The DARPA Robotics Challenge, set up after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, aims to ‘accelerate the development of robots that can respond to man-made or natural disasters’.
This year, a transforming Korean bot won the $2 million prize.
Hurray!
Now here’s a montage of the robots that fell over.
Wiiiitchcraft.
*ahem*
The Untethered Miniature Origami Robot, created by scientists at MIT is a 1.7cm square device powered by a neodymium magnet and four subsurface electromagnetic coils that allow the robot to assemble itself like an origami sculpture, walk, climb, carry objects twice its weight, swim in shallow water, burrow and dissolve in an acetone solution leaving nothing but the magnet behind.
The potential, according to the research team, is for medical nanobots capable of killing cancer cells or unclogging arteries.
Eamonn Crudden of DKIT writes:
This is a 15 minute sci-fi film set on an Irish farm in the near future where the robots are slowly but surely taking over. It was made by some of my students 2 years ago and has just been released ‘into the wild’. I think your audience would get a buzz out of it.
Directed by Eoin O’Meachair. Produced by Jamie Smith. Written and edited by Ciaran Cumiskey. Cinematography by Eric Scott. 1st AD Michael Doran. Starring Desmond Daly, Colm Deans, Nic Cargin, David Sheahan and Blaithnaid Ryan.
A short film made at KinoD’s Blue Kabaret, directed by and starring Graeme Coughlan. Shot by Marco Griffini.
(Thanks Kino Dublin)
Artist Geoffrey Lillemon sez:
This summer Neil Mendoza, Claudia Crobatia, Mo Schalkx, Maikel van Lingen and I spent a day making a robotic wig pretty up Marian Mudder for [adult swim] Off the Air.
YIKES!
Showa Hanaka 2 – a realistic silicon-faced dental training robot at Showa University in Japan can ‘autonomously turn its head, eyes, sneeze, cough, blink, and simulate choking. The robot has speech recognition capability and can hold conversations with students’.
*shudder*
Internet brainbox C.G.P. Grey talks about the rise of the workplace machines.
Machines like Baxter, who’s already sucking up to the boss behind your back.
