A Short History of Robots

Robot Timeline

• ~270BC an ancient Greek engineer named Ctesibus made organs and water clocks with movable figures.
• 1818 - Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein" which was about a frightening artificial lifeform created by Dr. Frankenstein.
• 1921 - The term "robot" was first used in a play called "R.U.R." or "Rossum's Universal Robots" by the Czech writer Karel Capek. The plot was simple: man makes robot then robot kills man!
• 1941 - Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov first used the word "robotics" to describe the technology of robots and predicted the rise of a powerful robot industry.
• 1942 - Asimov wrote "Runaround", a story about robots which contained the "Three Laws of Robotics":
  • A robot may not injure a human, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  • A robot must obey the orders it by human beings except where such orders would conflic with the First Law.
  • A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict withe the First or Second Law.
• 1948 - "Cybernetics", an influence on artificial intelligence research was published by Norbert Wiener
• 1956 - George Devol and Joseph Engelberger formed the world's first robot company.
• 1959 - Computer-assisted manufacturingg was demonstrated at the Servomechanisms Lab at MIT.
• 1961 - The first industrial robot was online in a General Motors automobile factory in New Jersey. It was called UNIMATE.
• 1963 - The first artificial robotic arm to be controlled by a computer was designed. The Rancho Arm was designed as a tool for the handicapped and it's six joints gave it the flexibility of a human arm.
• 1965 - DENDRAL was the first expert system or program designed to execute the accumulated knowledge of subject experts.
• 1968 - The octopus-like Tentacle Arm was developed by Marvin Minsky.
• 1969 - The Stanford Arm was the first electrically powered, computer-controlled robot arm.
• 1970 - Shakey was introduced as the first mobile robot controlled by artificial intellence. It was produced by SRI International.
• 1974 - A robotic arm (the Silver Arm) that performed small-parts assembly using feedback from touch and pressure sensors was designed.
• 1979 - The Standford Cart crossed a chair-filled room without human assistance. The cart had a tv camera mounted on a rail which took pictures from multiple angles and relayed them to a computer. The computer analyzed the distance between the cart and the obstacles.

Google wins DARPA’s robotics challenge, wonders if it was a good idea to turn down future military contracts

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DARPA’s Robotic Challenge took place in Florida 2013, pitting some of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots against each other in a series of complex tasks, and rather fortuitously for a famously acquisitive Silicon Valley company, the winning robot was fielded by a company called Schaft — a Japanese company that was recently acquired by Google as part of its rather sudden segue into robotics. Google now officially, and probably not unintentionally, has its hands on the best humanoid robot in all the land.

The Schaft robot, made by Shaft Inc of Japan — which is now one of Google’s primary robotics research labs —  is one of around 10 robots that were entered into DARPA’s Robotic Challenge (DRC). Over the weekend, the robots competed in eight different tasks to gauge the current state of semi-autonomous bipedal robots, and, of course, to find out who’s the best. (The winner has a strong chance of winning prize money and securing lucrative future contracts from DARPA and the Department of Defense.) The Schaft team won in four out of eight tasks — terrain, ladder, debris, and hose — and accrued a total score of 27 points. Second-place IHMC Robotics, which used Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot, came in second with two task wins and 20 points.

Rounding out the rest of the DRC results, Tartan Rescue (Carnegie Mellon + NREC) came in third with its CHIMP robot, picking up 18 points, and MIT came in fourth with an Atlas. NASA’s Valkyrie sadly scored zero points. A full break down of the contest and the results can be found on the DRC Trials website. Some cool videos from the event can be found on DARPA’s YouTube channel.

Schaft is a squat (1.48 meters, 4’11″), gangly-limbed robot that is primarily notable for its use of a capacitor to drive “high-voltage liquid cooled motors,” rather than a battery and normal servos. Capacitors have a lot of power (they can discharge very quickly), but cannot store much energy (they run dry after a few seconds). By using a capacitor, Schaft has much stronger and faster muscles. (Historically, despite how they’re depicted in movies likeTerminator, standalone robots are rarely fast or strong. Batteries, due to their low specific power, struggle to produce a lot of speed and torque.)

