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Snakebots traverse terrain, plan silent, midnight attack
Apparently the Biorobotics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University has been quite busy as of late... building an army of robotic snakes. Though we've seen droid snakes before, bot-makers at the school have been investigating the myriad possibilities of single-task snakes, coming up with configurations for swimming, crawling, and climbing, amongst others. The program is concerned with enabling the bots to take on a diverse variety of terrain and tasks, made easier by the fact that the little guys aren't limited to wheel-based movement. To really get an idea of the possibilities (and extreme creepiness), check the video after the break. We just hope you enjoy the techno version of Crazy Train as much as we do.[Thanks, Andrew]
Panoramic GigaPan images to hit Google Earth
Remember that GigaPan camera system from earlier this year? The one that made taking ridiculously large panoramic shots -- like the one of Dublin Castle above -- a lesson in simplicity? Yeah, well that very system is now being used to add detailed, wide-angle images to Google Earth thanks to collaboration between the search giant and Carnegie Mellon University. Additionally, we've now learned that Charmed Labs in Austin, TX will be manufacturing the mechanical devices and selling them for $300 apiece. But before the public gets their hands on 'em, the firm is producing 300 systems "for people who will provide them with feedback." Ah, the perfect excuse for a new widescreen monitor, no?[Thanks, David]
Robotic cucumber hand freaks out party goers
We've got all ideas that whipping up an edible Wii (and a few controllers while you're at it) would make for a fantastic (albeit overtly geeky) shindig, but there's just something satisfying about a robotic cucumber hand that freaks out attendees that visit the snack table a tad too frequently. The creature, which was reportedly, um, prepared for an event hosted by a CMU computer scientist, primarily consisted of a number of edible parts, a servo, control arm, and a CMU Canary sensing / control platform. Truth be told, however, pictures can only explain so much, so feel free to click on through for a glimpse at this thing in action (and the entire recipe, too).[Via CNET]
'Reverse Alarm Clock' keeps the kids in bed so you can party
Three cheers for Professor John Zimmerman, who's finally doing some research to benefit Joe Public, and who has invented a device that lets parents sleep in late and put the kids to bed early on those long summer days. Zimmerman, of Carnegie Mellon's School of Design and Human-Computer Interaction Institute (and probably a parent himself), designed the so-called 'Reverse Alarm Clock' to give the tykes a visual representation of their expected schedule; when the clock's 'Sky Display' shows a sun, young children know they're free to roam about the house, but when a moon and stars appear, they'd better not get out of bed lest the boogie monster devour them whole. So far the system -- which uses a parent-set sunrise and moonset calculator, and also features a "Treasure Chest Music Selector" to pleasantly awaken your own little treasures -- doesn't seem to be commercially available, which is kind of a shame, because we know more than a few people who would love to trick their tiny terrors into bedtime at five o'clock on the daily.
Researchers unveil emotive, interactive robot: "Quasi"
We've already got robotic eyedrops that can facilitate conversation and react accordingly to their surroundings, and there's even an R2-D2 clone to get your feet shuffling once you've recovered, but researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an emotive robot, complete with his own interactive booth, that can express its feelings through body language. Quasi, a member of the Interbots Platform, resides in a booth full of gizmos that allow him to see, hear, and feel the outside world; sporting a touchscreen LCD, long-range IR sensors, motion detector, webcam, microphones, and even a candy dispenser, humans have a myriad of choices when it comes to breaking the ice with the "animatronic figure." To get his reactions in gear, 27 Hitec servo motors are used to control the motions of his eyelids and telescoping antenna, while a bevy of LED lighting fixtures illuminate to convey his swinging moods and personality without so much as a clang from his aluminum lips. The team is planning on adding speech capability and a more mechanical armature in the near future, after which he'll probably be the self-nominated leader of the soon-to-be-uncontrollable Swarmanoid clan.[Via Slashdot]
CMU's Crusher military bot rumbles onto the scene
Although not quite as stealthy as some of the other spybots that we've seen, the 6.5-ton Crusher UGCV (Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle), with its 8,000-pound payload and one-kilometer range, is certainly more versatile than your typical robosnake or Packbot. Unveiled today by the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) at Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science's Robotics Institute, Crusher, like its predecessor Spinner, was commissioned by DARPA to provide combat troops with a durable cargo and surveillance option that can operate mostly autonomously even in rough terrain. Crusher is powered by a series of electric motors whose batteries are charged with a turbo diesel generator -- giving it a top speed of 26 miles-per-hour -- and manages to avoid obstacles using an array of cameras and ladar lidar. Although its first two years of service will be restricted to support role duties, Army and DARPA officials will use Crusher's performance during the probationary period to evaluate its potential use in combat as well. [Warning: PDF link]
