Electro sensors inspired by fish who navigate their way through murky waters, robots that dance with the honeybees, and artificial muscles and blood vessels making their way into modern medicine. These are just a few of the research topics that were discussed at this year’s Living Machines Conference that took place from 9th to the 12th of July in Barcelona, Spain.

Chairs of the session  Paul Verschure, from Pompeu Fabra University and Tony Prescott from the University of Sheffield, welcomed delegates to one of Barcelona’s architectural gems; Antoni Gaudí’s La Pedrera building.

During 4 consecutive days, leading scientists in the fields of Biomimetics and Biohybryd systems gathered for pre-conference workshops, lectures, poster sessions, exhibitions and open panel sessions to present their work and discuss issues related to the development of real-word technologies inspired by biological systems.

The first day finished off with a panel-lead discussion centred on the question: why study nature? Co-chair Tony Prescott got dialogue flowing by providing two general reasons: to build technologies that could be useful in solving current challenges, and to better understand nature itself.  While the speakers and audience engaged in the discussion agreed that these are likely the main motives, other interesting opinions surged through out the conversation.

According to Barry Trimmer who specializes in Neurobiology at the University of Tufts,  by attempting to understand nature’s complexity, a biomimetic approach may allow us to bypass the limits of human creativity.

Toshio Fukuda who specializes in Micro-Nano Systems Engineering at Nagoya University is often inspired by particular functions or geometric shapes found in nature to help make devices such as the artificial blood vessels he works on more efficient.

Conversely, as a mechanical engineer specialized in aerodynamics, David Lentink  is not so much interested in biomimetics as an outfit for a design, but rather in specific principles which might make sense from an engineering point of view ¨ We don’t want to look at the final detail of a bird wing to make an aircraft because it’s simply too complex, but some of the principles are extremely useful and they allow scientists to really think outside the box.¨

While a biomimetic approach often involves studying some of the most puzzling aspects of nature scientists have yet to wrap their heads around, there are still many things nature can’t do. ¨ Biological systems satisfy many constraints at one time so they may not be optimal for any one function that we may want to imitate. Flight is a great example because we can do things by optimizing that birds just can’t do and we can exceed the capabilities of birds with jets and planes that we build,¨explained Frank Grasso, director of the Biomimetic and Cognitive Robotics lab at Brooklyn College, New York.

However, Dieter Braun, who specializes in Systems Biophysics at Ludwig Maximilians University, pointed out that it’s really a two-way learning stream and just because ¨evolution did not invent the bicycle¨ nature still has plenty of tricks to teach us and we need not be afraid of its complexity.

Check back to find out more on what what was shared during the 2012 Living Machines Conference; proceedings from the conference will be published in Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNAI/LNCS).

The  HRP-4C Humanoid  robot was developed by The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) of Japan and Kawada Industries. As you can see above, this robot can put on quite the show! Created mainly for entertainment purposes, this robot has even hit fashion runways! Actroid- DER3, developed by Osaka University and the robotics company Kokoro, is also being used for similar purposes.

Another pretty face below- the mask bot which uses a simple projection of a real human face to achieve its life-like appearance, was developed by AIST and  the Institute of Cognitive Systems (ICS) at the Technische University in Munich .

Some humanoids can even play music! Check out a robot released by Toyota back in  2007 that can play the violin.

A joint project between the MIT Media Lab and Drexel University put on this performance using 4 HUBO robots which were developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

Many robots are developed for use as research platforms. Nao, developed by Aldebaran is currently being used in all sorts of research at elementary schools, hospitals and universities around the world.

MIT Media Lab’s Nexi is giving researchers insight into human-robot interaction. While it couldn’t pass for a human, the robot does manage to display rather convincing facial expressions.

CB2 is another robot developed by Osaka University. Similarly to the iCub (developed by the European RobotCub consortium), it expresses child-like behaviours and learning abilities to help researchers study human cognitive development.

Of course there are plenty more humanoids out there! What’s your favourite android?

Robots have been transforming industries for years. In fact, it seems fair to say that the robot revolution happened a few decades ago and now we’re onto the sequel.

Time magazine featured a  cover story titled The Robot Revolution in 1980.
The eleven page article focused on the major increase of robots used for production purposes across industries all over the world. At that time,  it was only natural that the design of robots corresponded to their function;  ¨It is perfectly possible to design a robot that walks on artificial legs or speaks fluent English, but it is much cheaper and more efficient to keep the robot standing in one place and to speak to it in the soothing language of algorithms,¨  stated David Nitzan of SRI International  in the 1980 article.

Although just over 30 years have past, today’s robotocists are focused on developing robots that go far beyond yesterday’s rudimentary designs because instead of being about getting more robots onto factory lines, today’s robot revolution is  about bringing them into our homes and personal lives.

A recent article in the BBC, Ready for the Robot Revolution, discusses the ways that robots are being developed to help us both at societal and personal levels. The article also points out that what researchers are really starting to consider now is that robots can communicate with humans in ways that other technology cannot. This being the case, scientists are focusing on the finer details of robot behaviour, considering things like eye contact and personal space which are important aspects of human social interaction.

