Weird Science – Yet More Robots

In a strange case of the left manipulator not knowing what the right manipulator is doing, here are two more robots that I somehow managed to miss off yesterday’s post.

First up is the obvious and long overdue companion to yesterday’s beer fetching robots; a robot that can flip pancakes. Obviously there have been automated pancake makers around for a while now, but this robot from the Italian Institute of technology has learnt how to flip a good pancake by seeing how humans do it. Please, Dr. Kormushev, teach it to fry bacon next (Vimeo).



But if some groups are concentrating on robots that ply you with beer and pancakes, Autom’s mission in life is to help you lose weight and live healthily. The brainchild of Cory Kidd, who had the idea while at MIT, Autom first asks you for details of your diet, fitness and exercise regime, then it has daily 'conversations' with you during which it will dispense diet and exercise advice. Apparently a major insurance company intends to trial Autom in the US sometime next year, so we can all look forward to having one of these nag us each morning as a mandatory requirement of our health plan (Engadget).



Hmm, perhaps I could teach the pancake robot to flatten the annoying little thingamajig with its frying pan before making my breakfast stack?

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Fri Jul 23, 2010 - Comments (5)
Category: Exercise and Fitness, Futurism, Health, Inventions, Robots, Technology

Weird Science – Invention Is The Mother Of Necessity

Build a better mousetrap, it is said, and the world will beat a path to your door. The implication being that there are some problems which are just crying out for a solution. And then there are the solutions crying out for a problem - those inventions that, while inspired, are just a tad “out there”. It is this later category I shall be celebrating today.

First up, how clean is your cow? This age old problem has nagged at the minds of farmers down the ages, are their cows clean enough? And why isn’t there an easier way to clean cows? Well these merchants of the soil need worry no more thanks to a Swedish company that has developed the fully automated “cow wash”. Supposedly improving the health and yield of cows that use it, the cow wash uses a free swinging revolving brush to groom the cows while simultaneously stimulating their circulation. Apparently the cows enjoy using it and the makers DeLaval have sold over 30,000 in Sweden alone (Daily Mail).

Bigwigs in the US military will also soon be able to sleep sounder in the knowledge that the men under their command are safely in their underpants. We’re not just talking about any undies though, these have been specially designed by University of California professor Joseph Wang. Not only will his techno-trunks monitor the vitals of the personnel wearing them, they can even administer painkillers or antibiotics as the situation demands (Post Chronicle).

And if your pants don’t save you, at least your modesty will be preserved when you are taken to hospital, all thanks to the University of Montreal. For it is from that fine establishment’s School of Industrial Design that our next invention hails, a hospital gown that isn’t quite so revealing. The DUO gown is the brainchild of Noemie Marquis and Denyse Roy and consists of two overlapping panels, front and back, that is easy to put on and requires no fasteners making life simpler for both patients and staff (Medical News Today).

Meanwhile British scientists have been working on an altogether sterner cover. Nicknamed “bullet-proof custard” by its inventors, Bristol based BAE systems have developed a liquid armour consisting of layers of Kevlar combined with a secret “shear-thickening” liquid that hardens as force is applied. The company’s eventual aim is to produce lighter, more-flexible body armour for the military (BBC News).



More in extended >>

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Thu Jul 22, 2010 - Comments (9)
Category: Animals, Farming, Bicycles and Other Human-powered Vehicles, Futurism, Hospitals, Inventions, Robots, Science, Technology, Underwear

A Robot That Parks Cars

No, not Marvin (ref.), this one is from the Computer Science Department of Stanford University and it not only parks cars, it does so awesomely!



The only disappointment is that it doesn't come with a little row of strobing red lights on the front.

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Thu May 13, 2010 - Comments (10)
Category: Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Robots, Science, Technology, Computers, Cars

Weird Science - Towel Folding Robot

Judging by the huge response to what I thought was a fairly large and obscure post about a tiny coincidence, the Hitchhiker's Guide and cutting-edge science is obviously a winning combination.

So here is a super special Douglas Adams bonus, a robot folding towels! Okay so that's a bit of a stretch, but it is still quite cool.

Note that this video has been speeded up 50x, in real time it took the robot over an hour and a half to complete this one task. Perhaps it was feeling a little depressed?

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Sat Apr 17, 2010 - Comments (25)
Category: Boredom, Futurism, Inventions, Robots, Science, Experiments, Technology

Robothespian Can Take the Part

Need to program your own spokesperson? This guy never takes a day off!!



The eyes kinda scare me.

Posted By: gdanea - Thu Mar 04, 2010 - Comments (3)
Category: Robots

Robots designed after nature

Using insects, salamanders, geckos, water striders and cockroaches, scientists are designing robots for various purposes. At the end, the self-rearranging robot climbs up a suitcase and does the limbo.



I'm officially requesting the beta for the foot massaging robot who also trims toenails -- maybe designed after a caterpillar? Maybe not.

Posted By: gdanea - Mon Feb 08, 2010 - Comments (2)
Category: Robots

Where are the robots?

I remember playing with some of these I think -- but I want the full size ones now!! This robot with sparks could have been the inspiration for Spark Skating Barbie.



There are 32 other "Trippy Space Ads" from Life Magazine. Here's the website:

http://www.life.com/image/90006825/in-gallery/34572/trippy-spaceage-toy-art

Posted By: gdanea - Sat Oct 10, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Robots

Robot with Bones

Though these robot bones are made of plastic and the muscles are motors, this robot moves more like humans than any other robot.



With kite strings for tendons and elastic to aid movement, it more closely mimics human movement. But I still don't want to shake a robot hand -- is that intolerant?

Here's another animatronic rocker -- very fun and starring at Universal Orlando.

Robo Bones singing "Mustang Sally"!!

RoboBones from Chris on Vimeo.

Here's "Robo Bones" My Space page:

http://www.myspace.com/robobones

Posted By: gdanea - Fri Sep 18, 2009 - Comments (8)
Category: Robots

Lego Sudoku Solver

Having problems solving that Sudoku puzzle? Well, worry no more because someone had the idea to construct a robot to do that for you. Now you can sit back, relax and drink your morning coffee without having to worry about all those pesky little numbers. The robot is built from the ever versatile Lego Mindstorm kits. There's also one that solves a Rubik's cube. Head over to Tilted Twister to check it out.

Posted By: mdb777 - Fri Sep 11, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Games, Robots, Toys

Beijing theatre builds own Transformer

As part of promoting the new Transformer movie, this movie theatre created a VW Passat Transformer.



Here's a link to a story about the car and more pictures:

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/07/16/beijing-mall-builds-its-own-transformer-out-of-vw-jetta/

No information on if it really works.

Posted By: gdanea - Thu Jul 16, 2009 - Comments (5)
Category: Robots