Walking Papercraft Robot
Youtube Direktbots, via Ronny
Tolle Papercraft-Roboter, die mit Gummiband-Automatik rumlatschen! Auf der Geocities-Seite (!) gibt’s weitere Videos von noch mehr Papier-Bots, den oben gibt’s in diesem Clip auch mit Gummiband-Gatling Gun.
Chinese Robot-Army of Ultramen make Noodles
Nudel-Bots kenne ich bislang vor allem aus Japan und dann meistens nur als Einzelstücke oder als Industrie-Roboter wie hier etwa. Jetzt hat jemand in China eine Armee Nudelmachender Ultramen gebaut und verkauft die an Ramen-Restaurants im ganzen Land. Von Eater:
In the face of rising labor costs, Chinese restaurateur Cui Runguan is selling thousands of robots that can hand slice noodles into a pot of boiling water called the Chef Cui. Runguan says in the report below that just like robots replacing workers in factories, “it is certainly going to happen in sliced noodle restaurants.” The robots costs $2,000 each, as compared to a chef, who would cost $4,700 a year. According to one chef, “The robot chef can slice noodles better than human chefs.” News of Runguan’s invention hit the internet in March of 2011, but they’ve since gone into production and are starting to catch on: 3,000 of them have already been sold.
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Cup Noodles transform into real Robots
Aufziehschlüsselspitzer
I love this! Ein Bleistiftspitzer in Form eines Aufziehschlüssels, wie man sie früher bei alten Roboter-Blecktoys benutzt hat. Ich hab’ hier tatsächlich einige Replikas alter 50s-Robot-Toys rumstehen, die genau mit so ‘nem Schlüssel funktionieren. Bleistifte können die aber nicht anspitzen. Toll!
Made out of cast metal, the sharpener resembles an old fashioned turnkey. Instead of turning the pencil, the sharpener is the moving element and is used to literally “wind up” pencils”.
Face Cloning for Animatronics
Youtube Direktfaces, via Creators Project
Disney hat eine Reihe von Technologien kombiniert, um ultrarealistischen Animatronic-Gesichter herzustellen. Demnächst dann in Disneyland: Westworld. Disney rutschte mir auch letzte Woche immer wieder mit einer Pflanzen-Multitouch-Technologie durch den Reader. Die haben doch was vor.
We propose a complete process for designing, simulating, and fabricating synthetic skin for an animatronics character that mimics the face of a given subject and its expressions. The process starts with measuring the elastic properties of a material used to manufacture synthetic soft tissue. Given these measurements we use physics-based simulation to predict the behavior of a face when it is driven by the underlying robotic actuation. Next, we capture 3D facial expressions for a given target subject. As the key component of our process, we present a novel optimization scheme that determines the shape of the synthetic skin as well as the actuation parameters that provide the best match to the target expressions. We demonstrate this computational skin design by physically cloning a real human face onto an animatronics figure.
iPhone-Controlled giant Exoskeleton-Mega-Mech shoots when you smile
Suidobashi Heavy Industries haben gestern auf dem Wonder Festival, einer Convention für DIYer und Bastler, einen 4 Tonnen schweren, 4 Meter hohen Mech vorgestellt, der aus dem Cockpit oder mit ‘nem iPhone kontrolliert wird, mit 4 Gatling Guns ausgestattet ist, die 6000 Softair BB Bullets in der Minute verschießen und zwar dann, wenn der Pilot lächelt. Only in Japan! Außerdem verkaufen die die Dinger für ‘ne Million Pfund und der Bot kommt in 16 Farben. Ich würde ja eigentlich echt sagen, dass das hier völlig außerirdischer Wahnsinn ist, aber die Bewegungen des Teils sind, wie man in den Clips gleich sieht, doch ziemlich lahm. Dennoch: Whoa! Ein paar mehr Bilder von dem Ding gibt’s auf Gigazine, auf ihrem Facebook, hier noch zwei Präsentationsvideos. Das eine im Stewardessen-Safety-Style ist völlig irre!
A Japanese electronics company has unveiled a 13ft super-robot which can be controlled by an iPhone. But be careful with the jokes if you are on the phone to the pilot as the robot, made by Suidobashi Heavy Industry in Tokyo, brings a whole new meaning to ‘trigger-happy’. ‘Kuratas’ is fitted with a futuristic weapons system, including a gatling gun capable of shooting 6,000 BB bullets a minute, which fires when the pilot smiles.
Kuratas, made by Suidobashi Heavy Industry, can be controlled either through the one-man cockpit or from the outside using any smartphone connected to the 3G network. The robot, which is set will go on sale for £900,000, has around 30 hydraulic joints which the pilot moves using motion control. As it is made to order the style conscious buyer will not have to worry about sticking to the grey exterior – it comes in 16 colours, including black and pink, and for an extra £60 they will sort you out with a cup holder.
