Human-like robotic arm, with familiar muscles and bones

Boing Boing linked to this amazing robotic arm from power tool & pneumatic "muscle" manufacturer Festo.

"Airic’s_arm is inspired by nature. Based on a combination of mechatronics and the biological model of a human being, it opens up new possibilities for future automated movement processes.

The Airic’s_arm is a robotic arm fitted with artificial bones and muscles. The bone structure, consisting of the human bones such as ulna and radius, metacarpal bone and finger bone, shoulder joint and shoulder blade – joints that do not occur as such in the technical world – is moved via 30 muscles."

Unfortunately, the video of the arm isn't embeddable, but it's pretty amazing to watch. [Video]

Roboreptile on clearance at Radio Shack

I had to stop buy Radio Shack today to buy an obscure audio cable. While I was there, I discovered that they were clearing out their Roboreptiles. They were originally $100, now on sale for $30. That was too good of a deal for me to pass up, and I'm sure many of you will want one too.

• Find one near you (Click the link "may be available near you")
• Roboreptile Online (The Official site)
• RoboReptile Guide including info on the internals & hacking.

NASA Open Sources Robotics Framework

Ever wish your bot could run the same software as a Mars Rover? Well, now it can. NASA has just released a selection of the software libraries that drive the Mars Rover and many of NASA's other robots. From the press release:

Primary functionality in these modules includes math infrastructure, rotation matrices with Euler angles, quaternions, and coordinate transformations (interoperable homogeneous and quaternion transforms). It also includes the coordinate frame infrastructure that connect transformations and mechanisms with moving parts. Additionally, you will find mechanism models for wheeled, legged and hybrid vehicles. Other modules include device and device group infrastructure with support for generic digital and analog I/O, cameras, and motors. Several modules in this release provide vision infrastructure for images, color images, camera models, 3D point cloud, and surface normal image representations.

I don't even know what most of that means, but I bet many of you do. This first release contains about 30% of the code that will eventually be released. Get more information at the CLARAty Homepage. (Via)

LANdroids take WiFi to the Battlefield

We're all familiar with how unreliable our WiFi connections are in our homes. Now imagine what it's like in an urban warfare environment. In order to address the problem, DARPA has proposed LANdroids: Small, cheap and expendable WiFi bots that will offer a reliable, self-configuring, self-healing network on the battlefield. The droids don't actually exist yet, but DARPA is offering $1,000,000 for a 12 month contract to develop them. [More Info PDF] (Via)

Milkscanner 1.0: a 3D Scanner Made from Lego and Milk

The Milkscanner is a tool that allows the scanning of objects and creates a Displacement map for use with Moviesandbox or any other 3D App that would allow for displacement mapping.

Ingredients:
1 Webcam
1 Tupperware Bowl
3 cups of Milk
1 custom LEGO rig

You can download the Milkscanner PC-Application (creates the displacement map automatically from a webcam image) from the Moviesandbox webpage:

[Link] (Via)

New Products at MaximumRobotics.com

We've been adding new products like crazy over the last few days. We've greatly expanded our selection of tools. We added several new electronic component value packs. We added the RoboBox to our selection of robot kits. There's even more that I'm forgetting, and we have even more on the way. Come check us out! Use code 'blog0607' to save 10% off your order of $50 or more! Hurry, this offer will expire soon.

Robotic Arm Chair

The KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) has developed the Hubo FX-1 chair bot, a robotic walker that they hope will replace the wheelchair. Cool, but it seems like the iBot is a bit more practical. On the other hand, it would be great for a TV chair. It might not actually pour your beer for you, but it does make getting a fresh one out of the fridge a whole lot more entertaining. (Via)

Ft. Lauderdale to buy robotic public toilet

"It speaks kindly to you, it soothes you with music, it cleans up after you.

It's not your mother. It's a restroom.

The automated public toilet that Fort Lauderdale plans to try out at the beach does the job of a whole crew of employees, but doesn't need health insurance. It locks up at night, and opens for your business in the morning.

It knows when you're inside. And if you're not moving, it worries that you might have fallen over dead. So it flings the door open and a siren screams." [Full Article]

The robot we've all really been waiting for...

Admit it. The real reason behind you interest in robots is your dream of having one that will fetch you your beer. Well, it seems that your dream may have finally came true. Jabanese brewer Asahi designed the Robocco BeerBot as part of a contest they were running. It keeps your beer chilled, then opens and pours your beer on command. You end up with a perfectly poured 2/3rds of a pint. You can get your own slightly used BeerBot for only $799 + $99 Shipping. [Link] (via)

Read Wii Nunchuk Data in Wiring

Chad from Windmeadow Labs has figured out how to read data from a Nintendo Wii Nunchuk into an Arduino (and presumably into a Wiring Board as well, though I haven't tested it). The Wii Nunchuk contains a 3 axis accelerometer, joystick and buttons, all in a nice case, for only $19.95. Should be useful for all kinds of robotic projects.

