Future of Engineering

Consumers will soon be able to control their TV screens or home entertainment systems simply by waving their hand, thanks to technology developed by Toshiba's Cambridge Research Laboratory in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering.

People tend to get nostalgic about those happy yesterdays. But if I were to ask - would you like to travel back to the stone age(that is life without AC and remote controlled TV), most of you would decline. Because life in the 21st century is all about existing in a remote controlled atmosphere.

Wiki says that the first remote intended to control a television was developed by Zenith Radio Corporation in 1950. The remote — officially called "Lazy Bones" was connected to the television set by a wire.

That's so clumsy!

The engineers of yesterday knew that too. That's why they invented the wireless remote controlled gadgets. Engineers of today have taken it one step further by creating the hand controlled TV.

"Using the Toshiba experimental TV viewers are able to interact with the display system simply by gesturing with their hand. Once the viewer is in front of the display screen, the system will ‘see’ them and invite them to take control of the display simply by raising their hand. As the system can robustly track their hand even under different lighting conditions, the visitor can enjoy controlling the on-screen cursor."

The gesture interface signals the arrival of a new era in the age of wireless communication. The remote control hasn't gone out of fashion yet. But the day isn't far when I'd be using my hands just like a choirmaster to keep things going according to my way.

Surely, we've come a long way from the good old days.

Yesterday,
I just needed a remote
to switch and play
Now I need
just my hand to
surf away.
Oh! I believe in Today.

Source - Cambridge Network
Image - Cambridge Network

Labels: Automation, Electronics-Communications-Engineering

System allows them to operate powered wheelchairs and computers

The novel system developed by engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology allows individuals with disabilities to operate a computer, control a powered wheelchair and interact with their environments simply by moving their tongues.

Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering along with graduate student Xueliang Huo has developed the tongue-operated assistive technology, called the Tongue Drive system.

A rice grain sized magnet is attached into an individual's tongue by implantation. Once this is done the user can control the movement of a cursor across a computer screen or a powered wheelchair around a room.


Magnetic field sensors are mounted on a headset outside the mouth or on an orthodontic brace inside the mouth. This detects the movement of the tongue. The output signals are then wirelessly transmitted to a portable computer, which can be carried on the user’s clothing or wheelchair.

Hands and feet are connected to the brain through the spinal cord. Whereas the tongue is directly controlled by the brain through the cranial nerve. The movements of the tongue are also fast and accurate making it the most preferred choice by the researchers.

Results indicate a 100 percent accuracy for six individual commands. Based on the results one can definitely say that the future looks promising for this system.

Most people with severe disabilities have the will power to take on the world just like everybody else. What really dampens their spirit is the dependency factor. Sometimes they have to depend on friends and loved ones to carry out their everyday tasks. This system will make life easy for the individual and the caregiver.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

They sure do.

Source - Gatech.edu
Watch a video of Ghovanloo describing the Tongue Drive system and its applications here.
Watch a video of Huo operating a powered wheelchair with the Tongue Drive system here.

Labels: Automation, Electrical-Engineering

A computer science Ph.D. student Jacob Whitehill can turn his face into a remote control that speeds and slows video playback.

The inception of online teaching has drastically changed the education field. Face-to-face interaction is minimised in this approach. Robotic technology hopes to take it one step further by introducing robotic teachers.

The only drawback is that a robot cannot understand the expressions of a confused student.It would go on teaching even if the student looks puzzled with the lesson. In order to tackle this Whitehall's pilot study explores the utility of facial expression as a feedback signal from student to teacher.

To achieve this he has studied the facial expressions of people who participate in a lecture. Using video conferencing software he collects the facial expressions of the students.

From here, Whitehill would then train a user specific model that predicts when a lecture should be sped up or slowed down based on the spontaneous facial expressions a person makes.

Their results have shown that automatic facial expression recognition is already a useful feedback signal for intelligent tutoring systems for two concrete tasks:perceived difficulty estimation, and preferred speed prediction. As expression recognition technology improves, its usefulness in ITS will continue to grow.

The work is being presented in June 2008 at the Intelligent Tutoring Systems conference and at the IEEE International Workshop on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition for Human Communicative Behavior Analysis.

Read the Abstract of the project here.
Image Credit: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

Labels: Automation, Robotics

When I saw this cool video @ YouTube of a robot reassembling itself after being kicked apart, I thought "wow, so you can't take these chaps for granted anymore." I recalled reading some prognostications that robots could take over the world in the next 50 years, and thought, hmmm, perhaps it is possible...



