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MIT sending smart robots into war zones to save lives By Sharon Gaudin , Computerworld , 01/14/2009 Researchers at the Massachsetts institute of Technology are testing a robotic forklift prototype they hope can one day unload and move military supplies in a war zone keeping soldiers out of harm's way. MIT scientists used robotics and artificial intelligence technology to create a prototype of what they're calling a semi-autonomous forklift. The machine, which can lift and move pallets loaded with tires, water containers or construction supplies, uses situational awareness software. That technology enables the forklift to use sensing, inference and memory...

An Iraqi Army engineer navigates a Talon robot through a makeshift improvised explosive device training course at Combat Outpost Al Kindi, Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 30, 2008. Photo by Pfc. Adam Blazak, 11th Public Affairs Detachment. MOSUL — Various explosives are used by the enemy to disrupt or destroy the significant security gains made here by Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces. Coming across an IED isn’t a rarity here, and defeating these weapons is no easy task.  However, significant strides are being made.Simply put, “It’s intense every time,” said Loveland, Colo. native, Staff Sgt. Jeron Pilger, training cadre, 59th Mobility Augmentation...

Top robotics expert Professor Noel Sharkey, of the University of Sheffield, has called for international guidelines to be set for the ethical and safe application of robots before it is too late. Professor Sharkey, writing in the prestigious Science journal, believes that as the use of robots increases, decisions about their application will be left to the military, industry and busy parents instead of international legislative bodies.

Gothenburg - Institute of Robotics in Scandinavia (iRobis) has announced that the world’s first “complete cognitive software system for robotics” is ready for application. The system turns robots into self-developing, adaptive, problem-solving, “thinking” machines. http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/05/16/robobusiness-robots-with-imagination/ Brainstorm automatically adapts to onboard sensors and actuators, immediately builds a model of any robot on which it is installed, and automatically writes control programs for the robot’s movements. It can then explore and model its environment. Through simulated interaction using these models, it solves problems and develops new behavior using “imagination.” Once it has “learned” to do something, it can use its imagination...

JERUSALEM - Israeli defense officials say the military has deployed remote-control machine guns along its border with the Gaza Strip. The system allows female soldiers watching television screens in control rooms in the rear to spot targets and open fire. In the past, lookouts had to call in ground forces to intercept militants.

A new robot developed by the University of Tokyo and Toyota Motor Corp., able to collect the washing and move furniture for cleaning, is being touted as the first step towards a robotic domestic helper. Robots have traditionally been bad at handling anything other than solid objects, but the robot named, "AR," is able to recognize clothes by their creases and actually pick them up, repeating the action should it drop them.

TOKYO — Imagine a bicycle seat connected by mechanical frames to a pair of shoes for an idea of how the new wearable assisted-walking gadget from Honda works. The experimental device, unveiled Friday, is designed to support bodyweight, reduce stress on the knees and help people get up steps and stay in crouching positions.

Texan researchers are mimicking the physical and biological characteristics of a pterosaur to create a 'pterodrone' - an unmanned aerial vehicle that flies, walks and sails like the original. "The next generation of airborne drones won't just be small and silent," said Texas Tech University, "they'll alter their wing shapes using morphing techniques to squeeze through confined spaces, dive between buildings, zoom under overpasses, land on apartment balconies, or sail along the coastline." The research team consists of palaeontologist Sankar Chatterjee of Texas Tech, University of Florida aeronautical engineer Rick Lind, and their students Andy Gedeon and Brian Roberts. The...

The latest request from the Pentagon jars the senses. At least, it did mine. They are looking for contractors to provide a "Multi-Robot Pursuit System" that will let packs of robots "search for and detect a non-cooperative human". One thing that really bugs defence chiefs is having their troops diverted from other duties to control robots. So having a pack of them controlled by one person makes logistical sense. But I'm concerned about where this technology will end up. Given that iRobot last year struck a deal with Taser International to mount stun weapons on its military robots, how long...

June 19, 2008 -- IRobot, best known for their cute Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, has teamed up with Metal Storm, purveyors of the million-rounds-per-minute electric gun, to create a slick, Terminator-like war robot for the U.S. military. The as yet unnamed war bot is being marketed for "border patrol" and "crowd control" scenarios, although other military situations are also under consideration. "We want our soldiers to have the option of controlling a robot that could go ahead and investigate, engage or deter an enemy and not put human soldiers at risk," said a spokesman for Metal Storm who wished to...

