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Please note: 

As of December 2012, the RoboCom Flagship initiative was ended.  For more information please refer to the FET Flagship Programme 

You can find a follow up of the topics addressed by this blog at the
“Convergent Science Network for Biomimetics and Neurotechnology” BLOG
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This Bot Doesn’t Bite…

Check out this robot inspired by fleas!

Scientists at Seoul National University (SNU) have recently created a robot inspired by tiny blood-sucking bugs: fleas! Pesky as these little insects may be, they’ve got an incredible physical ability that not even an Olympic high-jumper could compete with — these guys can jump over 200 hundred times their own body length! See for yourself in NewScientist’s video above.
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Posted in Asia, Biology, Robots and Research, Robots and the Environment, Robots Around the World | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Bigger and Better Robotics Industry for Europe

The European Commission recognizes Robotics as a key industry for the future of Europe

The European Commission has recently agreed to launch a Public Private Partnership in Robotics (PPP) between academia and industry for 2013. 

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Posted in Europe, Project News, Robots and Research, Robots and Society, Robots Around the World | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Robots With Gangnam Style

You may recognize this machine’s winning dance routine!

South Korean pop artist PSY’s song Gangnam Style has become an international sensation. Some consider the song to be unique and catchy yet others maintain it’s rather repetitive and annoying. While the tune might get old, most will agree that PSY’s dance moves will not! And now that Gangnam Style has gone viral, even machines are moving to the melody!
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A Real Life Transformer?

Japan’s working on robots for entertainment and emergencies!

If you’re a fan of Transformers, you’ll love Suidoubashi Heavy Industries’ new Kuratas robot. The jumbo toy currently on the market for about a million euros, is custom made for each of its owners. As both a vehicle and a robot, the Kuratas can be driven by the user seated in the robot’s cockpit. The giant bot may look pretty cool cruising down the street however it’s not the swiftest mode of transportation as its top speed is only about 10 km an hour.
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Posted in Asia, Robots and Research, Robots and Society, Robots Around the World, Science Fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Petman is Back!

With greater skill and finesse as the Pet-proto

You may be familiar with the US’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Petman robot, which was featured in one of our previous posts along with some other incredible humanoid robots. In coordination with Boston Dynamics once again, DARPA has recently released a new video introducing Pet-proto, a machine which is being developed as precursor to the Atlas robot whose making is in the works.
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Cognitive Skills for Rehabilitation Robots

Europe invests in cognitive skills for rehabilitation robots

The European Commission has provided a grant for €780,800  to develop cognitive skills for rehabilitation robots being developed by CORBYS (Control Framework for Robotic Systems), a four year European project which began in February, 2011.
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Artists, Philosophers and Robots

Ghost in the Machine- Guy David

The development and design of future technology should foster some unlikely alliances

The late professor of English and Cultural studies at De Montfort University, Nicholas Zurbrugg, focused largely on the analysis of the contemporary, the experimental and the avant-garde. His 1999 paper, Virilio, Stelarc and ‘Terminal’ Technoculture, published in Theory, Culture and Society,
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Do You Speak Lingodroid?

Ruth Schulz and Her Team at the University of Queensland Develop Robots Capable of Creating Their Own Language

 

¨ Where are you? ¨ asks your friend impatiently as you struggle to find each other in a busy park you have never been to, ¨i’m at the fountain, to the left of the swing set. How far away are you?¨ A conversation such as this is an example of how language enables us to gain information about places we have little experience with. While it’s easy to find our way around our own neighborhood, we need to be able to communicate to find our way around someone else’s. Continue reading

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Happy Holidays!

Have a great summer…

 

 

 

We’ll be back with more this fall!

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