Reconfigurable robots are not exactly new.

Modular Reconfigurable Robotics as an approach to building robots for various complex tasks has been around for a while. The idea of reconfigurable robots is as follows: Instead of designing a new and different mechanical robot for each task, you just build many copies of one simple module. The module can't do much by itself, but when you connect many of them together you get a system that can do complicated things. Such a modular robot can even reconfigure itself -- change its shape -- to meet the demands of different tasks or different working environments.

A reconfigurable robot that can reassemble itself is just an extension of reconfigurable robots. The robot you see in the video was developed by roboticists at the University of Pennsylvania and is made of modules that can recognize each other and reassemble when kicked apart.

There are two main motivations to designing self reconfiguring robots. (1) Functional advantage: Self reconfiguring robotic systems are potentially more robust and more adaptive than conventional systems. The reconfiguration ability allows a robot to disassemble and reassemble machines to form new morphologies. These robots are also capable of self-repair. (2) Economic advantage: Self reconfiguring robotic systems can potentially lower overall robot cost by making a range of complex machines out of a single.

Some of the proposed applications for self-reconfiguring robots are in space exploration and in flexible working environments.

Source: Wikipedia

Labels: Automation

This resource page @ the Future of Engineering Blog provides web resources that discuss the future of automation.

The Future of Industrial Automation - Because of the relatively small production volumes and huge varieties of applications, industrial automation typically utilizes new technologies developed in other markets. Automation companies tend to customize products for specific applications and requirements. So the innovation comes from targeted applications, rather than any hot, new technology.

The Future of Automation - Advances in computer and automated systems technology have impacted the entire manufacturing enterprise. CASA/SME developed and uses the Manufacturing Enterprise Wheel as a framework for understanding the different elements and relationships of the manufacturing enterprise. Examples of automation technology can easily be found that impact each area of the wheel, including Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Workflow Management, and Knowledge-Based Design, to name a few.

Avoid Disasters for Automation's Future: Could this Happen to You? - Past analysis has attributed so many aircraft accidents to human error. Yet at a closer look, we could trace quite a few back to design issues. The Airbus philosophy was to give the computer final authority when there was a discrepancy with the pilot. Although there could be a good reason for this, we aren't at the point where we can build software to account for every possible condition. Trusting software above human intelligence and flexibility may be a mistake. At least three other Airbus accidents resulted in hundreds of deaths due to similar computer-versus-pilot control issues.
Are all operating parameters documented and accounted for in your design? Might the safety requirements differ during different plant operating phases, such as start-up, operation, maintenance, and shutdown? Have you considered and reviewed factors like these during your hazard analyses? Make sure you account for the impact of spurious sensor signals in the rest of the system design and operations

Future Automation Flat Screen Lifts - The Future Automation Inverted Plasma lift allows a plasma screen to be stored in a ceiling. Press the remote control and the plasma will drop in to view. The mechanism also opens a trap door in the ceiling before lowering the plasma. A matching piece of ceiling above the plasma then fills the opening in the top of the cabinet when the plasma is down

A Model for Types and Levels of Human Interaction with Automation - Here you find the outline of a model for types and levels of automation that provides a framework and an objective basis for deciding which system functions should be automated and to what extent. Appropriate selection is important because automation does not merely supplant but changes human activity and can impose new coordination demands on the human operator. We propose that automation can be applied to four broad classes of functions: 1) information acquisition; 2) information analysis; 3) decision and action selection; and 4) action implementation

The Hottest Trends in Automation & Technology - Automation and technology systems are exerting more influence on the way businesses run. And as automated systems and technologies get more ubiquitous and powerful, they are also becoming more invisible, with many imbedded intelligent devices undetectable to passersby.CAD/CAM software is improving its process planning capabilities, which "involves finding the right tool to do the right job

Modern Trends in Industrial Automation, Process Control and Robotics - Globalisation, growing Technology and their development increasingly influence Automation in industry. And, it plays an important role in the global economy and in our daily lives. The most effective and visible part of modern Industrial automation is the industrial robotics. Fully automated process control Robots have contributed greatly to improve the productivity of virtually all manufacturing industries throughout the world. And, almost all the process monitoring systems installed as a part of plant or production process are basically Digital Control Systems DCS connected by digital networks.

