'AUTÓMATA' movie explores what life might be like in the not-too-distant future

With a name like AUTÓMATA I am almost obligated to post news of this upcoming movie. Clearly, it's borrowing some of its major themes from Asimov's classic novel titled I, Robot. One also catches the scent of Blade Runner. Still, the trailer does look exciting.

A synopsis from the film's official web site:

Fast forward fifty years into the future, planet earth is in the midst of gradual desertification. Mankind struggles to survive as the environment deteriorates and the slow regression of the human race begins in AUTÓMATA. On the brink of life and the reality of death, technology combats the prevailing uncertainty and fear with the creation of the first quantum android, the Automata Pilgrim 7000. Designed to bring support to society's plight, man and robot reveal what it means to co-exist in a culture defined by human nature.

The descent of civilization is juxtaposed by the rise of ROC, the corporation at the helm of robotic intelligence. Despite the demise of humanity, the company has set forth security protocols to ensure mankind always maintains control over the manufactured population.As ROC insurance agent, Jacq Vaucan (Antonio Banderas) routinely investigates cases and complaints surrounding defective androids, he begins to uncover the secrets behind who is really manipulating the Automata Pilgrim 7000. Jacq's own suspicions propel the mystery — uncovering a truth that is far more complex than the make or model of any machine.

Here is where you can learn more about the upcoming film, AUTÓMATA.

[ Thanks Glenn! ]

---

Giant onboard robot arm places wheelchair into the back of a stationwagon

Apparently, this video has been around a while. Somehow, I haven't seen it. In it, you will see a very large robotic arm extend out the back of a Volkswagen Passat so that the driver can hand over his wheelchair. The arm then neatly folds back up, taking the wheelchair with it! Creative, powerful, useful; it's an incredible system.

The video description says that the arm wa installed by Kino Mobility of Toronto. Their web site now redirects to one called MV-1 Canada.

[ Thanks Christoph ]

---

Intel creates kinetic art robotic music system inspired by an animated video

A couple of years ago, a video made the rounds on the internet. (Strangely, I don't think it appeared here on The Automata Blog.) It was a 3D animation of an intricate musical system in which bouncing balls triggered notes on an assemblage of musical devices. It was pretty convincing. I think there was a bit of confusion in some circles as to whether the machine was a real thing or not. It wasn't, but now it is. The folks at Intel have used that video as inspiration to create a machine that does more or less what the one in the video did! That's what you see above.

For reference, here is the original video titled Pipe Dream:

Here is where you can learn more about the embedded Intel technology for industrial automation that was used for this project.

[ Thanks Christoph! ]

---

Fritz, the open source robotic head, reaches $41,000 dollars in funding on Kickstarter!

Kerwin Lumpkins has a startup company that recently had a robotic head project on Kickstarter. As you will see in the video, Fritz is a robotic puppet head that you can control with an easy to use computer application. The advanced version has moving eyes, jaw, eyelids, eyebrows, and neck.

From the company web site:

Fritz is an animatronic puppet that is controlled by an Arduino microcontroller. Fritz was created to provide an inexpensive introduction into robotics that is both entertaining, creative and educational. With an open source directive, Fritz is accompanied by a PC application to provide you with an easy to use interface in customizing and interacting with the project mechanics.

The project is currently funded way over it's goal of $25K. In fact, they received over $41,000 in funding from 236 backers. The crowd has spoken and they want laser cut wooden robot heads! I love this crowd.

You can learn more about Fritz the robotic head on the Kickstarter page or on the www.xyzbot.com web site.

---

Cinder block-throwing robotic dog, both awesome and scary

When I started this video I wasn't sure what to expect. I've posted other videos about robots by Boston Dynamics and most of those seemed to involve the robots staying on their feet as they encountered various obstacles. This one is a little different. This robotic dog (for lack of a better term) hurls a huge cinder block across the room.

From the video description:

BigDog handles heavy objects. The goal is to use the strength of the legs and torso to help power motions of the arm. This sort of dynamic, whole-body approach to manipulation is used routinely by human athletes and will enhance the performance of advanced robots. Boston Dynamics is developing the control and actuation techniques needed for dynamic manipulation. The cinderblock weighs about 35 lbs and the best throw is a bit more than 17 ft. The research is funded by the Army Research Laboratory's RCTA

I'm sure this technology will have many useful, benign applications in the future (e.g. demolition, rescue, bomb removal, trail blazing, etc.), but I have to admit the sight of a robot throwing a heavy object in such an organic way left me feeling both impressed and a little freaked out. It's not the power that did it. We have machines and robots far more powerful than this one. Rather, it's the way the robot moved to make the throw that made me uneasy. Perhaps I experienced a bit of that hypothesized uncanny valley. How could I not? The robot even seems to be craning its neck after the throw to see how well it did, as if wondering if it beat its old record.

