ROBOTS DREAMS

French Company Ready to Seek and Destroy the Leghorn Robot (Video)

The French robot guru's over at POB Technologies think they might have exactly the right robotics technology to track down, and defeat Leghorn, the ROBO-ONE champion rooster robot.

POB has developed some really interesting kits and peripherals that facilitate adding vision, object recognition, and other features to robot platforms. Their real claim-to-fame is the simplicity and ease of use provided by their products. At the same time, they've managed to keep the prices low enough to be affordable by a lot of robot experimenters and workshop wizards. And, they always love a good challenge....

A Little Different View of the Speecys Internet Robot (Video)

One of the big problems we consistently face as technologists is in recognizing and understanding new advances. We, like most human beings on the planet, automatically seem to classify new objects and experiences into our existing categories. We look at something new, and quickly decide that it is 'just like x...', then we put that label on it, and we quit trying to really understand it for what it really is, or might become.

A recent example of this is the SPC-101C 'internet robot' introduction held just a couple weeks ago here in Tokyo. Many reporters saw the SPC-101C as just another humanoid robot - not much different from dozens they are already familiar with. Other reporters were impressed by the vision/face recognition abilities of the robot, and quickly, within just a few hours, popular technology sites were trumpeting the news that Speecys had just introduced a "face-recognizing" robot.

Of course both of those views of the robot are true, but in many ways they are like peeking into a room via the keyhole. They only tell a small part of the total story. We'd like to expand those limited views to include much more of what the robot is capable of, and the promise for the future that it represents.

Zeno Website Goes Live - Sort Of...

Zenos' World, the official website for the new Zeno hybrid robot from Hanson Robotics has gone live. At this point (22:00 JST on Sep 8th)  the home page is up and running, though most of the links and special content is non-functional. Many of the images and columns overlap, which is unfortunate since it hides some important information - like the 'News Flash' that's hidden by Zeno himself-

"Zeno is going to Los Angeles for Wired Magazine’s NextFest and he’s sure to be the hit of the show! Come see him in action September 13 through 16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. He’ll be looking for you!"

We're sure they'll work out the website bugs fairly quickly. Hopefully they can sort out Zenos bugs as well when the time comes. At the moment he looks more like a robot assembled out of Hanson and Takahashi's spare parts bins. The doll like head must be much more impressive when you see it in person, but the body, especially the hands and legs, are not what we have come to expect from Takahashi's studio. Here's hoping it improves a lot with age.

They are currently predicting that Zeno will hit store shelves sometime in 2009. That might be pretty aggressive given the fact that Takahashi's original MANOI design, now renamed the PF01, took close to two years to come to market even after its 18 month design cycle was finished, and UGOBE's PLEO robotic dinosaur is following the same path.

Engineering TV Features Design Engineering Videos

I-Wei at Crabfu Steamworks (soon to be adding 'Crabfu Robotics'?) pointed us at the Engineering TV website, and boy are we happy. The site features "Cutting edge technology, developments & people at the forefront of design engineering", and, as its name implies, serves up video episodes that cover a wide range of engineering disciplines and challenges.

A good example, is Episode 68 - Humanizing Robotics that features some of the advanced work being done by Hanson Robotics to create robot/androids capable of interacting realistically with their human counterparts.

Heads-up: The video episodes are commercially sponsored and ads do appear, sometimes right in the middle of the video, which threw us at first. We thought the video was over when the commercial started playing and almost clicked the window to close it....

More "Senses" for the Kyosho MANOI and Kondo Robots

Kondo has announced an upgrade to the RCB-3 robot controller board that features support of the new Kyosho 32PORT/RCB-3 sensor board (pictured at left). We guessing, because detailed information on the Kyosho board isn't available yet, that this will address the analog sensor port limitation of the RCB-3 based robots, and really stimulate the development of autonomous applications. This will probably include the KHR-1HV and Kyosho MANOI AT01 and PF01 robots. Given this exciting development, it's easy to imagine a team of autonomous AT01 robots going head to head against an Alderbaran NAO team when RoboCup 2008 rolls around. 

