This family-friendly humanoid robot designed by Aldebaran Robotics is also a multi-functional robot with features including microphones, HD cameras, Wi-Fi connectivity, Hi-Fi speakers, pressure sensors, a voice synthesizer and much more. It has made appearances at events including the Shanghai Expo in China with a synchronized dance routine, at Robocup participating with its own football team, in the UK teaching autistic children, and even demonstrating a stand-up comedy routine in December 2011. Read more at http://realitypod.com/2014/10/the-top-five-mind-blowing-robots-of-2014/#TajsM2ZH5iDAbyEE.99
This robot created by artist and researcher, Patrick Tresset, is a sketcher shaped like an arm that is able to draw portraits of people. It was primarily designed for Tresset’s “New Work” gallery installation which occurred in London in 2011. Read more at http://realitypod.com/2014/10/the-top-five-mind-blowing-robots-of-2014/#TajsM2ZH5iDAbyEE.99.
Another robot by Aldebaran Robotics, this emotional humanoid bot is designed to be able to assess moods, and interact with humans. It is able to shake hands, dance and display messages on the display screen on it’s chest. Read more at http://realitypod.com/2014/10/the-top-five-mind-blowing-robots-of-2014/#HQIHMayVl2ASCduX.99.
is composed of two snake-like machines that attach via magnets to a UAV. After being carried to the site by the quadcopter, snake bots can detach themselves, slip through the holes and cracks of a collapsed building, for instance, and slither to their destinations.
It was inevitable that funding for these projects by the US Military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) would lead to spin-offs finding their way into private startups. There are now at least another three companies developing exoskeletons for commercial use and the focus is on creating them to help people with spinal injuries. A Swedish company, Ekso Bionics, makes a 20kg titanium and aluminium suit that costs $100,000 a pop, which has helped several crippled individuals walk again for the first time.
In episode #176, Audrow Nash interviews Christoph Stiller from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Dr. Stiller speaks about the utility of various types of sensors in enabling autonomous vehicle operation, as well as the ethics of autonomous cars, and his experience in the DARPA Grand Challenge. Dr. Stiller is the most recent past president of the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society, and currently serves as Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems and the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine. His automated driving team AnnieWAY reached the finals in the DARPA Urban Challenge 2007 and won the Grand Cooperative Driving Challenge in 2011.
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In episode #175, Audrow Nash interviews Professor Riccardo Cassinis from the University of Brescia in Italy about using robotics in education. Cassinis speaks about having young people, from primary school through university, access and control real robots remotely, in preference to simulations, to learn subjects such as programming, geography, and foreign languages. Currently at the University of Brescia, Cassinis is the Director of the Advanced Robotics Laboratory and an Associate Professor of Advanced Computer Programming and of Robotics.
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In episode #174, Audrow Nash speaks with Hunter Lloyd, a Professor of Robotics at Montana State University. Hunter, who interrupted his college education to tour as a comedian for six years, performs a comedy act for all ages with partner Looney, a NAO Humanoid Robot from Aldebaran Robotics. Lloyd discusses making people laugh with his robot partner, why he does it, and how what he’s learned as a comedian relates to robotics.
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In episode #173, interviewer Ron Vanderkley speaks with Will Jackson, founder and Director of Engineered Arts Limited. With a background in design and animatronics, Jackson founded Engineered Arts in 2004 to produce mixed media installations for UK science centres and museums. In 2005, the company began work on the Mechanical Theatre for the Eden Project, which led to the design and construction of the original RoboThespian model.
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