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Rollin' Justin learns to throw like a robot
Our pal Rollin' Justin proved the old adage about teaching old robots new robo tricks wrong back in April, when he learned to catch balls by tracking moving objects, calculating their flight paths and then snapping shut his cold metal claws at the moment of impact. Now he's besting himself, thanks to a handful of improvements imparted upon him by way of his fleshy masters at the German Aerospace Agency. Among the upgrades are are an improvement to old Justin's dynamic performance -- he's now 1.5 times faster in his arms, thanks to new gear ratios, helping to make his game of robo catch two-sided, with the ability to actually throw. He's also adopted the more flattering moniker Agile Justin and likes to play catch with his older, similarly named sibling. Video evidence of his new-found skills after the jump.
Rollin' Justin robot plays catch, makes coffee, aims to replace your dad (video)
With an 80 percent success rate, there's a pretty good chance that Justin here is better at playing catch than you are. This old German Aerospace Agency-designed robot, which we first saw in 2009, learned a new trick -- he can track thrown objects as they approach, calculate their flight path, and snap his cold, soulless hands around them before they hit the ground. Better yet, he can catch two objects at the same time. For his encore, Rollin' Justin uses his tactile finger sensors to prepare you a cup of coffee, just so you know there's no hard feelings once's he's done schooling you at three flies up. The 'bot can be controlled via iPad and acts totally grateful when you get him a tie for Christmas, even though it's not what he really wanted. Video after the break. Update: Johannes sent us another video of him catching two balls with one hand! It's after the break.
Video: Rollin' Justin and DESIRE robots take out trash, follow commands
Future Parc Hall, an out-of-the-way palace where we spotted Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's iPoint 3D yesterday, was also home to two of the baddest, most sophisticated robots we've ever had the pleasure of watching. Tattooed DESIRE (the orange guy) and Rollin' Justin (the blue fellow), these two humanoids were built with the hope of one day being available for sale to elderly and single individuals who need another being around the house to take care of things. DESIRE seemed mighty great at picking up random cans and tossing 'em in the garbage, while Rollin' Justin listened intently to commands from his master, spoke aloud to confirm them, and then obeyed. We captured everything on video for those who couldn't make it to CeBIT, so hop on past the break to have a look.%Gallery-46726%
