Sabbah Report » Robot

Thin skin will help robots ‘feel’

Haitham Sabbah — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 17:49:36 +0000

Japanese researchers have developed a flexible artificial skin that could give robots a humanlike sense of touch. The team manufactured a type of "skin" capable of sensing pressure and another capable of sensing temperature. Related posts: Robot Skin Stretches To The Task Flying Robots Robots Searching the Skies for Earth-Like Planet Related posts:

The Female Robot!

Haitham Sabbah — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 11:11:33 +0000

Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet devised - a "female" android called Repliee Q1.

She has flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic, and a number of sensors and motors to allow her to turn and react in a human-like manner.

She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe.

She is designed to look human and although she can only sit at present, she has 31 actuators in her upper body, powered by a nearby air compressor, programmed to allow her to move like a human.

Its head could move in nine directions and it could gesture with its arm... [read more...]

Qatar’s Child Jockeys

Haitham Sabbah — Wed, 25 May 2005 10:59:39 +0000

(Photo: Child jockeys in Qatar in April 2005 - AFP/File/Salem)

Yesterday, Qatari official announced that it will reportedly slap jail sentences of between three to 10 years on anyone using child jockeys in camel races, will also risk fines of between 50,000 and 200,000 riyals (13,800 and 55,000 dollars).

The Qatari government in December banned the use of children in camel races and said it would instead use robots as jockeys.

Kamel, the Robot Jockey

Haitham Sabbah — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 13:29:11 +0000

October 2004, I posted a news article about the intentions of Qatar to substitute robots for jockeys in camel races. Now the robot is ready and was tested last week.

The following photos shows 'Kamel', the robot jockey, rides Ghazil, a Qatari camel, during a test-run at the Shahaniah camel race track in Doha, Qatar.

The Robot was developed by the Swiss Alexandre Colot.

Qatar plans to phase out child jockeys, who have long been used in camel races, and replace them with robots.

Qatar to use robots in camel races

Haitham Sabbah — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 22:02:59 +0000

Qatar is set to substitute robots for jockeys in camel races, a favorite sport in the oil-rich Gulf region which has faced widespread criticism over the use of child jockeys from the Indian subcontinent.

But the sport's supremo in Doha insists Qatar never abused child camel jockeys in the first place and that the plan to use "robot-jockeys" within the coming year was not in response to protests by human rights groups.

"We have successfully completed three phases in the production of the robot," the president of the organizing committee of camel races in this Gulf state said.

"We are awaiting a visit by the engineers handling the project to start the fourth, and probably last, phase," said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Faisal al-Thani.

He said the robot was being developed by a Swiss company but would not disclose further details, citing the terms of the contract with the unnamed firm. The robots are expected to be ready in 2005.

Sheikh Hamad announced last March that robot-jockeys had been used in a camel race for the first time and the practice would be repeated.

Gulf Arab monarchies are trying to bring order to the national sport in the face of protests over the trafficking of young children from the subcontinent as jockeys.

The US State Department and human rights groups have raised the alarm over the exploitation of children by traffickers who pay impoverished parents a paltry sum or simply resort to kidnapping their victims.

The children, mostly from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Pakistan, are then smuggled into the oil-rich Gulf states.

They are often starved by employers to keep them light and maximize their racing potential. Mounting camels three times their height, the children - some as young as six - face the risk of being thrown off or trampled.

Officials in Qatar's organizing committee of camel races have been proudly circulating sketches of the robots, which suggest the final product will be a much more advanced version of the one used on a trial basis earlier this year.

One of the sketches shows a human-shaped robot in the saddle, while another features a remote control device to command the 'jockey' to make hand movements to direct the camel.

According to Sheikh Hamad, the Swiss company was paid around 1.37 million dollars to produce the robots, which will cost just under 5,500 dollars apiece.

"The committee will buy 100 robots and rent them out at prices subsidized by the government," he said.

But Sheikh Hamad refuted claims that Qatar had abused or trafficked child jockeys.

"Our leadership seeks to make Qatar a state of law which upholds human rights, and we will never allow ourselves to act in a way that runs counter to this," he said.

Defying critics to produce evidence of rights abuses, Sheikh Hamad said there were no Asian jockeys in the gas-rich Gulf state.

"All are Sudanese, who entered the country legally" accompanied by their parents or other legal guardians, he maintained.

There are some 100 youths aged nine to over 20 who are either professional camel jockeys or undergoing training in Qatar. Only jockeys aged 14 or more are allowed to take part in races.

An official said last month that Qatar was drafting a bill that would ban hiring people under 18 as jockeys for camel races. The legislation should be ready next April.

Camel owner Saqr al-Marrikhi said he was prepared to "appear before any (tribunal) in the world and own up to my responsibility if it is proven that we exploit children" in any way.

