Mr. Future

Little Dog is the latest step in the evolution of the all purpose robotic pack-mule, product of DARPA’s Learning Locomotion Program.

USC professor Stefan Schall, working with Boston Dynamics, is using Little Dog as a software and sensor tool to research methods of negotiate difficult terrain.

Little Dog has been designed to continually evaluate it’s positioning and center of gravity, dynamically adjust its walking pattern based on position, velocity and acceleration. If its footing fails, it learns from it’s mistakes and attempts an alternet route.

Link (via BotJunkie)

Just not this week.
Inventor/Professor Young Bae will be demonstrating the first viable photonic laser thruster at the American Institue of Aeoronautics and Astronautics Space Conference next week.

Developed with funding from NASA’s NIAC, the photonic laser thruster (boy that’s fun to say) is tiny, made with off-the-shelf parts, and has the potential to propel spacecraft to speeds greater than 100 km/sec ( 3700 mph ). Zoom.

Link

Honda’s Humanoid Robot Project recruited Stanford Robotics Professor Oussama Khatib to research just how lazy a robot would have to be to move like a human being.

By observing a group of Stanford students and a tai-chi master, according to the physorg article, Khatib’s team came to the conclusion that humans learn how to move by recognizing which positions and motions cause them discomfort, and then avoiding those positions.

Using these observations, they’ve developed a computationally lightweight motion model based on the principal of continuously minimizing muscular effort, without pre-planning the entire motion itself.

They’re now applying this model both to a simulated “lazy” robot known as StanBot, and hope to use it in an upcoming version of Honda’s Asimo. Because this approach is less computationally intense than current methods, Khatib’s team hopes it will give Asimo, and other robots, a greater ability to manipulate it’s environment in real-time, while moving though it.

Link

New Scientist blogs:

MIT researcher Guy Hoffman has built the friendliest robotic desk-lamp since Pixar’s Luxo Jr.

Named AUR, the “collaborative lighting assistant” follows its human partner’s work habits, sets tone and mood, and, well, lights up the desk.

According to Guy, AUR “is aimed to evoke
a personal relationship with the human partner
without resorting to human-like features.”

Click the image below to watch a Flash video clip of AUR in action.