Two students from Louisiana State University’s department of computer science know a couple fundamental facts about Americans: 1. We’re lazy, and 2. We don’t got a lotta dough right now to be throwing away on a different robot for each household job that needs to be done. To that end they’ve created a single robot that can be customized to perform a number of household duties. While your Roombas and Scoobas chug away with their specialized functions, LSU’s AgBot is able to do a range of things. Need a bot to mow the lawn? AgBot will raze those unruly blades. Need the same bot to keep your house under surveillance? Some minor tweaks and you’ve got a robot that has night vision, motion detection, an alarm, and the ability to email pictures of any home intruders.
S.S. Iyengar, chair of the computer science department, said, “What is most impressive about this robot is that it is multi-functional and no one else is currently designing multi-functional robots.” Well it’s a good thing somebody’s looking out for my desire to sleep 18 hours a day while a robot whirs about the house keeping things in order. “The ultimate goal for the AgBot is to be completely customizable. With minor adjustments, the robot can support five or six different applications including picking up mail, say the students.” What will the future bring? Ten applications? Twenty? It’s only a matter of time before Rosie is cooking me breakfast, I just hope the housekeeping robots of tomorrow don’t use the same brush for cleaning the silverware that they use to clean the bathroom…or do I?
The GroundBot is a robotic mobile platform with cameras and sensors and virtually silent maneuverability, with very low maintenance costs. That makes it ideal to explore other planets. It was designed by Swedish physicists.
The robot boasts some impressive off-road performance, at 6mph through mud, sand, snow and even water. The cameras and sensors are protected inside the sealed sphere and the bot can be remote controlled by hand or programmed to navigate by GPS. The built-in cameras have a 360-degree viewing angle to zoom in on the smallest details. Powered by lithium-ion batteries, the GroundBot can operate for 8-16 hours, rolling simply by shifting its weight.
This robotic spy plane is only six-inches long, but it can use just about everything as a power source. It can also be used for monitoring all sensory perceptions in a combat zone. The project is being funded by the US Army, but also involves the University of California at Berkeley, the University of New Mexico and the University of Michigan College of Engineering.
It could use solar power, wind power and even vibrational-sourced power. The bot could record images, audio and even detect smells of a combat area then transmit them over radio signals. It’s the result, or will be the result of a $10 million, five-year grant at the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering. It’s known as Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology, or COM-BAT for short. It’s a high-tech bat shaped bot and has a stereo camera, microphones and other sensors for detecting radiations, gases and a lot more. It would also be able to navigate in the dark using radar. Just like a bat.
Bjoern Schuelke’s interactive sculptures will mesmerize you with whirling propellers and twitching legs, but you are actually the one being studied. They’re armed with tiny cameras and stare back at the viewers, quietly recording.
The sculptures also feature motion sensors that allow the robots to identify and take aim at humans in the room, displaying their target on small built-in screens. One interesting piece, the Tribble like “TV-Pirates” will find those who are walking around and put them on the small TV-screens.
Check out this video from surveillance company Macroswiss. It shows off some of the robot technology they’re developing. Like a little Spybot with the built-in mini Uzi for instance, or the Hydrobot, which keeps an eye on boats using a decoy floating seagull to hide. Pretty cool stuff.
With the economy the way it is, it’s not impossible to imagine someone breaking into your abode and stealing your precious, precious servers filled with archived Botropolis articles, then selling them on the black market for thousands of dollars. This nightmarish scenario could happen to anyone, so you best be prepared. What better way to keep an eye on home sweet home while you’re out then with a disinterested, efficient, logical robot.
The NetTansorWeb from Bandai is essentially a souped up surveillance cam. It can be remotely controlled via the internet, and it can send pictures and reports to a computer or mobile phone. It avoids obstacles so that it can navigate your home and keep everything under control. Apparently it can also assist with your blogging endeavors by monitoring the comments section and performing simple blog actions, but, all told, “blog-related capabilities appear to be a gimmick.”
NetTansorWeb was shown at Robot Japan 2008. It should be in the consumer sphere by December for about ¥50,000 ($525). No word on whether or not this beaut will be available in the states, but let’s hope…for the sake of our security.
The Robo Japan 2008 conference kicked off this weekend and one of the cool things being shown off was Bandai’s update to its NetTansor robot with the new NetTansorWeb robot. The robot can be controlled remotely using WiFi and sports sensors to avoid obstacles as it wanders through your home.
It also has a webcam eye that lets users monitor their home when away. So what you have here is a low-budget security ‘bot. But that’s not all. He also supports blogging and news delivery. The sad thing is the robot only has a battery life of 2.5 hours. Who’s gonna guard your home the other 21.5 hours?
Two students from Louisiana State University’s department of computer science know a couple fundamental facts about Americans: 1. We’re lazy, and 2. We don’t got a lotta dough right now to be throwing away on a different robot for each household job that needs to be done. To that end they’ve created a single robot that can be customized to perform a number of household duties. While your Roombas and Scoobas chug away with their specialized functions, LSU’s AgBot is able to do a range of things. Need a bot to mow the lawn? AgBot will raze those unruly blades. Need the same bot to keep your house under surveillance? Some minor tweaks and you’ve got a robot that has night vision, motion detection, an alarm, and the ability to email pictures of any home intruders.
With the economy the way it is, it’s not impossible to imagine someone breaking into your abode and stealing your precious, precious servers filled with archived Botropolis articles, then selling them on the black market for thousands of dollars. This nightmarish scenario could happen to anyone, so you best be prepared. What better way to keep an eye on home sweet home while you’re out then with a disinterested, efficient, logical robot.