Design Automation for Deepsubmicron: Present and Future - Advancing technology drives design technology and thus design automation (EDA). How to model interconnect, how to handle degradation of signal integrity and increasing power density are changing now, and have led to integrating logic and layout synthesis. Aggressive gate sizing to control timing has become part of any modern back-end. From 0.13 μ and down, chips will be more susceptive to breakdown during fabrication (antenna effect) or to wear out over time (electromigration) and dealing with these issues will require careful planning. More integration of fast and accurate analysis with a complete design flow (chip planning, synthesis, placement and routing) will be needed, and still, advancing complexity will affect design and verification

Future Trends in Process Automation - The importance of automation in the process industries has increased dramatically in recent years. In the highly industrialized countries, process automation serves to enhance product quality, master the whole range of products, improve process safety and plant availability, efficiently utilize resources and lower emissions. In the rapidly developing countries, mass production is the main motivation for applying process automation. The greatest demand for process automation is in the chemical industry, power generating industry, and petrochemical industry; the fastest growing demand for hardware, standard software and services of process automation is in the pharmaceutical industry. The importance of automation technology continues to increase in the process industries

Labels: Automation, Industrial-Engineering

In light of today's suffering housing market, one solution to increasing the resale value of one's home may be through equipping it with the most up and coming technology available.According to Michael Milde, proprietor and systems integrator of Hunter Home Automation based out of Chicago, Ill., the home automation industry has been in place for more than two decades.However, only recently has it surfaced as an affordable means of revamping one's property to include what Ian Trible, operations manager at Intellihome Inc, a home automation company in Houston, Texas, refers to as "more qualities of life people look for.""Full automation in homes will become as common as cell phones are today," Milde said.With that being said, home automation services are destined to become accessible for every home dweller willing to think outside of the box."It used to be a custom standard…[now] it's becoming a standard," Trible said.One dimension of this current standard allows for the acquirement of reasonable "green" additions to the home, making it more energy efficient.

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Keywords: Intelligent homes, future of home automation, housing market, Michael Milde, systems integrator, Hunter Home, Automation, Chicago, Ian Trible, Intellihome, Houston, Texas, cell phones, home automation services

Labels: Automation, Civil-Engineering, Design-Engineering

New research commisioned by Visa Europe and unveiled at the World Retail Congress in Barcelona shows that, contrary to suggestions, online channels can complement bricks and mortar stores.

With internet sales expected to account for almost 20% of turnover by 2012-15, and websites becoming increasingly transactional rather than informational, there is also likely to be a rise in the application of technology within the retailer community. As a result there would be a rise in automated self scanning, product tracking for inventory using RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) and targeted promotions delivered directly to consumers while they shopped. In addition they were likely to have access to PC/web based facilities in store giving immediate access to product and customer reviews

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Labels: Automation, Computer-Science

Ozzy smart home company Future Touch have released v3.0 of their MyServant system. The windows software is an add-on for HAL and provides touchscreen support complete with floor plan style graphics as well as occupancy tracking, security system control and weather display...

Ever wished you had a maid or a butler around the home? Then how about a virtual housekeeper? Future Touch Ltd have take the home automation experience to the next level, with the release of their software called MyServant.

MyServant v3.0 is a Windows based application that works in conjunction with the leading home automation software – HAL2000.

Visual Interface features include:
Touch screen support
Extensive Visual Control of your home via a custom floor-plan
See which occupants are home & away
See & hear who's calling the home before you answer it
Access your own personal websites & voicemail on-screen
Control of your Security System, HVAC, media equipment & more
Weather forecast displays
Tracking & low-notification of Battery-levels for all home appliances
Visual display of your Address book

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Labels: Automation

An Italian has given the world the first self-making bed.

Throughout history the Italians have made a major contribution to the world's inventory of useful products -- the barometer, ball bearings, the electric battery, the thermometer, the typewriter and the ice cream cone -- it's a staggering list. Enrico Berruti has this month been proudly displaying his self-making bed at the International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva and unsurprisingly it's attracted a lot of attention, particularly from rather dishevelled men who look as though they haven't eaten for a week.

Berruti's invention is a godsend to those who hate making beds - and I confess to being one of them.

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Keywords: 21st Century invention, barometer, ball bearings, electric battery, thermometer, typewriter, ice cream cone, Enrico Berruti, self-making bed

Labels: Automation, Society

For most people getting a drink of water is a simple task that doesn`t take much thought, but until recently one Dickinson teen with cerebral palsy relied on everyone around him to keep him hydrated. That`s all changed thanks to a new invention.

For Mitch Hintz getting a drink of water has never been easy. He can`t hold a cup in his hands because of his spastic muscles. And he says he can`t place a glass on his wheelchair tray either.
"Cause then it would spill," Hintz says.

