This Is One Tall, Walking Robot!

From: Collegiate Times
"Robot making new strides"
"STriDER is not your average robot. It won't vacuum your floors or do dishes for you. STriDER (Self-excited Tripedal Dynamic Experimental Robot) is bound for loftier missions. Courtesy of RoMeLa The three-legged robot, which closely resembles a camera tripod, was created for sending its sensors to hard-to-reach areas.

"Since STriDER is tall by nature, it is great for deploying cameras, as most other autonomous robots cannot even see above bushes," said Dennis Hong, director of Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at Virginia Tech. .."
Read full article: http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/2007/09/27/robot_making_new_strides
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Meet Rin Tin Can!

From: New Scientist
"Robot dogs race to be soldier's best friend"
"A timid-looking four-legged robot about the size of a Chihuahua might seem like an unlikely companion for soldiers of the future.
Yet the robot, called LittleDog, could ultimately help researchers create more sophisticated robotic assistants for military personnel, including automated "pack-mules" capable of hauling heavy loads over tough terrain.
This is because LittleDog is remarkably agile for a robot when faced with treacherous, uneven terrain. Researchers are also fine-tuning its movement to be even faster and more animal-like over rough terrain..."
Read full article: http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn12691-robot-dogs-race-to-be-soldiers-best-friend.html
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
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Now We Know What Puts Those Little Things in Those Little Boxes - Over and Over and Over and...

An earlier video of Quattro posted in March '07
FromL Gizmag
"Adept Quattro high-speed packaging robot"
"September 24, 2007 Vision-guided robotics specialists Adept Technology has unveiled a new high-speed kinematic robot with a unique four arm design exclusively for pick-and-place applications. .."
"...Billed as the "World’s fastest robot", the Quattro features a rotational platform designed for maximum speed, maximum acceleration in “one at a time” packaging, manufacturing, material handling, kitting and assembly applications in sectors such as food, medical and consumer goods."
Read the full article: http://www.gizmag.com/go/8071/

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Blind, Deaf, and Without a Sense of Touch, 170,000+ US Workers Labor 24/7 Witout Pay

Who (or what) is the world's strongest robot? - According to the Guinness Book of World Records, that is - Follow the link to the news item below.
From: Industry Week
"Meet the New Robots"
"Oct. 1, 2007 -- The time: 1961. General Motors' implementation of flexible robotic automation in Ternstedt, N.J., started U.S. manufacturing on the path to realizing a future depicted in a 1923 play by Karel Capek. In "R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robot), Capek's vision was for millions of mechanical workers -- robots (as derived from the Czech words for work or workers)..."
http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=14972

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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
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Robots Snubbed By Humans

From: Sci Fi . com

"Sayonara Mr. Roboto: Nagoya robot museum closing its doors"

"This is a sad day in the world of robotics as Nagoya's Robot Museum has announced that the facility will be closing after only one year in operation. The announcement, which expressed embarrassment and offered apologies to fans, appeared suddenly on the museum's website yesterday. The reason given for the closure has to do with a lack of visitors, which kind of makes sense given that Japan is currently the Mecca of robotics (Japanese locals are increasingly less-than-impressed by humanoid robots). .."
http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2007/09/19/sayonara_mr_rob.html
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
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2,000+ Year Old Robot Rocks Again!

From: New Scientist
"New Scientist recreates a robot made by the ancient Greeks"
"Technology feature editor Ben Crystall explains how he recreated a programmable robot dating from 60AD..."
Print Article from New Scientist>>>
"When Lionardo was at Milan the King of France came there and desired him to do something curious; accordingly he made a lion whose chest opened after he had walked a few steps, discovering himself to be full of lilies."
Giorgio Vasari, The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects (Florence 1550).
Constructing a mechanical lion that could walk, let alone present flowers to the king, can't have been a simple task back in 1515 - even for a genius like Leonardo da Vinci. How he managed this feat remained a mystery until 2000, when US robotics expert Mark Rosheim came to a surprising conclusion.
Pulling together fragments of notes and drawings, Rosheim worked out that the lion was almost certainly powered by a clockwork cart illustrated in da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus (see Illustration) Intriguingly, Rosheim suggested that the cart's steering mechanism was controlled by arms attached ..."
http://technology.newscientist.com/channel/tech/mg19526111.600

Like Dig this Great Video of Cutting Edge Digging Machine

Be patient, the robot takes a sec to appear after you launch the video
From: The Register
"Subterranean mole-bot under development"
"British boffins are developing a mechanical, mole-like robotic system which could dig its way through debris or rubble. The technology could be used to build burrowing rescue machines able to retrieve people trapped by collapsing buildings or tunnels.
New Scientist reports that the men behind the new kit are Robin Scott and Robert Richardson of the Artificial Intelligence Group at Manchester's School of Computer Science. The engineering brainboxes were apparently inspired by the digging action of talpa europea - the common mole - rather than the fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs et al..."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/18/mancunian_mole_cruiser_robot/
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
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At Last...Zeno Caught on Video!