Here is where you can learn more about the Boston Dynamics BigDog project.

[ Thanks Tom! ]

---

Robotic pack animal can carry a 400 pound load and follow a human through the woods

The folks at Boston Dynamics are still working on semi-autonomous walking robots. You may recall my post about their BigDog robot back in 2008. The pack-robot shown here is known as the "LS3". The idea was to create a semi-autonomous legged robot to carry heavy loads -- gear for soldiers in this case. This robot is able to carry 400 lbs of a equipment, follow a human through some pretty rugged terrain, and accept voice commands. The most remarkable section comes at the end of the video when the robot takes a fall down a steep bank. It rolls over and eventually stands back up!

You can read more in this article from The Daily Mail published a few days ago.

---

Customized computer code and electronic circuits gives a lamp uncanny lifelike behaviors

Here's a charming little film featuring an animated lamp that is part of a project titled Pinokio. Despite how it may appear, this NOT done with stop motion animation.

From the Pinokio project video description:

Pinokio is an exploration into the expressive and behavioural potentials of robotic computing. Customized computer code and electronic circuit design imbues Lamp with the ability to be aware of its environment, especially people, and to expresses a dynamic range of behaviour. As it negotiates its world, we the human audience can see that Lamp shares many traits possessed by animals, generating a range of emotional sympathies.

Pinokio was a collaborative project created by Shanshan Zhou, Adam Ben-Dror, and Joss Doggett using Processing, Arduino, and OpenCV. The creators admit that Pinokio may not be the most intelligent robot ever produced, but that doesn't mean it isn't special.

Says Shanshan Zhou

Just like Pinocchio the puppet who comes to life and confidently proclaims "I'm a real boy" – it is the irrepressible and seemingly instinctive impulse of living for its own sake in Pinokio that shines forth in poetry and magic.

Indeed, the expressive and behavioral qualities make Pinokio come alive in a visceral way. Any time that a machine can do that, something remarkable has happened. Here is a fascinating video of the project in progress, complete with a Lamp-point-of-view monitor:

The project was created as for the course MDDN 251: Physical computing at Victoria University of Wellington, as part of their module on animatronics. Well done. Well done.

[ Thanks Christoph! ]

---

Robotic puppetry at its finest: the animatronic creations of Gustav Hoegen

I had no idea this kind of thing could be done with animatronics.

From the YouTube Description:

Not CGI, but wow, what an amazing animatronic showreel by the talented Gustav Hoegen! Gustav's specialty is Animatronic Effects, Prosthetic Makeup Effects for TV and Film. His credits and some shots shown in this video include: Prometheus, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Clash of the Titans, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who and more.

Here is a link to Gustav Hoegen's special effects credits on IMDb.

Found via Awesome Robo!

[ Thanks Glenn! ]

---

Sphero robotic sphere is controlled by smartphone

The Sphero is robotic remote-controlled ball that can be directed with an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Android device. Controlling Sphero from your mobile device is accomplished in a variety of ways including tilting and gesturing on your device.

The Sphero comes with apps for you device that allow you to play with it in different ways. They call this "Mixed-Reality Game Play" in which real objects and virtual elements are both used for a game. The possibilities seem endless. I love the idea of setting up obstacle courses for it. You could improvise a most unusual indoor miniature golf course with little more than the things already in your living room. There is also the intriguing possibility of fooling your friends and annoying your cat. The Sphero can also be programmed to perform a recorded sequence of actions so that it can then run semi-autonomously.

Here is where you can read a whole lot more about the Sphero Robotic Ball.

---

Programmable acrobat robot with 17 servos and 75 moves

Check out this is acrobatic robot! The robot has a repertoire of 75 moves that include somersaults, backflips, and a variety of comical moves.