So for the past 16 years, wanting a drink meant calling on someone for help.

So Hintz mentioned to a teacher how much he would love to be able to drink water on his own. Word spread to an NDSU electrical engineering professor, and soon three engineering students took on the task of creating a device designed specifically to help him.

The Drink Aid delivers about an ounce of water at a time and kicks in once Hintz puts it into his mouth.

The NDSU students say the project took nearly a year to complete but in the end it was all worth it.

Hintz says now that he can drink on his own he does so at least several times a day.

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Labels: Automation, Design-Engineering

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) announced a new initiative called Innovations That Could Change The Way You Manufacture.

The Innovations initiative was born out of a series of meetings, e-mail exchanges and other communications between SME's Technical Community Network (TCN) and the larger manufacturing community

These innovations include:

 Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM)
 Ultracapacitors
 Self-Assembling Nanotechnology
 Intelligent Device Integration (IDI) and
 Integrated 3-D Simulation And Modeling

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Labels: Automation, Manufacturing-Production-Engineering

What's in store for the future of technology? For paul saffo, a noted silicon valley forecaster and a consulting associate professor of mechanical engineering at stanford university, that's the wrong question. "what is the future of homeownership?" saffo asked me rhetorically during a recent interview. His answer is as interesting as the question. Saffo says a robot is any computer-powered device or software program that directly interacts with the physical world. A "softbot," for example, is what you get from nuance communications when it creates a voice recognition system that gives you directions or assists you with a travel booking.

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Keywords: Softbot, saffo, nuance communications, bionics, multicore chips, advanced micro devices(amd),

Labels: Automation, Mechanical-Engineering

If you're a fan of german engineering in your car, chances are you'll love it that hospitals are trying to cross-pollinate health care with technologies that have roots in the automotive and aerospace industries. The hope is that, with a medical twist, high-tech navigation systems, pattern recognition software and top-of-the-line robots can revolutionize the treatment of everything from irregular heartbeats to lung cancer. St. Luke's episcopal hospital says it is the first in the world to treat stroke patients with the help of a robotic arm that has its origins in systems created by munich-based siemens ag for precision welding on the assembly lines of BMW and Mercedes-benz.

The medical robot, dubbed Artis Zeego and manufactured by Siemens Medical Solutions, is coupled with a CT Scanner and X-ray. It can tilt, turn and spin at virtually infinite angles, capturing detailed images that track blood flow.

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Keywords: Aneurysms, Triangulation, Atrial Fibrillation, Heart Arrhythmia, Artis Zeego, Brain Scanner, BMW Assembly Line

Labels: Automation, Bio-engineering

Labels: Automation

A small group of engineering students have taken on the challenge of building a robot designed to retrieve minerals from the moon.

UK's student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. will enter the robot in an April 5 tournament during the IEEE SoutheastCon conference in Huntsville, Ala.
Several organizations are in competition to retrieve these minerals and return them to earth.
Peter Ferland, an electrical engineering junior and the chair of UK's robot contingent, said the team is composed of half a dozen engineering students. They began building the robot in October.

"The contest offers engineering students a chance to tackle a design problem start to finish, providing valuable experience for future engineers," Ferland said.

In the tournament, each team must build an autonomous robot that will perform on an earth-bound course, collecting colored wooden blocks representing moon minerals and returning them to its home base to score points.


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Labels: Aerospace-Engineering, Automation

Integration of consumer devices is one of the major growth trends in automotive electronics, with telematics as a close second. Both technologies pose significant challenges to electronics designers and at the same time open interesting perspectives for OEMs, tier ones, service providers " and drivers.

At the recent Euroforum Automotive Electronics congress in Munich, EE Times Europe discussed perspectives and obstacles with Marc de Jong, executive vice president and general manager, automotive & identification, NXP Semiconductors.

According to him, "Telematics is one of the hottest topics in automotive at the moment. There are enormous perspectives, and in the end – and now I am making a dangerous statement – a vision could be a self-driving car. If you extrapolate the technological developments you will see that it is about moving away from you and me driving a car and being focused on the road and concentrate on driving towards a situation where you will be spending less energy on driving and more having time to communicate and interact by phone and internet, interact with passengers in the car and enjoy the ride. It is this vision that is behind telematics"

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Labels: Automation, Electronics-Communications-Engineering

The bots, until a decade back, used to be just fun and were more toys for tinkerers and scientists (except in Japan of course). But now the robots are beginning to be seen in many social places. We are used to chuckling at stories from Japan of robots serving coffee and greeting visitors to homes. But know what, these mechanical humans are here with us now, in London, in New York and whoa! even in my country, India. And when I read about predictions that robots in future could love and gasp!, go even one step beyond, I felt it was time I compiled a list of resources for what the future held in store for robotics. What are scientists predicting for the bots' future? What do the experts think? And who do those always fascinating sci-fi writers and futurists say after gazing at their crystal balls?

