Almost exactly one year ago, Nexi took part in a rather silly (but reasonably effective) demonstration of a robotic role on a US Navy vessel. I guess the Navy was impressed, ’cause they’re now the proud owners of their very own Nexi, which they’ve named Octavia. What, exactly, is the Navy going to do with an MDS robot? Well, duh, they’re going to teach it magic tricks:

Your tax money at work. No, seriously, I wholeheartedly approve of my tax money being used on robot magic. The Navy, though, isn’t just about the tricks… They’re hoping to use Octavia to explore how humans and robots interact, with the aim of minimizing the amount of time that humans spend dealing with a robotic interface, and maximizing the amount of information that can be communicated. Octavia specifically is good for things like this because of her intensely expressive (and only mildly uncanny) face and head.

If you’re lonely and like the look of Octavia, you can buy one for yourself at the link below.

[ MDS Robots ] and [ Xitome* ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

*This website seems to have a virus associated with it, according to my virus scan. To go there anyway, click here.

People use Roombas (generally, Creates) as bases for all kinds of robots… They’re not often used for bigger (heavier) bots, but if you stick four of ‘em together, you can apparently support a payload of up to 20kg or one Robotinho android. The Roomba QuadDrive was developed by University of Bonn’s Autonomous Intelligent Systems Lab, and consists of four Roomba 530s bolted together, and as far as mobile bases go, I imagine it’s probably pretty cheap and reliable. The top speed of 0.5 mph isn’t going to shock and awe, but it’s fine for tooling around a museum and scaring little kids:

And of course, the floors of that museum are damn clean. Quadruply damn clean.

[ Bonn AIS ] VIA [ Hizook ]

One of my first posts ever for BotJunkie was about BeBionic prosthetic hands. After months of research, development, and planning, RSLSteeper, the company responsible for the BeBionic hands has finally launched the incredible product at the World Congress and Trade Fair in Leipzig, Germany May 12-15.

The hands are prosthetic and myo-electric, meaning that they can be controlled by the mind of their user, a technology which is still developing. The BeBionic hands were out for display and testing at the fair, and the general public reaction was an astoundingly positive one- many first-time users found BeBionic’s hands to be extremely easy to use, and amazingly realistic.

The picture above is one of the aforementioned hands, which use a silicone mixture as well as micro-pigmentation for extra realism. As you can see, these hands have gotten so realistic that they may even be considered in the realm of the uncanny valley.

We’re very excited to see these things launch for real- but are they too realistic?

[ BeBionic ] VIA [ Engadget ]

One way of getting robots to walk on uneven surfaces is to use a camera to try to determine exactly how uneven a surface is, and then place the feet of the robot in such a way so as to keep it from falling over. This can work pretty well, but it’s very dependent on the vision equipment and isn’t necessarily a good strategy to use when (say) it’s dark out. MABEL, a planar bipedal robot designed by Jessy W. Grizzle’s lab at the University of Michigan, instead uses a dynamic gait that’s able to adapt to uneven surfaces as she walks on them, a (potentially) more robust way to do it.

Part of the way that MABEL is able to dynamically adapt to uneven surfaces is through her drivetrain, which uses motors connected with springs that act sort of like the tendons in your leg. This is in contrast to robots like ASIMO, which have a rigid geared drivetrain. The algorithm that keeps MABEL from falling over also doesn’t depend on hardware in the way ASIMO does, and MABEL should eventually be able to walk and run on what are effectively stilts as opposed to ASIMO’s wide and flat feet.

Eventually, all of MABEL’s hardware and software will be made available in the public domain… Assuming they get it all working, anyway, but this statement about MABEL’s objectives includes something I really like to see:

The advanced feedback control algorithms and the advanced machine design using springs in the powertrain SHOULD YIELD smoother, more compliant, more energy efficient locomotion. The robot should be able to walk more easily on rough terrain. I say **should** because if we were 100% certain, why build the machine and evaluate the algorithms? There is a very real possibility that we fail.

A very real possibility of failure? Hey, welcome to science! Even in failure, you can learn a bunch of important things about why something may not work the way you thought it did, and often a well-executed failure can ultimately be more useful than an easily achieved success.

[ MABEL ]

Boston Dynamics has posted some updated videos of BigDog and PETMAN. As far as I can tell, there isn’t much new going on… BigDog still carries a bunch of stuff, climbs up muddy hills, doesn’t fall down on ice, looks like two guys running around under a tarp, and sounds like a swarm of killer bees. The one new sequence that I noticed shows BigDog running (the definition of running being an airborne gait phase) at 5 mph. At the end of the video, when the hydraulics are run externally and the engine is off, BigDog sounds a lot more reasonable. Unfortunately, it’s hard to beat the power density and instant rechargeability of petroleum-based fuels, so we might be stuck with the bees for a while longer.

PETMAN is moving a bit more briskly as well, reaching a walking speed of 4.4 mph. Although it’s dynamically balancing itself, it still looks to me like it’s perpetually on the verge of falling over, but I guess arguably that’s what dynamic balancing is all about. Remember that eventually Petman is supposed to be able to crawl, sweat, and do ‘calisthenics’ to test protective clothing. And when I say eventually, I mean by 2011, but that seems a little bit optimistic at this point. Artificial fingers crossed!

