Nyasar di Jalan, Robot Tanya Pejalan Kaki

Jerman - Kian lama, tingkah robot kian mirip manusia saja. Kala nyasar di jalanan, si robot pun tidak segan-segan menanyai orang-orang untuk mencari arah yang benar.

Kemampuan itu disematkan pada robot canggih bernama Autonomous City Explorer (ACE) ini. ACE dibuat para ilmuwan di Jerman, tepatnya para akademisi di Technical University of Munich.



Para ilmuwan membiarkan si robot berjalan dari universitas menuju sebuah tempat di tengah kota Munich dengan jarak sekitar 1,5 km. Untuk diketahui, ACE tidak dibekali perangkat penunjuk arah seperti sistem GPS.

Dengan demikian, sang robot harus bertanya pada orang-orang di dekatnya untuk mencari jalan menuju tujuan. Untuk itu, ACE dibekali dengan kamera dan software agar dapat mendeteksi keberadaan manusia di sekitarnya.

Dikutip detikINET dari Times of India, Jumat (15/5/2009), ACE mengandalkan speaker untuk menanyai para pejalan kaki. Kemudian, jika orang tersebut mau menolong, ia bakal diminta menyentuh layar sentuhnya untuk menujukkan arah.

Sesudahnya, si robot tak lupa mengucap terima kasih pada manusia yang mau membantunya sebelum nyelonong pergi ke tempat tujuannya. Setelah berinteraksi dengan 38 orang dalam periode waktu 5 jam, ia baru bisa mencapai tujuan.

ACE juga sempat nyasar karena ada orang yang salah menunjukkan arah. Namun meski cukup kepayahan, keberhasilan ACE sampai ke tujuan disambut gembira para penciptanya. Ia pun sukses menuruti petuah yang lama diajarkan pada kaum manusia, malu bertanya sesat di jalan.
( fyk / ash )

DARPA working on "Silent Talk" telepathic communication for soldiers

We're no strangers to crazy DARPA projects around here, but this one especially strikes our fantastic fancy. The agency's researchers are currently undertaking a project -- called Silent Talk -- to "allow user-to-user communication on the battlefield without the use of vocalized speech through analysis of neural signals."

That's right: they're talking about telepathy. Using an EEG to read brain waves, DARPA is going to attempt to analyze "pre-speech" thoughts, then transmit them to another person. They first plan to map people's EEG patterns to his / her individual words, then see if those patterns are common to all people.

If they are, then the team will move on to developing a way to transmitting those patterns to another person. Dream big, that's what we always say!

Boston Dynamics-designed RiSE V3 robot climbs poles, haunts dreams

The folks at Boston Dynamics have already made quite a name for themselves in the world of creepy robotics, but it looks like they're not ones to keep all their know-how to themselves, and they've now lent the University of Pennsylvania's Kod*lab a hand with this new RiSE V3 pole-climbing robot.



That, as you've no doubt surmised, is a followup to RiSE V1 and V2, which were developed without the help of Boston Dynamics and were more suited to climbing flat surfaces than poles. In addition to a vastly different leg mechanism, this latest model also makes use of some brushless DC motors that increase the power density to let it climb poles at rates up to 22cm per second, which the researchers say make it well-suited for a wide range of tasks.

As you can see for yourself, the bot mostly seems to work remarkably well, although it's obviously not quite ready to tackle critical jobs all by itself just yet.

USB Powered Monitor

We swung by D-Link's booth at CES to check out its upcoming SideStage USB-powered monitor, hoping to see the thing in action and get some more details ahead of its release.

What we found was quite familiar looking, to say the least. D-Link was disappointingly just demoing a Nanovision, but was quick to point out this would not be the product destined for a full US release sometime this summer.

That new display will still be produced by Nanovision, but will be modified to better suit our market, graced with a different logo, and cheaper, too. No firm price yet, but the company is targeting sub-$100, which sounds good to us.

Libelula rocket-powered helicopter backpack redefines danger

Sure, you can get yourself a personal helicopter or, if you're particularly daring, a jet pack, but what about those that crave yet more danger in short 30-second bursts? As in, rocket-propelled helicopter blades a few inches from your head-type danger. Thankfully, the folks at Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana (makes of some of the aforementioned jet packs) have come to the rescue (so to speak), with their latest high-flying concept, the Libelula rocket-powered helicopter backpack. Apparently, the rockets on the tips of the blades are necessary to keep the whole rig counter-balanced, a job that would normally be done with a tail rotor on an ordinary helicopter. Of course, as you can no doubt surmise by the detailed illustration above, this one's still a ways away from getting its first test flight, but the folks at TAM do have a proven track record, so we wouldn't put it completely past 'em to get it off the drawing board sooner or later. [Via Tech Digest]

Conceptual artificial plant enables you to practice before slaying flora

C'mon, we know there are a few of you out there who couldn't keep a potted plant alive if a botanist was holding your hand, but there's hope for you all yet. At least, there is if QianJun Gao's masterpiece ever makes it past the drawing board. This eloquently dubbed Practice Plant features a trio of "flowers" that display barometric readings and turn colors depending on status, and the surrounding leaves will droop to signify their need for attention. Thankfully, even the brownest of thumbs could always restart this puppy and try again, and with enough trial runs, maybe one day those hanging baskets wouldn't sway out of your way as you waltz by.

[Via YankoDesign]

BAE Systems working on spider-bots, other ways to scare you to death

Do you enjoy gangs of tiny, spider-like robot insectoids swarming all over your house, car, or personage? If you answered "yes," you're going to love what BAE Systems is cooking up. The company recently received an infusion of $38 million from the US Army Research Lab to fund the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) consortium; a team of scientists and researchers hell-bent on developing an "autonomous, multifunctional collection of miniature intelligence-gathering robots that can operate in places too inaccessible or dangerous for humans." Sure, that description (and accompanying photos, straight from BAE) does give you the impression that whoever came up with this really liked Minority Report, but won't it make you feel safer at night knowing a swarm of metallic spiders are looking out for you? No? Huh, weird.

[Via The Register]