Caleb Chung presents Pleo

Ugobe missed the holiday season having announced late last year that their little robot dinosaur would not be available fro sale until March 2007. As the company readies for receiving pre-orders for Pleo, they have started a media campaign to promote their new robot. They have released a 3-minute video of inventor Caleb Chung presenting Pleo and explaining its capabilities. Pleo looks exciting with lots of touch sensors all over its body along with sensors for detecting objects and changes in lighting. The robot is capable of expressing its internal state, i.e., emotion, using body gestures. Pleo can also be taught simple tricks that should keep its owner entertained for a while.

The robot looks very interesting and I would say that its creators have put much thought into its design. In my opinion, what seems to be missing is a remote control. The missing remote was also one of the shortcomings of Sony’s AIBO but a strong advantage for WowWee’s line of robots. Full autonomy is great for robots that can understand their surroundings and act quickly. Toy robots such as Pleo and the now discontinued AIBO have limited ability to create accurate models of their immediate environment often acting in a way that looks rather random. At least that was my experience with AIBO which promised similar functionality to Pleo but failed to deliver.

At any rate, enjoy the video,

WiiBot: Industrial strength robot controlled using the Wii remote

What do robotics engineers do during the weekend? They program industrial strength robots to be controlled via their Nintendo Wii remote. At least that is what two engineers from USMechatronics did earlier this month.

They took the time to develop software that allowed them to control a Kuka KR16 industrial robot using the Wii remote. They outfitted their robot which they call WiiBot with a number of different end effectors including a tennis racquet and a sword. The high precision and power KR16 looks rather intimidating when wielding the sword. This is definitely not a project with a large margin for error.

To really appreciate the fluidity of the robot’s motion and the effort that went into its development, you should watch the video (below) the two engineers made to document their effort. You can also read their blog documenting the project in more detail here.

Prof. Peter Stone: IJCAI-2007 Computers and Thought Award

Dr. Peter Stone who is assistant professor in the Department of Computer Sciences at The University of Texas Austin was the recipient of this year’s Computers and Thought Award. The award is presented during the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) to a person selected by a specially selected review committee. Prof. Stone received the award for his contributions to robotics and more specifically for his research in multi-agent systems in collaborative and adversarial dynamic environments.

Prof. Stone has developed a number of new machine learning and vision algorithms that enable robots to play team sports and specifically soccer. His RoboCup teams have been extremely successful over the last few years something that he attributes to the development of improved reinforcement learning algorithms.

Interestingly, the award was not presented to anyone during the last conference in 2005 because the committee did not deem anyone was good enough. This makes Stone’s selection even more important and I would like to join in congratulating him for his success.

Peter gave a very interesting talk during the conference. He claimed that artificial intelligence research should be driven by what he calls “challenge problems.” He advocates that we should work towards the ultimate goal of AI (building autonomous learning agents) using a bottom-up approach, i.e., by constructing robots capable of completing specific tasks such as playing soccer. He believes that top-down approaches miss out on discovering heuristics that would make most of AI problems solvable. One of the biggest challenges for bottom-approaches are that can be very specific to the particular task and not generalize to other problems. Early in his talk, Prof. Stone made it clear that there is a middle ground where the two approaches meet and that is his battlefield. Luckily for those who could not attend the conference, a video of the talk as well as Stone’s presentation slides are available online here.

The Computers and Thought Award is very prestigious and some very notable scientists have received it over the years. Past recipients include David Marr, Tom Mitchell, Rodney Brooks, Martha Pollack, Stuart Russell, Leslie Kaelbling and Daphne Koller among many others.

ASPOGAMO: A computer vision system for the visual tracking of soccer players

The Intelligent Autonomous Systems Group at the Munich University of Technology (TUM) is developing a system for automatically tracking soccer players during live games. The idea is to use the camera data from live TV broadcasts to estimate the trajectories of all the players visible in order to determine their intent as well as the overall team strategy. Part of the Automated SPOrt Game Analysis Model (ASPOGAMO) was recently presented during the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence held at Hyderabad, India.

The paper written by M. Beetz, S. Gediki, J. Bandouch, B. Kirchlechner, N. Hoyningen and A. Perzylo focuses on the visual tracking aspect of ASPOGAMO. The system takes as input images captured with TV broadcast cameras and in near real-time estimates the camera’s direction and zoom factor and the tracking and smoothing of player trajectories.

