ACADEMIC RESEARCH
ROS: a common OS to streamline robotic engineering
August 13, 2009 10:16 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
The biannual International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence has this year shed light on a new effort to standardize robot instructions around a common platform, so that designers won't have to "reinvent the wheel over and over" with every project.

SPACE EXPLORATION
Carnegie Mellon Rover is a Hi-Def TV Studio, Internet Node
August 04, 2009 01:29 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Astrobotic Technology’s prototype is scheduled to explore the Apollo landing site in 2011 and hopefully win the $25 million Google Lunar X Prize. The solar-powered rover has been tweaked and fine-tuned for its mission to examine how materials from the Apollo 11 mission have weathered on the Moon.

MEDICAL ROBOTICS
Tiny Telescopes Help the Blind See Again
July 20, 2009 07:40 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
The bionic eye's inexorable advance continued this weekend, as doctors reported they were able to implant tiny telescopes into the eyes of patients suffering from macular degeneration.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Robotic bats fly with shape memory alloy morphable wings
July 07, 2009 11:21 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Tiny flying machines can be used for everything from indoor surveillance to exploring collapsed buildings, but simply making smaller versions of planes and helicopters doesn't work very well. Instead, researchers at North Carolina State University developing robotic bats that offer increased maneuverability and performance.

ENTERTAINMENT TECH
Nintendo Wii May Enhance Parkinson's Treatment
July 06, 2009 06:14 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
The Nintendo Wii may help treat symptoms of Parkinson's disease, including depression, a Medical College of Georgia researcher says. Dr. Herz tested whether the popular computer game console could improve coordination, reflexes and other movement-related skills.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Hybrid System Of Human-Machine Interaction Created
July 06, 2009 06:10 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Scientists at FAU have created a "hybrid" system to examine real-time interactions between humans and machines (virtual partners). By pitting human against machine, they open up the possibility of exploring and understanding a wide variety of interactions between minds and machines.

MILITARY TECH
Killer robots can be taught ethics
July 06, 2009 07:19 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
A robotics engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed an "ethical governor," which could be used to program military robots to act ethically when deciding when, and whom, to shoot or bomb.

MEDICAL ROBOTICS
Robotic Therapy Holds Promise For Cerebral Palsy
July 02, 2009 02:39 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Over the past few years, MIT engineers have successfully tested robotic devices to help stroke patients learn to control their arms and legs. Now, they're building on that work to help children with cerebral palsy.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Researchers Unveil Whiskered Robot Rat
July 02, 2009 02:31 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
A team of scientists have developed an innovative robot rat which can seek out and identify objects using its whiskers. The SCRATCHbot robot will be demonstrated this week (1 July 2009) at an international workshop looking at how robots can help us examine the workings of the brain.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Robotic hand controlled by compressed air grasps the concept of delicacy
May 08, 2009 12:40 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
The fully articulated robotic hand RAPHaEL (Robotic Air Powered Hand with Elastic Ligaments) can firmly hold objects as heavy as a can of food or as delicate as a raw egg. It also is dexterous enough to gesture for sign language.

MILITARY TECH
Norwegian firm testing what may be 'world's smallest' helicopter
April 23, 2009 08:55 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Don't confuse this with what the hucksters are flogging at your local mall. This 15-gram "nano" copter goes where it's told and back again, indoor or out. Now on its fifth prototype, the PD-100 Black Hornet has achieved a major milestone this month after successfully completing its first outdoor flight test.

MILITARY TECH
Hydrogen-powered UAV in the works
April 23, 2009 08:53 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
In what it says is a "first of its kind" initiative, the U.S. Navy plans to launch sometime this spring an unmanned aerial vehicle for a 24-hour endurance flight carrying a 5-pound payload and powered entirely by a hydrogen-powered fuel cell.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Visual EMR Software Pass Clinical Trial
April 23, 2009 08:48 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
IBM has teamed up with a company called Nhumi Technologies, out of Zurich, Switzerland, a developer of EMR visualization software, to create a hospital record system that can help clinicians see more relevant patient data in a more efficient manner. By using an avatar to represent a particular patient, the system shows what clinical information is available in the EMR record on different parts and regions of the patient's body.

MEDICAL ROBOTICS
Next Generation of Ossur Power Knee in Action
April 23, 2009 08:43 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Ossur, a developer of prosthetic implants, announced that last week its second generation Power Knee bionic prosthesis was implanted in a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Power Knee uses sensor and actuators, coupled with artificial intelligence to better mimic natural walking with less effort by the patient.

MEDICAL ROBOTICS
Scientists Watch Brain Networks Rewire Themselves
March 14, 2009 10:38 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics used an MRI machine to visualize how large parts of the brain automatically reorganize themselves through a process called long-term potentiation (LTP).