LATEST TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTS VIII : Finally, someone teaches dogs to play poker

IF you think you can't teach an old dog new tricks, think again — students from Griffith University have developed a poker-playing robot puppy.
Information technology students Nicholas Dahm and Mark Johnson taught a Sony Artificial Intelligence Robot (AIBO) – a programmable robotic dog – to play poker against humans.
The project, titled MiPal AIBO Texas Hold 'Em, was part of Griffith University's Student Expo, held yesterday at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
To create an "intelligent" poker player, the students developed two separate modules, which could analyse the robot's hand as well as its opponent's behaviour.
But although it may beat the average journalist in a game of poker, it had not yet reached a level to challenge the professionals.
Mr Dahm said the robot was first dealt a hand, then the data from this was fed through either a wireless connection linked to a computer or through its voice-recognition system.

"It works on emotional feedback to give it a more real response," he said.
"It will wag its tail if it has a good hand although it may also wag its tail when it is bluffing to throw the opponent off."
Sony's AIBO pets were released in 1999. They are able to see via a camera, interact with their owner's voice, walk, wag their tail and a host of other tricks.
The robots can be programmed to learn additional skills and movements – leading to their entry in competitions like the RoboCup Four-Legged Robot Soccer League.
In 2006 Sony announced it would discontinue making the robotic pets.

LATEST TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTS VII (DEXTER)

Dexter is quite different from other robots that have walked on two legs. The Honda ASIMO and related robots use a walking algorithm called Zero Moment Point or ZMP, a geometrical constraint that guarantees stability. To use this approach, a robot must have stiff joints (driven by geared servo motors) and fairly large feet. In the simplest version, the robot is given pre-planned movements that guarantee that a perpendicular drawn from the center of whichever foot is on the floor passes through the center of gravity, with some compensation when it accelerates. Such a robot does not need active balance feedback to walk. While the most advanced ZMP-based robots do include active balance control to adapt to sloped floor surfaces or external forces, this is a refinement to a passively stable gait.
Dexter has a different, more human-like body on which ZMP control does not work. Its joints, driven by air cylinders, are springy and flexible like human muscle. There are no stable postures that it can be put in where it can balance without active feedback, so it has to constantly adjust based on its sense of balance, the robot equivalent to your inner ear. It walks and balances the same way humans do, even wearing the same shoes humans wear.
Dexter's harder-to-control body has major advantages in the real world. It can walk just as easily on soft surfaces, like the deep carpet shown in the video, as on hard surfaces. Because its joints are flexible and able to absorb impact, it will be able to run at high speed over uneven ground and jump over obstacles. If it accidently steps on your toe, it won't hurt any more than a person stepping on your toe. But most importantly, because there is no geometrical principle by which we could have programmed a walking motion, it had to learn to walk. Its learning software will soon lead to a much wider range of walking abilities than could ever have been programmed.

Target Environment
Indoors
Locomotion Method

2 Legs

Sensors / Input Devices
6 axis gyro/accelerometer

pressure sensors

encoders

linear potentiometers

Actuators / Output Devices

12 pneumatic cylinders

Control Method
Autonomous
Power Source
Power and compressed air through tether
CPU Type

Intel 80x86
Operating System
FreeBSD
Programming Lanuage
Python and C++
Weight
45 Kg

LATEST TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTS VI (MONTY)

Monty has one fully articulated hand driven by 18 motors and one gripper. Driven remotely by a human operator he is able to accomplish almost any task a human can do in person.

Target Environment
Indoors
Locomotion Method
2 Wheels
Sensors / Input Devices
6 axis gyro/accelerometerpressure
sensorsencoderslinear
potentiometers12 cameras
Actuators / Output Devices
20 pneumatic cylinders
2 DC motors
18 servos
Control Method
Autonomous
Power Source
Power and compressed
air through tether
CPU Type
Intel 80x86
Operating System
FreeBSD
Programming Lanuage
Python and C++
Weight
65Kg

LATEST TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTS V (LITTLE JOHNNY)

Little Johnny was inspired by the movie Short Circuit, I built him as a robot that could go with me to schools and demo's to get the attention of those I speak to. Johnny is capable of speech, body heat sensory, compass guided navigation, three degree's of freedom in each arm, bending his body and tilting his head.

Target Environment
Indoors
Locomotion Method
Treads

Sensors / Input Devices
3 Sharp GP2D12 IR sensors1 Polaroid ultrasonic sensor2 bump switchesHamamatsu pyroelectric sensor

Actuators / Output Devices

Hobby servos

Control Method
Autonomous
Power Source
Battery
CPU Type
MIT Handyboard
Operating System
None

Programming Lanuage
C
Weight
N/A
Time to build
hundreds of hours
Cost to build
~$900

LATEST TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTS IV

Pleo XBee wireless & facial recognition hacks

Pleo for sure is a cute robot. But it can also help you learn about robotics. Some folks at Otto-Friedrich-University in Bamberg, Germany, calling themselves GRIP (Group for Interdisciplinary Psychology) have posted two tutorials designed to wirelessly connect Pleo to a remote computer and give him the ability to recognise faces.

The team has added a small XBee module to the robot which connects to the internal serial port allowing them to monitor Pleo’s internal state and sent transmit the signal back to them. They also have replaced the robot’s default low resolution camera with a camera of their own that will help them to perform a real time pattern recognition.

(VIDEO) LATEST TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTS III (RAT BRAIN)

Movies and fictions are coming to reality I guess. Scientists at the University of Reading in the UK have created a robot with rat brain cells. An array of electrodes are connected to the neurons that can send signal to the brain. When the robot senses an obstacle, the electrodes will send signal to the neurons so that the robot can take a detour. Watch the video after the break.


HERE IS THE VIDEO OF THE ROBOT WITH RAT'S BRAIN:

LATEST TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTS II

House Sitting Robot Takes Snaps of Invader

House security technology just went up a level thanks to the new house-sitting robot produced in Japan. Although it doesn’t water the flowers or feed the cat while you’re gone like the name might imply, the house-sitting robot has a highly important purpose, and that is protecting the robbery of your house. Although it doesn’t actually prevent robbers from entering your house its mechanism has a high importance in catching the intruders as the system works by taking snap shots of whoever enters your house without your approval.Another useful feature is that if you own a cell phone equipped with 3G the robot will call you as soon as it’s sensor is set off so you can witness the incident or make sure that it isn’t your dog making all the trouble before you call the police.

LATEST TECHNOLOGY: ROBOTS

Spyke spybot

This awesome robot can beep and whistle just like his cousin R2-D2, but unlike his cousin he can be controlled through WI-FI over the Internet and can send visual feedback to your laptop, PC or phone.With Spyke you can check your home when on vacation or business trips, you could check up on your kids while you are at work, or just scare neighbours. Spyke can sense movement and automatically start recording video making him extremely useful in case of a robbery. He may not stop the intruder but at least you will have a nice video with the burglar.Even if the intruder sees the robot and steals it too (I would if I were a burglar) or destroys the gadget, the video is already somewhere on the Internet or maybe in policeme’s in-boxes already.You can also use him to spy on your neighbors but I seriously don’t recommend it… Spyke can be easily spotted and he might just whistle in a moment of joy and whoops there goes he’s cover.Spyke will be released on April 9th and he will cost about 300 Us Dollars.