The team demonstrates the system’s abilities with taped data from live broadcasts of World Cup 2006 games that was held in Germany last summer. The project’s website is hosting a number of short video clips showcasing ASPOGAMO’s ability to track the players and ball’s positions. The paper reports that ASPOGAMO estimates players’ positions to within 0.5 meters. In addition, the system’s player detection rate is over 90% for what are considered challenging image sequences.

Tracking multiple targets using a moving camera is a very difficult problem in computer vision. Recent advances in object detection and state estimation using stochastic frameworks is making systems such as ASPOGAMO possible. I expect that in less than 5 years, a computer will be able to watch a soccer game live, understand a team’s strategy and make suggestions for countering it.

Moji Intelligent Messenger to use Artificial Intelligence for protecting children online

The Australian startup Mor(f) Dynamics Pty Ltd plans to introduce a new chatterbot or chat bot that will supervise a child’s online activities creating an online environment safe from online predators. The Moji Intelligent Messenger (IM) chatterbot takes the form of a virtual pet that uses an complex artificial intelligence engine to infer the meaning of online conversations alarming the child’s parents when the conversation is deemed threatening to the child.

"Our technology allows the pet to 'understand' conversations so that no matter how something is said, it can detect the other person's intentions and determine where the discussion is heading," said Chong, Mor(f)'s managing director.

The choice of masking such intelligent monitoring software with a virtual pet interface is based on the assumption that if the character is likeable then children will want to use Moji IM without feeling that they are not living in some ‘big brother’ environment. As such, children are given the option to design their pet using their own preferences and imagination. Moji IM is also capable of improving over time its owner’s model based on past activity.

A beta version of Moji IM is scheduled for release in May.

There is a longer article on Moji IM at The Star Online:TechCentral.

Australian MNLR to develop medical microbot by 2009

Wired magazine is featuring an article that reveals the plans of an international team of scientists hard at work to develop the first arterial microbot by 2009. The team is led by James Friend from the Micro/Nanophysics Research Laboratory at Australia's Monash University. The microbot will be no larger than 250-microns and it will be able to "swim through the arteries and digestive system." The robot which will be remote controlled is designed to transmit images and deliver payload to parts of the body.

It should be noted that the microbot is still in the design and early prototype phases but the research team believes that they will be able to deliver the robot in 2-years time when others have failed to do the same thus far. The team believes that recent advances in piezoelectric material they plan to use for the construction of the microbot’s motors is the technology that will allow them to make such a tiny robot a reality.

The microbot’s design is inspired by the E. coli bacterium and it is small enough to pass through the patient’s heart causing no harm. The team expects that patients of stroke, embolism and vascular-disease will benefit greatly from the development of the microbot as its use is expected to reduce the risk involved with more evasive treatments currently in use.

Finally, the team has not yet named their robot and in fact they are hoping to solicit the public’s assistance in this task. If you want the honor to name this groundbreaking robot then post your suggested name here.

WowWee Robopanda video

WowWee was out in full force during the recently held Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Among the many robots that they introduced, they presented Robopanda which is their only robot to come without a remote control. Robopanda is a very interesting interactive, smart toy. The robot has a number of touch sensors on its body head and paws along with motion sensors that can detect when the robot has been lifted off the ground. Robopanda is capable of telling stories and actually crawling when instructed to. Robopanda is a far cry from "Tedy" in Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence: A.I. movie but it is a good start. The video below gives a very detailed overview of the robot which is going to retail next fall for $229.

Honda demonstrates latest ASIMO at CES 2007

Honda impressed the crowds at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2007 taking place in Las Vegas demonstrating their latest model of the ASIMO humanoid robot. ASIMO has come a long way since Honda started development almost 2 decades ago. There are several videos of the demonstration floating around the Web and of course we have one of them below. The video shows how ASIMO can walk and run while turning as well as dynamically balance itself in response to external forces, i.e., a person pushing or pulling ASIMO. The robot is also shown shaking hands with a person and of course dancing. I have to admit that ASIMO does not dance as nicely as the now defunct SONY QRIO but ASIMO is also shown kicking a ball and walking up and down a flight of stairs. Honda’s future plans for this technology include developing it as a helper robot for the elderly including the ability to hand objects such as medication to them.

