Beam Me Up Episode 472 - Expanded Horizons by Gustavo Bondoni

Beam Me Up 472 is up and ready.  

After my opening comments I play all along the watch tower performed by Jimmi Hendrix (again one of my all time favs) 

From the blog I have a sound byte from Elon Musk thanking  Nevada allowing his giga factory to build affordable electric cars.

NASA TV will be showing the latest spacewalk on the ISS.

Nelson sends over links for audio of Asimov's Foundation series.

Expanded Horizons by Gustavo Bondoni is my final offering of #472 

Enjoy

Beam Me Up Episode 472 link

Meet the New Faster, Smarter Asimo

Honda has massively improved its robot platform Asimo.   The first major upgrade is a new set of legs that allow Asimo to travel on uneven surfaces, run at nearly 6 mph and even walk backwards.

Another improvement is Asimo's redesigned hands.  Hands which now have 13 degrees of freedom, enabling the 'bot to hold and manipulate objects without crushing or dropping them.  So much freedom in fact that Asimo can communicate with the deaf using ASL (American sign language).

Asimo's intelligence has been greatly improved as well.  The robot can now walk around without the need for an operator.  Asimo also has great situational awareness.  This would say allow him to move out of the way to avoid a collision   in a hallway or other locals.




Here is the complete Engadget article

Weird Animatronic Figure Dances in Front of Mirror

I haven't made up my mind yet as to whether this short film entitled "Touch is love - now close your eyes"  by Jordan Wolfson.

Here is a description from the article itself:

• ...is an animatronic robot that dances in front of a large mirror, while at the same time seeking eye contact with the spectator.

Less Soldiers, More Robots for the Millitary

 

The pentagon's Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's proposed budget would, according to the proposal, shrink the Army to 450k or to levels that existed just before the United States entered into ww2.

The plan is to fill the void with hi-tech devices that have proven themselves reliable but for the most part, more of these devices can be fielded with far fewer personnel.

Weapon platforms are not exempt either. The U2 and A10 are well known weapon and surveillance systems, but rising costs of manufacture and maintenance plus the need for a human in the seat throughout the mission.

Naval systems like the Littoral Combat Ship, a new modular naval vessel capable of light combat, anti submarine / mines etc, all with a modular design and an equally small crew, possibly as few as 88. Another example is the new Zumwalt destroyer. This vessel can go to sea with a crew of apx. 150 where the aging Ashleigh-Burke fields 300 with almost no automation. The Popular Science article is very good and informative. You Can Read The Whole Article Here

Rock Climbing Robot!

Check out this video of JPL's robot that is capable of rock climbing...hell I would say mountain climbing if they develop an autonomous version!

This tech comes from earlier versions that were developed for satellites giving them the ability to reach out and grab onto asteroids or other space debris.   The newer version has been integrated into a robot that can not only grab but climb.

The robot has four articulate arms. Each is arm has a gripper at the end that has 750 tiny claws that can easily engage a rock's surface and then release, allowing the robot to climb.

As the video also shows, the "limbs" can also be used by astronauts for a variety of functions in varied environments.  

Full article HERE on Gizmodo



 

Petman? Oh Come On!

You tell me the first thing that came to mind when I saw this DARPA video.   With the camo on the damn thing  is all but indistinguishable from a human corps-man.  

The article says this about the...what...robot?  Yeah I guess....anyway:

• The PETMAN robot was developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from the DoD CBD program. It is used to test the performance of protective clothing designed for hazardous environments. 

Then they say things about micro climates, sweating and stuff...but dollars to doughnuts we see it in the field with heavy packs or even dare I say it, mounted weapons?  Even the mounted part need not happen.  But if you have a weapons platform that can use weapons already in the theater of conflict or able to pick up and used any light to medium weapon would be golden for the same reason that a lot of American weapons started chambering NATO rounds, it makes them more universal in the field.  I can't be the first person to say ... hey  ground troops! As long as it doesn't have that stupid whine that big dog and the headless horse has.

Mark my word on this....

Moving Window Manikins! Great Innovation or Hideous Mistake?

