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FDA To Decide Whether Antibacterial Soap Is Safe – After Four Decades
But research now shows that the active ingredient in the soap, triclosan, alters hormonal balance in animals, is possibly harmful to the immune system, and possibly contributes to the rise of antibiotic resistant germs.
Virtual And Real Objects Meet And Become Smarter Objects At MIT
Smarter Object combines the adaptability of digital interfaces with the ease of use of real world devices.
Robots Podcast #130: Autonomous lethal weapons
In episode #130, interviewer AJung talks with Peter Asaro (an Assistant Professor at The New School and affiliated with The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School) about the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a consortium of NGOs working to secure an international ban on autonomous weapons systems. Show More Summary
iRobot’s RP-Vita Telepresence Robots Start Work At Seven Hospitals
Now seven hospitals across North America have enlisted the services of RP-Vita, bringing us one step closer to robotics-augmented healthcare.
Ready for the Official Arduino Robot?
Via FreeIO.org comes news of a new open hardware robot: the official Arduino Robot. The Arduino Robot will be on sale at the Maker Faire in San Mateo immediately but will be generally available for online orders starting in July. The robot has two ATmega32u4 microprocessors. Show More Summary
DARPA’s Robotic Hand Can Unlock and Open Your Door
Engineers often turn to nature for inspiration, but working from evolutionary blueprints isn’t always necessary. The Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) recently showed off a dexterous robotic hand that uses three rotating fingers, instead of a human-inspired four fingers and opposable thumb configuration. And the thing can unlock and open doors. Yikes.
Video Friday: Droneapult Launch, Robot Rope Ascender, and Spock vs. Spock
We've still got lots of great news to bring you from ICRA and more, but not today, since it's Video Friday!
Cara Face Recognition Transforms Standard Webcams Into Intelligent Sensors
The human face is a treasure trove of information. A millisecond after meeting someone, we’ve guessed their general age bracket, gender, mood, and more. With tech startup IMRSV’s new face detection software Cara—released for the first time May 15th—your home PC and webcam will learn to recognize some of the same subtleties. Show More Summary
JPL BioSleeve Enables Precise Robot Control Through Hand and Arm Gestures
This sensor-studded cuff from JPL enables intuitive robot control
With Latest Tech, Can Doctors Treat Us Before We Fall Sick?
We visit a doctor when something feels wrong. We routinely receive care too late -- millions die because of delayed diagnosis. Future of healthcare delivery flips this equation. Can we be treated before we fall sick?
Smartphone App Lets You Carry Human Experts Around In Your Pocket
Imagine if you could bring a slew of virtual experts around with you and ask them for advice whenever the need arose. Although that sounds like futuristic technology, a new app from Esquire magazine shows that it's a world right around the corner. Show More Summary
Come See Us At the Chicago Mini Maker Faire!
This Saturday, May 18th we’ll be at the Chicago Northside Mini Maker Faire! The faire runs from 10am-4pm and will be filled with amazing and creative projects from the Chicagoland area, and beyond! We’ll be demoing some of our crawlers like the PhantomX Quadruped and Hexapod. As well as some of our other robots. So [...]
Best Robot Photos of the Week
This edition of best robot photos of the week includes a US Army recon robot, some shabby chic robot art, a well-endowed female junkbot, a robot arm at NYC Resistor, another robotics amusements. Every week we post a collection of the best robot photos submitted by our readers to our robots.net flickr group. Show More Summary
Kuka Robot Competition Offers 20,000-Euro Award
The German company is organizing a competition based on its youBot robot
Moshe Vardi: Robots Could Put Humans Out of Work by 2045
Robots began replacing human brawn long ago—now they’re poised to replace human brains. Moshe Vardi of Rice University thinks that by 2045 artificially intelligent robots may be capable of "if not any work that humans can do, then, at least, a very significant fraction of the work that humans can do." So, he asks, what then will humans do?
US Takes Gold in Bot Hockey at RoboGames 2013
Gentleman, some ground rules first. No caltrops, spike strips, cattle prods, or stun guns. No spears, hammers, saw blades, lasers, or flame weapons. We’ll play three 3-minute periods. If all players die in any given period and cannot be resuscitated by the next period, the team with the highest score wins. Okay? Let’s play some robot hockey.
MIT Cheetah Robot Runs Fast, and Efficiently
It's now the second fastest legged robot in the world
Video Shows Robo Raven Diving, Spiraling, Flipping—and Getting Attacked by a Hawk
Robo Raven is a truly clever robot flier—it can dive, spiral, even back flip. Although up close, Robo Raven’s reflective body doesn’t look very hawk-like, its wing motion and silhouette are realistic enough to fool a hawk into attacking it. (Not unlike a Liquid Robotics Wave Glider that was “investigated” [...]
Polytron, Maker of Switchable Privacy Glass Aims For Transparent Smartphone
Taiwan’s Polytron Techologies, a subsidiary of US firm Polytronix, wants to change the way we look at (and through) glass, one of mankind’s oldest inventions. Polytron makes giant touchscreens, selectively opaque glass, projection glass, holographic glass, LED-impregnated glass, color-changing glass, rainbow glass, glowing glass, and the mysterious Polyheat glass.
Hunters In Louisiana Build Thermal Camera Carrying Drone to Hunt Hogs
Drones are notorious for their grim military and law enforcement uses. But as the cost of UAV technology has plummeted in recent years, non-government use of DIY drones is on the up and up. Take feral hogs, for example. Too wily for traps, wild pigs breed like rabbits and devastate crops. Show More Summary
- Robot Film Festival
- Laboratory of Intelligent Systems
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Wave Glider
- Willow Garage
- Liquid Robotics
- Maker Faire
- Artificial Intelligence
- Polytechnic Institute of New York
- International Space Station
- Office of Naval Research
- Lego Mindstorms
- Ministry of Defense
- Boston Dynamics
- Heather Knight
- Rodney Brooks
- Hiroshi Ishiguro
- The Uncanny Valley
- Google I O
- MIT Media Lab