I am glad to see that Honda is serious about the continuous development of their humanoid robot as opposed to their counterparts at SONY who scrapped the project because they couldn’t make a quick buck out of it.

Enjoy the video,

Introducing the iRobot Create programmable robot so that you don't have to hack your Roomba

The popular Roomba robot can finally find peace and focus on keeping our floors clean after iRobot’s introduction of the Create programmable robot platform (Model 4400.) Until now, robotics entrepreneurs and hobbyists had to hack their Roomba robot in order to extend its capabilities to more than floor vacuuming. So, iRobot designed the Create platform which is essentially a Roomba without the vacuuming mechanism but comes with a set of tools for programming. The new robot is designed specifically for robustness and expandability,

10 built-in demos and 32 built-in sensors allow you to control the Create robot and experiment with robotics. An open cargo bay and 25-pin expansion port allows you to add your own sensors, grippers, wireless connections, computers, or other hardware. Fully documented serial protocol provides full access to sensors, actuators, and on-board scripting functionality. Supported under Windows XP via serial port.

The robot is designed to unleash the creativity of young minds and iRobot hopes that it will be used extensively in education. One great example of the creativity that can be unleashed with iRobot’s Create is the Bionic Hamster,

A hamster is located in the back on the Create robot, inside a clear plastic sphere. By running in the sphere the hamster will control where the robot moves, and the robot’s speed.

Other interesting robots showcased on iRobot's website include the roboWriter and maidBot. The robot sells for the very affordable price of $129.99 and it ships within a couple of days.

WowWee introduces Roboquad spider-like toy robot

WowWee who have brought to market the very successful Robosapien, RS Media and Roboraptor toy robots are innovating once again. WowWee showcased their new spider-like robot named Roboquad during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Roboquad has four legs and it can move in all directions at 3 different speeds. It is specifically designed for high maneuverability. Roboquad is equipped with a steerable head that houses infrared sensors used for constructing spatial models of the robot’s surrounding environment. WowWee claims that their new robot can detect movement at distances larger than 10 feet and environment features such as doorway edges. So, here is a short video of Roboquad in action (courtesy of the good people of Gizmodo.)

Daniel H. Wilson's list of top 5 robots you can buy today

I was trying to avoid writing a robot top 5 (or top 10) end-of-the year list because I was concerned that I would not give enough credit to all the great robots that made the news in 2006. However, I came across an interesting top 5 robots list written for Popular Mechanics by no other than the author of the hilarious How to Survive a Robot Uprising book and I thought that it was worth mentioning it here. Daniel’s selection includes only robots that are available to buy today so obviously it excludes anything in the prototype or research stage. The list is sorted according to the robot’s cost and apparently awesomeness. You should read Daniel's online article wich explains his choices. His list includes as one would expect the LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit, Kondo KHR-1 HV humanoid robot, Cyberdyne Systems HAL-5 Exoskeleton and Autonomous Solutions Inc. Unmanned Ground Vehicles fleet. In the bottom fifth position he places Fisher-Price’s Tickle Me Elmo Extreme (TMX) which I don’t agree that it should be on the list. A better choice in my opinion would have been WowWee’s Robosapien robot.

NASA's twin Mars rovers get smarter with software update

While the rest of us were taking some time off to be with family and friends during the holiday period, NASA's JPL Mars rover team was working hard to upload and test a software upgrade for the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

The software upgrade will improve the decision making and visual recognition and tracking capabilities of the two rovers. First, the new software will be able to detect clouds and dust devils on the Martian atmosphere and surface. In the past, the rovers would send back to Earth all the images captured and then a team of scientists would look through them to find instances of these natural phenomena. The robots will now be able to automatically detect dust devils and clouds and only transmit the relevant photographs. In addition, the new software will enable the robots to visually track features on the Martian surface helping with localization and navigation. Finally, in terms of decision making, the upgrade will help the rovers to plan their actions further into the future allowing for better efficiency for tasks such as navigation and control over the placement of the rovers’ scientific instruments.

The two rovers are nearing their 3rd anniversary of continuous operation on the surface of Mars. The two rovers were initially destined to complete only a 90-day mission.

Spirit and Opportunity are by far the most successful robots ever build.