As you might remember, Robonaut 2 was sent to the ISS a few weeks ago. As shown in the video below, the human astronauts had a big surprise when they finally opened the storage crate that contains the humanoid robot.
It seems the naughty robot got out of the box by itself and is now waiting to be given tasks to do as the newest member of the ISS crew. The robot is even tweeting @astrorobonaut and is scheduled to be put to work in the next months.
Via Robotsnob
RobotShop is putting together a list of the most noteworthy and outright coolest robots for 2010 and we need your help. You can participate by voting in a poll on the RobotShop Forum that will decide which are The Ten Coolest Robots of 2010.
We have selected twenty of the coolest robots from a cross section of the robotic market. Robots are presented in alphabetical order to remove bias. Keep reading for a brief description of each of the robotic contestants for the 2010 RobotShop Top Ten Coolest Robots.
Aldebaran Nao
The Nao form Aldebaran Robotics has been very present this year performing all sort of dances and rather cute actions. It is the only fully autonomous humanoid in the market today with such great capabilities at a (sort of) reasonable price.
Anybots QB
The QB form Anybots is a new and upcoming telepresence robot that is intended to be user friendly and allow you to be present at a remote location in an instant.
AR Drone Parrot
The Parrot form AR Drone is the first affordable UAV that can be intuitively and easily controlled though a web enabled device such as an iPhone or laptop.
BAE Taranis UCAV
The Taranis by BAE Systems is an Unmanned Combat Aircraft System (UCAS) developed for the UK military. This stealth “swept delta” aircraft is intended to be fully autonomous.
Boston Dynamics Little Dog
As a derivative of Big Dog, Boston dynamics‘ Little Dog is a smaller version of the popular quadruped robot. This robot is intended to navigate very challenging terrain and cross large obstacles. The dog can learn and quickly adapt to a wide variety of terrain and recover form unexpected situations such as slipping or sudden terrain modifications.
DLR Justin
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) produced the very impressive Justin. This humanoid robot can assist astronautics with space walks and could will the Jackrabbit Slim’s Twist Contest” from the movie Pulp Fiction.
DR Robot Jaguar
Dr Robot created a very nice tracked professional robotic platform intended for extreme terrains. The Jaguar can climb stairs, and navigate autonomously indoors and outdoors. Lately, the Jaguar got redesigned ad received a significant price cut thanks to improved manufacturing techniques.
Evolution Robotics Mint
The Mint from Evolution Robotic is a new floor cleaning robot that can operate very quietly. It can systematically and thoroughly mop and wipe hard floors thanks to it indoors navigation technology and proven wiping pads such as Swiffers.
The desire of having self-driving cars is very present in science fiction. Now, thank to Google and and the engineering behind the DARPA Challenges, the autonomous car is a reality. This type of technology can truly revolutionize humans’ everyday lives.
Humboldt University Myon
The Myon (or Muon) from Humboldt University is a child sized a modular humanoid. It is made of interchangeable parts that can operate independently of the rest of the body. This means that if a critical leg part breaks, it could be replaced by a less critical arm par for instance.
Kawada HRP-4
The HRP-4 by Kawada ifs the latest of a long series of very impressive humanoid robots. This last iteration is particularly thin, fast and gracious.
Neato Robotics XV-11
The XV-11 by Neato Robotics is cleverer than its predecessors and is becoming very popular quite rapidly. Thanks to its mapping capabilities, the robot vacuum is capable of systematically and efficiently cleaning a room very rapidly.
Raytheon XOS 2
RoboCub iCub
The iCub from RobotCub is a humanoid robot intended to emulate a toddler in size, motor skills and learning capabilities. The video below demonstrates its motor and learning skills.
DFRobotShop Rover
The DFRobotshop Rover is the result of the collaboration of RobotShop and DFRobot. It is the cheapest Arduino-based programmable robotic platform currently available on the market. The clever use of the PCB as a structural part is partly what makes it so affordable.
Smartpool Nitro Wall Scrubber
The new Nitro pool cleaner robot family form Smartpool is faster and more accurate than its predecessors. It is very technologically advanced and cleans pools thoroughly.
University of Pennsylvania Aggressive Quad-rotor UAVs
The Quadrotors form University of Pennsylvania can perform very fast and aggressive manoeuvres. Their speed and precision is yet to be matched by a human pilot.
BEAR by Vecna
The BEAR by Vecna Robotics is a military rescue robot with a friendly Teddy-Bear face. Despite its friendly face, it is extremely strong and can easy carry a soldier on its extended arms.
Wild Planet Trakr
The Trakr form Wild Planet is a interesting spy robot toy. It has a camera and microphone and can record video. Another noteworthy aspect of the robot is that it is easily hackable and can become a very interesting robotic development platform.
