Clipmarks | wildcat's 'robotics' clips

Micro-robot that can clear arteries

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:58:42 GMT

clipped by: shunyax

A microscopic robot small enough to travel through blood vessels has been built by scientists.

Less than a millimetre in size, the robot walks like a crab on six legs and has been designed to clear blocked arteries.

A microscopic robot small enough to travel through blood vessels has been built by scientists.

Less than a millimetre in size, the robot walks like a crab on six legs and has been designed to clear blocked arteries.

It was produced by researchers at Chonnam National University in Korea, who found the robot was able to travel 55 yards in a week.

Once inside a blocked artery, it is able to release drugs to dissolve blood clots, which are often the cause of heart attacks.

By attaching grafted heart muscle to the legs, the scientists found the legs would bend as the muscle cells contracted. The cells get their energy from sugar in the patient's blood.

That means the robot does not need an external power supply, which are often heavy and cumbersome, if not impractical.

Tags: medicine, health, robotics

Nothing to lose but their chains

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:36:49 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.economist.com

Robots are getting cleverer and more dexterous. Their time has almost come

Today, thanks to the relentless increase in the power of computing, the latest robots are being fitted with sophisticated systems that enable them to see, feel, move and work together. Robot engineers call this “mechatronics”: the union of mechanics, optics, electronics, computers and software. Some factory robots are now smart enough to be released from their safety cages to work among humans. And as they become cleverer and more dexterous, they are starting to move from factories to offices and homes.

A robot is defined not by its appearance, but by how it is controlled. The more automated it is and the more it can determine its behaviour, the more likely it is to count as a robot. Many single-function service robots are already familiar

Vision and touch are improving fast enough for the cage soon to be removed.

As with industrial robots, the first service robots to enter production will be shaped by their job

Tags: robotics, dexterity, economy, industrialization, technology

The Man Who Invented the Twentieth Century

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 03:58:45 GMT

clipped by: adamc
clipper's remarks: Tesla is my greatest hero. Given the right management I believe he could have achieved his goal of delivering power wirelessly to the world for free. He tapped into the electromagnetic field we are a part of... like almost no other.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

In the United States, Tesla's fame rivaled that of any other inventor or scientist in history or popular culture. After his demonstration of wireless communication in 1893 and after being the victor in the "War of Currents", he was widely respected as America's greatest electrical engineer. Much of his early work pioneered modern electrical engineering and many of his discoveries were of groundbreaking importance. In 1947, the United States Supreme Court credited him as being the inventor of the radio. Never putting much focus on his finances, Tesla died impoverished and forgotten at the age of 86.

Tesla's legacy can be seen across modern civilization wherever electricity is used. Aside from his work on electromagnetism and engineering, Tesla is said to have contributed in varying degrees to the fields of robotics, ballistics, computer science, nuclear physics, and theoretical physics. In his later years, Tesla was regarded as a mad scientist and became noted for making bizarre claims about possible scientific developments. ^[1]^[2] Many of his achievements have been used, with some controversy, to support various pseudosciences, UFO theories, and New Age occultism. Many contemporary admirers of Tesla have deemed him the man who invented the twentieth century.

Tags: tesla, nikola telsa, inventor, science, engineering, electricity, history, genius, hero

Redefining the Limits of the Human Body

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:43:02 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: While humans have been set apart from other animals as a species that makes tools, that definition may change to it being the only species that incorporates tools.

Clip Source: www.weforum.org

The discussion particularly explored the possibilities that neuroscience holds for extending knowledge and the profound implications that technology holds for people who are physically or cognitively impaired. It was suggested that homo sapiens is evolving into homo roboticus.

Other insights:

Brain activity that produces action can be recorded. As a result, signals can be sent in real time to robotic devices, either implanted or remote. It is possible, for example, for the brain/machine interface to enable an amputee wearing a robotic vest to regain mobility.

Implanted neuro-prostheses can restore motor functions in cases of spinal cord injuries or lesions. They can "read" intentions of the brain to produce movement.

Prosthetic limbs will be able to provide osteoperception as well as movement.

Implants, called bions, which work wirelessly, can be inserted into muscles in the body to enable direct control of robots

Tags: robotics, neuroscience, brain, human body, limits

10 Reasons I'd Rather Marry a Robot

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:51:20 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks:

Clip Source: www.wired.com

I don't plan to marry again, but if for some reason I must, I might consider tying that knot with a robot.

As Dave Barry says, I am not making this up. Artificial-intelligence expert David Levy's new book, Love + Sex With Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships, makes a compelling case for the development of real human-robot partnerships -- by 2050.

I'll be 80 by then, but who cares? With the help of aphrodisiac pharmaceuticals, I'll be as randy and functional as ever, with a wealth of experience I absolutely plan to gain between now and then.

Here are 10 reasons I'd consider a robo-marriage:

Robots are more than sex machines.

Artificial intelligence is still intelligence.

Robots are sensitive and responsive.

A robot will only create drama if I want it to.

Robots have off switches.

Accessories.

Robots are available for sexual adventure without elaborate discussions, permissions or restrictions.

The safest sex on the planet.