So what is today’s robot revolution really about? Many leading roboticists think that robots could have applications in areas where social support is important; education, learning, and healthcare.  However, their intention is not to have robots replace humans but rather support them by helping them avoid burnout.

The US government is 100% behind the robot revolution.  ¨President Obama’s National Robotics Initiative will lead to new innovative technologies that will invigorate America’s manufacturing economy by creating new opportunities and new jobs, improve our quality of life by revolutionizing health care and medicine, and make our nation safer with the development of robots for defense, security and emergency response,” says Vijay Kumar, professor of Engineering  at the University of  Pennsylvania.

The US. government is not the only one funding this revolution,  in fact The European Commission spent 536 M€ in the past 5 years for cognitive and robotics related research, bringing it into a leadership position.  You can find out more about robotics funding in Europe HERE

A robotic seeing  eye dog has recently been developed by Japan’s manufacturing company NSK.  A recent article makes the point that although this seeing eye dog  won’t get distracted by squirrels or tasty treats,  it looks like this robot needs a bit more work before it can keep up with its furry counterparts.

This artificial pup isn’t the first of its kind. Big Dog was developed by Boston dynamics with funding from the US’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as a quadruped robot designed to assist soldiers making their way through rough terrains.

Many people are uneasy with regards to some of the military funding of robotics; fearing that technology initially developed to benefit society could later be used in less peaceful circumstances. While this is a very valid concern, the flip side of this scenario is also possible- robotic technology initially developed for military purposes can, and is increasingly being used for domestic purposes and the general welfare of society. You can watch a video by the BBC that takes a look at cleaning machines based on military robots.

Are you curious about the growing application of robotics in Europe? There’s no need to to be a robotics expert to attend the events that are part of this year’s first ever eu Robotics Week.  Events will include: exhibitions, lab tours, public talks, and competitions all organized locally in cities through out Europe.

In addition to highlighting the growing importance of robotics, this week will also be about promoting students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Knowledge in these subjects is important because it fosters innovation towards practices and projects that will sustain our development.

If robotics is something you’re already interested or involved in you may want to submit an idea for an event want to coordinate. Fill out an event submission form  anytime before September 30th, 2011.

The European union’s Lisbon strategy aims to have Europe become the “most dynamic competitive knowledge-based economy in the world”.  “Framework Programs” (FPs) are financial tools used to achieve ambitious goals such as this by providing support for European research and development activities.

What does European research focus on?

FP7 is currently in place with a strong focus on information and communication technology research (ICT), which is vital to the competitiveness of European industry and to meeting the demands of its society and economy. A specific focus within FP7 is cognitive systems and robotics. With a solid base in industrial robotics, European robotics research also focuses on professional service, domestic service, security and space robotics. Extensive analysis of market developments and future opportunities are being continuously performed to help maintain and expand Europe’s  leading position in this sector.

Where does European robotics stand globally?

The potential in the field of robotics in Europe is huge: there are strong robotics and automation suppliers supported by a well networked education and research community. European nations that are most involved in robotics are Germany, Sweden, Italy, France, Finland, Belgium and Spain. The need for robotics in Europe is also great in terms of security, healthcare, industry and the monitoring of everyday environments.

About 300 million households may start employing robots once more sophisticated abilities will allow them to assist in homes reliably and efficiently. This is of particular interest in the context of Europe’s ageing population. Who are Europe’s global competitors when it come to robotic technology? Asia is a major powerhouse with Japan leading other nations such a Singapore, South Korea and China. Japan has produced many commercial robots, sold to assist humans in daily tasks. Japan has also discovered a market for custom-made robots which is being propagated by an increasing demand for personalization of the users’ needs.  Europe’s other main competitor is the USA, recently taking a great interest in the development of rescue robots. Other emerging nations in the the field of robotics research and production are Canada, Brazil and New Zealand.

Here are some robots from around the word!

Europe- icub is a simulation of a human child. The key motive for its development is to test the theory of embodied cognition. The main theme of this theory is that our learning of physical acts have a great impact on the development of our cognition. icub is able to interact with the world much the way a small child does. Among other capabilities, icub is  able to:  crawl, grasp objects and express emotion through facial expressions.

Asia- Created by Honda, Asimo is designed to help humans perform tasks that form part of their daily lives.  Asimo can recognize faces, moving objects and its surrounding environment. It can also  distinguish sounds as well as  human  gestures and postures .   Asimo can also use its access of internet  to  deliver useful information to its user.

Asia- Created by Mitsubishi, Wakamaru is a one metre tall humanoid robot  that moves on wheels. It can watch over a household, monitor the  condition of a sick person and carry out secretary skills.

North America- NASA’s MER-B Opportunity was sent to explore Mars in 2003. The robot’s main purpose was to collect rocks and soil to give scientists more clues about past water activities on the red planet.