Hey Kids - Grab Your NXT Robotics Kit and Be the First One on Your Block to Win $20 Million

From: WIRED Magazine
"Google Offers $20 Million X Prize to Put Robot on Moon"
"...Google will award $20 million to the first private team to put a robot on the moon, the company and the X Prize Foundation announced at Wired NextFest in Los Angeles Thursday. Members of the public will also get the chance to send digital mementos to the moon..."
http://www.wired.com/science/space/magazine/15-10/ff_moon
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The Greening of FIRST

From: FIRST
FIRST LEGO® League Goes “Green” with 2007 “Power Puzzle” Challenge
"FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology through teamwork and problem solving, today officially launches its biggest-ever FIRST LEGO® League season with the unveiling of the 2007 “Power Puzzle” Challenge.
This year’s Challenge calls for teams of middle-school students, ages 9 to 14, to use robotics to understand and create solutions for one of today’s most critical environmental issues: energy management and conservation..."
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070905005959&newsLang=en
Some suggested ideas and connections>>>
From DISCOVER:
"4 Robots That Are Saving the World
Smart machines help fix humanity's ecological screwups"
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/sep/4-robots-that-are-saving-the-world
Also>>>
Robots4Farms - Objectives: To reduce the use of pesticides, herbicides & fertilizer.
http://www.robots4farms.com/farmrobots.html
From: Mongabay
"Robots aid in search for Ivory-billed woodpecker"
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0217-ibw.html
From ScienceDaily:
"Video: Robot Walks on WaterMimicking Insects to Avoid Sinking Using Surface Tension"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006-07-10/
From: innovations report
"Ocean robots watching our climate"
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/earth_sciences/report-14589.html
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Robo Boy Back in the News Today!

From Optonline News:

"Robot Maker Builds Artificial Boy"

"David Hanson has two little Zenos to care for these days. There's his 18-month-old son Zeno, who prattles and smiles as he bounds through his father's cramped office. Then there's the robotic Zeno. It can't speak or walk yet, but has blinking eyes that can track people and a face that captivates with a range of expressions..."

http://www.optonline.net/News/AP/Article?articleId=324138

jump to: http://www.zenosworld.com/

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Meet "RoboKid"

From: PC Magazine
"Zeno Could Be Next Robot Boy Wonder"
"Hanson Robotics' latest creation is a 17-inch, 4.5-pound robot boy that can walk, talk, express emotions, and make eye contact..."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2178986,00.asp
And visit Giapetto's workshop...
HANSON ROBOTICS http://www.hansonrobotics.com/products.htm
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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
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Graceful? Well, for want of a better robot-age adjective, yeah!

From: ROBOTS.NET
"Roller-Walker: A Leg-Wheel Hybrid Walking Robot"
"...The video shows a 2006 Japanese research robot called Roller-Walker, developed at the Hirose-Fukushima Robotics Lab. The robot has a hybrid locomotion system with legs that end in wheels. The wheels can be rotated so that the hubs face the ground and they act as feet for walking..."
http://robots.net/article/2334.html
Also...
From: SciFi.com
"Roller-Walker robot changes modes on the go" http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2007/09/03/rollerwalker_ro_1.html>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)
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Robot "Flea" to Save the World from Deadly Pollution

From Axcess News:

"Pollution-seeking miniature leaping robot debuted"

"...A small robot capable of leaping like a flea to cover vast areas of ground was debuted which sniffs out pollution. The insect-like robot was developed to detect mercury poisoning in the ground and leaps from place to place the way fleas or frogs jump..."

http://axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show?id=12001
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Robots Improve Surgery for Men and Women

from Surgical Robot Assistant (below)

From: eMaxHealth

"Northwestern Memorial Launches Dedicated Surgical Robotics Program For Gynecologic Malignancies"

"Very few programs aimed at surgically managing and treating women’s cancers center on a robot as the lead combatant. But Northwestern Memorial Hospital believes surgical robotics can improve on operative outcomes and dramatically reduce recovery time for certain forms of gynecologic malignancies..."

http://www.emaxhealth.com/24/15535.html

also...

From: the Look Out/Health News

"Saint John's Health Center Now Offers Robotics Surgery Option for Prostate Cancer Patients"

"The Dirks/Dougherty Prostate Center at Saint John’s Health Center and the John Wayne Cancer Institute now offers prostatectomy patients the most high-tech, minimally-invasive surgical approach through the use of the da Vinci Surgical System, from Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
This robot-assisted surgery is quickly becoming the preferred treatment for removal of the prostate following early diagnosis of prostate cancer, with studies suggesting it may be the most effective, least invasive prostate surgery performed today..."

http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/Health_News/HN-2007/HN-08_31_07_Robotics_Surgery_Option.htm

and...

"The da Vinci® Surgical System"

Surgical Robot product information (Intuitive Surgical)

http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/products/davinci_surgicalsystem/index.aspx

and...

"Surgical Robot Assistant"

Intelligent Systems Laboratory (Wright State University)

http://www.cs.wright.edu/~agoshtas/spine.html

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Check Out: "CLASSROOM ROBOTICS" (the book)http://www.infoagepub.com/products/content/978-1-59311-602-6.php