This compilation is divided into sections more for reading convenience than for any logical reason. Please let me know your thoughts and predictions on robots and their future roles by using the comments section below. Thanks!

Industrial, Professional & Military Applications

Robots: The Future is Now - Robots are already a part of our lives. Industrial robots widely used in manufacturing. Military and police organizations use robots to assist in dangerous situations. Robots already have a significant role in medicine. Robots are helping doctors achieve more precision in the operating room, performing safer, less invasive techniques

Future of Robotics for Civil Use - Caterpillar plans to develop remote controlled machines and expects to develop fully autonomous heavy robots by 2021. Some cranes already are remote controlled It was demonstrated that a robot can perform a herding task. Robots are increasingly used in manufacturing (since 1960s). In auto industry they can amount for more than half of the "labor". There are even "lights off" factories such as an IBM keyboard manufacturing factory in Texas that are 100% automated. Robots such as HOSPI are used as couriers in hospitals, etc. Other hospital tasks performed by robots are receptionists, guides and porters helpers, (not to mention surgical robot helpers such as Da Vinci) Robots can serve as waiters and cooks.

Bots on The Ground - The most effective way to find and destroy a land mine is to step on it. This has bad results, of course, if you're a human. But not so much if you're a robot and have as many legs as a centipede sticking out from your body. That's why Mark Tilden, a robotics physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, built something like that.

Surgical Robotics - Surgical Robots towards autonomy:
* Current surgical robots are tactical: every move authorised by a surgeon
* Telesurgery already requires local autonomy
* Miniaturisation and new MIS techniques lead to strategic robots

* Robotics will become ubiquitous in future

Applications for Robot

Applications for robot insects are
* Tasks on terrain unsuitable for wheeled robots
* Animal modelling
* Remote handling
* Remote location exploration
* Entertainment/home projects
* Robot insects could be used for tasks that involve transportation, exploration and surveillance, especially for tasks that are inhospitable for humans.

Mobile Robot Suits Material Handling Applications - Employing Industrial Mobile Robotics technology, vision-guided Model GT3 moves through manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution operations utilizing stereo cameras to build 3D map of environment. It then uses map and its own reasoning ability to navigate predetermined path to complete assigned transport task. Designed to free up skilled employees, GT3 pulls carts, delivers palletized materials, and positions supplies without wire guides, magnets, or lasers.

Military Robots of the Future - Since Robby the Robot first appeared on screen in 1956’s Forbidden Planet, science fiction in print, film and on television has pushed the limits of our imagination regarding machines of the future and their abilities to perform human tasks.

Social Bots

Robots! More robots! And They're in Your House! - Robots of the future will look nothing like R2D2 in Star Wars, but resemble computer chips embedded in everyday appliances, such as vacuum cleaners and cell phones, if companies like Evolution Robotics Inc. have anything to do about it.The Pasadena-based company produces vision-based robotic technology. With it, you can point your cell phone at a movie poster, take a picture, and the technology will go out to the Web and download the movie's trailer to your phone.

'Love+Sex with Robots': Our Future? - Don Oldenburg says “I've seen the future of sex, and its name is Robot — as in humanoids designed and programmed to satisfy our every psychological and sexual need, want and desire. At least that's what artificial-intelligence expert David Levy contends in his controversial and troublingly arousing book about sexuality 50 years hence.” His prediction: Falling in love with and making love to artificial but remarkably human-like robots will become a socially accepted alternative

Robotic Rats Will get a Sense of Touch - An international team composed of robot designers and brain researchers is looking at nature to develop a new generation of robots with active touch sensing abilities. The BIOTACT (’Biomimetic technology for vibrissal active touch’) project is developing whiskered robot rats which might help in rescue or search missions under conditions of restricted visibility, and even for planetary research

Roomba Robotic Vacuum Cleaner - The Roomba 530 is easy to set up and use (it even has a talking tutorial/demo mode). Simply unpack it, install the battery and place it on its charging station. Several hours later, you’re good to go, using either standard mode or the spot-cleaning mode. Spot cleaning is best for small areas, while the Clean mode will cover several standard-size rooms. The Verdict: The Roomba 530’s clever design means dirt and dust won’t pass through the robot’s vacuum workings, which make it both easy to maintain and a great choice for dust-allergy sufferers. The Roomba 530 is also value for money; at $599 it’s not much more than a reasonably good vacuum cleaner.

