technical university of munich
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Robots finally able to follow 'make me a sandwich' command (video)
Pancakes? No problem. Cookies? You got it! Sandwich? ...is there a Subway near by? Why robots have such a hard time slapping meat and cheese on bread is beyond us, but we're glad the crack team at the Technical University of Munich has finally figured out how to teach them. The dynamic duo of James and Rosie don't exactly blaze through their task of making a sandwich and some popcorn, but at least they're nice enough to toast the bread for your salami- and cheese-based chow. As usual, the moves here are not preprogrammed, the two bots make decisions on the fly based on a complex "reasoning" mechanism and data it can cull from a Kinect. Check out the videos below to watch two carefully construct a simple, layered lunch.
Magic Mirror Kinect hack puts an x-ray spin on augmented reality
That's right -- not even CES can stop the endless wave of Kinect hacks. The latest, and one of the more impressive to date, is the so-called "Magic Mirror" developed by Tobias Blum from the Technical University of Munich, which bridges augmented reality with x-ray vision (of sorts). Of course, the "of sorts" is that it doesn't actually peer through your body to reveal your skeleton (yet), but instead maps a random skeleton from a CT scan onto your frame to create a real-time freakout. As with most Kinect hacks, this one is best seen on video -- check it out after the break.
Kinect Hacks: Real-time (fake) X-ray
X-ray glasses are so 2010. We present for your consideration this Kinect hack from Technical University of Munich researchers, led by one Tobias Blum, who have created a "magic mirror" that lets you see your own skeleton. Okay, so it's not actually your skeleton, but data from some anonymous patient's CT scan, being mapped to your movements to create the spine-tingling effect. Still, make no bones about it: this is one of the more impressive Kinect hacks we've seen to date.
Speedy robo-cam mimics the movements of the human eye, exceeds them
Some researchers at the Technical University of Munich have built an unassuming but no-less-remarkable mechanism for tilting and panning a small camera robotically. Designed to keep up with the eye movements of a human in gaze-tracking studies, the camera mount features three degrees of movement, and can flick around at a rapid 2500 degrees per second -- our flesh-composed eyeballs max out at a mere 1000. The setup uses ultrasonic piezo-actuators, which move prismatic joints, which drive spherically-jointed rods attached to the camera, keeping the weight under 100 grams and still acting gently enough to avoid rattling on top of the wearer's head. We'll take two.
ROS: a common OS to streamline robotic engineering
The biannual International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence has this year shed light on a new effort to standardize robot instructions around a common platform, so that designers won't have to "reinvent the wheel over and over" with every project. Presently, robot design is undertaken in an ad hoc fashion, with both hardware and software being built from scratch, but teams at Stanford, MIT and the Technical University of Munich are hoping to change that with the Robot Operating System, or ROS. This new OS would have to compete with Microsoft's robotics offering, but the general enthusiasm for it at the conference suggests a bright future, with some brave souls even envisioning a robot app store somewhere down the line. Video after the break.
ACE robot asks for directions, purpose in life
The Tweenbots project already demonstrated that at least some folks are willing to help a lost robot find its way, but this new ACE bot developed by researchers at the Technical University of Munich has now ramped things up in a fairly big way, with it actually asking passers-by for directions and developing a map as it moves through the city. Apparently, the robot uses a series of cameras to detect people nearby, and it then asks them to simply point towards the destination indicated on its screen, which it is able to recognize, although it does also asks them to confirm the direction on the screen just to be safe. In initial tests, that appears to have been relatively successful, with ACE (or Autonomous City Explorer) able to reach its destination 1.5 kilometers away in five hours after relying on directions from 38 people. But don't take our word for it. Head on past the break to check out its people skills for yourself.[Via Coolest Gadgets]
BMW devises smart car door that senses danger
BMW has already clearly shown that it wants to make its cars as smart as possible, and it looks like that extends right down to the doors, which have now been smartened up with a little help from the Technical University of Munich. According to New Scientist, the pair have developed a prototype door that uses a range of sensors to detect any oncoming dangers, and work in concert with an accelerometer in the door to prevent it from being opened. What's more, the sensors are apparently also able to detect the proximity of the object and adjust the resistance of the door accordingly -- for instance, slowing the door down if you're about to slam it into a lamp post. The current prototype does apparently have a bit of a problem when it comes to field of view, however, although BMW says that can be remedied with some added cameras in future versions, which could possibly be in actual cars in as little as a year -- though it's quick to point out that it hasn't made a final decision just yet.[Via Crave]
Europeans working on anti-hijacking software
Even though air travel has gotten marginally safer since the tragedies of 9/11 -- thanks in part to fortified cockpits, increased air marshal presence, and a ban on toenail clippers -- it still doesn't seem impossible for a group of determined individuals to hijack a plane and turn it into a deadly missile. And should such a suicide-style attack happen again, the only surefire way of protecting targets on the ground would seem to be shooting the plane out of the air -- a nightmare scenario that no one wants to see. Well, soon airlines may have another, much safer option at their disposal in the form of a software platform being developed by a consortium of 30-odd European businesses and research institutes that would make an aircraft's systems completely unusable in the event of a cockpit breach -- control of the plane would be passed to officials on the ground -- even if one of the hijackers was among the 1337est of hackers. The $45 million program is being spearheaded by Airbus (already big fans of auto-pilot), Siemens, and the Technical University of Munich, with the first results of the collaboration scheduled to be revealed at an October conference in the UK. Here's to hoping that the group comes up with a working solution sooner rather than later, because this is one technology that just can't be deployed quickly enough.
