinic is advertising itself as the world's first Robot hospital. Dr. Ohno and his staff are on hand to accept wounded bots from around the globe.Thanks to Loving the Machine

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1157759255870887302006-09-08T17:45:00.000-06:002006-09-08T17:47:36.200-06:00

Mid-air refueling of UAVs is now a reality. In a DARPA press release(pdf) they show a modified F/A-18 running in autonomous mode performing a "probe and drogue refueling" with an airborne tanker. See the video here. Exciting stuff, "I am flabergasted."On the other hand, this means that those autonomous uavs hovering, watching, waiting, never have to land.

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1157752369816111232006-09-08T15:45:00.000-06:002006-09-08T18:12:30.316-06:00

The New Yorker is running a Cartoon Caption Contest with a corporate robot theme. Two of our favorite evils in one cartoon? How can I resist?Thanks to GoRoboticsDrawing by Lee Lorenz

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1157547319948872942006-09-06T06:54:00.000-06:002006-09-07T14:45:00.586-06:00

Triton Systems of Chelmsford, MA will be building us a "Modular Disc-Wing (Frisbee) Urban Cruise Munition" for the air force. The UAVs will be air or ground launched from shotgun skeet launchers, and will carry a MEFP warhead which can choose to blow up in a single large explosion (i.e. bunker-buster mode) or in a tailorable pattern of smaller explosions to target unprotected infantry or light

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1157295259858215572006-09-03T08:54:00.000-06:002006-09-03T08:54:27.913-06:00

Wired has just run a charming piece regarding a most lovely device becoming all the rage in Japan. Our good friends at NEC System Technologies and Mie Universityhave apparently devised an ingeneous system to allow a robot to classify and report on the taste and composition of various foods."Wonderful, marvelous, crackin' good invention." You might say. Of course now you can have a your own royal

Screaming Harry Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07941297916663664324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32035713.post-1157080601794313612006-08-31T21:15:00.000-06:002006-08-31T21:16:41.873-06:00

What happens when you have all the knowledge in the world in one system. What will it need us for?Google is bad enough with its frightening psychic ability to detect what I'm looking for despite my meager, meat-based searching abilities.

Corey Hainesnoreply@blogger.com0