Mobile robot arm from KUKA

After desktop computing and desktop 3D printing now it´s time to think desktop manipulation and tele-manufacturing. In a near future thousands of students and entrepreneurs will get access to new design and production tools to learn, experiment and realize their product and service dreams. A new era of small scale production and tele-operated manufacturing may be at the horizon, a renaissance for local production and new craftsmen and women?

German industrial robotics manufacturer KUKA Robotics has developed a mobile manipulator for education and research that could become instrumental for promoting and accelerating research in mobile manipulation. The robot is called „youBot“ and has the weight and size to fit on a regular desktop although this is not intended to be the primary work space.

In a student project of the Bavarian elite graduate program Software Engineering at the University of Augsburg an early prototype of the KUKA youBot was connected to the Nintendo Wii controller. Motions of the controller are translated into motions of the youBot arm which holds a wooden marble labyrinth game. Different game modes are possible, where two players can play cooperatively or against each other. 

The omni-directional mobile platform with a 5 DOF manipulator mobile robot is prized € 19.990 excl. VAT and shipment. First KUKA youBots will ship in December 2010. Universities and research facilities are eligible for a 20% academic discount on KUKA youBot hardware. Early bird discount of 25% on KUKA youBot hardware is available until 15. September 2010. 

Locomotec, the official KUKA youBot distributor, has registered the robot in the ECHORD hardware list. Based on the listed robotics hardware European universities and research labs can propose so-called experiments. Experiments are small-scale focused research projects with a strong focus on industrial relevance.

Swisslog enters US mobile robot market

Swisslog, a leading provider of automated materials transport and pharmacy automation solutions for hospitals, announced Feb 2010 that it has entered the autonomous mobile robot market with the introduction of Swisslog SpeciMinder and Swisslog RoboCourier in North America.

SpeciMinder and RoboCourier will be manufactured for Swisslog by CCS Robotics, Inc., widely

recognized as a national leader in the development of autonomous mobile robots for commercial applications within hospitals and laboratories. SpeciMinder robots produced by CCS Robotics have been in use in major medical facilities for the past three years.

2 mill Euro for Danish Field Robot

Researchers from the Mobile Robotics Group at the Aalborg University have received a grant of 14.3 mill DKK (2 mill EUR) for the ASETA project from the Danish Strategic Research Council. The project is in cooperation with Life and Green Support Services at Copenhagen University and Nordic Beet Research. The goal is to develop a system based on autonomous helicopters and ground robots that can spot weed in field of sugar beets and apply appropriate treatment. The first field test is planned to summer 2011 with a larger demonstration of the entire concept in 2013.

Remote controlled telepresence with iPhone

Robotic telepresence (RTP) is the future. It gives you the ability to transport yourself to a remote location, move around, look about, interact with people or objects from your PC or mobilephone whereever in the world without being there.

A creative example combinding an iPhone with a mobile robot comes out of Japan. The iPhone is rigged to a mobile base and connects to MacBook Air over WiFi.

DARPA ANNOUNCES 36 SEMI-FINALISTS FOR URBAN CHALLENGE

Autonomous Vehicle Competition to be Held in Victorville, Calif. (Anaheim, Calif.) – Dr. Tony Tether, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), today announced the 36 teams (list attached) selected as semi-finalists for the Urban Challenge. The semi-finalists will next compete in the Urban Challenge National Qualification Event (NQE) scheduled for October 26-31, 2007. The top 20 teams from the NQE will move on to the Urban Challenge final event on November 3, and compete for cash prizes worth $2 million for first, $1 million for second, and $500,000 for third place.

Autonomous Navigation in Dynamic Environments

Series: Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics , Vol. 35
Laugier, Christian, Chatila, Raja
2007, Approx. 170 p., Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-540-73421-5
Not yet published. Available: October 4, 2007

Part I: Dynamic World Understanding and Modelling for Safe Navigation.- Mobile Robot Map Learning from Range Data in Dynamic Environments.- Optical Flow Approaches for Self-Supervised Learning in Autonomous Mobile Robot Navigation.- Steps Towards Safe Navigation in Open and Dynamic Environments.- Part II: Obstacle Avoidance and Motion Planning in Dynamic Environments.- Provably Safe Motions Strategies for Mobile Robots in Dynamic Domains.- Motion Planning in Dynamic Environments.- Recursive Agent Modeling with Probabilistic Velocity Obstacles for Mobile Robot Navigation among Humans.- Towards Real-Time Sensor-Based Path Planning in Highly Dynamic Environments.- Part III: Human-Robot Physical Interactions.- Tasking Everyday Interaction.