Home Robots Grow In Popularity - We are moving beyond the stage where robots were used only in controlled and therefore relatively simple factory environments. The home and the surgical operating table are both much more complicated environments with more unplanned and unexpected elements that can show up. Recent advances in robotic vehicles demonstrate the potential for robotic systems to handle complex environments outside of factories. The success of robots in the mass market will provide revenue flows to fund the development of more robotic products. We should expect the introductions of new kinds of home and workplace robots in the next few year. Robots are a growing part of our everyday lives.

Robot Future Poses Hard Questions - Scientists have expressed concern about the use of autonomous decision-making robots. As they become more common, these machines could also have negative impacts on areas such as surveillance and elderly care, the roboticists warn. The development and eventual deployment of autonomous robots raises difficult questions. The more pressing and serious problem is the extent to which society is prepared to trust autonomous robots and entrust others into the care of autonomous robots

Future Vision: Cheap Robots Change the World - Virtual Travel: People will be able to visit each other without traveling. They will do this by taking control of a robot at their desired vacation destination, and use the Internet to transmit all the sensory information back and forth
* Housekeeping
* Machines will do the routine chores around the house
* Robots will be inexpensive

Exotic Stuff

Self-healing Mini Robots for Search and Rescue Operations - It is believed that the self-healing robots will be able to dock with each other, share energy, and co-operate to maximise their abilities to achieve different tasks. Researchers from 10 universities are associated with the project. They say that future applications include search and rescue missions, space exploration, and medicine. "A swarm could be released into a collapsed building following an earthquake. They could form themselves into teams searching for survivors or to lift rubble off stranded people"...Hmmm...

Robots Fly into Antarctic Skies - A pair of lightweight, robotic planes have made the first unmanned flights over Antarctica's icy expanses. Driven by propeller, the machines made 20 low-altitude sorties, including four over the Weddell Sea. The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were launched by catapult but flew autonomously until landing.During some of the test flights the machines were fitted with miniaturised instruments to collect data for use in predictive climate models

Thought-controlled Robot Picks up Green or Red Block………and more such interesting info

Brain Machine Interface - In January, Miguel A. L. Nicolelis announced that his team completed the first steps toward a brain machine interface that might make it possible for paralyzed people to walk by directing devices with their thoughts. The team's monkey, in North Carolina, demonstrated the power of the technology when she used her brain signals to make a robot in Japan walk.

Future Predictions

Future Trends in Robotics This brief report from AI Depot cites some interesting articles discussing trobotics trends...Guardian's feature on a recent experiment in evolutionary robotics, NY Daily report on Honda's Humanoid Robots, and the BBC News report on Robot Pets.

Bill Gates Stumps for Robotic Future - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates lays out the robotic future in the cover story of January's Scientific American magazine, which has a C-3PO type robot on the cover. In the story, Gates argues that the robot industry is akin to the PC industry 30 years ago. Robots lack standards and don't have a common OS, processor or code base. And guess who wants to be that standard OS? Microsoft.

iRobot CEO Talks Past, Present and Future of Robotics Very few people know more about the practical robotics industry more than iRobot CEO Colin Angle. This article is based on a chat with Colin Angle earlier today about the state of the robotics industry, why iRobot is essentially the only company doing what they're doing in the field, what kind of robots are coming in the future and why robots are necessary for the human race to survive. Why are so few people getting into the robotics industry now? Colin says it's because the market is incredibly hard, the margins are terrible, and very few companies have the collective knowledge necessary to enter the market. More in the article.

Robotics - What Next? - The robotics industry, while in development for half a century, is still relatively in its infancy and faces a number of challenges in the years ahead. Besides the technological and cultural hurdles to overcome, questions remain unanswered regarding their economic and environmental impacts as well as the ethical issues of human and robot interaction. What is obvious is that robots, whatever form they take, will increasingly play a role in societies around the world and that the ecosystem of services and capabilities will offer increasing opportunities for designers in the years to come

Bots with Brains: Future Robotic Overlords? - Science fiction has portrayed machines capable of thinking and acting for themselves with a mixture of both anticipation and dread, but what was once the realm of fiction has yet again become the subject of serious debate as robots become more intelligent. In 1981, Kenji Urada hopped a safety fence at a Kawasaki plant to carry out maintenance work on a robot. While working on the machine, the robot reached out and pushed 37-year-old Japanese factory worker into a grinder with its powerful hydraulic arm. Urada’s death is often said to mark the first recorded victim to die at the hands of a robot, although Robert Williams was killed by a robot two years earlier. Since both deaths, and despite the introduction of improved safety mechanisms, there have been many more gruesome industrial fatalities involving robots crushing humans, smashing their heads and even pouring molten aluminum over them. So will the robots be our future overlords, overstepping the bounds that humans had prescribed for them?

