Tag: ROBOT

Today, a cardiologist in England will attempt to become the world's first doctor to execute a heart operation via a remotely controlled robotic arm and advanced 3-D mapping technology. The doctor, André Ng, is scheduled to perform an operation to correct an irregular heart rhythm, called atrial fibrillation (AF), in a 63-year-old man. To pull off the feat, he'll be using the Amigo ...

Scientists persistently pursue the development of effective robotic caretakers, and the Georgia Institute of Technology just significantly upgraded the capabilities of such service-bots. The Georgia Tech engineers reportedly utilized a "Segway omnidirectional mobile base, two anthropomorphic arms with seven degrees of freedom and wrists equipped with 6-axis force/torque sensors" to create Cody the ...

Destructive, deceptive and belligerent robots predominately attract the public's attention. Occasionally, though, there arise welcome reports of inefficient, worthless and downtrodden 'bots that reassure the doomsday crowd. The Bacarobo competition serves as just such a comforting event, because it celebrates the most ridiculously dumb robots in the world. Part stand-up routine, part robot ...

A Mexican tunnel that dates back two millennia has been fully explored for the first time by a robot. Named after the Aztec rain god, the Tlaloque 1 robot measures one foot wide, rolls on four sturdy wheels and boasts a video camera. Having traveled the 100-meter passageway, which may be the entrance to a tomb, the robot has given researchers hope of entering the tunnel themselves by December. ...

Apparently ignorant of the inevitable robot apocalypse, determined and lonely nerds persistently attempt to create friendly companion droids. Paul Hunkin, a Ph.D. student form New Zealand, has engineered an impressive software bot whose personable and generous capabilities far exceed those of other physical robotic companions, though. Hunkin's cyber-spawn, inspired by an xkcd webcomic, only ...

As our fearless Jon Chase noted mere days ago, the robots will conquer the world by first earning the trust of our children and old folks. As befits the country that brought smallpox to our northeastern shores, a laboratory in Bristol, England is developing the race of robo-nurses that will inevitably turn hospices into hostage situations. A joint project between the University of Bristol and ...

If you've ever attended a sporting event, you've seen the guys and girls who carry air cannons on their shoulders and blast t-shirts into the stands. But rest assured, you have never seen anything like this 10-barrel, robotic Gatling gun that pumps out three tees every second. Designed by NASA and Team 254 Robotics of Bellarmine College Preparatory, the 'bot can blast a total of 400 shirts with ...

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Steven Spielberg was so fascinated with World War II, he decided to make two movies about it. The same, apparently, goes for for robots. On Friday, DreamWorks Studios announced that the famed 'A.I.: Artificial Intelligence' director will begin shooting a new robot movie in January 2012. The film, which is slated to make its theater debut in 2013, is reportedly based on Daniel H. Wilson's novel ...

Doctors at McGill University Health Center in Montreal have performed the first ever robot-assisted surgery on a patient, without any direct doctor-to-patient contact. Of course, robotic surgery isn't a new approach in medicine, and, no, these 'bots aren't autonomous. Dr. Thomas Hemmerling and Dr. Armin Aprikian controlled robots named McSleepy and DaVinci, as they administered anesthesia and ...

A metal robot may not look like a human being, but as long as it acts like one, babies won't be able to tell the difference. That's the conclusion that researchers at University of Washington reached, after studying the ways 18 -month-year-old babies interact with humanoid bots. To observe the baby-bot dynamic, scientists placed each child in a room with a remote-controlled robot along with ...

It might not pose a threat to Lady Gaga -- yet -- but the HRP-4C dancing robot busted an untethered move at Tokyo's recent Digital Content Expo. The humanoid bot, which is being developed at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, took the stage with a group of backup dancers to offer folks a glimpse into the future of robotics and, possibly, pop music. Not only can ...

What's a great way to tear your child away from his PlayStation and get him outside? Why, with a giant robotic toy that will walk for him, of course! At a little over 5-feet tall and weighing over 400 lbs., the new 'Kid's Walker' 'Avatar'-esque robo suit isn't so much a toy as it is a recipe for carnage. Just plop your kid in the bot's seat, let him spend hours cruising around the neighborhood ...

Do you remember the little Murata robots, the adorable droids that ride bicycles and unicycles? Well, Seiko has been updated yet again; she could previously go back and forth on a narrow beam with her lone wheel, but now she can navigate curves. Click past the break, and see a video of her previous incarnation at last year's CEATEC, the Tokyo electronics show where the new Seiko will demo next ...

Sarcos first revealed its XOS human exoskeleton prototype several years ago, and the empowering super suit immediately elicited references to Tony Stark and 'Iron Man.' Raytheon, the defense contractor responsible for numerous apps of mass destruction and the intolerable Active Denial System "pain ray," has been aiding the development of the Stark-esque Sarcos technology, and a new video ...