The new sensor board is a Kyosho product, and Kondo does not intend to resell it, but has upgraded the RCB-3 firmware to fully support the board. The Kondo announcement does state that the firmware and Heart to Heart 3 (H2H3) application software upgrade only applies to RCB-3 controllers and is not compatible with the RCB-3J controllers (used for the KHR-2HV robots) at this time. That's likely to be a 'bummer' for KHR-2HV users.

In terms of additional RCB-3 and H2H3 functionality, the upgrade adds support for the Kyosho sensor board, but does not include any other changes or improvements. So, if you are already using Ver1.03 of the firmware and don't plan to use the new sensor board, there is no compelling reason to upgrade at this time.

Weird-72 Creator Kazuhisa Terasaki Talks About His Robot Creations (Video)

 
Long term readers of Robots Dreams may recall Weird-7, a wooden robot designed by Kazuhisa Terasaki. The robot was able to achieve surprising performance given the fact that it used really cheap servos and a controller board. One of Terasaki's favorite tricks is to have Weird-7 laying down, literally as flat as a board, and then have it pop up and come to life.

Weird-7 turned out to be quite popular in Japan, and eventually Terasaki was talked into marketing the product as a kit. The Weird-7 kit sells for just under 30,000 yen (roughly $260 US), and can still be found at Tsukumo Robot Kingdom in Akihabara as well as quite a few other robot retailers.

But, Terasaki wasn't satisfied, so he went on to create Weird-72, a bigger, better, more humanoid robot version of Weird-7 - only this time his robot could actually jump rope. We caught up with Terasaki, and Weird-72,  in Mountain View, California during our trip to the Anybots facility in June. 

William Cox Interview with Bruno Maisonnier of Aldebaran Robotics (Video)

William Cox, of Gorobotics.Net, caught up with Bruno Maisonnier, the CEO and Founder of Aldebaran Robotics at the recent RoboCup 2007 competition (see video below), and had a chance to get a briefing on the new NAO humanoid robot.

Although neither of them knew it at the time, NAO was soon destined to replace Aibo in the RoboCup Standard Platform competitions.

Pleo - What's Behind, and What's Inside the Dinosaur Robot (Video)

There's no doubt about it. Pleo, the robotic dinosaur from UGOBE, is an amazing creation. It's movements, actions, and reactions, are surprisingly realistic and lifelike - when it has its skin on.

It's August already, and the ramp-up for the holiday buying season is already well underway. Manufacturers are racing to get their products into the supply chain so that they can fill the shelves at WalMart, Target, and all the other major retailers as customers begin their annual Christmas buying spree. For most manufacturers, especially those in the toy end of the market, the holidays are a do or die proposition. That appears to be especially true for Pleo.

To prime the pump and get the 'Pleo Buzz' going, UGOBE has been sending out a series of newsletters and posting new videos (see below) about Pleo online every two weeks. Their latest newsletter was titled "Sneak Peek into Pleo" and provided an interesting look behind the UGOBE curtain.

i-SOBOT Robot Self-Introduction (Video)

There's a lot of buzz around the internet centering on the new i-SOBOT humanoid robot. And, as you might expect, some of the information gets distorted, or is way off base. Rather than have people rely exclusively on second hand information, we decided to take the bull by the horns, and asked i-SOBOT to introduce himself to you and give a little background (see video below.)

Aldebaran's Nao Humanoid Robot Makes Progress (Video)

Developing a new humanoid robot is a major challenge involving a wide range of skills and expertise. It requires state of the art knowledge of mechanics, dynamics, motors, servos, sensors, control software, artificial intelligence, and even business management. If the robot is targeted for commercial sales, then the hurdles, and risks, are even larger requiring significant capital investment, and patience. Good humanoid robots take time to develop, but if you keep at it the results can often turn out to be extremely impressive.

