Tag: robots

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Mobile Syrup

Dyson is creating a robot that cleans your couch

From home cleaning solutions to products for hair care, air treatment and lighting, Malmesbury, England-based Dyson leads innovation across a variety of industries.

More recentlycompany has been thinking out of the box while designing its products. Take the V15 Detect Total Clean with a green LED light or the noise-cancelling headphones with a built-in air purifier for example.

Now, Dyson has revealed that it has secretly got several of its engineers working on robots that will make performing human chores easier in the future.

“There is a big future in robotics and saving people time, performing chores for people, and improving people’s daily lives,” said Jake Dyson, chief engineer at Dyson. “We’ve also been doing a lot of research into robotics, which no one’s aware of.”

The company aims to hire over 700 engineers over the course of the next five years, with the goal set to “create the UK’s largest, most advanced, robotics centre at Hullavington Airfield,” and to bring robot technology into consumers’ homes by the end of the decade. “Dyson employed its first roboticist 20 years ago and this year alone we are seeking 250 more experts for our team,” said Dyson. “This is a ‘big bet’ on future robotic technology that will drive research across the whole of Dyson, in areas including mechanical engineering, vision systems, machine learning and energy storage.”

From the looks of it, it appears as though Dyson is working on three different prototypes (as displayed in the video above). One robot arm can be seen placing or retrieving clean dishes from a stacking tray, whereas the other robotic arm can be seen cleaning up after a kiddy play session. The third prototype, which seemed rather peculiar, cleans chairs and sofas.

Dyson is investing £2.75 billion ($4.42 billion CAD) in developing new technologies, products and facilities, out of which, the company will spend about £600 million ($965 million CAD) this year.

Read more about Dyson’s arrival in the home improvement robotics game here.

Image credit: Dyson

Source: Dyson

Categories
Pets Files

Robopets: Artificial intelligence goes to the dogs

Today’s consumers expect their robot pets to be almost as good as the “robots” they see in 3D movies and games, and designers are working to provide entertaining and realistic gadgets that respond to human interaction in ever more nuanced ways, mimicking the behavior of real pets.

Building fully autonomous artificial creatures with intelligence similar to humans has been a long-term goal of robot design and computer science. On the road to creating such machines, consumers have enjoyed technological developments like the Tamagotchi digital pet, domestic toy robots like Aibo the robotic dog, and even Roomba, the robotic vacuum cleaner.

New design approach to robotics
Researchers in Taiwan are now looking at a new design paradigm that could see the development of a robot vision module that might one-day recognize human facial expressions and respond appropriately. The scientists have turned to neural networks to help them break the cycle of repetitive behavior in robot toys and to endow robots with an almost emotional-like response to their human interactions.

Scientists hope to adopt a behavior-based architecture approach – using a neural network – that could allow the owner of a robot pet to reconfigure the device to “learn,” or evolve new behavior, and at the same time ensure that the robot pet functions properly in real time.

In the meantime, similar to the Japanese company’s turn-of-the century Tamagotchi digital pet, Bandai recently unveiled the SmartPet which features the robotic body of a dog with the face of an iPhone. Users download a Smart Pet app that transforms their iPhone or iPod touch into the dog’s face and brain. The animated robotic dog will recognize its “owner” and can do more than one hundred tricks.

Robopets increasingly popular
Looking more like a stuffed animal than a robot, “Paro” takes the form of a soft, furry baby harp seal, and studies show it helps reduce stress for hospital and nursing home patients. Paro has five different sensors that allow it to perceive people, and varying emotions and environments. It also recognizes voice direction – responding to different names, greetings and praise.

Paro has been in use in Japan and throughout Europe since 2003, and was introduced to the U.S. in 2008, with the majority sold to individuals as a pet substitute, while 20 percent have been sold to nursing homes and schools.

Countless research teams across the globe are currently working on vision modules for robots. The technique is not yet fully mature, but ultimately one day they may build a robot pet that will recognize its owner’s facial expressions and perhaps respond accordingly. Once Rover and Kitty are replaced by robots, it’s only logical to assume humans are next.

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Uncategorized

The Japanese introduce two child robots

We are perhaps not too far away from the day when humanoid robots will coexist with humans. Japanese researchers in Tokyo and Osaka have created two new childlike robots.

M3-Kindy (short for kindergarten) is a five year-old android child weighing 27 kg whose goal is to provide interaction between adult and child. His joints have freedom of 42-degree movement and his body is covered with 109 sensors. The robot also has eyes, cameras and other components.

The second robot is Noby (short for nine month-old baby). It is a baby that is 71 cm tall and weighs 7.9 kg. It is covered with 600 sensors and its sensory and physical abilities are similar to those of a real baby.

Researchers comment: "By comparing data compiled during the evolution of Noby’s knowledge to those relating to humans, we can make new discoveries. For men and robots to coexist harmoniously one day, it is important that the latter are capable of learning and enriching their knowledge. That’s why there’s a need for robots resembling a baby or a child."

Categories
Cinéma

See 6 Minutes of the Film Robots

Oscar winner Chris Wedge (Bunny, Ice Age) made the most of his talent in the film Robots, and is bringing animated movies to a new level.  For the first time in history, an animated movie is showing a world inhabitated by only robots.

In the film, Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor), a young genius, dreams of making the world a better place.  Cappy (Halle Berry), is a beautiful assistant who immediately ruins his plans.  Rodney also meets a group of old robots led by Fender (Robin Williams) and Piper Pinwheeler (Amanda Bynes).

To see the clip, click here.