With the BionicOpter, Festo has technically mastered the highly complex flight characteristics of the dragonfly. Just like its model in nature, this ultralight flying object can fly in all directions, hover in mid-air and glide without beating its wings.

In addition to control of the shared flapping frequency and twisting of the individual wings, each of the four wings also features an amplitude controller. The tilt of the wings determines the direction of thrust. Amplitude control allows the intensity of the thrust to be regulated. When combined, the remote-controlled dragonfly can assume almost any position in space. [... ] This unique way of flying is made possible by the lightweight construction and the integration of functions: components such as sensors, actuators and mechanical components as well as open- and closed-loop control systems are installed in a very tight space and adapted to one another. With the remote-controlled dragonfly, Festo demonstrates wireless real-time communication, a continuous exchange of information, as well as the ability to combine different sensor evaluations and identify complex events and critical states.

The next question…when will there be a bionic butterfly?

[Cheers nerdcore]

Wildlife producer John Downer and his team used 50 life-sized, robot birds and cameras disguised as rocks and eggs to infiltrated and capture images of three penguin colonies for the BBC’s “Penguins – Spy in the Huddle”.

“What’s extraordinary about penguins is they’re really like us,” he said.
“Some of them, if they were missing a mate, would get attached (to one of the robots). When they mate came back they would get jealous.”

But wait there’s more…aside from capturing close-up footage of penguins raising their young, and documenting the lives of the chicks from when they first hatched, the team also captured underwater vision of the colonies by introducing a robot penguin that could swim among them…yes a robot that can swim in arctic waters.

What I do remember is the 10-Foot robot ED-209 because at the time I wanted to send it over to my ex-girlfriends house stocked to the rim with ammo.

If you have an extra $25,000.00 and a similar fantasy, now may be the time to invest in your very own Robocop 2 full sized 10-foot robot model ED-209.

[Cheers geekologie]

WHY?

I’m going to disguise myself as a robot and then I’m going to start filling out applications all over the place.

New controllers equip the 45kg robot with a 3D camera system, 43 joints (5 in his torso, 7 in each arm plus 12 in each hand), and a total of 84 sensors.

This task is so intense that Justin must make use of external computers to handle some of the processing, but it’s only a matter of time before robots will have on board computers that can do this kind of job with no strings attached.  It seems the idea of a household robot that can play catch with the kids or dog isn’t so farfetched after all.

Resistance is futile.

[Cheers www.crunchgear.com]

‘Robox’ which was designed for Casamania, has a picture frame for a head and a shiny red box representing the robot’s heart. The unit comes in a variety of colors and stands 78 cm tall.

I’m thinking you could plug a monitor in, stream a video of your face and welcome your guests into your house…that would really freak them out.

[Cheers dezeen.com]

Designed by Festo, the flying robot has been developed as part of their 2011 Bionic Learning Network project and is designed to start, fly and land autonomously without human intervention.

The robotic seagull that weighs just 450 g (15.87 oz) and boasts a wingspan of 1.96 m (6.4 ft), is  attached with wings that use a special hinge that not only allows them to move up and down, but forwards and backwards at the simultaniously.

Directional control is achieved through the opposing movement of the robot’s head and torso sections, which is synchronized by means of two electric motors and cables. This enables it to bend aerodynamically, with simultaneous weight displacement, and is responsible for the SmartBird’s agility and maneuverability.

As with a real bird, the SmartBird’s tail isn’t just for show either. It produces lift and functions as both a pitch elevator and yaw rudder. In addition to stabilizing the robot in a similar way to an aircraft’s conventional vertical stabilizer, the tail also tilts to initiate left and right turns and rotates about the longitudinal axis to produce yaw.

So what’s the point of a robot seagull? No more messed up car windows.

[Cheers spectrum.ieee.org]

The robot has been constructed to look exactly like Henrik Scharfe, an associate professor of Aalborg University in Denmark and is the first of the series based on a non-Japanese person. Currently Geminoid-DK is operated remotely with gesture and movement recognition, tracking an operator’s facial positions and mapping them exactly.

“Geminoid|DK will be the first of its kind outside of Japan,” the group explains on the robot’s website. “It’s intended to advance android science and philosophy, in seeking answers to fundamental questions.”

If you’re wondering why on Earth someone would want an exact robotic double of themselves, besides being TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY AWESOME, the Geminoid is going to be used for researching “emotional affordances” in human-robot interaction, the novel notion of “blended presence,” as well as cultural differences (from different continents) in the perception of robots.

The final result is a robot with facial expressions so real it’s downright scary.

I wonder if Scharfe’s wife would notice this thing crawling into bed with her.

[Cheers spectrum.ieee.org]

Boston dynamics, the makers of BigDog, was given two new contracts this week to develop a new quadruped that moves faster than any human and is agile enough to “chase and evade.” The four-legged Cheetah will sprint faster than a human, take tight corners so it can zigzag to chase or evade, and be able start and stop on a dime, the company said. Boston Dynamics’ goal for the first Cheetah model, due in 20 months, is for it to run at a clip of 20 to 30 mph.

Aside from its unspecified military applications, Cheetah’s makers see it galloping to the rescue and bringing soldiers in the field freshly slaughtered antelope and perhaps a rabbit or two.

But wait, there’s more. Cheetah will have a humanoid pal by the name of Atlas, a very close relative to the T-800 series Terminator, minus the head.

Built with two legs and two arms, will walk like a man, using heel-to-toe motions and long strides. It will be able to climb, turn sideways to squeeze through narrow passages and use its hands to maneuver in rough terrain with human-like agility, according to the engineering company.

Atlas

[Cheers wired.com]