One very promising humanoid project we've been avidly following for quite a while is the Nao robot being developed by Aldebaran Robotics in France. They have taken a very measured and cautious approach to releasing information, only letting the press and public know about their progress when they feel confident enough to disclose it. Their attitude has been refreshing in comparison to some other companies that never miss the opportunity to toot their own horn.

When we heard that Aldebaran was taking Nao to Atlanta to show off a bit at the recent RoboCup competition, it was a clear sign that they have made some significant progress. So we were very interested in finding out how the robot is coming along. 

Crabfu Tackles Humanoids (Video)

What happens when an experienced video game animator, with extensive experience and a natural instinct for complex mechanical linkages, gets their hands on a humanoid robot for the first time?

The simple answer, as you can see from the video clip below, is total magic. 

Robot Demonstrates Asimov's 1st Law of Robotics

Asimov's 1st Law of Robotics states, "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." That 'law' came into play a few nights ago when Matt Bauer was walking down a path in the dark carrying his ROBO-ONE class custom designed and built humanoid robot - Rook's Pawn.

Robot Image Recognition Couples Robonova-1 With Java (Video)

Here's the challenge: Have your humanoid robot identify an object - in this case a red block, walk over to it, bend over and pick up the block.

That's the first experiment that 'JavaRN' on the RoboSavvy Robot Forum wanted to try with his brand new Robonova-1 robot (see video below). For most of us - ourselves included - just getting a kit like the Robonova assembled and working correctly is enough of a challenge, but JavaRN went way, way beyond that - way beyond.

First Look: NAO Prototype Humanoid Robot Walks (Video)

Late last year we had the great opportunity to interview Bruno Maisonnier, the founder and CEO of Aldebaran Robotics in France. He disclosed some really interesting and quite ambitious plans for the NAO humanoid robot. In the interim, the company has been very cautious about releasing any photos, videos, or other information that shows the full robot design. We can totally understand and respect their caution and dedication to managing press accuracy about the robot.

It turns out that the Aldebaran wizards have been hard at work in the labs, and have made significant progress. And, they're ready to pull back the curtain just a bit to give the world a look at the NAO robot prototype actually in operation (see video below). 

Robot Builder Profile: Jin Sato Part 2 - The HRP-2m Choromet Robot (Video)

Modeled after it's larger brother, the famous HRP-2 Promet humanoid robot developed at the Japan Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Institute (AIST), the HRP-2m Choromet robot is smaller in size, yet retains a lot of the functionality and performance at a fraction of the cost.

Starting with the Promet example, and taking advantage of a technology transfer of core software from AIST, Chromet was developed by joint cooperation between the institute and four private companies. And, it turns out that Jin Sato played a key role in the design, programming, and release of the robot for sale. When we visited Jin at his workshop in Tsukuba recently, he fired up one of the Choromet robots and put it through its paces for our camera.

King Kizer - Designing Robots That Play To Win (Video)

Nao Maru, the head of the Maru Family team that created King Kizer, the current ROBO-ONE Champion robot, is a firm believer in management planning, and his robot designs really reflect his beliefs. As much as humanly possible, they try to carefully consider everything that could possibly occur during a competition, and have a strategy to deal with it successfully under the pressure of an event.

When we visited the Maru home last December, they were kind enough to share some of the latest improvements incorporated into King Kizer in preparation for the last competition in the 2006 ROBO-ONE Grand Prix series, and let us take some video clips (included below). They asked us, at the time, to keep this information confidential until after the event which took place the first week in January.

New Gaming Systems Will Improve Robot Sensing

We've been following the release of the Sony PSP3 and the new Nintendo Wii system avidly, and can hardly wait to get some hands-on time with both systems. That may seem a little odd since we aren't dyed-in-the-wool game addicts, and have no intention of purchasing either system at the moment.

What really interests us about the new gaming systems is the sensing technology. Positional, acceleration, and gyro sensors have been around for a long, long time. But cost of the sensors limited their applications and availability. Now, with hundreds of thousands of new gaming systems hitting the market, all equipped with exciting, low cost sensor technology, we expect a whole new set of applications and hacks to start hitting robotics.

