Fascinating review of economic drivers in play in the service robotics sector of the robotics industry.
Green Energy Myths
The “green revolution” continues to be marked with dis-information. A lot of the promise of so the called “green” technology is cost reduction, emissions reduction, energy independence or green jobs. So far, the path has been marked with poor results. Switching light bulbs from incandescent to fluorescent is supposed to be a great way to […]
Telepresence robots entering market
Anybot finalizes their telepresence robot and announces shipping date and price: this fall at $15,000. Willow Garage builds 25 for experimentation prior to commercialization. InTouch Health already in 300 hospitals making rounds.
New Study Shows Future Growth of UASs
Study commissioned by AUVSI shows UASs driving future growth of aerospace industry. Critical path point: integration of unmanned aircraft into the national air space requiring government, political and FAA changes as well as industry support for collision avoidance and communications system. Many new civilian applications suggested: pipe/power line surveillance, agricultural apps, movie and news production,…
Mechatronics, Mobility, and New Options
The American fascination with mobility, aka the automobile, is going through a lot of change presently. The introduction of the Segway began a new generation of personal mobility devices. And the demand for environmentally friendly means of transportation have added unique constraints to all of the vehicle offerings coming to market from both large […]
It Had To Happen: Tokyo Couple Married by Robot
Japanese couple decided to use the robot as they are both connected with the robot business. Kokoro’s i-Fairy receptionist robot was used.
Molecular-Sized Robots Can Now Move Independently Up To 100 Nanometers
Researchers from Columbia University, Arizona State University, the University of Michigan and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created and programmed robots the size of single molecule that can move independently across a nano-scale track. This development, outlined in the May 13 edition of the journal Nature, marks an important advancement in the nascent […]
Update on Gulf Oil Spill: Progress Report
24/7, 10 work heros of Gulf Oil Spill are, amongst others, Oceaneering‘s impressive ROVs. Philadelphia Inquirer has in-depth story on high-tech underwater activity. Interesting Gulf Oil Spill FAQ by Andrea Thompson at LiveScience. FUTURE: Energid and Seabed Rig have a prototype for exploration-seeking drilling areas, which was what BP was doing when the disaster occurred.…
NASA’S Robonaut 2 To Be Launched Into Space
NASA will launch the first human-like robot to space later this year to become a permanent resident of the International Space Station. Robonaut 2, or R2, was developed jointly by NASA and General Motors under a cooperative agreement to develop a robotic assistant that can work alongside humans, whether they are astronauts in space or […]
Motor Positioning Controller Offers Wide Range of Functions
Dual loop position and speed controller for almost any application Maxon’s EPOS (Easy to use Positioning System) is being expanded again in its second generation. The EPOS2 70/10 drives DC brush motors with encoders or brushless EC motors with Hall sensors and encoders, from 5 to 700 watts power. The unit is packed with a […]
The Next Industrial Revolution
The industrial revolution was a period of unprecedented expansion of technology that lead to a huge increase in economic opportunity. It was a period marked with great inventiveness that transformed the Europe and America. The power of that inventiveness echoes through today. Similarly, in recent years, there have been a number of significant breakthroughs that […]
Willow Garage’s Noble Open Source Effort
11 open source Personal Robots (PR2s) and their open source ROS (robotic operating system) were given away to encourage sharing systems, equipment and tools. Willow Garage is up against many entrenched obstacles in their quest for commonality and open source robotic equipment and software. One cartoon shows that typical robotics grad students spend 70% of…
Control Engineers Guide to Applying Linear Bearings and Guides
by Al Ng, Director, Engineering, Thomson Industries, Inc. Rolling element linear-motion bearings guide, support, locate, and accurately move machinery components and products. Rolling element linear bearings and guides ensure low friction, smooth, accurate motion for nearly any moment or normal loading condition. Understanding the tradeoffs of each bearing type is important to accurately size and […]
Solar Tracking
Like all things mechatronic, solar tracking is hard to describe. If we consider the actual motion, it’s two degrees of freedom and both motions are rotary. The problem is to rotate a flat rectangular panel both about it’s midline, which is azimuth tracking, and rotate it about its baseline, which is elevation. And the two […]
Hand-me-down Global Hawks put to use
Air Force hand-me-down Global Hawks spruced up by NASA to perform scientific tasks not available from satellites and manned aircraft. Can fly 30 hours at 65,000 feet economically and completely autonomously. As Americans pull out of Iraq, more and more UAVs will be converted to scientific and commercial use. Click photo to see details. UPDATE:…