Honda ASIMO Robot

ASIMO is an abbreviation for "Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility"; revolutionary mobility progressing into a new era

"ASIMO" is a further evolved version of P3 in an endearing people-friendly size which enables it to actually perform tasks within the realm of a human living environment. It also walks in a smooth fashion which closely resembles that of a human being. The range of movement of its arms has been significantly increased and it can now be operated by a new portable controller for improved ease of operation.

ASIMO Special Features:

Smaller and Lightweight

More Advanced Walking Technology

Simple Operation

Expanded Range of Arm Movement

People-Friendly Design

Specifications:

Weight: 43kg

Height: 1,200mm

Depth: 440mm Width 450mm

Walking Speed: 0 - 1.6km/h

Operating Degrees of Freedom*

Head: 2 degrees of freedom

Arm: 5 x 2 = 10 degrees of freedom

Hand: 1 x 2 = 2 degrees of freedom

Leg: 6 x 2 = 12 degrees of freedom

TOTAL: 26 degrees of freedom

Actuators: Servomotor + Harmonic Decelerator + Drive ECU

Controller: Walking/Operation Control , Wireless Transmission ECU Sensors-Foot: 6-axis sensor

Torso: Gyroscope & Deceleration Sensor

Power Source: 38.4V/10AH (Ni-MN)

Operation: Work Station & Portable Controller

Palm Pilot Robot

"The Palm Pilot Robot was created to enable just about anyone to start building and programming mobile robots at a modest cost," said Illah Nourbakhsh, assistant professor of robotics and head of the institute's Toy Robots Initiative. "The Palm makes a handy robot controller. It packs a lot of computational power in a small size, runs on batteries, and best of all, can display graphics and an interactive user interface."

Robotic elements built into the base on which the Palm sits empower it to move about on flat surfaces and sense its nearby surroundings. The base is equipped with three "omni-wheels" with independent control of rotation that allow movement in any direction. The base also incorporates three optical range sensors, enabling the palm robot to "see" the world up to about a meter away and sense nearby obstacles and walls.

Nourbakhsh collaborated on the development of the Palm Pilot Robot with Computer Science Professor Matthew T. Mason and his laboratory assistant, Grigoriy Reshko, a freshman in Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science. The project grew out of earlier work in Mason's Manipulation Laboratory where he and Reshko were developing easy and inexpensive rapid prototyping of small robots using simple construction techniques and plastic gear motors

Dyson DC06

DC06 has over 50 sensory devices which constantly feed data into the 'brain' of the machine, the 3 onboard computers. Using this data it makes 16 decisions per second and will constantly adjust to navigate its way around a room.

DC06 does not need to be programmed. It 'thinks' for itself and therefore can clean a room on its own. It's intelligence stops it falling down stairs and will pause the machine if a dog or child gets too close. DC06 can even tell you how it's feeling. Its mood light is blue for happy, green when it is moving around an obstacle and red when it feels in danger.

Dc06 has been developed over the last 2 and a half years to solve the two major problems of automatic vacuum cleaning: how to make a small cleaner pick up dust as well as a big one and how to make a machine intelligent enough to cover a room thoroughly.Technological advancements such as DC06 could mean that in the future no human has to do their own housework.

Cyber K'NEX:

Cyber K'NEX is a new range of robots, dogs and racing cars which react to their surroundings using light, motion, infra-red and sound sensors, making independent decisions about their next actions! Each model is programmed using a Cyber Key, which gives its own distinctive character and brings it to life. Their movements can all be triggered by standard TV or stereo remote control units. At the top of the range, the Ultra set has its own programmable controller that allows children to trigger the models to act out different responses.

For example, Woof, the Cyber K'NEX dog, can detect when an intruder walks into a room and will ward them off by growling and snarling, while Mectron, the Cyber K'NEX robot will respond by speaking and flashing his lights or firing missiles from the rocket launcher in his chest.

Each Cyber K'NEX set can build at least three models, all with their own character determined by the Cyber Key which is simply plugged into the back of the model. Cyber Keys can be interchanged with each model that is made from the set and with the Ultra set, additional "personalities" may be downloaded from the K'NEX website

Sony 2nd Generation AIBO

The sale of the first ever autonomous entertainment robot AIBO ERS-110, Sony now introduce a 2nd Generation "AIBO" ERS-210 that has a greater ability to express emotion for more intimate communication with people. Available now, with no restriction on the number of units produced or the time period for orders: all customers ordering "AIBO" ERS-210 will be able to purchase a unit.