MANOI AT01 Robot: Human Blooper (Video)

We wanted to take a closer look at the gyro stabilization of the MANOI AT01 robot. Taking a clue from Harry's Bioloid experimentation, we decided to put our robot on a tilting platform that would allow us to simulate not only tilting but also a minor earthquake motion.

Our first attempt went extremely well. The robot's gyro setup worked perfectly, the robot stayed upright and withstood all the gentle shaking and tilting we subjected it to, and we captured everything on video. At least that's what we thought until we got a look at what the camera had actually recorded.

Kondo Ready To Raise The Performance Standard (Video)

Two years ago, Kondo surprised everyone by releasing the KHR-1 humanoid robot kit with the RCB-1 controller. For the first time, a researcher, experimenter, or hobbyist, could build an affordable bipedal walking robot capable of very startling performance. Now, they are going to raise the performance bar drastically higher when the new Kondo RCB-3 robot controller hits store shelves in Japan next month. We were able to spend several hours hands-on with the new controller last weekend during a 'sneak-preview' briefing with the Kondo design engineers.

Worth Checking Out: Affordable Dual Axis Gyro

If you’re designing a robot and are considering adding a gyro, then you might want to take a look at the new dual axis IDG300. Yes, that isn’t a typo. The IDG-300 is actually a dual axis gyro chip in a 3.3V leadless IC package. The chip was originally designed for image stabilization applications, but we’re guessing that it will be a natural fit for other applications, especially robotics.

Arise, go forth and conquer... (Video)

"Arise, go forth and conquer as of old." - Sir Bedivere's classic entreaty to King Arthur immediately came to mind when we got our first look at the new SRV-1 mobile robotic webcam from the Surveyor Corporation. What we saw quickly opened our eyes to all sorts of exciting possibilities and opportunities to apply the technology, so before long we were digging into the robot's details and background with its creator, Howard Gordon.

Watch Out For That Robot!

Okay, so this isn’t even close to being a released product yet. We know that, but still we find the concept appealing and very intriguing. Seiko Instruments announced a Bluetooth watch last week that could eventually evolve to be a wearable robot personal communicator.

Ken Does It Again!

Just before Halloween, Ken Finch shared two of his Robopet mods with us. One mod added a LED mode indicator to our favorite robot dog, while the other added a second IR detector so that you could operate the Robopet no matter which way it was facing. Since then, Ken got his hands on a brand new Robosapien V2, and . . .

A Site To Behold - Robosapien V2 Hacks

The Robosapien V2 robot didn't start shipping in any quantity until just before Thanksgiving. Up until then most of the available information was pure speculation. But as soon as some of the dedicated hackers managed to get their hands on the early units the puzzle pieces started to come together.

And The Mouse Wins By A Whisker

We’re used to thinking about mouse robots that are designed to zip through artificial mazes at race car speeds, but some researchers are busy building robot mice to investigate how mice and rats actually operate in the real world.

Battle Raptors!

Mark Tilden and his elves did a wonderful job designing the Roboraptor as a ‘toy’ robot, one that’s a lot of fun, yet safe enough to let your 8 year old play with in the living room.

But come on! This is a RAPTOR! It should be ripping, tearing, and going for the throat! And, recent reports from Roboraptor hackers indicate that will be possible sooner than you think.

Roboraptor Nose Sensors (Video)

There was some discussion on one of the forums about the optical sensors in Roboraptor’s nose. Of course we couldn’t possibly pass up the opportunity to drag our favorite robot off to the lab to take a closer look.

Roboraptor Sensor Hack - Sneak Preview from Sprocket2cog

Sprocket2cog, one of the most creative and adventure-some RoboHackists I know, is working on a new Roboraptor hack to modify the tail sensors and add a tilt sensor. He teased everyones curiosity by posting the image below that discloses some of the Roboraptor tail internals and gives some clues about his upcoming hack.

Are You Vexed Enough Yet?

