Build Your Own Robot at Home

Robo Xero

If you like robots such as the characters in Transformers or the like now you can build your own "Transformers" on your spare time. Outstanding sports performance! Build your own robot of the future!

Stylish appearance as it is reminiscent of the robot hero, a light carriage with quick movement, to demonstrate outstanding athletic performance in a stable balance, the "ROBO XERO". While the advanced features that enable a variety of actions, the assembly is easy. This super robot is a nice toy for youngsters as well as adults.

[Via DeAgostini]

Robots to Rescue Wounded Soldiers on Battlefield

Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot

A robot being tested now may soon have the ability to rescue wounded Soldiers under fire without risking additional lives.

The Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot, or BEAR, has been tested over the past year by Soldiers at the U.S. Army Infantry Center Maneuver Battle Lab at Fort Benning, Ga.

The BEAR can be controlled remotely by a motion-capture glove or specially-equipped rifle grip. A warfighter could use the equipment to guide the robot to recover a wounded Soldier and bring him or her back to where a combat medic could safely conduct an initial assessment.

The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) has helped fund the development of Vecna Technologies' humanoid BEAR, and has funded integration of AnthroTronix's iGlove and M-4 rifle grip controller into the Fort Benning testing.

[Source and further reading: US Army]

Daiwa House’ New Crawlspace Robot

Riding on the wave of robotic devices replacing human workers in high-stress or high-danger locations, Daiwa House Industry, a famous Japanese homebuilding company, announced a new crawlspace inspection robot to be pressed into service in April, 2011. The robot is called moogle (rhymes with goggle or mogul, not Google), weighs 13 kg (28.7 lbs) and measures 50x30x24 cm and is equipped with two cameras (a wide-angle CMOS camera for driving and a CCD camera for inspections), LED inspection lights in three levels of brightness, and four continuous-track crawlers – all of which can be controlled via wifi from a laptop placed in a less claustrophobic location. The third iteration of a joint project between the Chiba Institute of Technology, University of Tsukuba, and Mitsubishi Electric Tokki Systems that began in 2006, the moogle can clear obstacles under 15 cm high and crawl through spaces as small as 50cm wide and 30cm tall.

[Via Akihabaranews]

Raytheon demonstrates XOS 2 – 2nd Generation Robotics Suit

After the first generation, now Raytheon is developing 2nd generation of exoskeleton suit which is lighter and stronger. The suit has been given the name XOS 2.

The suit which uses 50% less power than the previous generation can be used by the military in logistics since it would assist solders in carrying heavy supplies and armaments. Another version of the suit, which would cover just the legs, would help a soldier in the field to carry a heavy backpack over large distances.

Even with 50% less power draw the XOS 2 needs to be tethered for operation. Raytheon is working to create an untethered version, but that’s as much as 10 years away. We should expect to see the tethered XOS 2 in the field within 5 years, though.

[Via geek]