Despite being the runaway winner, if you watch the video above, it’s clear that robots are still very slow, sometimes taking more than a minute to plan their next move. This is partly due to the slowness of the on-board motors, but also because the robots are still primarily being operated by human controllers. The next step for Schaft, and for any other humanoid robot that wants a piece of the lucrative humanoid robot market, is to increase autonomy. The idea is that you should be able to tell one of these robots to do something — clear that debris, drive that ambulance to the hospital, go and fight on the front line — and then just leave it to carry out those actions. Such autonomy requires a lot more than just fancy motors and dexterous robotic limbs, though — we’re talking about highly advanced computer vision, problem solving, and other advanced applications of computer science that we can’t yet squeeze onto a robot.

Google, of course, is probably rubbing its hands together and cursing the fact that it publicly stated it wouldn’t take on any further military contracts. The grand final for the DRC is next year, and the winner — other than netting a $2 million cash prize — would almost certainly score a large contract from the US government, which initially wants to procure robots for disaster response, and eventually war. We still have no idea what Google plans to do with its newly acquired robotics department, and realistically it’ll probably be a long while before Google tells us — if it even knows the answer itself.

5 Projects You Won't Believe the US Government Is Working On

The mad inventor from the James Bond movies, Q, is real. Only there are lots of him, and they have a lot more money at their disposal. In the real world, they're called DARPA -- the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Never heard of them? You should have -- they're responsible for some of the best technology (the Internet) and the worst (Agent Orange) produced in the last 50 years. Their job is to dream up the craziest shit possible and make it real. And, since they're exempt from several government hiring and spending laws, they're not shy about thinking outside the box. Way, way outside.
Some of what they're working on right now includes ...

#5. Creepy Robot Hummingbirds and Space Planes

If you want a plane to get to where the bad guys are without being noticed, you have several options: You can make it fly really, really high and really, really fast (as is typical with spy planes), or you can get creative. DARPA has utterly insane plans to do both.

airforce-magazine.com
"We've finally weaponized the doorstop, men."

First we have FALCON, or Force Application and Launch from Continental United States (we hope they pay their acronym guys really well). The FALCON program is mainly focused on the X-41 CAV -- an alien-looking, cone-shaped "near-space" plane that can go 13,000 miles per hour (which is 20 times the speed of sound).

Via Disinfo.com
This is either a 3-D model of it or an official DARPA bicycle seat.

If you don't understand what 20 times the speed of sound gets you, how about this: It can go anywhere in the world, and photograph or kill anyone, in an hour or so.
But DARPA is also capable of thinking small -- the kind of small that is somehow creepier than a magical instant-death murdership.

Via DARPA
"An estimated 80 percent of conversations go unrecorded. DARPA can fix that."

That's why they're also looking into something they call micro air vehicles, like the Shrike, which basically looks exactly like a kid's RC copter and is built primarily for spying and reconnaissance. So, really, it is an RC copter, with an iPhone taped to it.

Via DARPA
Ta da!

And if that sounds unimpressive, don't worry -- they're also developing the much smaller and much creepier NAV -- the Nano Air Vehicle. One day you might find one hanging around your neighbor's bird feeder.
Yes, we're talking about a tiny robot hummingbird that can spy on terrorists (and maybe you). The whole thing is less than 6 inches tall and lighter than an ounce, and as demonstrated by the image on the project's page, it will fool absolutely everyone ever.

Via DARPA
"I AM A NORMAL EARTH HUMMINGBIRD. PLEASE DO NOT APPROACH."

This is part of DARPA's ongoing effort to create ...

#4. A System to See Everything, All the Time

Sure, we have spy satellites. But they're still limited -- you have to wait for them to pass over the area you want to photograph, for instance, and your targets might be doing their business indoors. No, if you want to see your enemy in real time, you need to get sci-fi on that shit.
So let's start off with their giant supervillain space blimp.

Defense Industry Daily
Above: When nerds get Defense Department contracts.