The new AIBO has additional movement in both ears and an increased number of LED (face x 4, tail x 2) and touch sensors (head, chin, back) which means that it can show an abundant array of emotions such as "joy" and "anger". In order to increase interaction with people, the ERS-210 series most distinctive feature, its autonomous robot technology that allows AIBO to learn and mature, has been enhanced

People can enjoy using AIBO in a variety of new ways an additional two application software (AlBO-ware), "Hello AIBO! Type A" [ERF-210AW02] demonstration software and "Party Mascot" [ERF-21 OAW03] game software, are also being introduced. A new line-up of AIBO accessories such as a carrying case and software that enables owners to perform simple edits to AlBO's movements and tonal sounds on a home PC will also be offered to personalize the way owners can enjoy interacting with their AIBO.

Robomow RL500

Robomow RL500 is a fully automatic robotic lawnmower. It is powered by rechargeable batteries, it is quiet, there are no smelly fumes and it will cut an area the size of a tennis court - approximately 250 square meters - before it needs a recharge.

Place Robomow RL500 anywhere on the lawn and press the GO button. It can work out for itself where it is and it will quietly get on with the job of cutting the entire lawn without any further assistance from its owner. Robomow RL500 will operate for about two hours on one charge, leaving a perfectly mown lawn with no clippings to dispose of. Robomow RL500 is a mulching mower. Robomow RL500 takes 24 hours to recharge, so it can be used every day if necessary. Due to its unique guidance and perimeter recognition system, Robo Scan it can work unattended - even at night if required.

Installation is a simple one-off operation. Robomow RL500 comes in a box with everything you need to self-install, including an explanatory video and an operator's manual. You simply peg a thin wire onto the edge of your lawn and connect it to a small cup sized switch. When turned on the switch sends a small electrical signal around the garden and defines the area within which the Robomow operates.

Cye Personal Robot

"Cye is a practical and inexpensive robot that's easy and fun to work with," said Henry Thorne, CEO of Probotics and robot guru. "Anyone who enjoys remote control devices will be thrilled with Cye's unbelievably nimble and intelligent navigation. PC lovers will find Cye an incredibly exciting peripheral that they can operate using basic point-and-click skills."

He added, "The Cye personal robot is ideal for robot hobbyists, who will think up all kinds of uses for Cye and exploit its design that allows them to easily add hardware and create new features of their own. Because of Cye's open software architecture, developers and programmers will be able to write their own cyeware."

With its PC based interface, users can Drag-N-Drive Cye on the screen and map out its environment. Cye can easily move around a home or office and learn how to navigate a new room in minutes. At a speed of three feet per second, Cye quickly moves around any room, pulling the optional wagon or vacuum attachment. Unlike other robots, Cye can follow scheduling instructions. By point-and-clicking on menu options written in plain English, users can schedule when and where they'd like Cye to go, and then Cye will automatically move there. For example, users can schedule Cye to go to the dining room at 7:00 p.m. and carry the dishes to the kitchen; vacuum the office at 10:35 a.m.; and distribute mail at 11:00 a.m.

Cye can be set up and working in just 15 minutes. To get started, users just plug the home base in, drop the robot on it, plug the radio pod in, connect it to their PC, and load the Map-N-Zap software from the CD. Cye can then be driven around by dragging its icon on the PC monitor.

i-Cybie:

i-Cybie is an intelligent, interactive robotic cyber dog specifically designed to react and respond like a real dog. Made of 1,400 parts and over 90 feet of wire, Tiger's latest canine friend will happily wander around your house, greet you, wag his tail and give you his paw. The ideal pet for the 21st century, i-Cybie has all the love and entertainment of a real dog but without the fuss. He will happily perform and play for you, keeping you constantly entertained.

With a choice of metallic blue or gold, streamlined body and legs, i-Cybie is the ultimate hi-tech hound with a fantastic personality. Displaying four main emotions, i-Cybie shows you when he is happy, sad, hyper or barking mad! His behaviour will reflect these changing moods. 16 motors drive i-Cybie's joints, giving him total flexibility and realistic movement. With smooth and slick maneuverability, i-Cybie has 14 doggie actions all activated by remote control, voice or sound commands. He will sit, beg, rollover, shake his head, act as a guard dog and even cock his leg up! His eyes will also reflect his mood with 6 different eye patterns, for example when he is hyper both eyes will be red!