Predictions and Trends - The Robotics Industry - RobotWorx President Keith Wanner attended the 15th Annual Robotics Industry Forum in Orlando, Florida last year. Wanner said the casual atmosphere at the Forum provided the perfect setting for him to talk with top executives from major robot manufacturing companies and connect with suppliers. Some thoughts from him based on his discussions...

Robotics Technology Trends - Despite the wishes of robot researchers to emulate human appearance and intelligence, that simply hasn't happened. Most robots still can't see – versatile and rapid object recognition is still not quite attainable. And there are very few examples of bipedal, upright walking robots such as Honda’s P3, mostly used for research or sample demonstrations. Today, simple pattern matching vision sensors can be purchased for under $2,000 from Cognex, Omron and others. The price reductions reflect today's reduced computing costs, and the focused development of vision systems for specific jobs such as inspection.

Some Nice Articles on Robots - Israel is developing a robot the size of a hornet to attack terrorists. And although the prototype will not fly for three years, killer Micro Air Vehicles, or MAVs, are much closer than that. More on such stuff from here.

The Future of Robotics - From vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers to military landmine detectors, robots are becoming increasingly present in our daily lives. Living on Earth’s Bruce Gellerman visits MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to meet a humanoid robot named Domo, its creator, PhD student Aaron Elsinger, and the man behind all the magic, CSAIL director Rodney Brooks.

How Robots Will Affect Future Generations - The future for robots is bright. But, how will robots affect future generations? Sometimes you can get ideas for the future by looking into the past and thinking about the changes we've seen as a result of other great inventions, like the cotton gin, airplane or Internet. Perhaps one day we will have true robotic ''helpers'' that guide the blind, assist the elderly. Maybe they'll be modular devices that can switch from lawn mower to vacuum cleaner, to dish washer and window washer.

What Does the Future Hold for Robot Applications? - If you ride in a car, an industrial robot helped build it. If you eat cookies, such as the Milano brand from Pepperidge Farm, there are robot assembly lines to help make and pack them. The computer you use to send e-mails and use for research almost certainly owes its existence, in part, to industrial robots. Industrial robots are even used in the medical field, from pharmaceuticals to surgery.

And the Rest

Bot Junkie - And here's a fascinating blog on the bots!

Microsoft's Announcement on Robotics - Microsoft's announced earlier this summer (late June) that it was launching a development platform for folks building robots. Microsoft historians may know Trower as a 24-year-plus Microsoft veteran who has worked on a variety of Microsoft projects, ranging from Visual Basic to Microsoft Agent technology. He has also served as a member of Chairman Bill Gates' strategic planning staff during his tenure. It was in that capacity that Trower discovered the robotics community and its growing prominence in the tech landscape. What persuaded the Microsoft power elite, which had just shunned a grid-computing initiative, to back Trower's robotics play? Two words: The future. Trower believes that robots are the natural successor to PCs, and he's convinced his bosses to adopt his view, or so it would appear.

Some related blog posts on robotics trends & future

Robots may soon protect people, places and things

It’s a Great Time to be in Robotics

Future of robotics: The Road

Future of Robotics

iRobot CEO Talks Past, Present and Future of Robotics

The Future of Robotics in the BattlefieldThe future of robotics

Future of robotics: The road ahead

World's strongest robot is put through its paces at HANNOVER MESSE 2008

NSF/CCC/CRA Roadmapping Workshop for Medical and Healthcare Robotics

Labels: Automation, Industrial-Engineering

Seegrid Corporation (www.seegrid.com) unveils GT3, the first vision-guided industrial mobile robot recently. Designed specifically for material handling in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution...