ISIS (Integrated Sensor Is Structure) is essentially an inflatable surveillance outpost. It hangs out in the upper atmosphere and has the ability to take high-res battlefield photos, even at night. And they will be able to get one up anywhere, any time -- it can be deployed within a matter of hours. Also, it's totally self-sustained, thanks to a solar energy and hydrogen fuel cell combo, and it doesn't require any kind of input from the ground. It can pretty much cruise around forever.

Via Fastcompany.com
This balloon will outlive you.

And while that's fairly practical, another project called Combat Zones That See (CTS) is just as creepy as it sounds. Remember in The Dark Knight when Batman used Gotham's cellphones to try to track the Joker, and Morgan Freeman got really pissed off at him? Imagine something like that, only using every camera in an entire city instead of just cellphones. That's CTS.
Basically, it uses municipal and other outdoor video and a computerized logic routine to track objects from camera to camera. CTS is intended to be able to primarily track vehicles in war zones, but that hasn't stopped privacy hounds on the Internet from pointing out that it could easily be used to track American citizens right here. Kind of makes you want to never leave the house.

Oh, wait, they've got something for that, too. First is HIBR, or Harnessing Infrastructure for Building Reconnaissance. Basically, DARPA wants to be able to map the insides of buildings, using RF signals like a kind of sonar (wait, wasn't that also in The Dark Knight? What the fuck?). And yes, there's even speculation that the technology could be used for real-time tracking of people inside the building, with an early prototype that can see through up to a foot of concrete.
If that makes you want to retreat to your underground bunker in Montana, well, don't bother. DARPA is also working on GATE, or Gravity Anomaly for Tunnel Exposure, which can detect tunnels and underground bunkers. It's a sensor attached to low-flying aircraft that detects subtle changes in gravity and makes maps of the world underneath our own.

"Shit, I forgot to bring health potions."

#3. Lava Missiles

Once more, in case all of this sounds like paranoid pie-in-the-sky bullshit from some agency trying to justify their funding, let us ask you this: Did you ever play the Modern Warfare games? And did you use the Javelin, that bazooka thing that lets you point at an enemy, then launch a smart missile that will chase his ass down no matter where he goes?

Congratulations, you have used DARPA technology -- the Javelin was created in a partnership between DARPA and Texas Instruments. Here's a video of a real one blowing a Russian tank right the fuck up:

But that's what we have now. For the future, DARPA has once more decided to turn that shit up a notch. And because they use the exact same naming conventions as a comic book supervillain organization, they call the prototype weapon MAHEM -- Magneto Hydrodynamic Explosive Munition. It is a freaking molten metal-filled missile fired out of an electromagnetic launcher.

DARPA
Science is doing its best to turn every weapon you doodled in notebooks as a kid into a reality.

Basically, they launch the missile into the air and deploy the liquid-hot metal when it's at high velocity, then have the metal cool into a giant spear sharpened by aerodynamic forces. It's called a "self-forging penetrator" (which is a boner joke just waiting to happen). Essentially, it's like catapulting a T-1000 at someone.

Via Intomobile.com
"Everybody stand back."

It's meant to penetrate bunkers and other armored buildings and vehicles. Instead of a bunker buster, it's a bunker stabber.

Google's Boston Dynamics now

Is Google building an army of robots? Well, Google has just completed acquisition of its eighth robotics company in the last six months.

Google has confirmed completing acquisition of Boston Dynamics, a company that is known for developing super-fast robots for the US Army. The latest acquisition is considered to be Google's major push into the field of robotics. Prior to Boston Dynamics, Google has taken over seven robotics firms in the last six months.

According to reports, Google's Any Rubin is leading the company's secretive robotics division. So far, the price and size of the project haven't been revealed. Google's other robotics companies include Autofuss and Bot & Dolly, Schaft, Industrial Perception, Meka, Redwood Robotics, and Holomni.

In a statement posted on the Google Plus, Chief Executive Larry Page recently said: “I am excited about Andy Rubin's next project. His last big bet, Android, started off as a crazy idea that ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets. It is still very early days for this, but I can't wait to see the progress."

