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the robots are coming

By Kelly Faircloth 5/08 12:37pm

the robots are coming

(Photo: Flickr, JMR_Photography)

Teens Do Something Decent, Create Robotic Locker Opener for Disabled Classmate

We were all ready to write off the youth of the species thanks to #followateen, and now DVice brings us a story about techie high schoolers that doesn’t evolve hazing, cyber bullies or trashy prom dresses. Will wonders never cease?

According to DVice, muscular dystrophy has left Nick Torrance, a student at Pinckney Community High School, wheelchair-bound. Luckily, two of his classmates won the 2012 SkillsUSA national robotics competition, and their coach told them to help him get his locker open easier.

And so:  Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 4/23 2:00pm

the robots are coming

SHIT! (screencap, annotated by us)

There’s Now a ‘Campaign to Stop Killer Robots,’ Just in Case

Does the prospect of Skynet keep you awake at night? Well, now there’s something you can do to fight your fears, besides chucking your Sarah Connor Chronicles DVDs. The BBC reports that yesterday, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots officially launched in London.

The group is exactly what it sounds like. Founded by reps from nine different NGOs, including the Human Rights Watch, International Committee for Robot Arms Control and Nobel Women’s Initiative, the campaign wants a “pre-emptive and comprehensive ban” on fully autonomous weapons. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 1/22 2:18pm

the robots are coming

Artist's rendering.

No Big Deal, DARPA’s Just Building Space Wall-E

Looks like DARPA is still hard at work combing through that office video library for new ideas. Wired reports that the Pentagon’s resident mad scientists have just released an update on their Phoenix project, an attempt to make satellites less earth-shatteringly expensive. And what have the brains in the basement (we assume their office is in a basement and also looks like the set of the IT Crowd) dreamed up? 

Basically, it’s Wall-E in space. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 1/16 8:33am

the robots are coming

Don't look so innocent, parrot. (Photo: screencap)

Uh Oh, the Parrots and the Robots are Teaming Up

Andrew Gray, computer engineering grad student at the University of Florida couldn’t get his parrot, Pepper, to shut up. Pepper would scream whenever he found himself alone in a room. So, as ABC News reports, Mr. Gray built his pet a little robotic buggy, controlled via a little joystick that Pepper pilots with his beak.

It is not immediately clear why Pepper could not just fly to where the humans were.   Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 1/15 10:59am

the robots are coming

"GUYS, I've got a GREAT idea."

New DARPA Program Bears Eerie Resemblance to a Summer SciFi Blockbuster

The U.S. Navy has a big job, monitoring all seven of the seas. (There are seven, right?) In fact, short of a clone army of incredible Mr. Limpets, there’s no easy way to distribute resources so they can respond quickly to possible regional flare-ups. And so DARPA’s latest, greatest idea for the waterborne branch of the armed forces, Popular Science reports, is the “Upward Falling Payloads” program, which: Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 11/28/12 9:51am

the robots are coming

(Source: Steve Jurvetson via Wikipedia)

If We’re All Getting Robot Chauffeurs, We Need Robot Ethics

Get ready for the day when you sip mimosas and curl your eyelashes as you commute, because the driverless car revolution is upon us. These futuristic machines are now legal in three states, and Google’s working hell-for-leather to make them part of regular life. But, as this essay in the New Yorker points out, such a technology raises thorny implications.

When we turn our shiny metal death machines over to computers, how are they going to make the right decisions? Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 10/12/12 5:40pm

the robots are coming

More like ActionHeroBot, right? (Photo: Georgia Tech)

Georgia Tech Team Working on a ‘MacGyver’ Bot; Hijinks Sure to Ensue

They might be able to make burritos and rescue the drowning, but robots are still lacking in some basic functionality. Namely: The ability to do very much with tools. Those of you who’ve seen Planet of the Apes and/or ever attempted to jimmy the cap off a beer bottle will surely recognize that this is an important part of our special sauce as a species, and one that our mechanical brethren can’t quite yet replicate. Hence, as per the MAKE blog, a team of researchers at Georgia Tech are working on that.

Specifically, they would like to build a robot MacGyver.

As this Georgia Tech announcement points out, we’re increasingly deploying robots in dangerous situations and hard-to-get-to places (hello, Mars rover!), but they lack human abilities to interact with their environment. If they lose their keys, they can’t root through their purse and find something to pick the lock:  Read More