Robots !

[SteamWake]

I know some of you are robot fans here.

This is a series of hi-res photos of all kinds of robots in action. Some amazing and frankly concearning stuff.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/201..._part_iii.html

[Schroeder]

Nice find.

[Oberon]

I find this the most awesome part of it all:

A group of European scientists announced in December of 2009 that they successfully connected a robotic hand to a man, Petruzziello, who had lost an arm in a car accident, allowing him to control the prosthetic with his thoughts and feel sensations in the artificial limb. The experiment lasted a month. But scientists say it marks the first time an amputee has been able to make complex movements using his mind to control a biomechanic hand connected to his nervous system.

[DarkFish]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I find this the most awesome part of it all:

by chance I happen to have spoken an expert on this area about a month ago, and he was quite sceptic about these kind of things. According to him, (using the current experimental technologies) we are only able to measure very few brain responses (e.g. the so-called P300-response). Definitely not the signals used to control your hand.

So don't think of it as an artificial hand you control in exactly the same way as you would control your real hands.
It probably uses some kind of "thought code" instead, using those very few signals that are measurable. This would require extensive training before you could even wobble your little finger up and down.

A very good example of how such thing works:

it's not like you think "w" and a "w" appears on your screen. But rather you see the cursor automatically scroll through all the letters, and when it selects "w" you think "yeah that's the one!".

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by DarkFish

by chance I happen to have spoken an expert on this area about a month ago, and he was quite sceptic about these kind of things. According to him, (using the current experimental technologies) we are only able to measure very few brain responses (e.g. the so-called P300-response). Definitely not the signals used to control your hand.

So don't think of it as an artificial hand you control in exactly the same way as you would control your real hands.
It probably uses some kind of "thought code" instead, using those very few signals that are measurable. This would require extensive training before you could even wobble your little finger up and down.

A very good example of how such thing works:

it's not like you think "w" and a "w" appears on your screen. But rather you see the cursor automatically scroll through all the letters, and when it selects "w" you think "yeah that's the one!".

Your 'expert' friend may want to read this..

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/...in/?test=faces

[DarkFish]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Your 'expert' friend may want to read this..

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/...in/?test=faces

well, even in that article they admit they (quote) "are not there yet".

According to the expert I'm talking about (an electrical engineer working on things like this), we shouldn't expect to see these things in the near future.
That said, in the far future we probably will be able to do such things. Just not now yet.

With nowadays technology, the best we can do is use some very generic, easy to detect brain signals. (these applications are completely brain-controlled, mind you. It's just not the brain-control anyone would expect)

[SteamWake]

I know I just thought he might be interested in the article is all

Here is a little something I think the porn industry will be all over !

Hong Kong scientists have developed a robotic hand that allows people talking over the web to experience the sensation of touching each other — even feeling the strength of a handshake.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...#ixzz0l5HOUdXl

[Sailor Steve]

#6: BigDog rocks and rules! Love BigDog!


He needs snowshoes, though.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

#6: BigDog rocks and rules! Love BigDog!


He needs snowshoes, though.

OMG that is just plain freaky. The part where he kicks it and it regains its balance then it's walking on ice you would swear it was a living breathing creature.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

OMG that is just plain freaky. The part where he kicks it and it regains its balance then it's walking on ice you would swear it was a living breathing creature.

BigDog is developed for soldiers , but if you want to really be creeped out check out his forerunner.


Fun with BigDog.

[nikimcbee]

needs lasers and snow stormtroopers.

[SteamWake]

I dunno it was obvious that little dog was a machine in the way it moved. Big dog on the other hand appears to be much more organic in the way it reacts.

Speaking of that.. how about "Robot Fish"



I can think of a few ways this could be used

and "Fish Robot"

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

I dunno it was obvious that little dog was a machine in the way it moved. Big dog on the other hand appears to be much more organic in the way it reacts.

Speaking of that.. how about "Robot Fish"



I can think of a few ways this could be used

and "Fish Robot"

I could do with some of them for my pond....make a huge saving on the feeding bill

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

I dunno it was obvious that little dog was a machine in the way it moved. Big dog on the other hand appears to be much more organic in the way it reacts.

Well, LittleDog was the first model, so he gets better. If you want more organic, how about this spoof?

[UnderseaLcpl]

As cool as Bigdog is, I wouldn't want that thing anywhere near me unless I was in a secured area. It's just too damn loud....and slow. Better to let soldiers carry their own loads with efficient and quickly discardable pack systems like SALLE.

If, and I stress the word if, they could make a quiet, more responsive, faster robot, I'd consider using it, but if they had such a thing we could just put guns on it and use it for fighting rather than carrying.