Boston Dynamics was founded in 1992 by Marc Raibert, an former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company hasn't launched robots commercially, but works with US Army, Navy, Marine Corps and the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Boston Dynamics has developed quite a few robots such as LS3, Atlas, Petman, Cheetah and BigDog. Videos of its walking robots have created a lot of excitement on the web. The BigDog robot is known for its impressive agility. It can climb hills, travels through snow, skitters precariously on ice. WildCat, a four-legged robot, shows off running a car park at high speed.

Google's new acquisition comes at a time when other Internet companies such as Amazon have also been exploring the field of robotics. Amazon recently created a lot of buzz with its plans to deliver packages via drones within a mere 30 minutes.

What is DARPA Robotics Challenge?

The DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) is a prize competition funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Held from 2012 to 2014, it aims to develop semi-autonomous ground robots that can do "complex tasks in dangerous, degraded, human-engineered environments." The DRC was conceived of and is being managed by Dr. Gill Pratt, in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office (TTO). The DRC follows the DARPA Grand Challenge and DARPA Urban Challenge. It began in October 2012; it is to run for about 27 months with three competitions, a Virtual Robotics Challenge (VRC) that took place in June 2013 and two live hardware challenges, the DRC Trials in December 2013, and the DRC Finals in December 2014.
Besides spurring development of semi-autonomous robots, the DRC also seeks to make robotic software and systems development more accessible beyond the end of the program. To that end, the DRC has funded the development of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF) GAZEBO simulator and the construction of six Boston Dynamics ATLAS robots that are being given to the teams that performed best in the VRC

Challenge details of 2013:-

The Robotics Challenge will focus on disaster or emergency-response scenarios. Although the requirements may change as the contest progresses, the initial task requirements for robot entries is:

1. Drive a utility vehicle at the site.

2. Travel dismounted across rubble.

3. Remove debris blocking an entryway.

4. Open a door and enter a building.

5. Climb an industrial ladder and traverse an industrial walkway.

6. Use a tool to break through a concrete panel.

7. Locate and close a valve near a leaking pipe.

8. Connect a fire hose to a standpipe and turn on a valve.

The competition has been broken into multiple tracks. Tracks A and B receive DARPA funding, while Tracks C and D will receive no DARPA funding initially. Tracks B and C will go through the Virtual Robotics Challenge (VRC), after which successful teams may receive funding for subsequent stages. Applications for tracks A and B closed in May 2012. The track C application window closed on 18 December 2012, though late applications were still being considered as of January 2013, though participants may still download the DRC Simulator, an open source application created by the Open Source Robotics Foundation. Track D is open for registration through October 2013.

Humanoid Robots to Flying Cars: 10 Coolest DARPA Projects

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has a reputation for working on some of the most cutting-edge, futuristic projects — many that could easily be mistaken for science fiction. The agency, which falls under the watch of the U.S. Department of Defense, is responsible for developing new technologies for the military.
From humanoid robots to flying armored cars, here are 10 of the coolest DARPA projects.

#10

WildCat and BigDog

As their names suggest, WildCat and BigDog are four-legged, headless robots designed to walk, run and carry heavy loads through potentially dangerous terrain, much like deployed troops. DARPA awarded contracts to Boston Dynamics to develop WildCat and BigDog for use by the military.
BigDog, created in 2005, is 3 feet (0.91 meters) long, and stands 2.5 feet (0.76 m) tall. The robot, which is roughly the size of a small mule, is capable of hauling 400 pounds (181 kg) of cargo, and can navigate difficult terrain and inclines up to 35 degrees.
WildCat, however, is quicker and more agile. The robot can gallop up to 16 mph (25 km/h) on flat surfaces, and is part of a DARPA mission to develop robots that can assist human soldiers on a variety of ground missions.

 #9

Avatar Project

Credit: © 2007 Twentieth Century FoxSometimes life imitates art, as is the case with DARPA's project to develop interfaces that enable soldiers to control and partner with semi-autonomous bipedal machines that, "act as the soldier's surrogate." Sound familiar? Hollywood director James Cameron explored the idea in his 2009 blockbuster hit "Avatar."
In its 2013 budget, DARPA allocated $7 million to its "Avatar Project," which could enable soldiers to control surrogate robots in dangerous combat situations.