Dial carefully! Meet Kuratas, the million dollar robot which weighs four tons, shoots when you smile and is controlled by iPhone (via Obvious Winner)
Auf der Website der Suidobashi Heavy Industries kann man sich seinen eigenen Mecha zusammenklicken, hab’ ich mal gemacht. Meiner kostet schlappe 2 Millionen Dollar:
Tokyos Robot-Girl Club
Im Tokyoter Rotlichtbezirk Shinjuku Kabukicho hat ein neuer Club namens Shinjuku Robot voller echter und mechanischer Robot-Mädels aufgemacht. Jetzt bitte noch einen Bot-Puff für Robot-Sex in Akihabara und alles wird gut.
Built at a cost of 10 billion yen (they say…), the Robot Restaurant combines garish lighting, with female robots and flesh & blood cabaret girls for a hallucinatory experience that will hopefully do for the jaded, thrill-seeking salarymen of Japan what “Chuck E. Cheese” does for little kids.
For an entrance fee of around US$37.00, patrons and stare slack-jawed as enormous Cutey Honey-esque robots roll around controlled by comely “pilots”. Army girls patrol the allies of smiles for enemy robots on armored vehicles that would shame anything in Disneyland’s Main Street Electrical Parade! They also zip around through technicolor LED landscapes on actual motorbikes!
Eye-popping Robot Girls Restaurant Opens in Tokyo!, mehr bei Danny Choo: Tokyo Robot Restaurant (via io9)
Shortfilm made from NASA-Footage about Robbie, the living Robot
Schöner Kurzfilm von Neil Harvey, den er aus Videos der NASA zusammengeschnitten hat und der die Story von Robbie erzählt, einem tausend Jahre alten Roboter, der ein Bewusstsein erlangt hat und in der ISS durch’s All fliegt.
2032. That was the year Robbie became self-aware, but no “SkyNet” dystopian future followed. Robbie is nice. He enjoys being helpful. He is good friends with the human astronauts, and became a practicing Catholic. Robbie has a fascination and affinity for humankind, but is not one of us, making him an excellent narrator for humanity’s fall.
Robbie is a brilliant short film from Australia’s Neil Harvey. Created entirely of NASA archival footage, Harvey, through editing and the writing of Robbie’s monologue, constructs a touching, powerfully elegiac narrative around his robot main character, one which, in true sci-fi fashion, transverse boundaries of human nature, and vast amounts of time.
Robots Dubstep Dispute
Vimeo Direktbots, via Seitvertreib
Ein paar Roboter kriegen sich wegen einer Portion grüngebratener Bolzen in die Wolle. So sehe ich übrigens auch aus wenn mein Server mal wieder abkackt wenn einer ein Stück von meiner Pizza will.
Invade all of the Humans
Youtube Direktrobots, via Neatorama
Von Youtube: „’Invade all of the Humans’ is a pilot for the currently imaginary series […] featuring two malfunctioning robotic educational toys from the 1980′s. PX-Micron and Calculord 3 are homeless and deranged, and spend their days in the park laughing at humans and planning their invasion of Earth. They also enjoy performing electronic music and dance routines. They run on four AA batteries.“
Rock-Paper-Scissors-Robot wins every single Time
Youtube Direktrobot, via Waxy
Im Ishikawa Oku Lab an der Uni Toyko haben sie eine superschnellen Roboter-Hand gebaut, ausgestattet mit einer HighSpeed-Kamera. Und die spielt Stein-Schere-Papier und gewinnt jedes mal. Sie bescheisst zwar, aber ist dabei so schnell, dass es keiner merkt. Bastard-Hand!
It only takes a single millisecond for the robot to recognize what shape your hand is in, and just a few more for it to make the shape that beats you, but it all happens so fast that it’s more or less impossible to tell that the robot is waiting until you commit yourself before it makes its move, allowing it to win 100% of the time.
Robot Hand Beats You at Rock, Paper, Scissors 100% Of The Time
Last Moment-Robot comforts the Dying
Jemand namens Chen hat einen Roboter gebaut, der einen durch die letzten Minuten seines Lebens begleiten soll, falls die Verwandschaft grade was besseres vorhat. Der Mann hat eine ganze Serie von Bots am Start, die soziale Umgangsformen übernehmen sollen, aber der automatische Gefährte des Todes ist wahrscheinlich der seltsamste. Und „Hello Susie, I am the last moment robot“ wird mein neuer Anmach-Spruch.
Viewers of this installation are invited to enter the room, one at a time, accompanied by an individual dressed in a doctor’s coat. After the patient lays down beside the robot, the doctor asks permission to insert his or her arm under the caressing mechanism. The device is activated, and an LED screen reads “Detecting end of life.” At this point, the doctor exits the room, leaving the patient alone by him or herself. Within moments the LED reads “End of life detected”, the robotic arm begins its caressing action, moving back and forth, stimulating the sense of comfort during the dying process. Simultaneously, the robot annunciates the patient’s name using the scrip below, while stroking the patient through death.
Hello Susie, I am the last moment robot.
