A steady stream of mechanical animals is marching out of the lab into the field. Jonathan Knight tunes in to see how these motorized models can expose what makes real creatures behave the way they do.
Read (Nature)
Can a robot learn to navigate like a cockroach? To help researchers find out if a mechanical device can mimic the pesky insect’s behavior, a Johns Hopkins engineering student has built a flexible, sensor-laden antenna.
[Read][ReadMe] (ScienceDaily)
[ReadMe]: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050321084250.htm
Students from Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering are partnering with Carnegie Mellon University’s “Red Team” in an effort to win a $2 million prize from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). All they have to do is complete the toughest ground course ever devised for a self-guided robotic vehicle.
[Read][ReadMe]
[Originally][ReadMe] from [ScienceDaily Headlines][SrcUrl]
[ReadMe]: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050310181724.htm
[SrcUrl]: http://www.sciencedaily.com/
Scientists at the University of the West of England have designed a robot that does not require batteries or electricity to power itself, because it generates energy by catching and eating houseflies.
Originally from CNN
Opportunity has now had its solar panels “cleaned” on at least four separate occasions – NASA remain stumped as to exactly how.
Originally from New Scientist
New joints have given the humanoid robot Asimo several new talents, but mastering the art of robotic running remains far from easy.
Originally from New Scientist
The team behind the Beagle 2 mission has unveiled its design for a successor to the British Mars lander.
Originally from BBC News
The military robot is equipped with a pump action shotgun capable of firing shotgun rounds and presumably killing enemy combatants, and it has already seen action in Iraq.
via Slashdot.
DARPA has announced that the 2005 Grand Challenge will be held October 8, 2005, and the cash prize has increased from $1 million to $2 million dollars.
The website robot1968 has vintage and tin robots for sale.
The BBC is reporting that the investigation of the Beagle 2 Mars probe found that the probe was too big of risk and there were not enough checks and balances built into the system.
The “Robots” at the University of Wisconsin staged a protest.
Wired News is reporting that DARPA wants to try building cars that can think for themselves and learn from their mistakes.
DARPA has posted the final papers of each of the DARPA Grand Challenge teams.
The race took place, and none of the teams came close to finishing the race. The Red Team went the greatest distance – 7.4 miles. The results are available from DARPA – (pdf file).