Advanced voice recognition technology allows i-Cybie to recognise your voice, he will respond to eight commands including 'Good Boy,' 'Bad dog,' 'Sit down,' 'Stay,' and 'Guard.' Clapping can also be used to command i-Cybie. Special sequences of 8 claps are included with your i-Cybie. When in trick mode there are 8 clap additional clap commands that tell i-Cybie to entertain you. Fully flexible and amazingly agile i-Cybie can perform a number of different tricks and acrobatic movements. Marvel as he does a headstand, falls back into a crab position, dances, wags his tail, gives paw and scratches his ear. He's a real show-off!

A clever canine, i-Cybie has a series of intelligent sensors that allow him to react to sound, light, touch and his physical surroundings. Watch him rub his head into his owner's hands when his head is patted! He is able to stand up if he falls over, avoid walls, the edges of tables and other elevated surfaces. Watch him navigate a route, avoiding obstacles in his way!

Ant navigation

Ants that return from foraging journeys can use landmarks to find their way home, but in addition they have an internal backup system that allows them to create straight shortcuts back to the nest even when the outbound part of the forage run was very winding. This backup system is called the 'path integrator' and constantly reassesses the ant's position using an internal compass and measure of distance traveled. Knaden and his colleagues hypothesized that because the path integrator is a function of the ant's brain, it is prone to accumulate mistakes with time. That is, unless it is regularly reset to the original error-free template; which is exactly what the researchers have found.

When they moved ants from a feeder back to a position either within the nest or next to the nest, they found that only those ants that were placed in the nest were able to set off again in the right direction to the feeder. Those left outside the nest set off in a feeder-to-home direction (i.e. away from the nest in completely the opposite direction to the source of food) as if they still had the idea of 'heading home' in their brains.

"We think that it must be the specific behavior of entering the nest and releasing the food crumb that is necessary to reset the path integrator", says Knaden. "We have designed artificial nests where we can observe the ants after they return from their foraging trips in order to test this."

Exo marsrover concept

One of the attractions at the ILA2006 Space Pavilion is the full-scale ExoMars rover mock-up based on an artist's impression of Europe's next mission to Mars and the first robotic mission with the European Space Exploration Programme Aurora.

The large rover and its deployment on the surface of Mars are probably the most challenging elements of the ExoMars mission, currently slated for launch in 2011, which will search for traces of life on and underneath the surface of Mars. The rover will carry a payload, dubbed Pasteur, and will be equipped with a drilling system that will reach up to two metres below the Martian surface. Through the mock-up and accompanying background animation the many visitors to ILA2006 could gain an appreciation of the different mission phases, the rover surface operations, as well as the rover's expected size.

While an artist's view was used to produce both the rover and its animated graphics, European industry is gearing up to design and manufacture the real thing after having conducted conceptual studies (Phase A) both for the mission and for the rover as one of the mission elements.

The ExoMars mission, under the prime contractorship of Alcatel Alenia Space in Turin, is currently in its preliminary design (B1) phase. The design and manufacturing of major mission elements, such the Carrier, the Descent module and, of course, the Rover will be awarded, in compliance with ESA procurement rules, to European and Canadian companies through devoted Invitation to Tender that will be issued in the coming weeks by the prime contractor, Alcatel Alenia Space.

ExoMars is one of the components of ESA's Aurora Space Exploration Programme, which is an optional programme under the remit of the Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration. Italy is the country with the largest contribution to the ExoMars mission, among the 14 countries supporting the mission, followed by the Great Britain, France and Germany.

iRobot-LE:

"The iRobot-LE lets busy professionals be in two places at the same time," says Helen Greiner, President and co-founder of iRobot. "You control your iRobot-LE over the Internet and see video and hear audio from the iRobot-LE on your computer. You can wander your home in Boston while sitting behind your laptop in San Francisco. You can visit your kids and check up on their nanny - seeing what's going on in your house in realtime provides peace of mind."

The iRobot-LE goes anywhere a person can comfortably walk. Using Surefoot Stair climbing Technology, the iRobot-LE can go up and down stairs unassisted. The robot avoids objects using advanced sensor and signal processing technology - if you tell it to run into a wall, it's smart enough not to. As the iRobot-LE explores its home, its sophisticated artificial intelligence allows it to learn the layout and build a floor plan that it uses to navigate. A person controlling the iRobot-LE through a web browser can participate in conversations over the Internet. The robot's camera can be turned to address people and to look at people as they talk. If there's something more interesting happening in another direction, the iRobot-LE can be instructed to drive over there.

