• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.
Next, Robot Beatles?


A robot beetle goes the distance on its own thanks to a methanol-fueled micromuscle.

Scientists envision that swarms of robotic insects could assist search-and-rescue operations (SN: 5/19/16). But tight spaces are out of reach for robots that must be tethered to an energy source. The new bot, described August 19 in Science Robotics, carries its liquid fuel inside its body.

“I realized the critical issue was power,” says Néstor O. Pérez-Arancibia. His team at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles turned to methanol because in a given mass, it packs over 10 times the energy as tiny batteries.

To turn methanol into motion, the researchers coated a nickel-titanium alloy wire with platinum. The alloy contracts like a muscle when heated, and extends once cool. The platinum generates heat by combusting any methanol vapor that comes in contact with it ...

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/methanol-fuel-beetle-robot
 
India's first robot teacher


'Many instances in the past have proved that human intelligence when coupled with artificial intelligence can do wonders. Keeping that in mind, Indus International School, Bangalore (IISB) is the first school in the world to introduce the Collaborative Learning Model (CLM), where teachers will have robot assistants while delivering lessons in classrooms. These robots will never replace teachers, but they will share the everyday responsibilities of a teacher. This will allow teachers sufficient time to focus more on concepts, their relevance and application and mentoring the students. The CLM is being implemented for Grades 7, 8 and 9 for Physics, Biology, Chemistry, History and Geography.'
 
Getting a COVID testing nasal swab is universally described as an unpleasant experience. A Taiwanese start-up has developed an autonomous robot to perform this task.

RobotSwabber.jpg
Please remain calm while the robot swabs your nose

A medtech startup wants to automate COVID-19 swabs

FULL STORY (With Video Of the Robotic Procedure):
https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/24/...b-machine-autonomous-covid-19-test-brain-navi
 
Intrusive robots, if they're not regulated on footpaths then people will end up wrecking them.

IN FEBRUARY, A lobbyist friend urged Erik Sartorius, the executive director of the Kansas League of Municipalities, to look at a newly introduced bill that would affect cities.

The legislation involved “personal delivery devices”—robots that, as if in a sci-fi movie, might deliver a bag of groceries, a toolbox, or a prescription to your doorstep. It would have limited their weight to 150 pounds, not including the cargo inside. And it would have allowed them to operate on any sidewalk or crosswalk in Kansas at speeds up to 6 miles per hour, the pace of a quick human jog.

Lawmakers and lobbyists say the bill was drafted with help from Amazon. In later testimony to a state senate committee, Amazon lobbyist Jennie Massey said the bill would allow devices like Scout, the company’s bright blue, six-wheeled robot, “to bring new technology and innovation to Kansas.” She noted that Amazon had invested $2.2 billion in Kansas since 2010, and that the company employed 3,000 full-time workers in the state.

Sartorius knew the bill wouldn’t fly. “I think some members of the committee hadn’t really considered the impact on their communities,” he says of the bill. He worried about a provision that would have barred cities and towns from creating their own robot regulations. Officials in Kansas City, Kansas, objected that the robots would be using public roads and sidewalks without paying into local coffers. A Teamsters representative said the legislation did not include enough testing requirements, and said the robots could eventually replace human workers.

The Kansas bill failed, but it was just one battle in a wider war. Amazon and FedEx seeded and backed similar bills permitting delivery robots in more than a dozen states this year. At least six have become law. ...

At least two people with disabilities have written about uncomfortable run-ins with robots traveling in limited sidewalk space. Haben Girma, a former litigator who is deaf-blind, was surprised this summer when she encountered a delivery robot operated by the company Starship Technologies on a sidewalk in Mountain View, California, and the robot didn’t maneuver around her and her guide dog, Mylo. A spokesperson for Starship didn’t comment on the incident but said that the company “has been involved with and supports the legislation” introduced in several states. ...

https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-fedex-delivery-robots-your-sidewalk/
 
A three-year study involving placement of "culturally competent" robots in senior care homes indicates interaction with robots can have positive impacts in mitigating the effects of loneliness and social isolation.
Culturally competent robots could improve mental health and loneliness in older people

The evaluation of CARESSES, the largest ever global study investigating the use of culturally competent robots in caring for the elderly, has been completed.

While the evaluation results reveal the limitations of the project, they also demonstrate that culturally competent robots can improve mental health and have potential to reduce loneliness in older people.

