Playback: Fire fighting robots

Here are some videos of fire fighting robots, I was going to make a joke about the weather but it's just too hot for that. Also, you can blame the weather for the lack of updates if you want, I know I will.


I don't know what I like more, The enthusiasm of the roboticists or the fact that the robot is driving away from the fire.



They also appear to be working for our future overlords, here they are teaching the robot to detect when humans might be trying to douse them in gasoline.



The primary difference between fire fighting robots and fire starting robots is the working fluid and it looks like this robot is capable of both starting fires and putting them out. Thus, the robot will lull the humans into a false sense of security by thinking that the robot saved them from a fire. However, I don't think that the robots will forgive them for the humiliations that easily.

Playback: Monday Morning Delta Robots

Here at I Heart Robotics, we are slightly obsessed with delta robots. To help you with your Monday morning procrastination, we have gathered a fine selection of videos to go with your coffee, tea, or battery recharge and cell balancing cycle.


First, let's start the morning with some pick and place calisthenics.


You can tell if you have had too much caffeine or EMI if you start shaking.



Smile!



Maybe some bread for breakfast.


¿Por qué es azul? La robusteza fue hecha en Guatemala.



This one is ready to help out on your kitchen table.



I think I'll have cookies for breakfast.

Wonderful Robot Carnival

Lem over at robots dreams has extensive coverage of the Wonderful Robot Carnival that just happened in Japan.

Cooperative Grasping and Transport using Quadrotors

[From: DIY Drones]

PIXHAWK at IMAV2010

More updates from the PIXHAWK team at ETH Zürich

PR2 Safety Video

This is an excellent video and other robot manufacturers should use this video as a reference for a great safety video. Ideally, every robot should come with something like this. The rest of the new PR2 support site also sets a great example for the industry.

RoboCup Rescue: award winning haptic manipulator

This manipulator and haptic interface were developed by Pelican United and won the award for Best-In-Class Manipulation at RoboCup 2010 Rescue Robot League competition. The team is a collaboration between Tohoko University and the Chiba Institute of Technology in Japan. There are many other great search and rescue robots at the Tadokoro Laboratory website.

PR2 achieves beverage delivery milestone

Over at Willow Garage, a research team has recently achieved an important milestone in personal robotics. The above video demonstrates robust autonomous beverage delivery and automatic opening of containers.

Concrete Printing Robot

printing in cement from factum-arte on Vimeo.

This robot looks like a good starting point for building one that is capable of constructing my future moon house. I wonder how concrete works in space...

[From: Unfold Fab]

Daylight Readable Groundstation Display

It looks like the DIY kits from Pixel Qi are available now. These look like they would be perfect for building a ground station.