From the Advanced Acrobatic Robot description:

With a 60 MHz microcontroller, the robot has 17 servos that work in unison with an included gyro sensor and accelerometer to maintain balance and stability while providing lightning-quick movements that suggest humanoid sentience, commanded by an included wireless gamepad remote control. The points of articulation in its neck, arms, hands, legs, and feet are so precise that the robot can be commanded to pick up and hold objects with its hands, feign a soccer kick, or punch the air as if it were performing a martial arts kata-it can even bow to its audience after a performance.

The robot comes with software that works on Windows 7, XP, and 2000 allowing you to program additional actions via an included USB cable.

Here is where you can get the programmable acrobatic robot.

---

Two-legged walking robot toy moves via shape-memory alloy

I was introduced to robotics and shape-memory alloys when I bought the book Stiquito for Beginners: An Introduction to Robotics and made the small hexapod robot that comes with the book as a kit. The clever little two-legged inchworm robot shown here is powered by the same Muscle Wire, also known as Nitinol. Nitinol is nickle/titanium allow that will return to a pre-defined shape when brought to specific temperatures. Heat from an electrical current causes it to contract, making this little inchworm take tiny steps. Though the Stiquito was fun to make, this robot looks like an even better introduction because the design is simple, robust, and moves along a bit better.

From the Inchworm Robot description:

Each BioMetal Fiber Walking Robot Inchworm has one strand of BioMetal Fiber. When current is applied, the fiber heats up and contracts. This pulls the Inchworm's feet apart. When the current is stopped, the fiber cools and expands. Add a little grippy fabric on the bottom of each foot and the spring to return it to its original position, and you can easily see how the little inchworm can walk along most non-slick surfaces.

Here is where you can get your own BioMetal Fiber Walking Robot Inchworm. Here are some items for those interested in Stiquito robots. The basic Stiquito (as shown on the book cover, right) is controlled manually like the Inchworm. You have to push the button to provide the electrical current that causes the muscle wire to contract. The newer Stiquito book uses a microcontroller to provide the current automatically for a more autonomous robot.

---

Automomous robot band covers 'Come Together' by The Beatles

Here's a fun video of a group of robots performing The Beatles classic song Come Together. They really bring their own sound to the tune.

An explanation from the YouTube description:

Four of Drexel's HUBO robots perform the Beatles' "Come Together" in a demonstration that combines cutting-edge engineering technology and research with creative expression, produced by the Music & Entertainment Technology Laboratory (MET-lab). The HUBOs are operating autonomously (not human-controlled). Their movements are directed by student-developed software to perform the gestures necessary to produce the appropriate notes and beats as dictated by a musical score. Every sound in the video was performed by the robots.

Here's where you can learn more about the robotics at Drexel Univerisity.

[ Thanks Bob! ]

---

SketRobo drawing automaton can see & draw you!

Magician Brad Henderson from Austin Texas recently spotted this soon-to-be released toy automaton. The SketRobo is a small robot capable of drawing with pen and paper. OK...so we've seen automata that have been doing this for hundreds of years. What makes the SketRobo different is that it can change what it draws based on what it can see at any given moment.

One model draws images stored in memory. Another model has an on-board camera and facial recognition technology allowing it to draw portraits on the spot. Now that is a new twist on this old theme! The SketRobo should be available in the fall of 2012 -- retailing for around $60 for the no-camera version and about $100 for the one with the camera. It's being marketed as a way to teach kids how to draw, but I think we will see it put to many creative uses.

It is a remarkable coincidence that a drawing automaton product should follow so closely behind the release of the film Hugo, which featured just such a machine. It seems we are as fascinated today by the idea of a drawing machine as they were 200 years ago when audiences first saw Maillardet's drawing automaton. I wonder what he would have thought about the facial recognition technology?

---

KINETICA ART FAIR 2012 dates announced!

The dates for KINETICA ART FAIR 2012 have been announced and tickets have already gone on sale. The fair, produced by Kinetica Museum, joins galleries, art organizations and other groups from around the world who focus on kinetic, electronic, robotic, sound, light, time-based and multi-disciplinary new media art, science and technology.

From the Kinetica Museum web site:

The fair provides an international platform for museums, collectors, curators and the public to view and buy artworks in this thriving and advancing field. Alongside the fair Kinetica curate a themed feature exhibition, screenings, tours, talks, workshops and performances.

Here are some amazing photographs from the 2011 Kinetica Art Fair.

