Category: Robots

Microsoft Robotics Studio

Microsoft robot studio 

Looks like software giant Microsoft has unveiled a preview of their robotics studio.

Today at RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition 2006, Microsoft Corp. showcased the community technology preview (CTP) of a new Windows®-based environment for academic, hobbyist and commercial developers to easily create robotic applications for a wide variety of computing platforms. In addition, early adopter companies, universities and research institutes offered demos and provided support for the new Microsoft® Robotics Studio development platform. The community technology preview of the Microsoft Robotics Studio is available for download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/robotics.

Some bullet points of the package:

  • End-to-end robotics development platform.
  • Lightweight services-oriented runtime.
  • Scalable, extensible platform.

The coolest part of this development package is that it will work with the new LEGO Mindstorm NXT CPU.

[via MAKE] 

Microsoft Robotics Studio

A Robot For Baseball

BaseBallBot 

Could be handy if your looking to play catch and you are anti social.

In a collaboration of a mechanical engineering and psychology, two professors from Arizona State Universtiy have designed a robot that chases balls on a baseball field. Engineer Thomas G. Sugar and psychologist Michael K. McBeath have built a rolling robot that simulates the perception and prediction of a baseball player and can move at 30 feet per second to intercept fly balls and scoop up grounders.

[via Robot Gossip]

Nuts-and-Bolts Ballplayer for a Space-Age Infield

The iFISH

iFISH

First there was the iDog and now Segatoys has another interactive music toy for your enjoyment.

The "attitude" of the iFISH is its most interesting feature. The iDOG is just a small dog that moves its head and makes noises every 30 seconds (I really had an overdose of iDOG), but the iFISH has been developped in such a way by Segatoys that it really reacts as a fish when you pick it up or when it’s touched… it moves very fast in all directions, so it’s really worth picking it up when it’s switched on.

So the iFISH needs more desk space than the iDOG because it spins around but it does a pretty good job at looking like it’s namesake.   

iFISH – Akihabara News

The Robotic Nintendo DS

DSrobot

Looks as if some enterprising hacker has built himself a robot that runs off a Nintendo DS handheld. The proposed specs are here:

# 20 Digital Input/Output for multipurpose use.
# Customizable with you own Motors and Sensors
# Wireless programming and controling.
# You can use your DSRobot with NinjaDS to make the robot works alone.
# Programmable in C or C++ with devkitpro and a custom library to manage the signals.
# You can use PAlib (very easy NDS library to program you first DSRobot
# Upgradable Software & Hardware.

The prototype has six sensors and two motors on it for now. DSRobot say that they will be selling kits, I wonder what Nintendo thinks of this…

[via Robot Gossip] 

DSRobot: A Nintendo DS Robot

Genibo

Genibo

Ah, it looks like there is already a replacement in the works to fill the void left by Sony’s announcement to discontinue the robotic pet dog, Aibo. The new robot, produced by a Korean company Dasatech, will understand 100 spoken words like ‘sit’, and ‘wag your tail’. It won’t move as fast as the Aibo did but it will be quicker than the now discontinued i-Cybie. 

[via Robot Gossip] 

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition)

Titan Descent Data Movie

Titan Movie 

This is like a performance art piece from space. The decent of the Huygens probe on to the surface of the moon Titan took almost four hours but this video compresses it into 5 minutes. The visuals give you information on what the cameras were seeing, how the parachute moved (handy for telling wind conditions), and what sensors were doing what.

[via boing boing] 

NASA – Titan Descent Data Movie with Bells and Whistles – Movie