• DARPA looking for Genesis-style AI lifeforms

    DARPA has issued a solicitation for ideas about self-organizing Tetris AIs and smart-vat superlife on cards; the research organization appears to be seeking nothing less than the creation of artificial intelligent lifeforms

  • A fish called WANDA

    Aussie researchers develop a robotic fish that can swim toward objects of interest to investigate; the Wireless Aquatic Navigator for Detection and Analysis (WANDA) is propelled by a flexible joint tail fin that is activated through artificial muscles made from a conducting polymer

  • Microchip-sized digital camera for surveillance

    In today’s minicams, the image sensors and support circuitry are on separate microchips, and most of the power goes on communication between the chips; Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena has squeezed all the components of a camera onto one low-power chip

  • U.S. Army orders 150 of ReconRobotics' reconnaissance robots

    Minnesota company receives order for 150 of its Recon Scout IR miniature reconnaissance robots; the Recon Scout IR is less than 7.5 inches long and three inches wide, and weighs just 1.2 pounds, making it easy to carry in a pocket or on a vest

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  • IEEE ICRA 2009 showcased advances in robotics

    ICRA 2009, the world’s premier robotics event, was held in Japan last week; researchers demonstrated the latest in robotics — from tree-climbing robots to robots than can create ice sculptures on their own

  • U.S. military wants jumping robot

    DARPA funds a program to develop a hopping robot; the robot will be able to jump stairs and go over obstacles; it will be used for urban reconnaissance and intelligence gathering — although DARPA admits it could also be fitted with a raft of weapons; one of the requirement for the hopping robot: “’stick’ accurate landings”

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  • Chemical robot shows possibility of electronics-free robots

    The Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction is one of a class of chemical systems in which the concentration of one or more compounds periodically increases and decreases; the oscillation thus generated creates an autonomous material that moves without electronic stimulation; door opens for future chemical robots: they will be “self organized” and generate their own control and mechanical signals from within

  • Robots closing in on humans

    Last week’s Robo Business 2009 conference in Boston showed what we sensed already: robots are narrowing the gap between themselves and humans

  • Breakthrough: Robot makes scientific discovery on its own

    Researchers build a robot which used artificial intelligence to discover simple but new scientific knowledge about the genomics of the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae; not only this: the robot hypothesized that certain genes in baker’s yeast code for specific enzymes, which catalyze biochemical reactions in yeast — and then devised experiments to test these predictions, ran the experiments, interpreted the results, and repeated the cycle

  • Robot controlled by human thoughts

    Japanese researchers develop a robot that can be given commands by human thoughts; a helmet equipped with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) sensors which measure the changes in cerebral blood flow associated with specific thoughts — and transmits the information to the robot

  • Regulate armed robots before it's too late

    Unmanned machines now carry out more and more military and police missions; soon these robots will be allowed to make autonomous life-and-death decisions: when to shoot — and at whom; a philosopher argues that we should be more mindful of the ethical implications of this trend

  • Military robotics moves forward

    The trend toward autonomous military systems is about to reach a new — and important — phase: machines that do not only aim and shoot, but which also make the decision when and at what target to shoot

  • DARPA seeks damage tolerant technology for killer robots

    The U.S. military — and other militaries — are interested in robots that can autonomously operate weapon systems and make decisions about when to fire; such systems, however, are as vulnerable as human beings to enemy fire; “damage tolerant technology” will make them less vulnerable

  • Terminating the terminators: Anti-robot defense company launched

    Dot.com 1.0 wonder boy Ben Way launches a company dedicated to anti-robot defense systems; unmanned systems proliferate on and above the battlefield, and more and more of these systems are endowed with autonomous life-and-death decision making capabilities; Way says he wants to make “sure we have control over our own weaponry”

  • U.S. military to be offered flying hover bike

    An innovative Virginia company says its flying — or hovering — bike may be suitable for military missions; the machine offers vertical takeoff, range, and largely hands-off autopiloting