Event: KINETICA ART FAIR 2012
Dates: February 9th - 12th, 2012
Location: Ambika P3 Marylebone Rd, London, NW1 5L
Web site: http://www.kinetica-artfair.com/

---

Hexbut Larva - autonomous squirming bug robot

Hexbug has been delivering insect-inspired robots for a while now. Based on simple electronics and basic bio-mechanics, they are robots-from-the-ground-up, similar to many of the BEAM robots in principle. In addition to their original Micro-Robotic Creatures, they have introduced an Inchworm, Spider, Crab, Ant, and nondescript Nano, as well as various terrains and habitats for these little creatures.

The HEXBUG Larva is the latest addition to the line. Though quite small, the robot has infrared sensors that allow it to detect obstacles in its wriggly path. The robot is then capable of steering clear of those obstacles. All of this is pretty good for a robot this size, but not earth-shattering. The thing that sets the Larva apart is the bio-mimetic motion. It's both fascinating and -- if you are not into creepy-crawly things -- perhaps a bit unnerving. Personally, I think it is fantastic!

Here's where you can get the Hexbug Larva in a variety of colors.

---

Humanoid robot riding a two-wheeled bike

Check out this video of a small humanoid robot riding a two-wheeled bike. No training wheels! I couldn't do this until I was about 5 or 6 years old. It won't be long now folks: there will be little robots dashing about all over the place.

It's a lovely piece of work all around. There is something charming about this one. When we ride a bike we are forced to move as the bike's mechanism dictates. The movements of this particular robot end up looking just like a human because the machine is on...well...another machine. It, like us, moves as necessary to operate the bicycle.

I can't tell you much more about this little bike-riding robot, because the site is in Japanese. The YouTube description says it was created by a Dr.Guero. Here is a link to the official web site for the miniature robot-riding robot.

If you are interested in small humanoid robots, you might check out Tomy I-SOBOT Robot -- a very capable (and funny!) little robot that many people are using as a platform for their own experiments.

---

Build your own remote control machines kit

Thames & Kosmos, the folks that make those nifty physics sets we were so excited about a while back, also make the mechanical toy shown here: a remote control machines construction set.

The contains everything you need to build 10 different remote control devices and machines including a crane, race car, bulldozer, robotic arm, plow and an antique-style car.

Included in set are three motors, 182 snap-together pieces, an easy-to-operate infrared remote, and a 48 page instruction book illustrating how to make each of the different models. You can, of course, also invent your own contraptions with the set. The possibilities are intriguing and numerous. You have to love toys that can be made into lots of other toys.

Check out a larger image, and some good reviews for Thames & Kosmos Remote Control Machines Set.

---

Build and operate a Darth Vader robotic arm

You may not know this but automata and artificial limbs have shared a long history. It seems only fitting that this relationship would continue to the present day and even into our notions of the future -- science fiction. Shown here is a robotic arm toy that replicates Darth Vader's artificial arm.

The Darth Vader Robotic Arm is a kit that snaps together. It includes the stand with built-in controls. The arm is capable of gripping hand holding lightweight objects. Most surprisingly, no batteries are required!

Be sure to read the positive reviews for tips on how to assemble the arm so that it does all that it supposed to do.

Here is a link to the Star Wars Science - Darth Vader Robotic Arm.

---

Elenco Scarab Robot - kit for soldering practice

I have an affinity for small robots based on insects. This Scarab robot kit by Elenco features two touch sensors which detect obstacles in its path. Once it detects an obstacle, the beetle will execute a two-step maneuver to bypass it. The robot is capable of moving left, right, and in reverse. This kit is rated at an intermediate skill level, so if you want to hone your soldering skills this is a fun and affordable way to do it.

Here's a link to Elenco Scarab Robot Kit (soldering required).

---

Instructables National Robotics Week robot contest

The world's best DIY site, Instructables, is gearing up for National Robotics Week by holding a robot contest. To enter, you need to publish a new Instructable that shows how to build a robot by March 20th.

All kinds of robot projects are eligible -- from the simple to the complex. Ideally, the robots should be something that K-12 students could make with the help of teacher or mentor.

Instructables is giving away some great prizes for the contest. Projects will also be featured on the National Robotics Week website. Winners will have a chance to show their robot projects at live events during National Robotics Week.

Here's where you can learn more about the Intructables Robot Contest. Here is where you can learn more about National Robotics Week, April 9-17, 2011.

---