Willow Garage PR2
The PR2 from Willow Garage is a service robot that runs the Open Source Robotic Operating System ROS. Since its creation, the PR2 has been making significant progress at tackling everyday tasks. This rapid advancement is mainly due to its simple programming interface that provides useful abstractions for its components.
Now that you had a quick look at all the robotic candidates, feel free to chose your favourite in the following poll: 2010 RobotShop Top Ten Coolest Robots.
Justin is a German humanoid robot created at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics in Wessling, Germany.
The robot comes in several versions, including one particularly intended for space with super easy to use arms and hands, a head and a torso.
The aim of Justin is to go and repair satellites in space.
The humanoid can be controlled remotely from Earth with a similar telepresence exoskeleton that a human wears.
The advantage of this method is that the operator sees in real time what the robot does (thanks to two cameras) which gives much more precision in movement.
Robonaut R2 is almost ready to take off for its space mission.
The astronaut robot which will take off for the International Space Station at the end of 2010 is almost finalized and ready for liftoff.
Robonaut R2 weighs 300 pounds, or about 136 kg.
It is able to manipulate objects and perform mechanical repairs that human astronauts would do.
See its official site: http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/
Japan plans to set out to conquer the moon using robots before 2020.
The Japanese space agency, JAXA, intends to put 2.2 billion US dollars on the table to develop a family of robots that will go to explore the moon by 2020.
The first Japanese robots should also land on the moon in 2015.
They weigh about 300 kg and will have arms to take samples, solar panels to run on energy, devices to measure seismic activity and of course high-definition video cameras.
Semi-autonomous, these robots will be controlled from Earth and will lay the foundations for a lunar base which will be able to welcome humans in the future.
By 2015, Japan wants to send a humanoid robot to the moon.
Code name: Maido-Kun.
The Japanese group from Osaka, SOHLA (Space Oriented Higashiosaka Leading Association), made the announcement.
This association is financed by 6 private companies in the field of space research.
The development and design of Maido-Kun will cost about 10.5 million dollars.
The conquest of space has been re-launched.
Recently NASA (USA) confirmed the launch of its Robonaut R2 humanoid robot in the international space station.
It’s clear that robotics – by sending non-human astronauts – will allow for much faster progress in space exploration since it poses no danger to humans.
Robonaut R2, the astronaut robot that we talked about in February, will take off for space at the end of this year.
NASA has confirmed that the robot built with General Motors will be sent to the International Space Station (ISS) in the fall of 2010 on board the Discovery space shuttle during the STS-133 mission.
R2 weighs 136 kg (300 pounds) and has arms and hands which are capable of carrying out manipulation tasks like a real human.
It’s the start of a new era, one of space robotics and humanoid workers sent into space.
This type of robot is especially suited to highly dangerous missions for astronauts.
We wish R2 the best of luck as a new member of the International Space Station.
SmartDust is an “intelligent dust” network project made up of mini-robots with wireless sensors.
As big as a dust particle or a grain of sand, these small and mobile intelligent forms (autonomous or remote control) can be used to explore space and some planets, adjust temperatures, detect earthquakes, hunt down enemies (military use) or for domestic purposes.
The components of SmartDust can travel with the wind, change shape with the application of an electric current and communicate with each other to form a cloud or an organised swarm of bees. Even in high winds, these little beasts can be directed into any direction with the sole purpose of reaching their target.
This may seem like sci-fi, but it isn’t a new concept. The Invincible, a sci-fi book from 1964 already addressed the subject
and Dr. John Barker from the Scottish University of Glasgow is already working on it.
It is still at the beginning of the testing stage but this technology is promising for the exploration of Space and planet Mars. Moreover, its applications in our environment are almost limitless.
Videos of Smart Dust:
A video displayed at Nasa Watch portraying a Robotnaut from Nasa’s Project M.
This remote controlled robot will be used for lunar missions and may even be commissioned in less than 1000 days (about 3 years) once the project gets startup confirmation.
And according to Americaspace, would have already received the “Go” on November 2009 and the best engineers on the planet would be working on it.
About Project M: M is the first letter of the word “Moon;” it is also the symbol for the number 1000 in Roman numerals.
Here is the simulation video of the Robotnaut on the moon:
NASA, General Motors and Oceaneering Space Systems have just introduced their latest astronaut robot prototype Robonaut2.
Three years of work were needed to develop the robot worker that will be used for dangerous space missions.
Robonaut2 is equipped with arms, hands, and fingers; it can lift 9.1 kg (20 pounds) in each hand.
For now he has no legs; however, NASA is currently working on this.
For additional info and images sur le site de la NASA.
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