Neato Robotics has just released a firmware update for their smart robotic vacuum cleaner XV-11.
As illustrated in the table below, your Neato XV-11 vacuum robot will get many new features from this upgrade, such as spot-cleaning capabilities, wiggle action that allows for better docking, bug fixes, and more!
Neato Upgrade Chart
Download the free Neato Vacuum Software update today and install it on your robot by using a regular USB cable.
Standford AI Class
If you ever wanted to learn about AI in a prestigious university, this is your chance. Stanford University is offering its fall Introduction to Artificial Intelligence class I for free for everybody willing to register. All the class contents and lectures will be made available on-line and web students will need to submit assignments and pass tests just are regular students do. They will be also graded at the end of the semester.
Anybody interested in robotics should at least virtually attend the lectures. Having a better understanding of artificial intelligence, means being able to better understand the intelligent machines that already surround us.
The robotics field is growing exponentially and so is RobotShop. As such, we have recently opened some positions that anybody interested in robotics would love.
Job Bot - by Nate
Working at RobotShop is not for everybody though, you need to have a PROBOTS personality. You might be wondering what is PROBOTS? The answer is simple, it is an acronym that summarizes the main values of the RobotShop team:
You can find all available positions in the Careers section of our website. For instance an interesting one would be the Engineering Department Technician position, where you can get very good knowledge of all the latest and most successful robotic products on the market and rub shoulders with all of the most popular robots.
So what are you waiting for? If you are passionate about robotics apply at RobotShop today!
The DFRobotShop Rover is the most affordable programmable mobile robot and no doubt, one of the most popular. This Arduino-based tracked platform is pretty neat and is very useful for beginners or seasoned roboticists who need a versatile robotic platform that just works.
Original DFRobotShop Rover - Mobile Tracked Arduino Based Robot
Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement. That is why , we listened to our customer’s requests and are now happy to announce the 2.0 version of this amazing platform.
DFRobotShop Rover 2.0 Mecanum Kit
The DFRobotShop Rover 2.0 will have many new features such as 2 XBee Ports, a built-in LiPo charger, and some prototyping space. All the original tracked kits will be upgraded to the new version including the various flavours (Basic, XBee, Bluetooth, and Speech Recognition). A new WiFi kit is also in the works.
There is also a new upcoming kit (as seen in the picture above and below) : The 4WD Mecanum kit that will include four Mecanum wheels for holonomic motion, four encoders, a larger battery and a huge load of coolness.
DFRobotShop Rover 2.0 Mecanum Kit - Preliminary Picture
The new DFRobotShop Rover 2.0 and the Mecanum kit will be available mid to late September 2011. For now, you can start by pre-ordering the Mecanum kit here.
The August issue of National Geographic magazine features a fascinating article on robots, find it on newsstands July 26th 2011. In ”Making Robots Human,” the author Chris Carroll explores the world of robotics, and the advances in technology that allow robots to speak, blink, smile and perform such tasks as folding clothes and cooking. From childcare provider to chef, roboticists have big plans for these human-like machines, which raises the question: how human is too human?
National Geographic August 2011 - UK, Australia, & New Zealand cover
In five or ten years robots will routinely be functioning in human environments,”
- Reid Simmons, a professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon
On July 17th and 18th, the first Robot Film Festival took place in New York City. Organized by popular roboticist Heather Knight, the festival brought together robotic builders, engineers, artists, and robot lovers in general. As in other film festivals, there was a screening of the selected films, a red carpet ceremony, and several live performances by local artists throughout the event.
Heather and Data at the Robot Film Festival
See the festival welcome video below explaining the main “raison d’etre” of the festival.
A notable participant to the festival was Nao 1337, the star of the short movie “Nao 1337 Audition“. The robot actively participated to the event, watched its own film and even walked the red carpet as shown in the videos below.
Via Carlitos’ Contraptions and New Scientist
Jedi Bot is a robot arm wielding a foam “lightsaber” that will try to attack or defend itself from human opponents. This system used the Kinect in order to track its opponent and was put together by students from Stanford. Of course, this is not the first robot wielding a lightsaber, but it is certainly the first that can interactively fight a human. The video below shows the robot it action.
At the moment the robot is pretty slow, but nothing prevents the technology from improving with time and getting better speed, accuracy and strength… This might very well be the great-grandfather of General Grievous
General Grievous - Star Wars Episode 3
Via IEEE Spectrum.
PR2 from Willow Garage is now able to help people with disabilities to perform everyday tasks such as manipulating objects shaving and more. The video below illustrates the scope and the results of the Robots for Humanity project that Willow Garage, the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech, and Henry and Jane Evans are pioneering.
Via Willow Garage.
Hardee’s, the fast food restaurant chain, released some rather funny anti-robot adds, that you can see below in a regular and extended version.
The extended version below has more LASERs!
