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ASIMO – Advanced Step in Innovative MObility

Magnus — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:46:51 +0000

ASIMO is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Standing at 130 centimeters (4 feet 3 inches) and weighing 54 kilograms (114 pounds), the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk or run on two feet at speeds up to 6 km/h. ASIMO was created at Honda’s Research & Development Wako Fundamental Technical Research Center in Japan, and was unveiled i 2000.

Officially, the name is an acronym for “Advanced Step in Innovative MObility” and not a reference to science fiction writer and inventor of the Three Laws of Robotics, Isaac Asimov.

Asimo represented state of the art robotics i 2000 when it was first introduced. Amongst other things it has the capacity to recognition of moving objects, recognition of postures and gestures, recognizing its environments, distinguish sounds and recognize faces.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASIMO

Partner Ballroom Dance Robot (PBDR)

Magnus — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:52:45 +0000

Developed by scientists at Tohoku University, the Partner Ballroom Dance Robot (PBDR) is able to predict the steps of a human partner based on body movement and react accordingly on its three wheels.

The robot is 1.65 meter high and has a female face, wears a plastic ballgown and comes in pink and pastel blue. A male version is also being developed.

Although it can match the movements of a human partner’s upper body, Professor Kazuhiro Kosuge, who led the team behind PBDR, said it could not yet perform dance steps.

PBDR is a platform for human-robot coordination with physical interaction is thus also a step towards developing responsive robots that could provide care for the sick and elderly.

Elmer and Elsie

Magnus — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:04:43 +0000

Grey Walter’s most famous work was his construction of some of the first electronic autonomous robots. He wanted to prove that rich connections between a small number of brain cells could give rise to very complex behaviors – essentially that the secret of how the brain worked lay in how it was wired.

His first robots, which he used to call Machina speculatrix and named Elmer and Elsie (ELectro MEchanical Robots, Light Sensitive), were constructed between 1948 and 1949 and were often described as tortoises due to their shape and slow rate of movement – and because they ‘taught’ about the secrets of organisation and life. The three-wheeled tortoise robots were capable of responding to light, by which they could find their way to a recharging station when they ran low on battery power. [Wikipedia]

Bauhaus Light-Space Modulator

Magnus — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:56:28 +0000

A mobile construction of steel wood and plastic created to perform a “light play” by moving its part in front of colored light bulbs.

Moholy-Nagy worked on the Light-Space Modulator over the course of 9 years with the help of an engineer and a technician. Moholy-Nagy has described the kinetic sculpture as a “Gesamtkunstwerk composed of color, light, and movement”.

The Light-Space Modulator was supposed to perform a ‘light play’ on stage on its own and create a form of mechanical theater.