"The iRobot-LE takes the Internet beyond the Web to the next level - no longer is the Internet just for the exchange of information. Now it lets you really travel around the world, and drop in on friends, business acquaintances, check in at home, or visit an exotic locale, from any Web browser anywhere in the world," says Prof. Rodney Brooks, Director of the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT, Chairman, and co-founder of iRobot. "This remote presence technology goes beyond chat rooms, e-mail, and way beyond teleconferencing to bring people together. iRobot technology will change the way we perceive time and distance making the world a truly global village."

NOMAD - The Thinking Robot

NOMAD's behavior is controlled by the activity of its simulated brain cells, allowing researchers a unique window into how the human brain works and how brain mechanisms produce the range of behaviors associated with higher brain functions. NOMAD can interact with its environment by sensing light and taste and by moving around and grabbing play blocks with striped or spotted patterns.

"Since NOMAD is attracted to light, it will steer toward a block and pick it up. When it grabs the striped block, it gets an electrical charge," explained chief engineer James Snook.

"In the simulated brain, this conductivity registers as good taste. Blocks with spots give no charge, hence, bad taste. As NOMAD's gripper holds the block, the brain associates the taste with the pattern it sees. After learning, it will stop picking up bad tasting blocks. It will approach them and after seeing the pattern, will remember that they taste bad and move away."

"We are adding a third sense to NOMAD's repertoire; an auditory system," said Krichmar. The simulated auditory system has areas to categorize and locate a sound, he added. A tone is associated with the taste of the block (high-pitched from a striped block, low-pitched from a spotted block). When the block detects NOMAD's presence, it starts to beep. Future plans are to give NOMAD a long-term memory that will enable it to remember objects and events and put them into context

Robotics technology Introduction

Robotics technology is developing at a rapid pace, opening up new possibilities for automating tasks and enriching the lives of humans. From the automobile assembly line to automatic home vacuum cleaners, Robotics are a part of our world.

The Robotics community provides free resources pertinent to anyone in any industry interested in how technology can enhance quality of life. Here you’ll find Robotics technology industry news, blogs, feature articles, videos and more. Use these tools to educate yourself and stay current with what’s happening in Robotics.

Robotics Technology Background

You have heard of the word “robots” during all your live; however you do not heard about the word “robotics” to often. Let star with a definition of the word itself; Robotics is a science of modern technology of general purpose of programmable machine systems. Contrary to the popular fiction image of robot as ambulatory machines of human appearance capable of performing almost any task. Most robotic systems are anchored to fixed positions in reality with limit mobility.  Robots perform a flexible, but restricted, number of operations in computer-aided manufacturing processes. These systems minimally contain a computer or a programmable device to control operations and effecters, devices that perform the desired work. The next paragraph represents the vision or general definition of robots according to the scientific knowledge and technology of that era

Robotics Sensors

Proximity sensor senses and indicates the presence of an object within a fixed space near the sensor without physical contact. Different commercially available proximity sensors are suitable for different applications.

Range sensor measures the distance from a reference point to a set of points in the scene. Humans can estimate range values based on visual data by perceptual processes that include comparison of image sizes and projected views of world-object models. Range can be sensed with a pair of TV cameras or sonar transmitters and receivers.

A touch sensor senses and indicates a physical contact between the object carrying the sensor and another object. The simplest touch sensor is a micro switch. Touch sensors can be used to stop the motion of a robot when its end-effectors make contact with an object.

Acoustic sensor senses and interprets acoustic waves in gas, liquid, or solid. The level of sophistication of sensor interpretation varies among existing acoustic sensors, frequency of acoustic waves and recognition of isolated words in a continuous speech.

A force sensor measures the three components of the force and three components of the torque acting between two objects. In particular, a robot-wrist force sensor measures the components of force and torque between the last link of the robot and its end-effectors by transmitting the deflection of the sensor's compliant sections, which results from the applied force and torque.  

What is a Robot?

“A re-programmable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices through various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks.”

A robot essential characteristics

·        Mobility: It possesses some form of mobility.