The US army is poised to unleash the dogs of war – four-legged, petrol-powered robots to help its troops in battle. Billed as ‘the most advanced quadruped robot on Earth’, BigDog has been devised to support American troops by carrying up to four packs of equipment on awkward terrain unsuitable for wheeled vehicles. Standing at over 2ft tall and more than 3ft long, BigDog comes equipped with all manner of high-tech gadgets, including laser gyroscopes, a video camera sensor system and a sophisticated on-board computer – but, sadly, no wagging tail. The 11 stone machine, created by Boston Dynamics, can...

U.S. researchers said they've created microscopic robots that can dance on a surface smaller than a pin head. Computer scientist Bruce Donald of Duke University said the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microrobots are almost 100 times smaller than any previous robotic designs of their kind, the university said in a release. Videos produced by Donald's research team show two microrobots dancing to a Strauss waltz on a dance floor just 1 millimeter across. "Our work constitutes the first implementation of an untethered, multi-microrobotic system," Donald's team said in a report presented during the Hilton Head Workshop on Solid State Sensors, Actuators...

Taking its inspiration from the grasshopper, a tiny two-legged robot that stores elastic energy in springs has leaped 27 times its own height, smashing the record of 17 times set by a previous robot. Its creators hope that swarms of such hopping robots could spread out to explore disaster areas, or even the surfaces of other planets. The robot is only 5 centimetres tall, and weighs just 7 grams. A motor designed to power the vibration unit of a pager drives a system of gears that gradually wind two metal springs (see image, right).

WHAT do you call a surgeon who operates without scalpels, stitching tools or a powerful headlamp to light the patient’s insides? A better doctor, according to a growing number of surgeons who prefer to hand over much of the blood-and-guts portion of their work to medical robots controlled from computer consoles. Many urologists performing prostate surgery view the precise, tremor-free movements of a robot as the best way to spare nerves crucial to bladder control and sexual potency. A robot’s ability to deftly handle small tools may lead to a less invasive procedure and faster recovery for a patient. Robots...

CHICAGO, April 26 (UPI) -- U.S. hospitals are starting to use pharmacy robots designed to eliminate life-threatening medication errors, Loyola University Hospital says. The Chicago hospital said it is the first in the Midwest to use the PillPick, a two-armed robot that places single doses of medication in small plastic bags marked with a bar code to identify the drug. A nurse can scan the bar code on the medication bag along with the bar code on the patient's wrist band. The computer will sound an alert and an pop-up warning will appear if it is the wrong drug or...

A humanoid robot will conduct the Detroit Symphony Orchestra next month, mixing two different cultures -- technology and music. Honda Motor Co.'s Asimo robot was built to help people and to someday assist the elderly and disabled in their homes. While many features are still in development, Asimo has already become something of a robotic ambassador.

PITTSBURGH — We already knew that iRobot CEO Colin Angle was running the only successful business in the home robotics game, so it was fitting that he closed his keynote at the RoboBusiness Conference here today by asking if there’s really a robot industry in the first place: “Are we sure we’re not just an adjunct to another industry?” After all, Disney stopped buying its animatronic actors years ago, and started building them. What’s to stop retail chains from adding a robotics division, or an upright vacuum-maker from hiring its own team of roboticists? This is not, we can assume,...

A £4.6 million project to create swarms of hundreds of autonomous, Transformer-style robots has been launched. Scientists aim to create a prototype team of self-organising, shape-changing mini robots that work as a team by 2013. The self-healing robots will be able to dock with each other, share energy and co-operate to maximise their abilities to achieve different tasks. Researchers from 10 universities who are collaborating in the European Union-funded Symbrion programme say future applications include search and rescue missions, space exploration and medicine. Prof Alan Winfield, of the University of the West of England, Bristol, said: "A swarm could be...

The Israel Defense Forces are set to introduce an unmanned jeep into the ongoing conflict with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. While pilotless drones are already common in the Israel Air Force, this is the first time a driverless jeep will be used by the army's ground forces.

Far Ahead of Other Countries, Japan Experiments With Robots As Part of Daily Life TOKYO (AP) -- At a university lab in a Tokyo suburb, engineering students are wiring a rubbery robot face to simulate six basic expressions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise and disgust. Hooked up to a database of words clustered by association, the robot -- dubbed Kansei, or "sensibility" -- responds to the word "war" by quivering in what looks like disgust and fear. It hears "love," and its pink lips smile.