Best Bots
I've noticed that whenever I teach a subject, the news appears to be disproportionately full of stories about that topic (and yes, I do understand that is not the case...). These are some of my favorites I have found recently:
- I linked to the BigDog project several months ago - Boston Dynamics has outdone themselves, pushing their sophisticated walking abilities into a bipedal robot, Petman. The video on this is amazing! [via many places, including C.]
- On the opposite end of the spectrum, iRobot has developed a "morphing blob" robot based on a structure of inflatable air pockets. [via many places, including J.]
- These interconnected warehouse robots are an incredibly cool example of what modern robotics can do right now - these particular ones work together to speed up collection of items within a warehouse in preparation for shipping. Watch out for the cute "Bot Crossing" sign a minute and a half in.
- A nice transition from this semester into the next - researchers at University of Washington have a nice summary of a paper about security and privacy risks with future household robots.
- Finally, who doesn't want to watch kittens on a Roomba again!