·        Programmability: implying computational or symbol- manipulative capabilities that a designer can combine as desired (a robot is a computer). It can be programmed to accomplish a large variety of tasks. After being programmed, it operates automatically.

·        Sensors: on or around the device that are able to sense the environment and give useful feedback to the device

·        Mechanical capability: enabling it to act on its environment rather than merely function as a data processing or computational device.

·        Flexibility: it can operate using a range of programs and manipulates and transport materials in a variety of ways.

Components of robots

• Mechanical platforms -- or hardware base is a mechanical device, such as a wheeled platform, arm, fixed frame or other construction, capable of interacting with its environment and any other mechanism involve with his capabilities and uses.
• Sensors systems is a special feature that rest on or around the robot. This device would be able to provide judgment to the controller with relevant information about the environment and give useful feedback to the robot.
• Joints provide more versatility to the robot itself and are not just a point that connects two links or parts that can flex, rotate, revolve and translate. Joints play a very crucial role in the ability of the robot to move in different directions providing more degree of freedom.
• The controller functions as the "brain" of the robot. Robots today have controllers that are run by programs - sets of instructions written in code. In other words, it is a computer used to command the robot memory and logic. So it, be able to work independently and automatically.
• Power Source is the main source of energy to fulfill all the robots needs. It could be a source of direct current as a battery, or alternate current from a power plant, solar energy, hydraulics or gas.
• Artificial intelligence represents the ability of computers to "think" in ways similar to human beings. Present day "AI" does allow machines to mimic certain simple human thought processes, but can not begin to match the quickness and complexity of the brain. On the other hand, not all robots possess this type of capability. It requires a lot of programming and sophisticates controllers and sensorial ability of the robot to reach this level.

The first robots

Joseph Engel Berger, in the picture, is entitled to be the father of robotics, together with George Deroe developed the first commercial robot, Unimate, in 1961. It was placed on Ford and was there used for a press-loading operation. A picture of the first generation robots from Unimate can be seen in the picture below.

The first robots were principally intended to replacing humans in monotonous, heavy and hazardous processes. Distinctive features of the use of the newly developed robots were in handling of materials and work pieces without direct control or participation in the manufacturing process. Robots did not become a major force in industry generally until they had been used extensively in the Japanese automobile industry.

Physical Robot configurations

Cartesian robot is form by 3 prismatic joints, whose axes are coincident with the X, Y and Z planes. These robots move in three directions, in translation, at right angles to each other.

Cylindrical robot is able to rotate along his main axes forming a cylindrical shape. The robot arm is attached to the slide so that it can be moved radically with respect to the column.

Spherical robot is able to rotate in two different directions along his main axes and the third joint moves in translation forming a hemisphere or polar coordinate system. It used for a small number of vertical actions and is adequate for loading and unloading of a punch.

SCARA robot which stands for Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm it is built with 2 parallel rotary joints to provide compliance in a plane. The robots work in the XY-plane and have Z-movement and a rotation of the gripper for assembly.

Articulated robots are mechanic manipulator that looks like an arm with at least three rotary joints. They are used in welding and painting; gantry and conveyor systems move parts in factories.

Parallel robot is a complex mechanism which is constituted by two or more kinematics chains between, the base and the platform where the end-effectors are located. Good examples are the flying simulator and 4-D attractions at Univ. Studios.

Types of robots according application

Industrial Robots are found in a variety of locations including the automobile and manufacturing industries. However, robot technology is relatively new to the industrial scene their roll consists of welding, painting, material handling and assembling.

Educational Robots one example is the Hex Avoider. It is a programmable mobile robot designed to move independently and avoid obstacles. Hex avoider use infrared emitters and receivers to sense its environment. Their roll is demonstration for teaching basic concepts and gets the attention of future engineers to this field.

Agricultural Robots one example is the Demeter harvester it contains new controllers, proximity sensors, safeguards and task software specialized to the needs of commercial agriculture processes.

Robots in Space are name as Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). It can be consistent with an unmanned spacecraft that remains in flight or a lander that makes contact with an extraterrestrial body and operates from a stationary position, or a rover that can move over terrain once it has landed.

Mobile Robots (Transportation) these types of robot operate by control remote deploying sensor position. Their roll consist of sampling payloads, mapping surface and creating a photo realistic 3D models and sent back any kind of visual information of building interiors and any environmental data.

Health Care Robots they are able to perform simple task and improve some medical protocol and procedures.