#8

Excalibur

Credit: DARPATo reduce the amount of "collateral damage" in war, particularly during battles fought in urban settings, DARPA is developing laser weapons that are small and efficient enough to be used in combat. These experimental laser weapons will be 10 times lighter than existing high-power laser systems currently in use, DARPA officials have said.
The lasers, developed for airplanes, may also be used for laser communications, target designation and airborne self-protection, agency officials added.

#7

Falcon Project

Credit: DARPADARPA's Falcon Project was announced in 2003 as a joint program with the U.S. Air Force. The project aimed to develop a reusable, unmanned, rapid-strike hypersonic vehicle.
A prototype Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) first flew in April 2010 and again in August 2011. The ultra-fast, arrow-shaped drone flew at blistering hypersonic speeds of Mach 20 (about 20 times the speed of sound), more than 22 times faster than commercial jetliners. During the flight, surface temperatures on the vehicle reached 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,930 degrees Celsius), which is hotter than a blast furnace capable of melting steel.
During both test flights, operators lost contact with the HTV-2 prototypes. In July 2013, DARPA confirmed it would not conduct a third flight of the HTV-2, but research on the project will continue until summer 2014 to gain better understanding of hypersonic flight

#6

Transformer

Credit: DARPA
Imagine a militarized version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This is the thrust of DARPA's Transformer project, which aims to develop a flying armored car. The four-person vehicle will be able to drive normally but also take to the skies to avoid road obstructions or other threats on the ground.
The vehicle is being designed to take off and land from the vertical position, and will be able to fly up to 250 nautical miles on a single tank of fuel. Eventually, these flying tanks may be used for strikes, raids, counterinsurgency operations, reconnaissance, medical evacuation and supply missions.

#5

Atlas

Credit: DARPADARPA's Atlas project was revealed to the public on July 11, 2013. The bipedal humanoid robot stands 6-feet tall (1.8 m), and is designed to assist with a range of emergency services, including search and rescue operations. The U.S. Department of Defense is not interested in using the Atlas robot in combat situations, officials have said.
Atlas was developed by Boston Dynamics and was based on some of the company's earlier robot creations

#4

Navigation chip

Credit: DARPAAdvances in GPS technology revolutionized tracking and navigation, but what about areas where GPS is unavailable, or the signals are interrupted? To help soldiers find their way around areas of GPS blackout, DARPA researchers are developing a tiny navigation chip that is smaller than a penny.
The so-called timing & inertial measurement unit (TIMU) chip incorporates three gyroscopes, three accelerometers and a highly accurate master clock into a single miniaturized system that can provide precise information for navigation, including orientation, acceleration and time.
DARPA officials have said the navigation chips will not replace GPS, but rather are designed to work when GPS is unavailable or doesn't work.

#3

X-37

Credit: BoeingThe Boeing-built X-37 reusable space plane started as a NASA project in 1999, but was eventually transferred to DARPA in 2004 before the Air Force took control of the project two years later.

The unmanned X-37 Orbital Test Vehicle, which resembles a miniaturized version of the space shuttle, rides into orbit atop a rocket and returns to Earth and lands as a space plane. The X-37 launched on its first orbital mission in April 2010.
Previously, DARPA reported it was developing the X-37 to rendezvous and refuel older satellites or perform minor repairs in space using a robotic arm. Speculation mounted, however, that the X-37 was being used by DARPA and the Air Force as a vehicle for space-based weapons. In 2010, a high-ranking Air Force official involved with the project dismissed the rumors, and stressed that the X-37's main purpose is to test space technology.

#2

Brain-Machine interfaces

Credit: PNAS, 2013Imagine if your brain could communicate with an external device, such as a thought-controlled mechanical arm or a device to restore sight. DARPA researchers are investigating potential communication pathways between the human brain and machines to build, assist, augment or repair human cognitive or sensory-motor functions.
Research on these so-called brain-machine interfaces began in the 1970s, and work by DARPA researchers is focused on neuroprosthetics that aim to restore damaged sight, hearing and movement. One of DARPA's brain-machine interface projects is Proto2, a thought-controlled prosthetic arm. Proto2 consists of a dexterous hand and fingers that can perform 25 joint motions.

