These two “warbling” robots have been programmed by composer/computer scientist Eduardo Miranda. Miranda, from the UK’s University of Plymouth, programmed the bots to create unique songs together. The first robot produces a string of about 60 random notes, then the second bot produces its own random melody. The first robot compares the two pieces and decides if they’re similar, in which case it nods so that the second robot memorizes the sequence and can play the song again. If the noises don’t go together, the first bot will shake its head and the sequence will be abandoned.
So far they have “evolved” the ability to sing 20 songs together. Miranda developed the bots so that he could “compose music that no human would ever come up with”. Here’s a video of the singing robots in action. Miranda compares the project to the emergence of simplistic, shared culture between humans.

[NewScientist]

Here in the US we have DARPA’s Grand Challenge as one incentive for robotics engineers to push the limit of their craft (for military benefit), but across the pond the Brit’s have the Ministry of Defense hosting Grand Challenges as well. The MOD’s latest challenge sought the development of autonomous robots to safely detect things like IEDs, snipers, heavy weapons, enemy patrols, etc. Each of the ten participating teams were given one hour to compete in the event.
Team Stellar from Cranfield University won this competition with a robot exhibiting some pretty impressive visual tech. Radar and visible light sensors and a MIRICLE 110K thermal imaging camera helped the bot see.
Dr. Toby Breckon from Cranfield said, “”The competition has been tough, but we are delighted, both to have won, and to be one step further towards helping our troops stay safer and become better prepared to deal with potential threats encountered on overseas operations.” This sounds a lot like, “Our superior robots will be reclaiming our American colonies for the UK.” But whatev, they earned it. They also earned a trophy presented at the end of the three-day-long Grand Challenge.

[Vision Systems]

The smallest humanoid robot, iSobot, is now available in the UK for £199 ($356). The Guinness Book of Records bills the iSobot as the world’s smallest humanoid bot currently in production.
This tiny bot measures just 16.5×10x6.5cm, but it can do a lot despite its size. It can walk, fight, dance, talk, and even kung fu fight.
For being so small the bot packs a fair amount of tech as well: 2 LEDs, a built-in gyro sensor, voice command recognition, 17 custom made servomotors, and 19 integrated circuits. It can speak hundreds of pre-programmed words and phrases and perform actions based on ten voice commands.
Last Wednesday we told you about Caterpillar and Carnegie Mellon University’s plans to build a friggen 700 ton dump truck robot. In the interest of unbalanced fights we’d love to see iSobot vs. Giant RoboTruck on BattleBots.

[Pocket-lint]

The UK Border agency has enlisted the help of a briefcase-sized robot they’re calling HERO in order to help patrol its borders. HERO is undergoing some testing at Calais and has been officially certified to be deployed when it’s needed. Each robot can hold a wide array of equipment that helps it find hidden people. And it gets around just fine with a four-wheel drive chassis. The bots are outfitted with heartbeat detectors, searchlights and high-resolution video cameras, which makes them pros at searching the insides of vehicles as well as underneath them. HERO isn’t just about finding smuggled people and goods, it can also be outfitted with equipment that detects chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats.

[electricpig]