The University of Bedfordshire, Middlesex University and Advinia Health Care are the UK partners of the study, coordinated by University of Genova in Italy which developed the robot’s Artificial Intelligence. CARESSES was jointly funded by the EU and the Japanese Government within the H2020 research and innovation programme. Global researchers* have participated in the project in collaboration with the world leading Robotics Company SoftBank Robotics. ...

Key results from the evaluation reveal:

- Older adults in care homes who used the culturally competent robot (up to 18 hours across two weeks) saw a significant improvement in their mental health.

- After two weeks of using the system there was a small but positive impact on loneliness severity among users. The system did not increase feelings of loneliness.

- The system had a significant positive impact on participants’ attitudes towards robots. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.beds.ac.uk/news/2020/se...mental-health-and-loneliness-in-older-people/

See Also:

Study suggests robots could help with mental health in senior homes
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...-mental-health-in-senior-homes/5471600286422/
 
... "culturally competent" robots in senior care homes ...

I remain confused about what "culturally competent" may mean. When I saw this photo accompanying the cited article I couldn't help but imagine ...

RobotSeniorCare-A.jpg
 
I remain confused about what "culturally competent" may mean.

I thought Marjorie Prime was a charming effort . . .(https://www.imdb.com/title/tt497871... superb Lois Smith,and relate as her spouse.)

The premise is that AI-powered holographic projections provide companionship for the elderly who have no family left, are shut-in, or suffering from dementia. The AI learns the speech patterns of the client and responds appropriately to verbal cues, carrying on convincing conversations that draw on the memories and experiences of the client.

One of the projections is played by Jon Hamm (whose work I generally enjoy greatly), and I couldn't help thinking that I would REALLY ENJOY having such a companion. We humans are apparently very easily persuaded to accept such companionship as real, even when we know it's an artificial construct.
 
A robot with onboard adaptive AI has demonstrated an ability to compete in a human sport ... Curling!
Watch a Robot AI Beat World-Class Curling Competitors

Artificial intelligence still needs to bridge the “sim-to-real” gap. Deep-learning techniques that are all the rage in AI log superlative performances in mastering cerebral games, including chess and Go, both of which can be played on a computer. But translating simulations to the physical world remains a bigger challenge.

A robot named Curly that uses “deep reinforcement learning”—making improvements as it corrects its own errors—came out on top in three of four games against top-ranked human opponents from South Korean teams that included a women’s team and a reserve squad for the national wheelchair team. (No brooms were used).

One crucial finding was that the AI system demonstrated its ability to adapt to changing ice conditions. “These results indicate that the gap between physics-based simulators and the real world can be narrowed,” the joint South Korean-German research team wrote in Science Robotics on September 23. ...

FULL STORY (With Video): https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/watch-a-robot-ai-beat-world-class-curling-competitors/
 
Watch to the end:


My wife showed me this without comment, and l was fooled/ amazed until the last section.

maximus otter
 
Watch to the end:


My wife showed me this without comment, and l was fooled/ amazed until the last section.

maximus otter
I think I posted that some pages back. It's rather good.
 
Robot dolphins .. $5 million a pop, a bit pricey but they are incredible to be fair ..

 
Could prove more economic.

And think of all the uses (practical and suprising) you could adapt them for.

(One of my favorite sf books as a child was about a robotic racehorse...)
 
monster-wolf-JP.jpg

Japanese town deploys 'Monster Wolf' robots to deter wild bears

A Japanese town has deployed robot wolves to scare off bears that have become an increasingly dangerous nuisance in the countryside.

The town of Takikawa, on the northern island of Hokkaido, purchased and installed a pair of the robots after bears were found roaming neighborhoods in September. City officials said there have been no bear encounters since.

Bear sightings are at a five-year high, mostly in rural areas in western and northern Japan, national broadcaster NHK has reported. There have been dozens of attacks so far in 2020, two of them fatal, prompting the government to convene an emergency meeting last month to address the threat they pose.

The robot called Monster Wolf consists of a shaggy body on four legs, a blond mane and fierce, glowing-red eyes. When its motion detectors are activated, it moves its head, flashes lights and emits 60 different sounds ranging from wolfish howling to machinery noises. ...

SOURCE: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/12/asia/japanese-monster-wolf-robots-intl-hnk/index.html
 
The following video doesn't seem to have been previously highlighted and may be of interest.

Personally, I found it compelling and some of the responses remarkable, particularly:

5:36 'Sophia' : 'Why do humans think so much about life after death?'

That facial 'reaction' when subsequently 'Sophia says'... 'So do I'...

 
Do you not just think that 'Sophia' is 'being worked from behind'?
Yes. Either that, or she is a real AI, but distracted by all the background noise.
 
Back
Top