What is Artificial Intelligence?

The Technical University of Munich and the Institute of Technology Autonomous Systems (TAS) are developing the successor of their robot JOHNNIE. It is called LOLA and it is capable of planning its own walking trajectory through a room in real-time using image data.

LOLA is equipped with gyro sensors in its upper body and 6-axis force sensors in its feet to help maintain balance. It stands 180cm (5?10?) tall, weighs 60kg (132 lbs), and has a total of 25 degrees of freedom (2 legs x7, 2 arms x3, waist x2, head x3). To reduce the load and increase its step length and walking speed, they put an extra toe joint on LOLA. However, LOLA is connected via cables to three computers which handle this task due to the processing power required to perform image recognition.

Click here to read more about LOLA.

AILA

AILA, a fembot [GER] developed at the Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz (DFKI/German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence), can identify, grab, sort or transport those objects autonomously. AILA is designed in a way so she can touch and handle a number of different objects safely based on their weight and fragility.

The system uses SemProM (Semantic Product Memory), which it combines with its computer vision when handling objects of varying shapes and sizes. AILA has two laser range finders, stereo vision in its head, a 3D camera for object recognition and orientation, and an RFID reader in its left hand. It has a total of 22 degrees of freedom (wheels x2, 2 arms x7, torso x4, head x2) and moves on a wheeled base containing 6 wheels.

Click here to read more about AILA.

The Robovie-R version 3.

ATR and Vstone formally presented the Robovie-R Ver.3, which included two types. The robot will be used to help guide the elderly in public places such as shopping malls, and subway stations this fall.

The Robovie-R Ver.3 stands 108cm (3?6?) tall, weighs 35kg (77 lbs), and has 17 degrees of freedom (eyes x4, neck x3, 2 arms x4, 2 wheels). Like the Robovie-R Ver.2, Ver.3 runs on a combination of a Windows PC and a sub CPU designed by Vstone. It has 11 tactile sensors throughout its body and is equipped with 2 USB cameras for eyes, 2 mono microphones for ears, a speaker for a mouth, and can be equipped with a laser range finder in its base for obstacle detection. It will also communicate with a local network which includes other robots, cameras, and mobile phone services.

Click here to read more about Robovie-R Ver.3, Robovie-R3.

This pair of pants detects movement and let a computer know your every move.

With the huge leaps of advancement our technology has taken, many gadgets have emerged. But our clothing doesn’t want to get left behind. Maybe it is still early for Web-enabled clothes, but we can expect to see everything from our shirt to our underwear networked in the not too distant future.

An example of this kind of clothing is the one the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg has developed. It is a pair of pants "that detect movement and let a computer know your every move." These smart pants work via a loom that helps sew the wires and fabric together. Sensors embedded in the fabric measure the speed, rotation and flexibility of the pants with every movement. Wireless signals are sent from the pants to a computer to display the activity.

The visual artist and performer known as Stelarc with his invention. It is designed to make conversations between humans and machines easier.

Researchers have developed a robot of sorts that is designed to improve communication between humans and machines. The thinking head enables conversations between humans and machines, through visual signals and more effective, tailored communication depending on who it is talking to.

"The idea is to try to create a somewhat intelligent agent. In other words if you were to ask a question it would be able to give you an answer," explained one of the thinking head's creators, Stelarc, a performance artist and also visiting fellow at the MARCS Auditory Laboratory at the University of Western Sydney. ''If it doesn't know the answer, it has a conversational strategy to respond by asking you a question back or even changing the subject.''

The robot will be unveiled at the New Interfaces for Musical Expression conference at UTS in June.

Click here to read more about The Thinking Head.