#1

Microscale pumps

Credit: DARPADARPA-funded researchers created the world's smallest vacuum pump system that can be used for any electronics or sensors that require a vacuum. In 2008, DARPA's Chip-Scale Vacuum Micro Pumps (CSVMP) program set out to develop the smallest, most power-efficient pumps ever created.
The vacuum pumps could be used to build tiny chemical sensors, such as ultra-sensitive gas analyzers to detect chemical or biological attacks, or to design new sensors or instruments for micro-drones. The penny-size vacuum pumps were created by researchers at the University of Michigan, MIT and Honeywell International.

       

What is DARPA?

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technologies for use by the military. DARPA has been responsible for funding the development of many technologies which have had a major effect on the world, including computer networking, as well as NLS, which was both the first hypertext system, and an important precursor to the contemporary ubiquitous graphical user interface.

DARPA began as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) created in 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower for the purpose of forming and executing research and development projects to expand the frontiers of technology and science and able to reach far beyond immediate military requirements. The administration was responding to the Soviet launching of Sputnik 1 in 1957, and ARPA's mission was to ensure U.S. military technology be more sophisticated than that of the nation's potential enemies.

Boston Dynamics Now Belongs to Google

BigDog is feeling lucky.
The New York Times is reporting that Boston Dynamics, the company famous for robots like BigDog, LS3, Petman, Atlas, and WildCat, has been entirely swallowed up by Google.
Early this month, news broke that Google had acquired seven robotics startups and that Andy Rubin, the Google engineer who spearheaded the development of Android, is leading this new robots effort at the company. Google was said to be interested in using robots not for consumer applications but rather in logistics, manufacturing, and related activities. Details, however, were scarce, and Google's robotics plan remains a mystery.
The acquisition of Boston Dynamics only makes things more nebulous. The previous robot companies bought by Google were all startups; most were trying to create new robotics technologies that could eventually find commercial applications. Boston Dynamics, on the other hand, was founded nearly 20 years ago and has focused on agile legged robots, relying mostly on military contracts.
One concern with acquisitions like these is that some of the companies that Google has bought do really, really cool stuff. That's why Google bought them, of course, but what's going to happen to the aforementioned cool stuff? Is Bot & Dolly going to continue to make awesome movies? Is Boston Dynamics going to continue to spend military money on wildly awesome robots? Or, is everything just going to disappear into some sort of R&D blender inside the Googleplex, losing all of that individual creativity in the name of a "moonshot" idea dreamed up by a few Google executives?
We're certainly in favor of Google's optimism about the future of robotics, and we hope the company will be able to integrate its recent acquisitions, with its different cultures and approaches, into a coherent strategy that can bring robots closer to everyday life.
As for BigDog, the robot that became Boston Dynamics' first YouTube sensation (this blog was the first to post a video of the robot five years ago), we're sure Google will find good uses for it. Which is to say we totally expect to soon see Google engineers riding on the backs of BigDogs everyone on the Google campus.

Google bought Seven Robotics company

    New York Times has revealed more about Google's plans: according to the article, the company is funding a major new robotics group, and that includes acquiring a bunch of robotics startups, quite a few of which we're familiar with.
A few months ago, we heard rumors that Google was planning something big in robotics. We also heard that Andy Rubin, the engineer who spearheaded the development of Android at Google, was leading this new robotics effort at the company. Rubin, we were told, is personally interested in robots, and now he wants Google to have a major role in making robotics happen. Not just robotic cars, but actual robots. Today, an article in the
robotics group, and that includes acquiring a bunch of robotics startups, quite a few of which we're familiar with.
      You'll definitely want to read the entire New York Times story, where Rubin talks a little bit too vaguely about what Google is actually planning on doing with these as-yet hypothetical robots that they're apparently working on over there, but here's the bit about the acquisitions:
Mr. Rubin has secretly acquired an array of robotics and artificial intelligence start-up companies in the United States and Japan.
Among the companies are Schaft, a small team of Japanese roboticists who recently left Tokyo University to develop a humanoid robot, and Industrial Perception, a start-up here that has developed computer vision systems and robot arms for loading and unloading trucks. Also acquired were Meka and Redwood Robotics, makers of humanoid robots and robot arms in San Francisco, and Bot & Dolly, a maker of robotic camera systems that were recently used to create special effects in the movie “Gravity.” A related firm, Autofuss, which focuses on advertising and design, and Holomni, a small design firm that makes high-tech wheels, were acquired as well.
The seven companies are capable of creating technologies needed to build a mobile, dexterous robot. Mr. Rubin said he was pursuing additional acquisitions