UPDATE: Oops... I suppose a link would help.

Ok, I stand corrected...

The other day, I said that the new R2D2 bot was the coolest Star Wars toy that I'd ever seen. Well, that's no longer true. This one definitely beats R2 hands down. If anyone has any more info on this, please let us know!


UPDATE: I stumbled across this post on the Robotic Revolutions blog that has more information.

Bennett Robot Works

Gordon Bennett of Bennett Robot Works makes probably the coolest Junkbot art I've seen yet. He uses old car parts, hand tools, gauges, gears, and just about anything else you can imagine to create artworks that are both classic and futuristic at the same time. This is what you can get me for Christmas. [Link]

Home Built CNC SMT Pick & Place machine

"The below video clip is of my CNC Taig mill setup as a surface mount Pick and Place machine. It's slow, but it's more fun watching it do the work then it is to do it by hand! Notice how it picks up the parts in one orientation, and then rotates them to the correct destination orientation. It then "centers" the part in the "centering pit". Also notice the way-cool http://www.HighTechSystemsLLC.com Modular Work Holding System that holds the PCB down on the HighTechSystemsLLC.com tooling plate. It makes clamping the PCBs down a snap!"

[link] (via)

Finally! You can own your own R2D2!

Direct from Industrial Automaton comes this scaled down version of the Astromech droid made famous by the documentaries collectively known on Earth as "Star Wars." This little R2 unit is ready to obey your commands - voice commands, that is! Just like the larger version of R2 you know from the flickers, this R2 needs nothing but some tender words and he'll do what you command. [Link]. Also available from Amazon.

How to: Brazing Tutorial

Brazing is a great alternative to welding on small robots. It's cheaper, easier, allows you to easily work with aluminum, easy to do with small parts, and allows you to join dissimilar metals. Society of Robots offers a great tutorial on brazing the small parts that robot builders will typically use.
[Link]

Robotic Easter Egg Hunt

The Seatte Robotics Society featured a Robotic Easter Egg Hunt at their April meeting. Here's video of the festivities. They'll be hosting the competition again at this years Robothon.

How to: Bending Plastic

Someone posted an instructable today on building a plastic bending heater from a old toaster oven. Certainly earns coolness points for the creative recycling, but lot's of penalty points for being quite dangerous. TAP Plastics offers a somewhat safer solution, that, while not cheap ($65), won't completely break the bank. They even offer videos on how to use it (and lots of other plastic related topics).

How to build a Plastic heat bender:


How to bend plastic:

Self-Balancing Bike Riding Robot

Murata Boy is a self-balancing, bicycle riding robot developed by Murata in Tokyo, Japan. He can ride Up and down hills, on bumpy roads or down a narrow S-shaped track. He can even avoid obstacles, balance while stopped and ride backwards. That all sounds easy enough, until you think back to the first time you rode a bike-- balancing on a bike is harder then it seems, and for a Robot it's quite a feat.

Links:
Murata Boy
iiRobotics.com

Video:

How to: Make Mousey the Junkbot

This weekend, make Mousey The Junkbot, a cute little light sensing robot that will skitter across your floors like a real mouse! This project was in Make: Volume 2 and was conceived and written by Gareth Branwyn of streettech.com.

How to: Build a MicroMouse

The Seattle Robotics Society will be hosting their first MicroMouse competition at this years Robothon. If you want to compete, but don't know where to start, the site MicroMouseInfo.com is for you. Great info on building and programming your robot, and details on several of the most popular algorithms to solve the maze.


Don't be too intimidated by this video. These folks are a bit out of our league... this year at least.

The RIOT Wheel

Nothing specifically to do with Robotics, but I've always thought that the RIOT Wheel was a brilliant example of DIY engineering. The RIOT Wheel (AKA ReInvention Of The Wheel) is a huge, heavy (1100 lbs.) motorized single-wheel vehicle, originally built for Burning Man, the natural home of deviant vehicles.

Brotron: The Art of Greg Brotherton

More artwork from junk... Brotron turns old vacuum cleaners, kitchen appliances, and similar household items into deathrays and robots. Non-working deathrays and roobots unfortunately, but amazing nonetheless.

Mr. Wu's Robots

"Wu Yulu, a struggling farmer and father of two, would not be regarded by most people as a success story. At 42 years of age he has destroyed his family home, been seriously burned and landed himself almost £5,000 in debt.

But Mr Wu - who left school at 14 and has no formal technical training - tells Sky News producer Holly Williams that it's all been in the name of science.

For the farmer, from Tongzhou, China, is a part-time inventor who creates 'labour-saving robots' out of scrap he finds at rubbish dumps."

[Link]


More Articles:
http://www.china.org.cn/english/NM-e/96084.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-07/07/content_636244.htm
(Photo from China Daily)