I am here to help you and guide you through your last moment on earth.
i am sorry that (pause) your family and friends can’t be with you right now, but don’t be afraid. I am here to comfort you. (pause)
you are not alone, you are with me. (pause)
Your family and friends love you very much, they will remember you after you are gone. (pause)
Time of death 11:56
End of Life Care Machine, Last Moment Robot: ‘End of life detected’ (via Geekologie)
The Story of the Philip K. Dick-Robot
Slate hat ein Review von David F. Duftys Buch “How to Build an Android: The True Story of Philip K. Dick’s Robotic Resurrection”, einem Sachbuch über Cutting-Edge-Robotics, das sich an der echten Geschichte um den Philip K. Dick-Roboter entlanghangelt, einem Bot, der genauso aussah, wie der Autor von Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report oder A Scanner Darkly. Und dessen Kopf auf einem Flug verloren ging und nie wieder gefunden wurde. Außerdem liebe ich das Bild zum Artikel von Eric Mathews.
In 2005, David Hanson left Philip K. Dick’s head on a plane. Hanson, a roboticist, was en route to Google to present his team’s project— a painstakingly crafted android replication of the author, who died in 1982—when he changed planes and left behind a duffel bag. The robot’s head surfaced at a couple of airports around the American West before disappearing in Washington state, never to be found again.
Dick, the author of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?—the source material for Blade Runner—was both deeply engaged with issues of artificial intelligence, and deeply paranoid. That is to say, he was the science fiction writer for whom being transformed into an android, and then having your head lost to the labyrinthine bureaucracy of an airline, might be considered most fitting. In How To Build an Android, David F. Dufty explains how Dick was made into a machine by an endearingly nerdy group of roboticists. Dufty, who observed the development of the robot while a postdoc, uses the unlikely story to meditate on the state of robotics and artificial intelligence. In particular, he describes the peculiar way humans interact with machines—and what it takes to make us feel as though a robot is alive.
Amazon-Partnerlink: How to Build an Android: The True Story of Philip K. Dick’s Robotic Resurrection
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Philip K. Dick Cover-Gallery
The robotic Head of Philip K. Dick
Chicken-deboning Robot
Am Georgia Tech Research Institute arbeitet man an einem Roboter, der Hühnchen entbeint. Das ist so der erste Schritt zur vollautomatisierten Hühnchenfleischfarm, wie zum Beispiel die von Andre Ford vorgeschlagene Vertical Headless Chicken Farm, nur war das damals ein Kunstprojekt. Ich finde Roboter, die mit meinem Fleisch hantieren, sehr, sehr gruselig, noch gruseliger als es die Fliesbandfleischverarbeitung ohnehin schon ist – wahrscheinlich weil wir hier das Uncanny Valley of Meat betreten. Brrrr. Und aus irgendeinem Grund wollte ich dreimal zunächst Robot-deboning Chicken in die Headline schreiben.
Poultry is Georgia’s top agricultural product, with an estimated annual economic impact of nearly $20 billion statewide. Helping the poultry industry maximize its return on every flock can translate to important dividends. The research is funded by the state of Georgia through the Agricultural Technology Research Program at GTRI.
Under the Intelligent Cutting and Deboning System, a bird is positioned in front of the vision system prior to making a cut, explained GTRI research engineer Michael Matthews. The vision system works by making 3-D measurements of various location points on the outside of the bird. Then, using these points as inputs, custom algorithms define a proper cut by estimating the positions of internal structures such as bones and ligaments.
A Cut Above: Innovative Robot Uses 3-D Imaging and Sensor-based Cutting Technology to Debone Poultry (via The Verge)
Colosse – Shortfilm with a living, wooden Robot-Puppet
Vimeo Direktcoloss, via Motionographer
Toller Kurzfilm von Yves Geleyn mit ‘ner lebendigen Holz-Roboter-Marionette: “Meet Colosse, Yves Geleyn’s sweet 30-foot child. Now, Colosse isn’t your ordinary child…he just so happens to be a very tall, wood robot puppet who doesn’t know his own strength, much less what his strings are up to.” Der Roboter und die Kulisse sind echt, der Vogel ist (glaube ich) reinkopiertes CGI (ich kann mir das Making Of wegen eines fehlenden Plugins nicht ansehen).
In this short film, Yves explores his child obsession with puppets and all things robotic. Thoughts from the director:
“I’m a huge fan of Jim Henson’s work. I have always wanted to work with puppets but never had the chance to do so before. I’m also a huge fan of robots; they were in all my childhood movies, cartoons, and comics. The robot from Paul Grimault’s The King And The Mockingbird; Brad Bird’s Iron Giant; and Goldorak, a Japanese cartoon, were inspirations for me. It was these two passions of puppetry and robots that drove me to create this short film, with a bird in it of course (can’t lose my bad habits).”
Shiri, the Robot-Ass
YT Direktass, via Gizmodo
Nobuhiro Takahashi von der Uni Tokyo hat einen Roboter-Arsch entwickelt: Shiri, was übersetzt soviel heisst wie… Arsch. Das Ding “represents emotions with visual and tactual transformation of the muscles”. Selbstverständlich.
