Proto-2 is a humanoid robot, but with something not many robots have. That is, a toe joint. The toe joint allows Proto-2 to walk forward, but by using a lot less energy. “Walking is a state of controlled falling forward. Humans use very little energy while walking because we allow gravity to pull us forward (while we simply put one foot in front of the other). Humanoid robots which use a bent-knee stance to lower their center of balance waste energy unnecessarily.” Said Timothy Payne, the founder of Advanced Robotic Systems Laboratory, and researcher of ARS Labs.

Proto-2 also has the function of facial expressions. By being able to simply move its eyebrows, mouth and eyes, it can demonstrate a particular emotion, put in by the computer. Proto-2 will eventually be autonomous, but at the moment it is hooked up to a computer to recieve information. Later it will be installed with speech recognition and synthesis, making the robot’s ability to communicate verbally possible. The robot even has functional grippers.

The main goal of Proto-2 is to reach further across the gap between our life and a life with everyday robots. In the future models of Proto’s, it is expected of Timothy Payne and the other researchers at ARS Labs to have expanded our reach even further. It stands 81.3cm (2′4″) tall, weighs 7.72kg (17 lbs), is equipped with a single camera in its “hat”, as well as directional microphones and speaker.

[PP]

There’s some new competition at this year’s Robo-One tournament: A warrior robot controlled by its thought. The bot is operated by Taku Ichikawa, who controls the robot through a set of electrodes applied to his head that measure his neural activity.

So far he can walk forward, rotate right, and using its single arm to stab. The 12 electrodes attached to Ichikawa’s head relay his commands via a wireless connection. The technology comes from a hands-free wheelchair project Ichikawa helped to develop. It requires the operator to imagine a set of movements many times a day. The developers tied particular movements with particularly clear mental images, allowing users to command the chair without any training.

[GW]

Check out this Wii controlled segway type bot. The video shows you how to implement the Wii controls with the Lego NXT system. He’s found the links to all the software you need and broken down the configuration step by step. Pretty sweet.

[hackaday]

South Korean company KTF just announced a cleaning robot that can be controlled by a 3G cellphone. The robot is called the CW100 and is the result of a collaboration with Microbot.

It’s a “smart” vacuum, like the Roomba. It can be controlled by phone, which the Roomba can’t, unless modded to do so. It uses an onboard video camera to send live images to the mobile phone, so if you see an untidy spot, the user can remotely control it using the keypad and clean it up.

The bot will be sold for about $370 with a data plan that costs about $3.70 per month.

[SB]

Kjeld Jensen of the University of South Denmark has developed a robotic lawnmower called the Casmobot which can be controlled using everyones favorite game controller, the Wiimote. Via Bluetooth, the Wiimote communicates to a receiver in the Casmobot. It can be controlled manually, or be completely automated. Jensen says:

“We have been introducing [Casmobot] to the professional workers at the municipalities and the minute they got this Wiimote in their hands and started cutting grass, they were smiling and laughing all the time so I guess I’m not the only one that thinks this is a very good idea.”

“This robotics module could, in theory, be put in to any kind of vehicle. In theory, you could actually take this module and put it in to a wheelchair, and walk your grandma just by sitting inside at the window and using your Wiimote.”

[Gizmodo]

Surely you remember Dance Dance Revolution. The party dance game that was once THE game. Step On Interface is a lot like that.

Here’s how it works: The robot projects a set of controls onto the ground. You can then step on the controls and the robot will respond. This is awesome news because it means that the disabled can use their feet or a cane to control the robot.

Pretty sweet. I don’t know if it has a real chance of being used, but it certainly has potential to help the disabled.

[GetRobo]

Here’s another sight-controlled robot created by a team of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark and the IT University of Copenhagen. It’s pretty simple and effective. The bot is based around a LEGO NXT-G kit, throw in a webcam and a laptop that’s connected to the bot via Bluetooth, and to a desktop PC via WiFi and there it is.

The PC is used as an eye-tracking system that lets you control the robot as you watch the live feed from its webcam. The researchers are already looking to use the system to control a wheelchair, and add some head-tracking to the mix for good measure.

[Engadget]