Futurist Thomas Frey: During the late 1990s business and industry began to panic over the issues surrounding Y2K, which later turned out to be mostly manufactured fear.
Global manufacturing is changing with a new wave of robots
At the new Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., a robot might do up to four jobs: welding, riveting, bonding and installing a component.
On the coast of China at the Philips Electronics factory hundreds of workers use the old way of working to assemble electric shavers by using their hands and specialized tools.
Continue reading… “Global manufacturing is changing with a new wave of robots”
MIT’s autonomous robotic plane’s indoor flight: Video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYs215TgI7c&hd=1[/youtube]
Academic and industry researchers have been working for decades on control algorithms for autonomous helicopters — robotic helicopters that pilot themselves, rather than requiring remote human guidance. Dozens of research teams have competed in a series of autonomous-helicopter challenges posed by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI); progress has been so rapid that the last two challenges have involved indoor navigation without the use of GPS.
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Swarms of robots could bring buildings to life
The more of these robots we have in our homes, the more intelligent they could be.
What does it take for a building to be considered smart? Add some lights that turn themselves off when nobody is around or install an “intelligent” air conditioning system to regulate the ambient temperature and you’re well on your way. But compared to the living buildings proposed by Akira Mita, today’s smart buildings are the architectural equivalent of single-celled organisms.
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Top 10 most promising technological inventions inspired by science fiction
The Doctor in Doctor Who holds a sonic screwdriver.
We previously explored how science fiction movies, books, games and more inspire the technology we use today. So, what about the future? What great inventions from science fiction are in our future? What if you could ride around town in your very own landspeeder, or travel the world by simply standing on your very own teleporter pad and telling it where to send you?
Here’s a list of the top 10 most promising up and coming technological inventions inspired by science fiction.
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Automate or perish – has it come to this?
Robots made by Kiva Systems move product shelves on a warehouse floor.
Author and entrepreneur Christopher Steiner tells the story of stockbroker Thomas Peterffy, the creator of the first automated Wall Street trading system in the new book due next month, Automate This. Using a computer to execute trades, without humans entering them manually on a keyboard, was controversial in 1987—so controversial that Nasdaq pressured him to unplug from its network. Then, with a wink, Peterffy built an automated machine that could tap out the trades on a traditional keyboard—technically obeying Nasdaq rules. Peterffy made $25 million in 1987 and is now a billionaire.
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Tek Robotic Mobilization Device: Next generation wheelchair lets users stand up
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gb5poTdUMg[/youtube]
The Tek Robotic Mobilization Device is a device that allows people to stand up is being hailed as a potential breakthrough for the disabled. The machine allows paraplegics – those without the use of their legs – to perform everyday tasks far more easily from shopping in the supermarket to ironing.
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Robotic chefs of the future
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8fTrbknOB4&hd=1[/youtube]
Sushi Bot
The plot of the movie “I, Robot” may not come true anytime soon, but there has been a proliferation of robots creeping into our daily lives. Namely, in the kitchen. (Videos)
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Panasonic testing shampoo robot in Japan
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IROoXFz5dj0[/youtube]
Hair salon Super Hair Seo in Nishinomiya, Japan is playing lucky host to Panasonic’s Head Care Robot, which is undergoing its first tests alongside hairdressers. The shampoo robot ‘offers a degree of comfort that users cannot experience with human hands.’
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Researchers predict brothels will offer robot prostitutes by 2050
“In 2050, Amsterdam’s red light district will all be about android prostitutes.”
Researchers in New Zealand predict that in the future brothels will serve-up robot prostitutes offering clean, guilt-free sex.
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Scrap metal transformers theme park opens in China
Optimus Prime sent me to inform you that we have arrived.
Chinese artist Kefeng Zhu and his team of artists use heavy metal as their medium, and the results are pretty darn neat. His unofficial Transformers theme park is calledMr. Iron Robot, and it’s a big hit with kids from throughout the Zhejiang Province and beyond…
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Robotic hand uses artificial tendons consisting of strings
Robotic hands uses artificial tendons.
While the quest for robotic grippers with a light, yet firm touch has led to innovative approaches, such as the universal jamming gripper, it’s still hard to go past the four fingers and opposable thumb form factor honed by millions of years of evolution. While the technology is available to create a robotic hand that is both powerful and delicate, cramming it inside a compact arm is still difficult. But European researchers have done just that by using a novel string actuator to act as an artificial tendon.
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