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ICYMI: AI in a USB stick, electric bike wheel and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-784522{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-784522, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-784522{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-784522").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Chip maker Movidius created an advanced neural networks USB stick to put AI into any device; the GeoOrbital wheel turns any dumb bike into a 20 miles per hour powerhouse; and Samsung has a pilot program to put a mother's heartbeat into her premature baby's incubator. An open source robot used for research is also really good at yoga. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
iCub crawls closer toward the Robopocalypse (video)
Another day, another augur of doom for humanity -- iCub has been spotted in the wilds of the IROS Expo in San Francisco. The cute (in a Demon Seed sorta way) robot is designed to replicate the trial-and-error learning process of a three year-old. We've already seen it learning how to speak and shoot arrows, and now it wants to show off it's... erm, recently improved crawling abilities. Head down after the break and you can see it slowly navigating the dangerous carpets of the convention floor. That's iCub, SkyNET drones, Cyborg Rats and Robotic Bulls all in the last month. Does anyone else think the Robopocalpyse will hit before Christmas?
Fujitsu's HOAP-2 robot wipes whiteboards clean -- humankind next in line? (video)
They've taught them how to flip pancakes and shoot arrows, and now they're teaching humanoids to erase your whiteboard. That's right, the same folks who brought you iCub in a feathery headdress are back at it with Fujitsu's HOAP-2, a humanoid robot that looks like it's related to the Jetsons' maid, and can wipe a dry erase board clean via upper-body kinesthetic learning. While scientists force the robot's arm through a number of erasing movements, an attached force-torque sensor records the patterns, allowing HOAP-2 to mimic its previous actions, and voilà! You've got a blank slate. Sure, this little guy looks perfectly harmless in comparison with the bow-and-arrow-wielding iCub, but replace that eraser with a switchblade and the human race is in a whole world of hurt.
Robot Archer iCub learns to shoot arrows, pierces our mortal heart (video)
How do you make a creepy baby robot downright cute? Give it an Indian headdress and teach it the bow-and-arrow, of course. The same team of researchers who brought us the pancake-flipping robot arm have imbued this iCub with a learning algorithm that lets it teach itself archery much the same as a human might do, by watching where the suction-tipped arrow lands and adjusting its aim for each subsequent shot. In this case, it obtained a perfect bullseye after just eight attempts. Watch it for yourself after the break, and ponder the fate of man -- how can we possibly stop an uprising of adorable robots that never miss?
iCub puts an iPad in a plane
Even though the first iPhone lacked a GPS and compass (not to mention a true gyroscope), there were a few early avionic entries to the App Store, mostly involving crude tilt measurements. When the iPhone got a GPS and then a compass, it became a wee more useful to the flying sort. The iPad brings ample screen size to the table, and the iPhone 4 has a gyroscope. But leave it to good ol' American ingenuity (or largess) to put an iPad smack in the middle of a plane's dashboard. The iCub is a small bush plane with an iPad mounted inside. According to Bill Canino, president of SportairUSA (makers of the iCub), the iPad is more of an accessory than an actual flying instrument. For one thing, it isn't FAA-certified. I doubt any sane pilot would rely on an iPad to actually fly or land a plane. Canino's suggestion, made clear by the selection of apps they will include on the device, is that the iPad is a companion to the plane's occupants. If you land on a beach and are injured, now you'll have the resources available to know how to sew that arm back on. Bush planes don't usually incorporate hi-tech devices, so the iCub hopes to set itself apart with an interesting set of apps that might be useful to the folks who fly these particular planes. I asked Canino how they were going to load the apps and they were still working on that process but it will allow end users to own the apps, probably by setting them each up with an iTunes account (if they don't already have one) and gifting them the apps. There are still details to be worked out, but if you're in the market for a new bush plane plus iPad, you can go ahead and order an iCub today for the low, low price of $92,900 -- slightly more for the Bush iCub model.
iCub gets upgraded with tinier hands, better legs
We're pretty familiar with iCub -- the humanoid robot modeled on a two year old -- around here. Just because we know him well, though, doesn't really change the fact that we get the slightest chill running down our spine every time we're reminded of his existence. Well, iCub's getting an upgrade which includes newer, lighter legs which will be more impervious to damage, and smaller hands. That's right, the youngster, who is about toddler-sized, has had until now, the hands of an eight-year old: pretty embarrassing for the little fellow. The new hands are the right size, and have the correct dexterity as well. Regardless, he's still a little creepy, but as you'll see in the video after the break, impressive none the less.
Researchers working to teach creepy baby robot to talk
The iCub robot was already doing pretty well for itself in the creepiness department, but a group of researchers from the University of Plymouth are now working to take things one big step further, by teaching the so-called "baby robot" to talk (as opposed to teaching it baby talk). That will supposedly be done over the next four years, during which time the researchers will work with language development specialists who normally study how parents teach children to speak. Eventually, they hope that the robot will be able to perform basic tasks like stacking wooden blocks, and be able name objects and actions so that it can speak basic phrases like "robot puts stick on cube" or "I want more life, father." What's more, while the research hasn't even begun yet, one of the professors involved sees it as nothing short of a milestone, saying that "the outcome of the research will define the scientific and technological requirements for the design of humanoid robots able to develop complex behavioural, thinking and communication skills through individual and social learning." Unless the robot gets some ideas of its own, that is.[Image courtesy of BBC News]
