Robots

By Benjamin Pacatte

Talking Humanoid Robot

• The Talking Humanoid Robot was invented by Shervin Emami between December 2008 and May 2009. It performs basic human motions, including lip-syncing in English and Arabic. It uses USB driver software for the state-of-the-art Dynamixel digital servo motors and animation scripts for the highly realistic face, neck, arms and fingers, 62 total motors.

Reconfigurable 140kg Balancing Robot

This Reconfigurable Balancing robot was designed by Jerry Pratt, Peter Neuhaus, Tim Hutcheson, John Rebula, Shervin Emami and Victor Ragusila as a project funded by DARPA to test different types of robot soldiers that could replace human soldiers in combat. It is a potentially tall robot that can balance on 2 wheels while carrying a camera or gun at roughly eye-level of a human.

Nerf Sentry GunThis Nerf Sentry gun was developed as a final project for Cornell

University’s CS1114 Matlab Robotics class. It was created by Jason Wright and Jeremy Blum by modifying an existing Nerf gun. A USB webcam and image acquisition toolbox scan allow the sentry gun to be set to fire at anything that moves, or identify between enemies and allies based on color badges worn on the shirt.

Robotic Cheetah• This robotic cheetah clocked in at a top speed on

28.3 mph, faster than world’s fastest human, Usain Bolt. The design is based on the way a Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal, runs. It was created by Darpa and Boston Dynamics in 2012 for military use.

Quadrocopter Fleet

At the FRAC Centre in Orleans, France, an exhibition is being hosted by

Swiss architect Gramazio & Kohler and Italian robot designer RaffaelloD’Andrea. They have programmed a fleet of 50Quadrocopters to interact, lift,Transport and assemble a towerwhich will be about 20 ft tall with a diameter of 11.5 ft. A 10 x 10 x10 m Airspace has been set up in which the vehicles can be tracked simultaneously at a rate of 370 fps with millimeter accuracy.

NeuroArm• The NeuroArm is an engineering research surgical robot that has the capability to

perform both michrosurgery and stereotaxy. It was designed by the Canadian space engineering company MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), along with

physicians and nurses at the University of Calgary. It was

designed to be image-guided and can perform procedures even inside an MRI. It can be used for remote and unmanned surgery.

Atlas – An Anthromorphic Robot

Atlas is a high mobility humanoidRobot designed to negotiate outdoorRough terrain. Atlas can walk bipedally,leaving the arms free to lift, carryand manipulate the environment.Atlas includes 28 hydraulically-actuateddegrees of freedon, two hands, arms,Legs, feet and a torso. It was created byBoston Dynamics and DARPA Robotics. It was unveiled to the public on July 11, 2013.

Conclusion

In conclusion, robots are already helping theworld in many different ways, despite the factthey are still in their early stages. I believe thatthe more we learn about robots, the faster we’llbe able to invent new things because our knowledge will grow exponentially. In thefuture, we’ll be able to build robots that makeour lives more convenient.