A robot is forever -- at least until the warranty runs out.

Tags: robotics, fun

AI Singularity: The Next Stage of Human Evolution?

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:02:10 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: "Technology is heading here. It will predictably get to the point of making artificial intelligence," Yudkowsky said. "The mere fact that you cannot predict exactly when it will happen down to the day is
no excuse for closing your eyes and refusing to think about it."

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

"We and our world won't be us anymore," Rodney Brooks, a robotics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told the audience. When it comes to computers, he said, "who is us and who is them is going to become a different sort of question."

The idea is that since intelligence is the foundation of human technology and all technology is ultimately the product of our intelligence—it stands to reason that technology can then turn around and enhance intelligence, thereby “closing the loop” and creating a positive feedback effect. According to these futurists, these improved, “smarter” minds will be more effective at building still smarter minds. They point out how this “loop” is self evident in the example of an Artificial Intelligence improving its own source code.

advocates argue it is plain irresponsible to ignore the possibilities with a “wait and see” attitude. Autonomous robots are already getting close to making life and death “decisions” on the battlefield

Tags: singularity, ai, technology, human, future, its here

A Robot Controlled by Self Organizing Biological Neural Net

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:08:56 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: "Within a week we get some spontaneous firings and brain-like activity" similar to what happens in a normal rat -- or human -- brain, he added.

But without external stimulation, the brain will wither and die within a couple of months.

"Now we are looking at how best to teach it to behave in certain ways," explained Warwick.

To some extent, Gordon learns by itself. When it hits a wall, for example, it gets an electrical stimulation from the robot's sensors. As it confronts similar situations, it learns by habit.

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

It looks like a group of researchers from the University of Reading are making a solid run at the title of mad scientists of the year (in the best sense, of course), with them now boasting that they've developed a robot that's controlled by a "biological brain."

That's not quite the sci-fi sight you may be imagining, however (though it's close), with it instead made up of some 300,000 neurons taken from the neural cortex of a rat fetus, which are contained in multi electrode array that packs 60 electrodes to pick up the signals generated by the cells and, in turn, control the robot.

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

Because the brain is living tissue, it must be housed in a special temperature-controlled unit -- it communicates with its "body" via a Bluetooth radio link.

The robot has no additional control from a human or computer.

From the very start, the neurons get busy. "Within about 24 hours, they start sending out feelers to each other and making connections,"

Tags: robotics, neural inteface

New Computerized System Estimates Geographic Location Of Photos

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:33:00 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: Amazing

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have devised the first computerized method that can analyze a single photograph and determine where in the world the image likely was taken. It's a feat made possible by searching through millions of GPS-tagged images in the Flickr online photo collection.

The IM2GPS algorithm developed by computer science graduate student James Hays and Alexei A. Efros, assistant professor of computer science and robotics, doesn't attempt to scan a photo for location clues, such as types of clothing, the language on street signs, or specific types of vegetation, as a person might do. Rather, it analyzes the composition of the photo, notes how textures and colors are distributed and records the number and orientation of lines in the photo. It then searches Flickr for photos that are similar in appearance.

Tags: gps, photos, computers, software

Can a Robot, an Insect or God Be Aware?

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:43:26 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Our intuitions about consciousness in other beings and objects reveal a lot about how we think.

Can a lobster ever truly have any emotions?

Or a sophisticated computer? The only way to resolve these questions conclusively would be to engage in serious scientific inquiry—but even before studying the scientific literature, many people have pretty clear intuitions about what the answers are going to be. A person might just look at a computer and feel certain that it couldn’t possibly be feeling pleasure, pain or anything at all. That’s why we don’t mind throwing a broken computer in the trash. Likewise, most people don’t worry too much about a lobster feeling angst about its impending doom when they put one into a pot of boiling water. In the jargon of philosophy, these intuitions we have about whether a creature or thing is capable of feelings or subjective experiences—such as the experience of seeing red or tasting a peach—are called “intuitions about phenomenal consciousness.”

Tags: consciousness, thought, awareness, robotics

A Tiny Robot to Peer into the Guts, and Heal

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:40:18 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver

Clip Source: www.technologyreview.com

For the past few years, medical researchers have been trying to develop ways to peer painlessly inside the human body, from a swallowable sensor to a magnetically controlled image-snapping capsule.

Now, a group at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has shown that a tiny capsule robot is adhesive enough to anchor inside an intestine and yet gentle enough not to tear soft tissue

The anchoring robot would be swallowed like a normal pill and move through the body until it reached the gut. Then a doctor, using a wireless control, would tell the robot when to expand its legs and anchor.

It would be good not only for snapping images, but also potentially for biopsies, drug delivery, heat treatment, and other treatment applications.

The trick to making the robot was finding an adhesive that would "stick repeatedly to tissues like intestines, esophagus, stomach, heart, and kidney surfaces,"

Tags: medicine, robotics, nanomedicine

The future of Mind Control

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:08:10 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: research is showing that the brain can act independently of the body. One day, you could be sitting in an office and controlling a device from across the room—or in another building. And it’s not just flicking a switch. It could be a nanotool that’s moving through a tiny environment, and you can control it and see what it’s seeing.”