Advanced humanoid robots of 2013

     Though there is various number of robot in the world to do various type of work, Humanoid robots hold the highest place in the robot world, because it's look like human and do what ever human do. There is very few humanoid robot's in the world, Because it is very difficult to construct and make that robot just walking.

    
 The most advanced humanoid robot's of 2013 are 
              1.Honda ASIMO
              2.kirobo and mirata
              3.Kawada HRP-4
              4.Aldebaran Nao
              5.HUBO robot


1. HONDA - ASIMO  

(THE WORLD'S MOST ADVANCED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HUMANOID ROBOT)
     
    

 Building ASIMO is incredible challenge for HONDA engineers, In additio to powerful computer and sophisticated software,ASIMO represents years of research scientific field like Mathematics, Physics - study of motion and anatomoy - study of Human body structure and so on.

     Asimo can walk and run like a human. while it is running, it will run like a human for flying into air for fraction of time between changing one leg to another leg. And also it can easily able to claim in stairs and come down easily. Also it is easily communicate with human using languages. 

BALANCING:
     Asimo uses POSTURE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY to proactively bend or twist it's body to maintain balance and prevents foot slipping while walking and running.

AVOIDING OBSTACLES:
     Asimo uses ground and visual sensor to identify an obstacles and then autonomously select a different route to prevent collisions.

DIMENSIONS:
     HEIGHT : 51inch /  1300mm  /  130cm
     WIDTH  : 18inch /   450mm   /   45cm

COMPOSITION:
     Asimo body is made up of magnesium alloy covered with plastic resin, which make ASIMO durable and light weight.

POWER SOURCE:
      Asimo is powered by a rechargeable battery 51.8 volt lithium ion battery(Li-ION) battery that lasts for one hour on single charge. This battery is stored in asimo's backpack and weights about 13 pounds or 6 KG.

2. KIROBO AND MIRATA:  
  

     Kirobo is Japan's first robot astronaut, developed by Tomotaka Takahashi, to accompany Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station. Kirobo arrived on the ISS on August 10th 2013 on JAXA's H-II Transfer Vehicle Kounotori 4, an unmanned resupply spacecraft launched August 4th 2013 from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center. A twin to Kirobo, named Mirata, was created with the same characteristics. Mirata will stay on Earth as a backup crew member. The word "kirobo" itself is a portmanteau of "kibō" (希望), which means "hope" in Japanese, and the word "robo" (ロボ), used as a generic short word for any robot.

3.Kawada HRP-4

     HRP-4 is a life-size "platform for research and development of working humanoid robots" we have developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), an independent administrative legal entity.
Incorporating to the external design the "slim athlete" concept pursuing affinity with humans, HRP-4 has achieved the new, light-weighted and slim body while succeeding the concept of the conventional models HRP-2 or HRP-3 where the robots coexist with humans and assist or replace human operations or behavior.
Further, promotion of optimized specifications or component sharing/simplification has reduced the price for the robot, a great step forward the next-generation working humanoid robot.
For its control, HRP-4 employs OpenRTM-aist to make available national and international software assets, improving efficiency in research.

We will continue to advance our research and development on robots making use of the past robotics research and the development know-how obtained from HRP-4, and to create a robot that works in our living spaces and improves our quality of life.

