Robotics & Automation News

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Humanoids

Shadow Robot hands help new AI research

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The Shadow Robot Company, a leader in robotic hands, is working with OpenAI, a non-profit company focusing on the path to safe artificial intelligence, by supplying OpenAI its Shadow Dexterous Hands for AI research.

The research, led by OpenAI, has created eight newly released environments, four of which uses the Shadow Hand robot to solve realistic manipulation tasks. The Shadow Hand is tactile enough to rotate a block and a solid egg and flexible enough to move a pen between its fingers.

All the new tasks have the concept of a “goal” such as achieving the desired orientation of a block in the Shadow hand block manipulation task.

[Read more…] about Shadow Robot hands help new AI research

Humanoid robots will take over the world, claims industry group

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Your home is in line to be taken over by a humanoid robot, if the views of an industry group are anything to go by. 

Roboticists and technologies have long dreamed of building humanoids capable of moving around the house and doing chores just like the average human.

And although they look to be many years away from releasing humanoids as capable as the ones routinely seen in science fiction films and television shows, the scientists are not giving up.  [Read more…] about Humanoid robots will take over the world, claims industry group

Humanoid roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro unveils news-reading android

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Dr Hiroshi Ishiguro, one of the world’s leading humanoid roboticists, has unveiled his latest creation, a news-reading android. 

Innocuously named “Erica”, the terrifying robot will be reading the news to the Japanese nation from April this year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In comments reported by the Mirror, Dr Ishiguro says Erica is “the most beautiful and most human-like autonomous android in this world”.  [Read more…] about Humanoid roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro unveils news-reading android

Top celebrities most likely to be remade as robots and androids

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There’s probably an awful lot of lonely people out there who yearn for companionship, for intimacy, comfort, or for whatever reason.

And at least some of those people may be more than happy to buy a walking, talking, physical likeness of whoever is the most desirable celebrity of the day perhaps.  [Read more…] about Top celebrities most likely to be remade as robots and androids

Toyota unveils its third-generation humanoid robot T-HR3

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Company says new robot is enabled through advanced torque servo module and master maneuvering system

Toyota has revealed the third generation of its humanoid robot, the T-HR3, designed and developed by its Partner Robot business unit. 

The company’s aim seems to be to market the robot for use in the home, perhaps for elderly care or companionship, but says it can also be applied in industrial sectors such as healthcare, construction and disaster recovery. (See video below.)

Toyota says its latest robotics platform will explore new technologies for safely managing physical interactions between robots and their surroundings, and it features a new remote maneuvering system that mirrors user movements to the robot.

Toyota says the T-HR3 reflects the company’s broad-based exploration of how advanced technologies can help to meet people’s unique mobility needs.  [Read more…] about Toyota unveils its third-generation humanoid robot T-HR3

STMicroelectronics partners with Asratec to demonstrate humanoid robot

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Chipmaker STMicroelectronics and robotics company Asratec have partnered to develop and demonstrate a humanoid robot at a recent industry event in Japan. 

The companies say the development is in recognition of the observation that the internet of things is becoming a part of people’s lives.

This means that network-connected embedded systems – such as robots – “are growing more important than ever”.  [Read more…] about STMicroelectronics partners with Asratec to demonstrate humanoid robot

Humanoid robot market to grow to $4 billion in five years

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The market for humanoid robots is forecast to grow to $4 billion in about five years, according to a new report by ReportsnReports. 

The researcher values the current market at approximately $320 million in 2017. So that would mean annual growth of more than 50 per cent.

Humanoids include such robots as Pepper and Nao, which are owned by SoftBank Robotics, as well as Emiew, produced by Hitachi, and Honda’s famous Asimo, although that one is more of an exhibition robot.

The others, like Nao and Pepper, for example, are already finding many buyers. SoftBank says it has sold 10,000 units of Nao, and it releases batches of 1,000 at a time of the Pepper robot, and it sells out online within minutes.  [Read more…] about Humanoid robot market to grow to $4 billion in five years

From the biggest to the smallest: Hitachi takes first nimble steps in robotics market

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Exclusive interview with Dong Li, research engineer at Hitachi R&D Europe, about the company’s new humanoid robot, Emiew

At street level, the Barbican area of London, England has the strange quality of looking like a small underground city. But it’s actually not.

True, it has an Underground railway station, but the rest of the commercial and cultural district – with its museums and office blocks – is mostly above ground.

It may be because the buildings are so imposing that they overshadow the often narrow streets and block out the sun in some places. The bridges overhead connecting one set of buildings to another, or one side of the road to the other, and the tunnels that go underneath the building complexes themselves, exacerbate the feeling of being underground.  [Read more…] about From the biggest to the smallest: Hitachi takes first nimble steps in robotics market

Paris city hall gives jobs to Pepper and Nao robots

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Pepper and Nao now busy working at the city hall of the fifteenth district of Paris

Paris has become the first city in France, and one of the few cities in the world, to have employed humanoid robots in its city hall. 

The city hall of the fifteenth district of Paris has just received two robots created by SoftBank Robotics, namely the Pepper and Nao robots.

The two small robots also integrate applications powered by the Hoomano company.  [Read more…] about Paris city hall gives jobs to Pepper and Nao robots

Mouser Electronics to distribute Robotis components

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Mouser Electronics has reached a global agreement with Robotis to distribute the company’s components, which include a range of controllers, servo motors, industrial actuators, and open-source development boards. 

The Robotis portfolio is now available from Mouser Electronics, although it’s not clear whether complete versions of the company’s humanoid robots and its TurtleBot will be sold through Mouser.

Robotis’ OpenCM9.04 open-source controllers run on an STMicroelectronics STM32 F1 microcontroller with a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 core.  [Read more…] about Mouser Electronics to distribute Robotis components