Thanks to the marvels of modern technology you can now use your computer to play 1 on 1 soccer against another i-SOBOT. You just have to download a small program to make it work, and you’re not limited to just soccer. You can also remotely operate different kinds of humanoid robots. That’s pretty awesome and adds some value to an expensive bot.
Apparently a couple of guys hooked up two Wii Fit balance boards to LEGO Mindstorms and made them move in sync with leaning and jumping motions. While I don’t think this game is going to get you fit, it’s a clever hack. Maybe Nintendo can change the Lego things into battle bots and market the whole deal as some sort of Ultimate robot fighter game for the those who don’t mind obesity all that much. Hacking Wii-Fit isn’t new, but this one puts a whole new spin on things. Pretty neat!
The boffins at Virginia Tech’s Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory are showing off their bot’s latest incarnation, which they hope will lead to a win in the next RoboCup competition. It’s called the DARwIn IIIx, and apparently uses some of the same technology developed for Virgina Tech’s DARPA Urban Challenge entry, called “Odin,”. It’s a complete redesign compared to the previous DARwIn IIx model, with improved range of motion and a bunch of software upgrades that should improve its perception and let it better adapt to things like lighting conditions. Video below. Read the rest of this entry »
On Saturday Tomy unveiled the world’s tiniest, thumb-sized walking robot that will debut in Japan next spring. It’s called ‘‘Robo-Q,’’ is only 3.4 centimeters high, but its artificial intelligence can detect obstacles and navigate through a maze using built in infrared sensors. Using a controller, it can also play games like soccer. NICE!
Robo-Q is being displayed at a three-day exhibition in Yokohama through Monday, where more than 100 different types of robots are being showcased from 43 companies, universities and organizations, including Honda and Fujitsu.
‘‘It just looks like a clump, but it’s impressive that so many functions are built into that thing,’’ Kazuhiko Oda, 55, from Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, said after watching an exhibition of Robo-Q at the Robo Japan 2008.
Robo-Q will come in four colors and will be sold in Japan inFebruary for 3,500 yen excluding tax. The robot is expected to be sold in other Asian countries soon afterwards and in the United States and Europe at some point. I can’t wait until these hit America.
A group of eight University of Waterloo undergrads are working on what will be the world’s smallest radio-frequency controlled robot. Measuring a ridiculously small 300 by 300 microns—the width of two human hairs—the robot will play soccer. Soccer is often used as a test for robotics programmers, because the sport requires intelligence and dexterity that is highly desirable in a robot. The team wants to win the RoboCup Nanogram soccer competition next July in Australia.
In the competition the robot will have to move balls, avoid obstacles, and navigate around a field, all at a fraction of a millimeter. The technology could be implemented irl in interesting ways, most notably in medicine, where a controllable entity of this small scale would be beneficial. “It could help in the fertilization of an egg or in the identification of a serious bacterial infection.”
The team is basically taking RC-car technology to the nano level. Team founder Keith Peiris describes the bot’s movement mechanism “almost like a car with a balloon on it, in that we’re displacing air to push a device in different ways.” With crafty engineering and a very, very small antenna, this little robot just may be one day swimming through your blood vessels, collecting cholesterol from a lifetime of fatty foods and sedentary behavior. Godspeed, little robot.
These little bots and the soccer field they play on reminds me of some of the vintage games of yesterday. And what could be more fun then Soccer with Robots. Except of course, Soccer with Zombies.
The set comes with a pair of mini infrared RC robots that can shuffle the ball along the ground and push it into the goal. Press the “sprint” button give your robot a boost of extra energy to power through. It will only cost you about $38 and will give you something new to do while you should be working.
Humanoid bots are getting even more super impressive as each day goes by. This video shows the Darmstadt Dribblers team in action at the recent 2008 Robocup. Thing is, they’re really playing like a soccer team, just well, a lot slower. This is the first year that three-on-three playing has taken place, using info exchange over Wi-Fi. You just have to watch. So watch.
The Spanish TV channel Cuatro commissioned creative agency Kotoc to come up with a project for the design and creation of promotional spots for EURO 2008.
The team created Cuatrobots, four 15 second sequences inspired by Sci-Fi and featuring some awesome robot action. I swear I even saw some Daleks from Doctor Who in there.
A group of eight University of Waterloo undergrads are working on what will be the world’s smallest radio-frequency controlled robot. Measuring a ridiculously small 300 by 300 microns—the width of two human hairs—the robot will play soccer. Soccer is often used as a test for robotics programmers, because the sport requires intelligence and dexterity that is highly desirable in a robot. The team wants to win the RoboCup Nanogram soccer competition next July in Australia.