HRP-4, a humanoid robot that can coexist with humans

4.Aldebaran Nao

     NAO, the robot the present stole the provide evidence at the new Robotville event? Well, NAO’s right now exciting set of abilities hold recently kept on long amidst Aldebaran Robotics releasing a new version of its cute little humanoid robot. Around two thousand NAOs are spent for exploring and education purposes all everywhere the nation but now the current the NAO Next Gen is ready, the founder and chairman ofAldebaran Robotics, Bruno Maisonnier, hopes to see it become useful to humans in a a great deal more direct sense.

Cute Little Humanoid Robot

It’s new abilities are to construct it a good deal !no! versatile and, amid additionally things, prepare it for trying in on autistic children and the elderly.We discussed NAO in detail in 2009, and as of consequently not a good deal has will be on the outside. We are glad such is the state of affairs due to the fact that NAO could easily not get a good amount likable.

Cute Little Humanoid Robot

However, the interesting portion is what is hiding below the hood. For one thing, the Next Gen now has !no! computing gas at its disposal and manages multitasking much even better thanks to an on-board 1.6 GHz Atom processor. Also, NAO’s vision has acquired an upgrade amidst two HD cameras and the ability to method two video streams simultaneously.

Cute Little Humanoid Robot

This improves deal with and object recognition a good deal below influencing lighting conditions. There is additionally a sonar distance sensor, two infrared emitters and receivers, nine tactile and eight pressure sensors. All in all, a quite massive set of weapons this enable the robot to ideal navigate its environment.

Cute Little Humanoid Robot

NAO Next Gen has two microphones the current help it to pinpoint where a voice command, or any larger amount of noise for such a matter, is occuring from. New voice recognition service labeled Nuance coupled provided a “word spotting” functionality allows the robot to can identify sentences or isolate a single word based on information from a overall string of idioms in a sentence. Add a text to speech capability and fluency in 8 languages and NAO gets an interesting partner for discussions.

Cute Little Humanoid Robot

And this is not the end of utility tied advancements. The new NAO now boasts a technique to forestall limb/body collisions, an improved torque control mechanism and an adaptive walking algorithm.  Should the 23 inch (59 cm) tall humanoid robot be pushed off balance, the slow down will be able to be merely cushioned. Once a being nervous shift in NAO’s heart of mass is detected, all motion-related actions are instantly put on own and the robot uses its limbs to cover itself against the impact, easily want a human would.

Cute Little Humanoid Robot

Aldebaran Robotics is now striving on educational content for the robot to be able to endeavor providing insane class under graduates and on skilled utility for customized well-being tied applications. That said, the best concern nearly NAO is this it is open to 3rd party developers. They now undergo a a greater amount of versatile and powerful software to play with, so we presume them to do a small amount of interesting situations amongst NAO in the future.

5. HUBO ROBOT

     HUBO (휴보 KHR-3) is a walking humanoid robot, head mounted on a life-size walking bipedal frame, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and released on January 6, 2005. According to Hubo's creator Prof Jun-Ho Oh and his Plenary Session at ICRA 2012 entitled Development Outline of the Humanoid Robot: HUBO II the name Hubo is short form for nothing, it is just Hubo.

Hubo has voice recognition and synthesis faculties, as well as sophisticated vision in which its two eyes move independently of one another.

	KHR-0 (2001)	KHR-1 (2002)	KHR-2 (2004)	HUBO (KHR-3) (2005)	Albert HUBO (2005)	HUBO 2 (KHR-4) (2008)	HUBO 2 Plus (2011)
Weight	29 kg	48 kg	56 kg	56 kg	57 kg	45 kg	43 kg
Height	110 cm	120 cm	120 cm	125 cm	137 cm	125 cm	130 cm
Walking speed	-	1.0 km/h	1.2 km/h	1.25 km/h	1.25 km/h	1.5 km/h	1.5 km/h
Continuous operating time	-	-	-	60 minutes	60 minutes	120 minutes	120 minutes
Degrees of Freedom	12	21	41	41	66	40	38

HUBO 2, which was completed in 2008, is comparable to Honda's ASIMObut was built in record time. Though ASIMO took 14 years to develop, KAIST's team matched its performance in just six years and did it at a fraction of the cost. With its combination of high tech and frugality, Rainbow Co. has successfully commercialized the robot as a research platform, with customers in China and Singapore.