In certain store windows in Tokyo's Shibuya district, you can sample one of the most inventive use for advertising of robot tech and gaming equipment. Called Marionettebots they are in truth manikins with the addition of joints and control wires. The wires are then wired through accuators to a Kinect. This allows the Marionettebots to be controlled by anyone standing in front of the window. 

This Robot May Not Be All its Cracked up to Be...

Oh I am so going to hell for that one but here we go anyway.  Let me introduce to you what I am affectionately calling Robo Butt 

Called Shiri, the device represents emotions with visual as well as tactile transformation of the muscles. (hey you can't make this stuff up!) Hell I could write more, but just watch the video!

Meet the Marine's LS3

Remember that walking monstrosity from Boston Dynamics called Big Dog.  The unit with an engine that sounded like an angry wasp's nest and along with a weird gait made for more than just a little humor.  Well not to be caught sleeping, BD has developed a unit for the Marines with the designation LS3.  It is much larger than the earlier prototype, quieter, capable of carrying 400 lbs., can move autonomously but also takes voice commands.  However it looks for all the world like a headless cow, a headless robo-cow.

 
Testing will continue on through 2014.....wanna bet how long it will be before we see films of this thing with either horns or a cow tail...  Not long I suspect.  Or hey, does this mean the end of cow tipping?

Meet Larry....Larry, It Seems, Has A Unique Talent

Meet Larry, a robotic head developed by the U.K.'s Health and Safety Laboratory.  Larry was invented to study the norovirus which has sickened more than a million people in the UK alone.

This particular  strain appears to be new which means that people's immune systems do not recognize the infection which equates to a surge of new infections.  

Norovirus causes a great deal of stomach distress.  Symptoms vary however stomach pain and vomiting seem to be the most common, hence the primary reason for the development of Larry the robot head.  

Norovirus, it should be noted, is incredibly robust.   It infects extremely fast and spreads equally as fast.  Plus it can live on an infected surface for an extremely long time. 

So where does robot head Larry fit in?  Well Larry can simulate a human vomiting!  "Why" you might ask?    Well it seems that Norovirus can be spread very easily through micro-particles of vomit, hence Larry the  anatomically correct "humanoid simulated vomiting system" which allows scientist to get a better idea of how far the aerosolized norovirus particles travel.

Check out the Verge artical here 

Plus the youtube video of Larry in action!

Which "Laws" Should Our Modern Robots Use?

Ok science fiction/robot story fans, the next three lines  should be instantly identifiable. 

1)  A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2)  A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law.

3)  A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second laws.

If you said anything other that Dr. Asimov's three robot behavioral constraints.  Asimov used these"laws" as foils for his story plots concerning robot's behavior often with a conflict between a law and what the robot needs to accomplish.

The curious thing about these laws is that many people know of them and consider them real restrictions on anything vaguely robotic.  So the problem at hand is which laws can realistically be incorporated and which are beyond our tech. 

Case in point The robot controlled car.  Here is the instance that The New-Yorker 

• Your car is speeding along a bridge at fifty miles per hour when errant school bus carrying forty innocent children crosses its path. Should your car swerve, possibly risking the life of its owner (you), in order to save the children, or keep going, putting all forty kids at risk?

Chances are you have only a few thousandth of a second to make the complicated maneuver. 

Now add in all the robotic devices that the military uses.  I sounds almost impossible to implement and in the next  couple of decades the problem will most likely triple in complexity.

Here is the url to the New Yorker article.                        

Airport Avian Control, the Korean Way

Give it up to the Koreans!!  When birds become a problem at military or civilian air_ports, are dogs or men with rifles or shotguns hired?  Nope,  The Koreans build the coolest military robot / tank, or the weirdest and ugliest car ever!

Erring on the side of the military we are introduced to the UGV - or unmanned ground vehicle.  The UGV is like the police or armed forces bomb disposal robot om steroids!   The six wheel UGV is equipped with  daytime and night cameras and non weaponized  lasers.   The lasers have a range of a little over a mile to help deal with any birds that are out of acoustic range by flashing patterns in the birds direction .

The unmanned UGV is equipped to autonomously avoid obstacles and return to specific locations , should the station becomes inoperable.   Though not a tank in size it still is a bit of a brute. It measures  eight feet  long and weighs 1.2 tons.  