According to the OnRobo new products website, Radio Shack is expanding the accessories it distributes for the Vex Robotics Design System - coincidentally just in time for the holiday gift buying season. The new kits are intended to add more functionality and programming ability to the Vex platform. The basic system, which bears a close resemblance to the Erector sets from decades past, was developed in partnership with the FIRST organization.

Measuring Servo Linearity - Test Jig

I wish I could say that I spent a lot of time studying component data sheets and weighing the trade offs. But, it's just not true. My approach was much simpler and more straight forward. While checking the bins at a shop in the Akihabara electronics district I bought several different optical sensors primarily because they were cheap and I wanted to experiment with them.

One of the sensors I bought was the Toshiba TLP800A photo-interrupter infrared LED and photo-transistor. The LED and photo-transistor are housed in a common package with a 3 mm slit between them. In normal use a shutter, usually part of a small diameter disk, rotates through the gap interrupting the light from the LED

Using the TLP800A it was surprisingly easy to breadboard a test jig and circuit. The cutouts in Maxwell's chassis extend slightly past the outside edge of the wheels. Heavy tape was used to secure the sensor in position, and to fashion a simple shutter. The shutter was fastened to the wheel using two push pins (the wheels are black foam). A DVM monitored the output signal while the wheel was rotated manually to adjust the shutter to sensor positioning. Once the two were properly aligned, the photo-transistor output signal was connected to the micro controller and the test program ran automatically.

The test program was run several times on each servo and the results were extremely consistent - a significant improvement over the previous manual method. Timing data was collected for PULSOUT values ranging from 500 to 1000. The test program writes the results of every cycle to the DEBUG console in an Excel friendly CSV format. This makes the test data extremely easy to chart and analyze.

Accelerometers

Sometimes our biases and perceptions tend to lead us astray. For example, the common association for 'acceleration' is the feeling of being pressed back into your seat as the plane takes off from the ground, or when you stomp on the gas pedal. As a result, when we consider applying technology to solve a particular problem, we almost automatically relegate accelerometers to problems that require the need to measure dynamic acceleration. The idea that they might be useful in tackling other challenges doesn't naturally occur to us. It's obvious that an accelerometer could be put to practical use as a part of an airplane autopilot, or a race car. It's not so obvious that it could provide any useful benefit to something like a cell phone.

But... How about a cell phone digital camera display that senses when you rotate it from vertical to horizontal, and automatically rotates the picture? Something like this-

That's exactly what the engineers at Mitsubishi figured out and built into the V401D cell phone for Vodafone. Rotate the camera and the photo turns to match so that it is always displayed in the right orientation. They used a thermal accelerometer, which at first pass sounds like a non-intuitive approach. After all, what does temperature have to do with acceleration and spatial orientation?

The link between temperature, acceleration, and spatial orientation that eventually lead to the V401D design is based on the Memsic dual axis accelerometer. The inside of the Memsic device contains a liquid with a small bubble in suspension. The bubble is heated and thermopiles around the bubble measure its temperature. When the device moves the bubble moves and the thermopiles pick up the change in temperature. Of course there's a lot of conversion that takes place within the device, like converting the temperature change into a corresponding acceleration value, and temperature compensation.

For hobby robot experimentation, Parallax has packaged one of the Memsic accelerometers and has quite a bit of useful information on how to apply it. They also have detailed application writeup in PDF format that was done for the Nuts and Volts series.

The V401D design really opened my eyes to the fact that they can be applied to more static applications, like tilt angles for a walking robot, or perhaps a Legway clone. Steve Hassenplug, the Legway designer, seemed to think that a Legway couldn't be designed using an accelerometer, but after playing around with a V401D for a while, I'm not convinced that he is right.

It's also fun to contemplate what other neat goodies could be hacked together using this technology. How about a robot Weeble, as in "Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down."? Or a mystery box that always manages to right itself no matter how you set it down, Or ....

If I have the chance, I'm going to pick up one of the Memsic devices and do some experimentation.