Amazing talk on evolutionary robotics.

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Modular robots have been originally envisioned as a universal, robust, and low cost alternative to a variety of specialized robots with fixed body structure and functions. Unfortunately, even after two decades of studies in this field, most researchers agree that these advantages are yet to be fully realized. One of the serious problems that hinders the progress in this area is the prohibitively high cost of fabrication and operation of known modular robotic systems, which limits the modular robotic community to only few specialized labs at select universities.

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This project combines modular robotics, systems nanotechnology and computer science to create the dynamic, 3-Dimensional display of electronic information known as claytronics.

Claytronics is taking place across a rapidly advancing frontier.  This technology will help to drive breathtaking advances in the design and engineering of computing and hardware systems.

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There’s no more natural control interface than yourself. This robot, developed by engineer Tsuyoshi Horo at Tokyo University, watches you with an array of eight cameras and creates a 3D model of your body. If you point your finger, the cameras will recognize the shape, and send commands to the robot to respond to your gesture. It’s way cool, but it’s not exactly portable, since the cameras are stationary. It’s able to do all kinds of things besides robot control; here’s a video of someone playing Half-Life 2 with body motions:

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iRobot has announced that they’ve received funding from DARPA to design and construct a prototype LANdroid. We wrote about DARPA’s LANdroid solicitation over at OhGizmo last June; the idea is to create an army of small, mobile, autonomous, network routers to keep advancing troop connected in battlefield conditions. LANdroids are designed to be used primarily in urban environments which have all sorts of inconveniently placed buildings that block more conventional wireless access points. These little guys are actually disposable: the idea is that they get dropped by advancing troops, whereupon they wander around until they find the most effective place to act as a network node. The bots work together to cover “shadowed” and indoor areas, and if one of them gets blown up, the rest will move themselves to keep the network operational.

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The Emotiv EPOC now makes it possible for games to be controlled and influenced by the player’s mind. Engaging, immersive, and nuanced, Emotiv-inspired game-play will be like nothing ever seen before. Based on the latest developments in neuro-technology, Emotiv has developed a new personal interface for human computer interaction.

The Emotiv EPOC uses a set of sensors to tune into electric signals naturally produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expression. It connects wirelessly with all game platforms from consoles to PCs. The Emotiv neuroheadset now makes it possible for games to be controlled and influenced by the player’s mind.

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Many features of modern 2D desktops remind us that there isn’t enough room to organize large numbers of files. Menus that pop up from nowhere and virtual desktops are indications that a better organizational construct is needed.

Tactile 3D corrects these deficiencies by improving upon traditional tree-based file system interfaces. It is more than a 3D replacement for your 2D desktop. It is an organization system for entire hierarchies of information. It will not try to take-over your current desktop and runs as a standard windows application. The desktop has had decades of development and any improvements need to integrate into that established and robust framework.

The Tactile 3D UI allows you to roam around a 3D space and place objects where you want. Each object gives clues as to its contents by emitting sounds and mapping thumbnails and icons onto certain faces. Other cues include a faster rotation rate for recently accessed content, different lighting for read-only files, and variation in collision sound effects based on file size.

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The Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems project aims to create literal shutterbugs — camera-toting insects whose nerves have grown into their internal silicon chip so that wranglers can control their activities. DARPA researchers are also raising cyborg beetles with power for various instruments to be generated by their muscles.

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The Robotic Method of data capture is extremely fast compared to traditional methods. Depending on the arrangement of the space, the robot can collect anywhere between 70K sqft and 240K sqft in a single day.

The data collected by the robotic is extremely high resolution. The onboard sensors capture everything in the space, defining your interior space with millimeter accuracy. This data can then be transformed into very accurate CAD or GIS products.

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The BigDog, from Boston Dynamics, a company specializing in human simulation, is just weird. A robotic pack mule that runs on petrol, travels at up to 3.3mph over all sorts of terrain, and can carry up to 120 lb, BigDog has received $10 million of funding from the Pentagon. Check how it moves in a 2006 video after the jump.

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