The apolyton Robotics - News&Discussion- thread

[laurentius]

Robots, androids, cyborgs - Robotics

Truely fascinating area. Will they be the answer to the labour shortages the developed countries are facing in the next decades? Will they take the role of slave labour in our societies where robots do all the dirty and physical work and we only superwise them? Are we soon going to be able to merge human brains with steel torso?

Maybe we are not quite there yet but with this speed of developement, we are surely on the beginning of a new era. The Japanese in particular seem to have focused heavily on developing the first real Android and all kinds of cool service robots such as robocops, robotic securityguards/firefighters, tourist guides, football players etc.

What do you think about all this? Are you anxiously waiting or afraid of what the future brings? Discuss. Perhaps you know some cool websites or news you'd like to share? Anyone else interested about these machines?

Exellent off-site destinations;

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/robots/index.php

http://robots.net/

http://www.onrobo.com/news/index.shtml

http://www.roboticsdaily.com/

http://www.robotcafe.com/

http://www.breakingnewsblog.com/robotics/

http://roboticnation.blogspot.com/

http://asimo.honda.com/news_media_center.asp

http://www.roboticstrends.com/

http://robots.engadget.com/

http://www.aceuplink.com/discussion/index.php?showforum=21

Recent threads include;

The Android woman http://www.apolyton.net/forums/showt...hreadid=135885

[laurentius]

The Robot Fuel Cell Powered by Speecys

This is the Speecys-FC using the Speecys Compiste Fuel Cell System technology, one of the first robots to use fuel calls as an energy source. It's 50cm tall and weighs 4.2kg, you control it via Wireless LAN (b) and it can move on its two legs.

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_9801.html

Okay, Its not much but its a start.

[laurentius]

Korean RobotCop

After Japan, Korea seems to be the Robot country and despite the lack of info on this uPostMate, we know that this is a surveillance robot capable of arresting an individual. To be continued...

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_9797.html

[laurentius]

Vstone and their Robot Football Player !!!

The RoboCup 2005 will be held in Osaka, Japan and a company called Vstone presents their robot that will participate today. It plays football and is called RoboVie-V.

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_9791.html

Wow, thats one mean looking bastard.

[laurentius]

Gado robo D1, the security robot

Security robots have been around for a few years over here, we even presented a few to you in the past. They usually patrol for large security companies and on big industrial estates. The novelty on this one is that it also acts as a firefighter.

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_9770.html

[Hueij]

Methinks someone should watch Blade Runner again...

[laurentius]

Oh yes its like Casablanca, you can watch it over and over again without getting bored.

[laurentius]

The Japanese are a funny bunch, bless their hearts.

They’re hosting the 2005 World Exposition (through Sept. 25) not far from the town renamed for its biggest employer, Toyota, which has a magnificent show at the Expo featuring musician-robots and cars out of Star Wars. They offer a special robot exhibition hall offering a glimpse of a robot-enhanced life in the year 2020. They even suggest that Africa’s problems of famine and overpopulation can be solved by putting a robot in every hut.

Just don’t try to get a straight answer as to when, where and for how much you might pick up one of these babies.

“These were only done for the show. We don’t know when we will start to sell them, but we are considering starting with robots that would help care for senior citizens,” explained Junnosuke Kambe, a spokesman at the Expo’s Toyota Group Pavilion.


Aichi-robo

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/robots/on-the-ground-at-japans-world-exposition-part-1-110920.php

Very interesting article. Offers a cool glimpse of our robotic future.I can almost hear the 80ties cyberpunks turning in their graves.

[Mr. Harley]

http://www.aceuplink.com/discussion/index.php?showtopic=4083

Even if you have high-speed internet, download the video (instead of simply playing it). It takes a long time to buffer 66MB.

With improvements (substantial, but I've never really been that desperate, either), I suspect this will become the first sexdroid. Remember how porn has helped drive the WWW and then the high-speed internet. Hell, I've known women who mostly twitch when they are on the bottom, so the most basic model may be under a decade off. Now one that can do multiple positions will be alot harder, so to speak.

And you just THINK birth rates have tanked in the industrial world.

[child of Thor]

Evil things........even my old wind-up metal micky robot used to give me the shivers. I could almost see my doom in its expression

[laurentius]

Amazing flick shawnmmcc! Maybe...maybe we will see sexabots to satisfy the growing number of geeks and otakus. Nothing wrong with that I guess other than its totally pervert but then again many things are.

I added the couple new links you provided to the list too. Thanks.

[Dr Strangelove]

IMHO one of the biggest obstacles to building an android robot is the lack of a decent lightweight battery or power supply.


The big question is though, if we make them smarter than us will they try to eliminate us?

The idea of making robots to care for the elderly has been an idea of mine for years. You'd be amazed at the number of neglected elderly.

[Mr. Harley]

Dr. Stranglove - a sexdroid can have a surreptitious cord. I still maintain that will be one of the first practical applications of humanoid robots - versus industrial units.

[DanS]

Japan sure has a lot of elderly too. But I think an android even with a limited elderly help skillset is an extremely difficult product to integrate and offer it at a halfway reasonable price. That android that shawn links to is rather primitive.

We're taking baby steps with regard to robots. Just look at the Roomba, etc. It doesn't even do well with s'hag carpets.

Edit: Damn. S'hag is now censored?

[Az]

I'm no longer worried about robots taking over the world. Thing is, by the time we develop AI sufficient enough to try and take over the world, we'd also develop a mind-machine interface that would enable us to shapeshift to robots ourselves.