Read complete article HERE on Gizmag

Robots of the Mind Getting Closer

The age old convention of a mechanical or biological machine that is controlled by the operator's mind had been around forever.  Movies as recent as say Avatar is just such an example.

Now according to the IO9 blog report that researchers from France and Japan have taken steps to make this technology a reality.  Roboticists at the CNRS-AIST Joint Robotics Laboratory and the CNRS-LIRMM Interactive Digital Human group have made huge strides in the development of an interface that would allow a human to activate the machine with only a thought.


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Read more at Diginfo

Trailer for Robot and Frank

Wow now if this isn't an interesting sounding film Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon among others are in a very low key (at first it would seem) film set in the near future. Frank Langella plays an ex-jewel thief who receives a gift from his daughter: a robot butler programmed to look after him. But soon the two companions try their luck as a heist team. Sarandon plays the love interest.

I know I must truly be getting older because even in this trailer I strongly identify with Langella's character!

I have a feeling that this has the makings of a fun, sweet and memorable film. Sadly Langella can not have many left and he is SO good.

What Has DARPA Got In Mind for This Creepy Robot?

Hey, check out this video of DARPA's possible follow on to BigDog (at least that is what I think..) the Cheetah. Treadmill test show a speed of 18 mph. It can reach these speeds by mimicking the physiology of the fastest land animal, the Cheetah. Though clearly not as robust as BigDog, so supply material is not its main purpose and DARPA isn't elaborating on what the military applications are - but at those speeds, it sure would be good at running things down.......

First in Space Human - Robonaut Handshake

So here is a Nasa video of a first ever. The first human / robot handshake in space. There it is in all its' glory. Very auspicious occasion. Nope I can't do it....is anyone else profoundly sad right now? Are you struck speechless at the total frivolity and waste of a platform said to be the answer to the dangers of working in space? Something to truly aide astronauts - side by side - into the future....yeah that kind of stuff they said when this project was first introduced to the public....PR HANDSHAKES W....T....F...?!

Yeah I know...sarcastic, jaded and all of that...sorry, but I honestly couldn't even watch the whole video. I quit when mission control congratulated Dan Burbank for a job well done while the remaining crew documented it. Look, I bought one of those Radio Shack robot arms back in the 70s when then first came out....laid out some serious cash for it back then...30 bucks or something....anyway, I can remember telling my brother hey shake hands with it! great fun that.... 40 years and for less money than it costs for a screw in Robonauts finger and it was a joke then......

ok, I guess I have probably pissed off enough people...I'm done.

Lost In Space's Robot Has Lost His Voice

Airlock Alpha reports that the iconic voice of the 60s classic Lost in Space's robot has died. Dick Tufeld who's famous lines like "Danger, Will Robinson" and "That does not compute"  died Jan. 22 he was 85.

Tufeld worked on many of producer Irwin Allen's productions such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and  The Time Tunnel though, as AA points out, his work often went uncredited.

Tufeld is survived by two sons, two daughters and six grandchildren.   His wife Adrienne died in 2004.   

Petman: Boston Dynamics New Humanoid Test Platform

Hey, check out this video of PETMAN from Boston Dynamics. You know, the makers of that whacked quadruped Big Dog? Now they have this full body sim. No, it's not for fighting (yeah right, I think Skynet would have something to say about that...you know, minigun here, rocket launcher there....and you are well on your way to a t-500 or maybe even a 800 series....) But as the Dvice article puts it:

• engineers are using this ..... hardware to (test) chemical suits that could protect military personnel from attack

Not only can it simulate body movements but it:

• is able to simulate sweating, respiring and changes in body temperature.

Check out the unit in action below and you can read the complete Dvice article here

Raytheon-Sarcos' New XOS 2 exoskeleton prototype

Hey, check out these robot arms. I have seen alot of the "strapon" types and this is the first one that had me wanting a pair for my very own. Now paint it yellow with hazard stripes and a safety cage and a choice line or so....what do you think? Remind you of anything?

Chatbot Weirdness!

Chatbots are often used as Web chat support agents to help you solve basic problems. When they are interacting with a person, they seem eery as they converse in an almost lifelike fashion. Researchers with a bit too much free time on their hands wanted to know what would happen if you connected two Chatbots together so they could talk to one another. The results was something even the researchers has not expected. Watch what happens.