February 13, 2019
Desert ants are extraordinary solitary navigators. Researchers were inspired by these ants as they designed AntBot, the first walking robot that can explore its environment randomly and go home automatically, without GPS or mapping. This work opens up new strategies for navigation in autonomous vehicles and robotics.
Source: Science Daily – Robotics
February 13, 2019
There is a time when a successful cooperation between humans and robots has decisive importance: it is in the precise moment that one “actor” is required to hand an object to another “actor” and, therefore, to coordinate their actions accordingly. But how can we make this interaction more natural for robots?
Source: Science Daily – Robotics
February 13, 2019
Desert ants can navigate remarkably well with the aid of the sun, a skill that robots are trying to duplicate Insects in general are unfailingly impressive with how intelligent and capable they are, with an absolute minimum of sensing and computing power. Where things start to get really interesting is when insects have to get clever in order to manage particularly challenging environments. Desert ants are a great example of this: While most ants rely on pheromone trails to navigate […]
February 13, 2019
Using sophisticated gene sequencing and computing techniques, researchers have achieved a first-of-its-kind glimpse into how the body’s immune system gears up to fight off infection.
Source: Science Daily – Robotics
February 13, 2019
With last year’s Aero 15X, Gigabyte managed an impressive feat: putting powerful gaming performance and long battery life into a 4.4-pound body. This year, the Taiwanese company is trying to top itself with the Aero 15 Y9, its new flagship laptop…
Source: Reviews – https://www.engadget.com/rss.xml
February 12, 2019
The new “American AI Initiative” is heavy on bombast, light on specifics Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the American AI Initiative, with the aim of “accelerating our national leadership” in artificial intelligence. The announcement framed it as an effort to win an AI arms race of sorts: “Americans have profited tremendously from being the early developers and international leaders in AI. However, as the pace of AI innovation increases around the world, we cannot sit idly by […]
February 12, 2019
The Happy Death Day sequel takes its zany formula and genre-hops with glee.
Source: Reviews – https://www.cnet.com/rss/
February 12, 2019
Legendary inventor James West is trying to save lives with a smart stethoscope This blog post is about a coauthor of the IEEE Spectrum feature article: “A Smart Stethoscope Puts AI in Medics’ Ears.” The invention that made James E. West famous came out of his conviction that he could make things better. West was born into a world in dire need of improvement. He grew up during the Great Depression in rural Virginia, where racial segregation laws denied his […]
February 12, 2019
Joints that are reconfigurable on the fly help this small robot avoid obstacles Different animals are optimized for different things, and this optimization is reflected in the structures of their bodies. It’s especially evident in the skeletons of animals designed to move around on land, where there’s a crazy diversity of limbs and joints and feet. There are some generalizable structures that tend to work well, like having hips and knees and ankles and feet, but if you look at […]
February 12, 2019
The legendary inventor’s latest project is saving lives with a smart stethoscope The invention that made James E. West famous came out of his conviction that he could make things better. West was born into a world in dire need of improvement. He grew up during the Great Depression in rural Virginia, where racial segregation laws denied his family many opportunities. But he challenged the status quo with every step forward in his education. In 1953, he entered Philadelphia’s Temple […]