[ Boston Dynamics ]

IEEE Automaton has posed a bunch of new pictures of Geminoid F, including some of what’s going on under her fake skin. And it’s really, really not helping with the whole Uncanny Valley thing. It’s the eyes. And the teeth. But especially the eyes. It’s things like this that make me want to give up on Commander Datas forever, and just be happy with ASIMOs. Ugh.

Although, to be fair, we humans have probably got some pretty creepy stuff going on if you take all of our skin off, too…

[ IEEE ]

Looks like Robonaut 2 is getting fast-tracked to the International Space Station to lend a robotic hand to the astronauts up there. It’s only a proof of concept type of thing, at first… Initially, Robonaut won’t even be able to move around. After some testing, though, the robot will be upgraded on-site with additional components that will allow it to move around both the inside and outside of the ISS, doing useful stuff (controlled by teleoperators back on Earth) so that the human astronauts don’t have to.

The dexterous humanoid robot not only looks like a human, it is designed to work like one. With human-like hands and arms, R2 is able to use the same tools that station crew members use. In the future, the greatest benefit of humanoid robots in space may be as an assistant or stand-in for astronauts during spacewalks or for tasks too difficult or dangerous for humans. For now R2 is still a prototype and does not have adequate protection needed to exist outside the space station in the extreme temperatures of space.

Testing the robot inside the station now will provide an important intermediate environment. R2 will be tested in zero gravity, as well as subjected to the station’s radiation and electromagnetic interference environments. The interior operations will provide performance data on how a robot may work side-by-side with astronauts. As development activities progress on the ground, station crews may be provided hardware and software to update R2 to allow it to do new tasks.

Incidentally, we now have the makings of a pretty sweet space robot wrestling match, if they put Robonaut 2 up against Dextre… Sorry, Robonaut, but my money is on the bot with the three meter long septuple jointed arms.

[ Robonaut ]

The first Geminoid robot (the HI-1) was constructed to look like its creator, Hiroshi Ishiguro. He’s a handsome guy, but I’d much rather spend time with his latest creation: the Geminoid F, where F stands for Female. Geminoid F is a robotic copy of a woman in her twenties, and like Geminoid HI-1, it’s designed to mimic a human as perfectly as possible. At the same time, Geminoid F is far simpler, relying on only 12 facial servos as compared to the 50 or so in the HI-1. Also, all of the actuators and air servo valves and stuff fit into the Geminoid F’s torso, whereas the HI-1 required a big external box to get it to work.

Geminoid F is remote controlled, but it uses a clever camera interface that will (for example) watch for you to smile and the cause the robot to smile at the same time:

Geminoid F will go on sale for about $100k, and Kokoro (who’s going to be selling it) anticipates that it’ll be used in places like hospitals:

“We’ve already got some data showing that the robot gave patients psychological security by nodding and smiling at them, when patients were checked on by doctors,” said Satoko Inoue, spokeswoman for Kokoro.

While Geminoid F is certainly more lifelike and stuff, I really don’t think that the basic assertion that androids are useful because they give patients a special sense of psychological security because of their human-ness is entirely valid. We’re just not good enough at making androids yet, and it shows. This is one of the things I appreciate most about the design of (for example) Paro: they chose a baby harp seal as a form for a comfort robot because pretty much nobody has ever met a baby harp seal, so when you’ve got a robot one, you have nothing in your head to compare it to that might creep you out our leave you disappointed. Pleo is the same way (ever met a real dinosaur before?). The issue with robots (and this is where the Uncanny Valley comes into play) arises when they’re trying to be something they’re not, and we pick up on that deception. I use the word “deception” because that is what we then tend to focus on: that this robot is trying to fool us somehow, and that makes us substantially less likely to trust it.

[ Press Release ] VIA [ IEEE ] and [ AFP ]

Thanks Erico!

There’s one very easy way to keep a robot out of the Uncanny Valley: don’t give it a face. Take ASIMO, for example… It’s humanoid, but since it doesn’t have a face, it’s not creepy. The question, then, is how do you make a robot expressive without relying on facial expressions? This animation, from Masahiro Ushiyama, shows just exactly how that can be accomplished. It’s just an animation, of course, but real robots are also starting to use techniques like these to interact more effectively with humans. Remember PR2′s needy behavior?

Behavioral expressions don’t just offer non-creepy ways for robots to communicate with humans, they also make robots seem less robot-y, which will likely help them integrate better into environments where humans aren’t used to having robots.

Now, this is by no means an argument against robots having faces… For some things, faces are necessary. I simply think that there are disadvantages to robots with faces, and in many cases, those disadvantages would outweigh the advantages if the robots were able to effectively express themselves in other ways.

[ Masahiro Ushiyama ] VIA [ Robots Dreams ]

It’s times like these that I’m reminded just how miserable the world was before we had robots. Before robotic dental practice patients, what poor unfortunate souls had to sit through the inept and bumbling ministrations of wet behind the ears dental students? I weep for them. Hanako here weeps too, if you screw up. Touch sensors inside her mouth allow her to give authentic wincing and gagging feedback on your dental technique. She can obey orders like “ooooooopen… wider please… wider…” and she also sneezes, coughs, drools, turns her head, and fails to understand why dentists try to ask her about her life while they’re elbow deep inside her skull.

Hanako is brought to you by a group of universities in Japan in partnership with Tmsuk, makers of your favorite net-tossing security bot.

[ NODE (Translated) ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]