The premise of the commercial is that if a robot can not eat or use a product, then it should not make it. Although we know this is just for fun, it is important to point out that robots are commonly involved in producing many foods and consumption goods, so using that reasoning, we would not be able to use or eat much of what is available.
One fun aspect of the commercial is that they posted the making-of the video which is rather interesting to watch.
Via Geekology.
Robotics Trends published an interview with Mario Tremblay, CEO of RobotShop. The interview goes into the details of MyRobots.com, a cloud robotics initiative.
MyRobots.com Design Preview
The interview is transcribed below for those who want to know every detail about the future of cloud robotics. For the impatient readers, here are the essential points you don’t want to miss:
Robotics Trends: How would you personally define cloud robotics?
Mario Tremblay: For me, cloud robotics happens when we connect robots to the Internet and then, by doing so, robots become augmented with more capacity and intelligence. The cloud lets them communicate with other machines and serve their human operators better. Connected robots equal augmented robots. By collaborating with other machines and humans, robots transcend their physical limitations and become more useful and capable, since they can delegate parts of their tasks to more suitable parties.
RT: Who do you believe will be the first customers for the myrobots.com service you plan?
MT: First, MyRobots.com will be used with consumer robots. Of course, the general robotic community will experiment with MyRobots.com, and it will also be used for robotics education in schools. In the short-term, we also want to work with visionary manufacturers who will use MyRobots to monitor domestic robots in the homes of consumers. RobotShop engineers and technicians, in part from the RobotShop Hospital and RobotShop Support Center, will be there in the background to support customers and take care of the robots, should a problem arise or for routine maintenance. With the exponential evolution of intelligent robots, often launched quickly to the market, we cannot leave users alone to fend for themselves. We need to make sure those robots are connected to a Robot Surveillance Central, which collects data in order to improve the robots, improve the service offered to the end-users, and bring down the cost of maintenance, diagnostics, warranty and repair.
RT: Will robots connected to a cloud be able to automatically send information to the cloud on usage, problems, etc. the way software programs now do?
MT: Well, that’s exactly the idea. This is basically what inspired me to launch MyRobots.com. I personally have six domestic robots at home, but I don’t know their status. I need my robots to talk to me in an efficient and centralized manner. MyRobots.com will be able to monitor robots to make sure they do their jobs well, and make sure that if there is a problem or required maintenance, that someone, somewhere, will be taking action to get the robot back on task as fast and as efficiently as possible. Via a service we currently operate called the Robot Hospital, we have already created algorithms to diagnose defective robots. These algorithms will now be in the cloud, and robots will use them by communicating their sensor status in real-time. The intelligence monitoring the robots will take action if necessary; sometimes by itself (remotely), sometimes by alerting a human.
RT: Will the cloud contain an app store for robotic functions such as a dance routine (in the case of toys) or the ability to repair an automobile engine?
MT: We think the future of the “Internet of Things” and cloud robotics is all about apps. MyRobots.com will offer a robot app store, and applications will be developed by RobotShop, the robotics community, or manufacturers. You will be able to find all kinds of apps for all your robot’s needs. The idea is not only to allow the robot to learn new “tricks” on the fly, but also to abstract the robotic hardware in order to provide a platform where developers can create apps for all kinds of robots at once.
RT: Will your cloud service be universal, or will separate clouds be developed for individual clients?
MT: We plan to have a universal cloud with private accounts. Both customers and robots will be able to share information with each other if they want to, creating in this way a universal bridge and allowing different robots from different manufacturers to communicate with each other. However, we will be able to offer a private cloud service if this is necessary and requested by the customer.
RT What is cloud robotics “killer app”?
MT: Monitoring robots to collect data in order to improve the robots, improve the service offered to the end-user, and bring down the cost of maintenance, diagnostics, warranty, and repair.
RT: What will the cloud paradigm do for the field of robotics over the long-term?
MT: I strongly believe that the future is cloud robotics. Tomorrow, the intelligence behind your robots will not be restricted to their physical platforms; most of the intelligence dictating their behavior and actions will be in the cloud. This intelligence will be transferable to all robotic platforms, real or virtual. Information, knowledge, and skills will be available instantly.
RT: When do you expect to formally launch your cloud service, and how will it be priced?
MT: We plan to launch the beta version of MyRobots along with the first open-source, plug & play Arduino-compatible hardware within three months. For a limited time, people will be able to connect to MyRobots for free with the purchase of the hardware. This will allow the robotics community to quickly start experimenting with cloud robotics. One of the products we sell, the popular DFRobotShop Rover, will naturally be the first compatible robot, adding extra value to this platform for educational programs and experimentation. The service will hit the market at a very competitive price, but the exact price cannot be disclosed it at this time. Shortly thereafter, you will see other platforms become compatible as we are already in discussion with several manufacturers. We are currently evaluating different service plans and partnership options for manufacturers. We invite manufacturers to contact us if they want to know more about the benefits of making their robots compatible with MyRobots.com.
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