"I'm a father. Would I allow anyone to exploit my son?" said Mohammad Saad, a Sudanese national accompanying his 12-year-old son to a school for child jockeys.

Qatar's main camel race carries a prize of more than 190,000 dollars, 10 percent of which goes to the parent or guardian of the jockey, who also gets a monthly salary of up to 400 dollars.

Source: Middle East Online

Topobo

Haitham Sabbah — Sat, 02 Oct 2004 20:45:07 +0000

Topobo is a 3D constructive assembly system embedded with kinetic memory, the ability to record and playback physical motion. Unique among modeling systems is Topobo’s coincident physical input and output behaviors. By snapping together a combination of Passive (static) and Active (motorized) components, people can quickly assemble dynamic biomorphic forms like animals and skeletons with Topobo, animate those forms by pushing, pulling, and twisting them, and observe the system repeatedly play back those motions. For example, a dog can be constructed and then taught to gesture and walk by twisting its body and legs. The dog will then repeat those movements and walk repeatedly.

Interplanetary Laser Communication

Haitham Sabbah — Tue, 10 Aug 2004 00:16:29 +0000

MIT-NASA team to test first interplanetary laser communication link.

A NASA?MIT Lincoln Laboratory team will forge the first laser communication link between Mars and Earth. This unique experiment, part of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, will greatly benefit the transmission of data from robotic spacecraft.

In 2010, the Mars Laser Communication Demonstration (MLCD) will test the first deep-space laser communication link, which promises to transmit data at a rate nearly ten times higher than any existing interplanetary radio communication link. MLCD will fly on the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter spacecraft, which is planned for launch in 2009. The experiment is a partnership among NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and MIT?s Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL).

"If we are planning to put people on Mars, we'll need highly reliable communication links with high data rates, and our team wants to show how this can be done with lasers," said Rick Fitzgerald, Project Manager at NASA Goddard.

"Lincoln Lab is very excited about this program because it challenges us, and it provides an opportunity for the country to field, in-space, a very advanced system far earlier than might otherwise be possible," said Dr. Roy Bondurant, leader of the MIT/LL team.

The expected data rate varies depending on Mars's position in its orbit, the weather and atmospheric conditions on Earth, and whether reception is occurring in daytime or nighttime. When Mars is at its farthest point from Earth and the reception is occurring during daytime, the team expects to receive data at a rate of a million bits per second, but when Mars is at its closest approach and reception is at night, the rate could be thirty times higher. Today, the maximum data rate transmitted to Earth by spacecraft at Mars is about 128,000 bits per second (for NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft).

Lasers have not been used for deep-space communications until now because they first had to be made reliable and efficient enough for use in spacecraft millions of miles from Earth. Additionally, the radio frequencies traditionally used for deep space can pass through clouds, while laser (optical frequencies) can be partially to completely blocked by them. The project hopes to overcome this limitation by employing two separate ground terminals, on the chance that if one terminal is clouded over, the other might be clear.

Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Flying Robots

Haitham Sabbah — Sun, 25 Jul 2004 13:53:23 +0000

Fort Benning's International Aerial Robotics Competition tests ingenuity.

What if there was a robot that could fly? Perhaps, even save a life or gather information on an enemy?

That's what future scientists and engineers set out to do Thursday at the 14th Annual International Aerial Robotics Competition at Fort Benning's McKenna Urban Operations Site.

The first robot that can fly 3 miles, identify a building and enter it in less than 15 minutes wins $40,000. But no team has achieved that yet in four years of competition. Each year, $10,000 is added to the cash prize.

The University of Arizona, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Ga., the University of Waterloo in Canada, and Simon Fraser University in Canada participated in the event. The five schools fielded teams of five to eight students.

"The biggest benefit is that these teams start with a theory and apply that theory. We want to let them be creative," said Aaron Kahn, a judge and aerospace engineer in flight controls for the U.S. Naval Research Lab. He also said the event is a good way for students to be recruited for jobs in the technology industry.

Students raised as much as $45,000 this year to build and design a robot that can operate on its own to complete the contest's missions.

Fort Benning was chosen as the site to have the competition because of its simulated village, which is used for military training.

"It provides us with the urban setting without injuring people or damaging personal property," Kahn said.

Robert Michelson, founder of the international competitions, said Fort Benning's support of aerial robotics and technology means a lot.

"We couldn't do this without Fort Benning. You need logistic support. It makes a difference when someone takes a genuine interest," he said.

Source: www.ledger-enquirer.com

Locally-Built Robot Set To Become Hong Kong’s Latest Cop

Haitham Sabbah — Thu, 11 Mar 2004 14:49:06 +0000

New Robotcop III Set to Fight Crime in Hong Kong.

There is a new cop patrolling the streets of Hong Kong and teaching children how to prevent crime. But it's a robot, named Robotcop III, designed and built in Hong Kong, tells us Channel Newsasia. Robotcop III can walk, dance, move in any direction, display videos and answer questions asked in Cantonese and English. The previous versions of Robotcops, introduced in 1988 and 1995, were imported from the U.S. and taught 800,000 school children how to fight crime. The promoters of Robotcop III hope it will do even better.

