ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Beetle biomimicry could allow robots to climb vertical glass walls
February 01, 2009 02:25 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Researchers at Max Planck Institute for Metals Research are developing adhesives based on biomimicry of beetles' feet. The design enables the materials to stick to smooth walls without any adhesives. The researchers say the technology, which uses microhairs "reminiscent of tiny mushrooms", could someday allow robots to climb vertical glass walls and refrigerator magnets to be replaced by non-magnetic objects.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
A Computer that Thinks Like Me == Scary
February 01, 2009 01:39 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Computers can calculate at speeds and scales that far outstrip what an ordinary person can manage, but they still aren't anywhere near as complex as a human brain. IBM and five major universities plan to change that through a DARPA-funded initiative designed to build a computer that can mimic the way the mind works.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Self-Aware Robot Can Adapt To Environment
February 01, 2009 06:20 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
A new robot, dubbed "Starfish" because of its size and shape, has the unusual ability, in the mechanical world, that is, of fixing itself. The Starfish is programmed to recognize its parts, but not how they're arranged or meant to be used. It figures that out for itself, using trial and error.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
A Gizmo That Saves Lives
February 01, 2009 05:47 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
When Javier Rodriguez Molina visited the Atocha Train Station Memorial in Madrid in the wake of the train bombings, the Barcelona native felt a great sadness for the victims of the 11 March 2004 tragedy. But he also felt some hope that his advanced emergency technology work at University of California, San Diego can some day save lives in similar disasters.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
New Software To Improve Design Tools
February 01, 2009 04:49 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
A team of Carnegie Mellon University engineers led by Levent Burak Kara and Kenji Shimada have developed software that will let engineers design new products by simply sketching their ideas on a tablet computer.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
New Robotics Challenge Aims To Develop Friendly Highly Autonomous Robots
February 01, 2009 03:06 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
The "ROBAUCO: mobile, autonomous and collaborative robots" project was recently initiated.* The principal objective of the project is the generation of the technologies necessary for the development of mobile robots able to carry out complex tasks with a high degree of autonomy and capacity for collaboration. These robots, moreover, have to share tasks with people in the most friendly and natural way possible.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
NICO robot is self-aware
January 30, 2009 05:43 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
A recent article in New Scientist featured two cutting-edge robots: Leonardo, who could "imagine" himself in the shoes of different humans, and Nico, who is today's topic. Nico is the brainchild of Yale University scientists Kevin Gold and Brian Scassellati, and is a so-called humanoid robot, meaning he has appendages and some facial features of a human. However, he's not nearly as cuddly looking as Leo, and rather resembles a skeleton.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Robots Show That Brain Activity Is Linked To Time As Well As Space
January 29, 2009 12:29 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Humanoid robots have been used to show that that functional hierarchy in the brain is linked to time as well as space. Researchers from RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan, have created a new type of neural network model which adds to the previous literature that suggests neural activity is linked solely to spatial hierarchy within the animal brain.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Carnegie Mellon Engineering Researchers To Create Speech Recognition In Silicon
January 18, 2009 07:59 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Carnegie Mellon University's Rob A. Rutenbar is leading a national research team to develop a new, efficient silicon chip that may revolutionize the way humans communicate and have a significant impact on America's homeland security.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Robots Designed To Save Lives Of Construction Workers
December 20, 2008 04:38 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
The Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech won the grand prize at the 2008 International Capstone Design Fair with a trio of pole-climbing serpentine robots designed to take the place of construction workers tasked with dangerous jobs such as inspecting high-rises or underwater bridge piers.

The autonomous robots are designed to climb scaffolding and buildings by wrapping around a poll or beam and then rolling upward via an oscillating joint motion. Using built-in sensors and cameras, the robots would then inspect the structures or handle other dangerous tasks now done by humans, said Dennis Hong, director of Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory and the faculty adviser on the project.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Virtual Electrical Laboratory Lends A Helping Hand To Students With Disabilities
December 09, 2008 01:17 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Engineers and scientists spend countless hours learning in the classroom and poring over academic journals, but nothing compares to the training they receive in the laboratory. Hands-on education allows them to experience the backbone of engineering and science--conducting experiments, testing hypotheses, learning from their mistakes, and reaching their own conclusions.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Robots Learn To Predict Where Their Leader Is Going, And Follow Along
December 09, 2008 12:57 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Whether driving on the highway or walking down the street, we pick up on both deliberate signals and unconscious cues to predict what other people are going to do and act accordingly. But robots have trouble following each other around, for example, when a leader turns a corner and disappears from sight.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
A picture is worth a thousand passwords
October 27, 2008 01:46 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Data security is a hard enough problem to solve on even a heavily regulated corporate network, but it becomes even more difficult when users are out in the wild with PDAs, cell phones and other portable communications devices. A recent PhD project at the University of Twente in the Netherlands has described a user-friendly solution to cryptography for ad-hoc network transfers, such as sending files over infrared or Bluetooth between two PDAs, and it's as easy as taking a picture.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Robots to teach math, science to children
October 22, 2008 11:16 PM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
Math and science will look more like fun and games at some Pittsburgh area schools where those subjects will soon be taught using robots.

A partnership between Carnegie Mellon University and LEGO Education has put robots in about a dozen grade schools in Pittsburgh and 50 schools throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. "The goal here is using the motivational effects of robots to excite more children to pursue careers in science and technology," said Robin Shoop, director of the Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Robot snakes slither forward
October 20, 2008 09:46 AM EST - submitted by Daniel Shope
There's no doubt that many scientists are looking to nature for mechanical inspiration. This past spring we have seen robotic bugs, robo-fish, and perhaps even the promise of a robotic dolphin.

For its design of a robot for use inside pipes, the SINTEF ICT part of the SINTEF Group, a Norway-based technology research company, was inspired by snakes.