Thomas Frey with the Keecker robot — a new way to experience digital media – at CES 2014.
People love their screens. Many of us have TVs in multiple rooms in our homes. We may prop our tablet up in the kitchen when we cook and tap away at our smartphone screen anywhere we happen to be. We like being able to access content at all times and go to great lengths to make it available to ourselves.
Continue reading… “Keecker: A robot that that can project digital art and video in your home”
Abigaille, a robot inspired by the gecko.
Inspired by the gecko, a robot that crawls up walls has taken a small but important step towards a future in space, scientists said on Thursday. The tiny legged prototype could be the forerunner of automatons that crawl along the hulls of spacecraft, cleaning and maintaining them, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.
Continue reading… “Gecko-inspired wall-crawling robot could someday be used in space”
Advanced robots and automation are taking jobs from humans.
2013 has been a fast moving year. We thought we would revisit some of the year’s most notable stories in exponential technology before we dive headlong into 2014. Just keep in min this list is by no means all-inclusive.
Continue reading… “Top 8 stories in exponential technology in 2013”
A robotic muscle 1,000 times more powerful than a human’s has been developed by American scientists. The robotic muscle uses a revolutionary material that fluidly changes its properties.
WildCat
Google has purchased Boston Dynamics, the lab of scientists behind some of the most awesomely scary robots you have ever seen. The deal gave Google an army of jaw-droppingly capable robots that can walk, run, and climb through seemingly any terrain. Let’s meet the team. (Videos)
Continue reading… “Google’s new robot army”
A Google self-driving car.
Amazon and UPS are looking into package delivery via automated flying drones. But, according to the New York Times, Google’s recent interest in robotics lays out an interesting hypothetical situation: imagine a self-driving car pulling up in your driveway, and a robot getting out to deliver your package instead of a living, breathing UPS human bedecked in brown.
Continue reading… “Google could one day deliver packages with self-driving cars and robots”
SpiderFab 3-D robotic printer
Since the 1970’s, space-based solar power has been a futuristic fantasy but the advent of 21st century 3-D printing may bring it a step closer to reality. (Video)
Continue reading… “Will 3D printing bring space-based solar power to reality?”
Flying robotic jellyfish.
Leif Ristroph, an applied mathematician at New York University, wanted to build the “simplest possible” flying machine. Ristroph glued together several tubes of carbon fiber to build this: a sphere with four wings attached to it that propels it as a jellyfish swims. (Video)
Continue reading… “The flying machine that was inspired by a jellyfish”
Robotic surgery
What if you need a hysterectomy, and the surgeon wants to do the surgery with a robot? Instead of working directly with his hands, he will sit at a console manipulating a set of robotic arms outfitted with tiny surgical instruments.
Continue reading… “Pros and cons of robot-assisted surgery”
Black Hornet
Flying insects have one huge advantage over humans: the gift of enhanced mobility. Insects are small and nimble enough to get into almost any tight space, so it makes sense to create a similarly sized drone for stealth military missions.
Some day in the near future, cars will drive themselves.
A study by the ENO center for transportation has been done to see what needs to be done to prepare for a nation where cars will be driving themselves sometime in the near future. (Videos)
Continue reading… “The benefits and barriers of self-driving cars”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1_mPe8Y0V4[/youtube]
Solar power is a great way to keep robots running indefinitely, in theory. And it’s absolutely possible to do it, provided your robot doesn’t need to do anything urgently, you have a ludicrously powerful light source, or your robot is very efficient and spends a lot of time in the sun. That last category has potential for solar powered micro air vehicles, including the University of Maryland’s Robo Raven, which has just gotten kitted out with solar panel wings.
Continue reading… “Robo Raven – the first solar-powered robotic bird”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.