That kind of extension could lead to new spectrums of scale and force, not to mention new kinds of sensory input altogether. Instead of merely imagining that you’re grasping a nanotool with virtual fingers, you could learn to pilot it like a minuscule spaceship—only with your mind. And if that device had any sensors, you might be able to process the data as though it were a tiny camera.

Clip Source: www.popularmechanics.com

Building Postprosthetic Cybernetics

the backbone of mind-machine interfaces is the ability to analyze neural activity

Sure, the system demonstrated at Pitt in May accessed information from 100 neurons at once. But Nicolelis’s lab has managed five times that amount, with data coming from up to 10 different brain structures

“We’re able to look at brain dynamics on a scale that no one else has been able to

With a physical neural connection, Nicolelis believes that brain plasticity can be achieved quickly and with greater precision than current prosthetic control systems.

So the brain would not only respond to data from sensors in the bionic limb, but would account for unfamiliar amounts of speed and force. For sci-fi fans, the implications don’t need spelling out: prosthetics that are faster and stronger than normal limbs, with roughly the same level of control as their flesh-and-blood predecessors

Tags: brain, robotics, brain implants

Robots will surpass human intelligence by 2030, scientists say

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:16:13 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Immortal silicon bodies? I am taking one (or two) and off to the stars !!

Clip Source: memebox.com

Personal robots have been a long time coming, but scientists now say we can expect revolutionary machines that surpass human physical and intellectual abilities within 22 years.

Today’s robots are mostly industrial types found in factories. An example would be an arm that inserts a product into a box and places it on a conveyor belt.

Robo-pets like Sony’s Aibo and NEC’s PaPeRo, priced from $2,000 to $5,000, are pleasing children and providing companionship for handicapped and elderly people around the globe.

Available soon in the $10,000 to $30,000 range will be human-like robots such as Sony Qrio, Honda Asimo, and Toyota Personal Robot.

These realistic marvels can speak and understand crude language, recognize family members by sight, and perform many butler, chef, and maid services.

Could we evolve into a human-cyber being? Absolutely, say futurists. By mid-2030s, we could be swapping frail biological bodies for powerful, immortal silicon versions.

Tags: robotics, futurism

Study: Zombie attacks might increase due to global warming

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:03:43 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: wmbriggs.com

A new study by scientists has suggested that zombie attacks might increase if the current projections of global warming are realized. “If the earth gets warmer, it means longer springs, summers, and falls, and shorter winters,” said John Carpenter-Romero, Ph.D., a zombie-ologist who co-authored the study. “And shorter winters means more time for the undead to prey on the populace.”

Dr. Harrister, the other co-author, and head of Zombie Robotics at Wayward Robot, Inc., explained that cold winters typically stalled the walking dead. “It is well known that zombies can’t operate in cold weather. It freezes their brains.”

The pair calculated a 32.782412% increase in zombie attacks if CO2 increased to twice its pre-industrial rate. “Clearly, this is a very troubling result,” said Dr. Harrister, “If we don’t do something soon, the streets will be filled with blood.”

The Death of HAL –the Evolving Digital Ecosystem

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:07:58 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

One of the greatest fears of many is the underlying knowledge that, all the wonderful advances of technology, the internet and robotics is simply bringing us closer to being subservient to our robotic overlords. It is essentially a historical imperative, and we can see it coming a mile away.

However British Computer Society President and ECS Professor of Artificial Intelligence Nigel Shadbolt, believes differently.

Instead of intelligence that is a “brain in a box”, we are seeing intelligence that is assistive, adaptive and flexible. They are helping us “drive our cars, diagnose disease and provide opponents in computer games.”
In other words, instead of an intelligence that is “…agonizing about their existence or whether we are about to switch them off” we are seeing the growth of intelligence that, in years to come, will immerse us and center around humans, rather than feel the need to enslave humans.

“What is emerging now is a digital ecosystem,’

Tags: ai, evolution, digital ecosystem, the net, the grid

“What is Life?” Evolution of Robots is Causing Scientists to Question

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:04:36 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: “Robots are not human, but humans aren’t the only things that have emotions,” she said. “The question for robots is not, Will they ever have human emotions? Dogs don’t have human emotions, either, but we all agree they have genuine emotions. The question is, what are the emotions that are genuine for the robot?”

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

There is ongoing debate about what constitutes life. Synthetic bacteria for example, are created by man and yet also alive. Some go so far as to say that robot “emotions” may already have occurred—that current robots have not only displayed emotions, but in some ways have experienced them.

“We’re all machines,” says Rodney Brooks author of “Flesh and Machines,” and former director of M.I.T.’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, “Robots are made of different sorts of components than we are — we are made of biomaterials; they are silicon and steel — but in principle, even human emotions are mechanistic.” A robot’s level of a feeling like sadness could be set as a number in computer code, he said. But isn’t a human’s level of sadness basically a number, too, just a number of the amounts of various neurochemicals circulating in the brain? Why should a robot’s numbers be any less authentic than a human’s?

Tags: robotics, intelligence, life