The vehicle employs Seegrid's Industrial Mobile Robotics (IMR) technology which enables it to move through manufacturing, warehousing and distribution operations utilizing stereo cameras to build a reliable 3D map of the environment. The GT3 then uses the map and its own reasoning ability to navigate a predetermined path to complete its assigned transport task

Full report here

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Seegrid Unveils GT3, the First Vision-Guided Industrial Mobile

Labels: Automation, Logistics-Transportation-Engineering

Rio Tinto, a mining giant in North American and Australia, has found a way to eliminate the stresses and strains experienced by Australian miners: automated operations. The company's chief executive, Tom Albanese, announced these initiatives recently:

* Mine operations in the Pilbara iron ore region will be controlled 1,300 kilometers away at a new center in Perth
* Driverless trains will carry iron ore on most of 1,200 kilometers of track
* A driverless "intelligent" truck fleet will be deployed
* Remotely controlled "intelligent" drills will be used

Albanese called this vision "the mine of the future" in a Perth speech and said it is part of Rio Tinto's drive to maintain its position as Australia's leading iron ore producer.

Full report here

Labels: Automation, Metallurgical-Engineering

Press release

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c84816) has announced the addition of “Wearable Robots: Biomechatronic Exoskeletons” to their offering.

A wearable robot is a mechatronic system that is designed around the shape and function of the human body, with segments and joints corresponding to those of the person it is externally coupled with. Teleoperation and power amplification were the first applications, but after recent technological advances the range of application fields has widened. Increasing recognition from the scientific community means that this technology is now employed in telemanipulation, man-amplification, neuromotor control research and rehabilitation, and to assist with impaired human motor control.

Logical in structure and original in its global orientation, this volume gives a full overview of wearable robotics, providing the reader with a complete understanding of the key applications and technologies suitable for its development. The main topics are demonstrated through two detailed case studies; one on a lower limb active orthosis for a human leg, and one on a wearable robot that suppresses upper limb tremor. These examples highlight the difficulties and potentialities in this area of technology, illustrating how design decisions should be made based on these.

As well as discussing the cognitive interaction between human and robot, this comprehensive text also covers:

-the mechanics of the wearable robot and it’s biomechanical interaction with the user, including state-of-the-art technologies that enable sensory and motor interaction between human (biological) and wearable artificial (mechatronic) systems;

- the basis for bioinspiration and biomimetism, general rules for the development of biologically-inspired designs, and how these could serve recursively as biological models to explain biological systems;

- the study on the development of networks for wearable robotics.

Wearable Robotics: Biomechatronic Exoskeletons will appeal to lecturers, senior undergraduate students, postgraduates and other researchers of medical, electrical and bio engineering who are interested in the area of assistive robotics. Active system developers in this sector of the engineering industry will also find it an informative and welcome resource.

Contents:

Foreword

Preface

List of Contributors

1 Introduction to wearable robotics

2 Basis for bioinspiration and biomimetism in wearable robots

3 Kinematics and dynamics of wearable robots

4 Human–robot cognitive interaction

5 Human–robot physical interaction

6 Wearable robot technologies

7 Communication networks for wearable robots

8 Wearable upper limb robots

9 Wearable lower limb and full-body robots

10 Summary, conclusions and outlook

Index

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c84816

Contacts
Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
Fax: +353 1 4100 980

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Wearable Biomechatronic Exoskeletons: the Future is Already Here
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Labels: Automation, Bio-engineering, Society

Here's a useful resource dwelling on the future of robotics...nice introduction, resources and web links

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Labels: Automation

ZigBee and other wireless home automation technologies have zigged and zagged in recent years as they've struggled to achieve success, but the future appears more straightforward, says an ABI Research study. Standard-based technologies such as ZigBee and Z-Wave are removing past market constraints, according to ABI.

Four years ago, ABI predicted huge success for the leading wireless home automation standard, ZigBee. The market has yet to awaken, however. The obstacles to success, says ABI, have included the expense of luxury custom-installed systems, and the unreliability of low-end DIY products using older technologies, such as powerline-based X10 set-ups.

According to ABI, two trends are sparking renewed interest in the technologies: reduced prices, and the debut of managed services offered by broadband and telco service providers.

Full report here

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Wireless home automation wakes up

Labels: Automation, Electronics-Communications-Engineering

British experts raise prospect of terrorist robots

It is only a matter of time before terrorists use deadly robots to launch attacks on heavily populated urban areas, experts say. The know-how and materials for manufacturing lethal, improvised robots are easily available, said experts gathered Wednesday at a British military think-tank.

"Sooner or later, we're going to see a Cessna programmed to fly into a building," said Rear Admiral Chris Parry, who formed the Ministry of Defence's Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre in 2005. He said small, remotely piloted planes or even converted model aircraft are "ideal weapons" for terrorists because they are easy to build and could evade radar.

Full story here

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British experts raise prospect of terrorist robots – Robotics & Automation blog

Labels: Automation, Society