After two predecessors from the U.S., Robotcop The Third is "born-and-bred", so to speak, in Hong Kong.
It might cost around HK$300,000 (US$38,500) to develop and build, but the service it provides the Hong Kong crime prevention drive is priceless.

Source: Channel News Asia

Mini-copter Stars At Robot Show

Haitham Sabbah — Thu, 20 Nov 2003 01:46:09 +0000

The world's lightest and smallest robot helicopter has been unveiled at a Tokyo exhibition by the Seiko Epson company.

The designers say the 70-mm-tall device could be used as a "flying camera" to enter earthquake-shattered buildings.

The prototype four-legged robot weighs 10 grammes and although it flies by remote control, it has to be linked to an external power source via a cable.

"The robot has a camera and can fly into dangerous areas or areas hit by disasters in place of human beings. In a word, it functions as an eye," said the manager of Seiko Epson's strategic business development division.

It has taken the company three years to get the vehicle to its current stage of development.

Source: BBC News

The Unlikely Human Frankenstein

Haitham Sabbah — Mon, 27 Oct 2003 19:51:23 +0000

Chicago researchers at Northwestern University have fused the brain stem of an eel to a robot the size of a dollar coin, creating a crude cyborg, or cybernetic organism.

Kept alive in a saline solution, the brain adapts to changing light conditions and directs the robotic wheels to move towards light beams like a bull chasing a matador's swishing cape.

In February last year, a partially paralysed 43-year-old man in Phoenix, Arizona, began to walk again - with the help of electrodes implanted permanently in his spinal cord. He still needs a wheelchair, but can walk as far as 300m with the help of a walking stick.

The following month, British scientist Kevin Warwick had a centimetre-long electrode with 100 points as thin as a strand of hair implanted into a nerve in his forearm. This transmitted his nerve activity wirelessly to a computer.

As he moved individual fingers, that nerve activity was recorded, and the signals re-transmitted to operate robot arms successfully, even across the Atlantic.

Source: TheStraitsTimes

Human chromosome

Robot Dog Fart Causes Airport Crisis

Haitham Sabbah — Sun, 26 Oct 2003 22:01:17 +0000

According to a UPI story, there was a security scare at a Norfolk, Viriginia airport when a British man attempted to pass through a security check point with his robot dog. The robot dog farted at an inopportune time, leading security experts to conclude it was a bomb. At this point, "Dave Rogerson, told the BBC he watched incredulously as FBI agents took a series of swabs from the mechanical toy's rear end." The whole thing sounds pretty unlikely but there actually is (or was) a toy robot dog that farts, the Tekno L1 Robot Puppy.

The toy is no longer made so if you want to buy one in anticipation of your next international trip, you'll need to find one on eBay.

Robot Skin Stretches To The Task

Haitham Sabbah — Sat, 25 Oct 2003 20:49:43 +0000

Better Android Skin.

According to a NewScientist.com article, researchers Sigurd Wagner and Stephanie Lacour of Princeton University's Macroelectronics Group have developed an elastic metal film that can stretch up to twice its own length while remaining conductive. It can be embedded in silicone and still stretch up to 15%. The material should be ideal for androids, humanoid robots that need life-like skin which can also carry wiring for sensors.

No related posts.

Monkey Thinks, Makes His Moves

Haitham Sabbah — Wed, 22 Oct 2003 22:39:50 +0000

An implanted device had allowed the monkey to control the game using only her thoughts.

Changes in the way the monkey's brain cells worked suggested the brain was physically adjusting to the device, reported in the new online science journal.

Dr. Miguel Nicolelis hopes the device will eventually allow paralyzed patients to regain some ability to use their upper bodies -- virtually, if not physically.

"The monkey suddenly realized that she didn't need to move her arm at all," Nicolelis said in a statement.

"Her arm muscles went completely quiet, she kept the arm at her side and she controlled the robot arm using only her brain and visual feedback."

Three years ago, Nicolelis and colleagues at Duke University in North Carolina reported they had allowed a monkey to move a robotic arm using only her thoughts and implanted electrodes. But the monkey continued to move her arm.An implanted device had allowed the monkey to control the game using only her thoughts.

Changes in the way the monkey's brain cells worked suggested the brain was physically adjusting to the device, reported in the new online science journal.

Dr. Miguel Nicolelis hopes the device will eventually allow paralyzed patients to regain some ability to use their upper bodies -- virtually, if not physically.

"The monkey suddenly realized that she didn't need to move her arm at all," Nicolelis said in a statement.

"Her arm muscles went completely quiet, she kept the arm at her side and she controlled the robot arm using only her brain and visual feedback."

No related posts.