Category Archives: Robots and Society

Collaborative Robots

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Baxter was released in 2012 by Rethink Robotics as one of the first affordable collaborative robots

Baxter was released in 2012 by Rethink Robotics as one of the first affordable collaborative robots

Past are the days when working alongside manufacturing robots was rightly considered an obvious health risk. Collaborative robotics, one of the biggest trends in the modern robotic industry, is rapidly revolutionizing the way we view manufacturing robots. While larger heavy-duty machines continue working in isolated safety cages, a whole new generation of collaborative robots is more than ever ready to share workspace with humans. Simple programming, reasonable price, precision and safety are probably the biggest advantages this kind of robots can boast of.

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How ready are disaster-response robots?

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Sandia Lab's Gemini-Scout Credit: Randy Montoya

Sandia Lab’s Gemini-Scout
Credit: Randy Montoya

The December DARPA trials saw possibly the biggest congregation of state-of-the-art humanoid robots ever. The DARPA Robotics Challenge was launched in 2012, after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown vividly demonstrated how unpractical our most advanced humanoid robots were for disaster response. Since then, things have improved considerably: robots have learned to climb ladders, open doors, turn valves and even drive vehicles. But are they ready to survive a full-scale rescue mission? Continue reading →

Biomimetic robots at Robot SafariEU in London

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1470230_10152443459874676_205650588_nRoboticists from across Europe showcased the most advanced biomimetic robots so far at the Robot SafariEU, an event organized by the Science Museum of London. The Robot SafariEU offered its visitors a special experience with a unique landscape of synthetic creatures able to run very fast like robot cheetah, stretch their wings like the rob-bat, crawl like the robot salamander, swim like a fish or like the robotic turtle U-CAT that is built to explore the deep seas. Continue reading →

IROS 2013

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IROS 2013

This year’s International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2013) was held in Tokyo, Japan— a globally recognized hotspot for some of the most fascinating robots on earth. Under the name of New Horizon, this conference aimed to get participants looking forward towards a new era of intelligent systems capable of meeting the needs of the fast-changing times we live in.
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Living Machines 2013

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What’s the relationship between living and artificial systems? How can we combine the two to form sophisticated solutions to challenges in science and engineering? The annual conference Living Machines puts these questions under the microscope.
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WildCat: BigDog’s New Rival

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Boston Dynamic’s been keeping dog lovers happy throughout their steady development of BigDog, a robot with uncannily canine gait and maneuvers. Now, feline aficionados can finally rejoice as WildCat makes its way into the robot world.
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Robots Vs. Jellyfish

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Sea_Nettle_Jelly_1Jellies are on a world-wide rise: we’ve made the mess, now it’s time to clean it up!

They may be found in swarms of marvelous colours, or floating solitary like transparent pieces of blown glass. From waters East to West, and North to South the jellyfish knows Continue reading →

Our Fascination With Mechanical Creations

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An ancient Arabic machine manuscript

An ancient Arabic machine manuscript

What’s so great about machines?

It’s easy to see how some of today’s mechanical marvels like NASA’s Mars Spirit Rover or The HRP-4C, created by The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), inspire jaw-dropping wonder. Who made that? And how on earth does it do that? Are all natural questions that come to mind in the face of these modern works. However, there’s something about animated bits of wire and metal that have intrigued humans for centuries.
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Robots and Religion

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Religion and Robots2Could prominent cultural beliefs affect the way nations are building their machines?

The robots being built around the world seem to be as diverse as the cultures they come from. While some have been engineered solely for people’s practical needs, others have been made to appeal to and keep the company of humans.
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When Machines Get Super Savvy, Will Human Intelligence Become Obsolete?

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A leading expert in the field of Artificial Intelligence argues that smart machines will compliment, not copy us

The-Singularity-Is-Near

The term Singularity refers to the theory that — in conformance with the way technology has been advancing— ultra-sophisticated technology is inevitably likely to emerge. Technology so advanced, it would surpasses human intelligence and capability.
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