We’ve looked at robot rabbis, robot pharmacists, robot astronauts, and robot masseurs. We’ve thought about robot crocodiles, robot dogs, and robot fish. We’ve even considered robots who can make food, serve food, and clean up food. But we have never before considered robots made of food. European researchers are building robots which are at least… Read more »
Musashi is a humanoid robot which can drive a vehicle at about three miles an hour. It can’t make left turns, but it was able to turn right in a demonstration, though it did so very slowly. Its makers say that it should be ready for market in another 50 years. At this point, you… Read more »
Summer brings to mind sunglasses, ice cream, hot days by the lake and heat-caused failures to Indramat servo drives. Heat can lead to different problems with drives, but the most common is failure of the powered fan. Fan failure can be a big deal. If the fan stops working the drive will age at an accelerated rate…. Read more »
Many families have treasured heirlooms that have been passed down from generation to generation. The history, sense of tradition, and the stories that come with these items are a big part of what makes family heirlooms so valuable. Not necessarily valuable in a monetary sense, but in the sense of great importance. Sure, the antique… Read more »
It’s impossible to talk about automation without occasionally mentioning the possible threat to human jobs. But concerns about losing human jobs to robots coexist with the very real and immediate problem of labor shortages. The ongoing shortage of workers has been a spur to automation…but it’s also connected with some other complicated issues. One is… Read more »
Robot videos as a genre can be pretty impressive. Who can forget the Boston Dynamic dance moves, the teleoperate and sped up humanoid robots pretending to be able to do household chores, or the DARPA compilation of robots falling down? This one is quite special even in the highly competitive landscape of robot videos. XBot-L… Read more »
The ISM Manufacturing Index cooled to 48.7 from 49.2 in April, showing a contraction in manufacturing for the second straight month. The PMI was 51.90 in March 2024. Productivity is down. Business confidence is slipping. Consumer spending is down and wage increases aren’t keeping pace with inflation. The stock market fell. However, jobs are up… Read more »
Biomimicry has been big news in robotics for at least a decade. People have looked to other species for inspiration for robots with many intriguing results: pangolin robot snail robot octopus robot crocodile robot elephant robot Here’s something we’ve just learned, though: biomimicry has a set of principles for guidance. Here they are, in a… Read more »
Isaac Asimov famously came up with three Laws of Robotics: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its… Read more »
We’re at the start of the integration of robotics and large language models, commonly called AI even if that’s not the most accurate description. Some experts think this will presage a “step change” in robotics — the beginning of all-purpose robots imbued with common sense that will be able to do just about anything a… Read more »