It sounds funny to say it, but mind control is nothing new in the world of robotics. Researchers have been working on brain-controlled prosthetics for years, and lately we’ve been starting to see some impressive results. However, Dean Aslam, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan State University and IEEE Senior Member, has
Canadian robot maker Clearpath Robotics recently provided The University of Coimbra’s Institute of Systems and Robotics with a mobile robotic base as part of a grant program, and the Portuguese researchers put it to good use, converting the platform into a minesweeping robot. “Minesweeping is an extremely dangerous and time-intensive process,” Lino Marques, academic liaison
NASA reported yesterday that it has received 58 proposals for science and exploration technology instruments to fly aboard its next Mars rover, which is scheduled to launch in 2020. That is twice the number submitted for other recent instrument competitions, the agency said. NASA opened the competition for Mars 2020 research proposals in September and
The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) Business Forum, which seeks to explore how robotics is changing businesses for the better, begins today at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek in Orlando. More than 400 attendees are expected at this 21st annual event. “A3 has been at the forefront of robotics industry for more than 30 years,
Willow Garage, the company that developed both the open-source robot operating system ROS and the PR2 robot, reported today that support and services responsibilities for PR2 have been transferred to Clearpath Robotics, effective immediately. Willow Garage created eight companies from 2011-2013, but Willow itself basically shut down this summer when most of its employees moved
Rethink Robotics reported today that its Baxter Research Robot is now available to academic and corporate researchers in Australia and New Zealand thanks to a new distribution partnership. Rethink has entered into an exclusive partnership to distribute the robot with Training Systems Australia, which supplies technology-related products and training systems to universities and technical colleges in
After leading throughout the competition, Schaft, the Japanese robotics start-up recently purchased by Google, was officially crowned winner of the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials when they ended on Saturday. Schaft has only been around since 2012, when it spun out of the JSK Laboratory at the University of Tokyo, but it thoroughly dominated the DRC
[ UPDATED: The DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials have ended, with the robot from Schaft Inc. taking the title. Hours of archived coverage of the event are available here. ] To watch the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials live from Florida’s Homestead Miami Speedway, click the following link for a YouTube stream: DARPA Robotics Challenge Live Broadcast
Right now, the best place to get permission to fly an unmanned aircraft system seems to be the Arctic, a fact that was once again proven recently when Northrop Grumman and NASA flew a Global Hawk UAS in Canadian airspace for the first time to study the Canadian Arctic. The two groups, along with a team
On April 1, 2012, plans were first announced for the DARPA Robotics Challenge, and after more than a year of anticipation, the robot competitors will finally be put through their paces starting tomorrow. The two-day event, which takes place Dec. 20-21 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., is actually the second stage of the
