January 20, 2005

Tera Robot Series

Currently on display at the Tokyo international forum is the TERA (Takara Entertainment Robot Architecture) robot series developed through a partnership with Konami & takara toys. The new line is planned for sale in spring 2006 at 150,000 Yen. The series includes the TERA SECURITY, TERA LIFE and TERA AV robots.

The "TERA AV" robot supports DVD video and music CD playback using the it mouth to load disc, the eyes feature built-in lens and projector. The Tera AV can playback a DVD and project the image at the same time, built-in small-sized speaker, modem and HDD

January 18, 2005

'Living' robots powered by muscle

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles have developed Tiny Robots powered by living muscle. In one experiment a tiny device that moved on its own as the cells contracted was created by growing Rat heart cells onto microscopic silicon chips. Jianzhong Xi, Jacob Schmidt and Carlo Montemagno of the University of California Los Angeles writing in the journal Nature Materials, said it is possible to make such devices, starting with a single cell "seeded" on a specially treated silicon chip. "A microdevice with two 'legs ' extending from the body at 45-degree angles; each leg had a 'foot' extending at a 45-degree angle," was also developed.

- Seen at Engadget

January 13, 2005

HRP-2 Promet learns to dance

Katsushi Ikeuchi, a professor of engineering at Tokyo University has given the 1.5-meter-tall (five-foot) robot HRP-2 Promet , which is usually used at construction sites to help workers, a new lease on life, teaching it traditional Japanese dance to preserve the art for the future. The slow-paced dance, which is performed in groups and accompanied by lutes and other Japanese instruments, is rapidly losing ground in 21st-century Japan, with many young people only encountering it at local festivals. The robot to replicate human movements.

Priced at 38 million yen (365,000 dollars).

- MORE

January 12, 2005

unmanned airborne vehicle crashes into kids park

According to UVonline an unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) suspected to be a military spy plane crashed into the children's playground Kid's World near the Imphal Tulihal airport on India's eastern border. The vehicle had fallen about 33 m short of the runway of the Tulihal airport due to mechanical defect according to sources. No one was injured as none was at the crash site. The unmanned airborne vehicle can fly at a good height while it is controlled at the ground. According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft, about 15 feet long, crashed into the children's theme park at around 3:15 PM. Immediately after the crash, Army personnel based at the airport closed off the area, and took away the pieces of the aircraft in a truck. During the operation. The army is investigating the matter.

via Gizmodo

DefenseTech

January 4, 2005

Hybrid assistive limb

Yoshiyuki Sankai, a professor at the University of Tsukuba in Japan has developed the "hybrid assistive limb," or HAL designed to help people suffering from muscle loss or partial paralysis walk. HAL is made up of frames for leg support, motors placed at knees and hip joints, detection sensors and a computer controls the system. When the wearer tries to move a leg, the sensors detect through the skin faint electrical signals transmitted from the brain to muscles. The computer analyzes what the user is going to do, and the motors start moving to support the user's motion.

Via .

- Seen at WMMNA

- Seen at Engadget