Neural networks can now tackle one of the most important problems our smartphone generation has ever faced: What emoji to use? On a more serious note, neural networks (a computer system that’s modeled after the neurons in the brain) have become a powerful tool for software and robotics. Facebook uses neural networks to identify faces … continue reading
Oculus is opening Rift preorders today to put VR in the hands of people around the world, and the company is also going to give a free Kickstarter Edition Oculus Rift to all of the Kickstarter backers who pledged for a Rift development kit. In a letter obtained by Wired, Oculus said those who pledged … continue reading
Eight years ago, the Robot Operating System (ROS) project began, and since then there have been huge advancements made to the robotics industry. Robots are teaching kids to code, becoming companions, have been given X-ray vision, and even started to fly. But adding these features isn’t easy, and that is where the Robot Operating System … continue reading
Oct. 21, 1985. That was the year young Marty McFly hopped into a DeLorean equipped for time travel to save his future family on the same date 30 years later. That date—Oct. 21, 2015—was a couple of weeks ago. McFly encountered such things videogames played without controllers, drones and biometric identification (all of which we … continue reading
Dell Services has announced Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution, which works with the company’s Automated Full-Time Equivalent (AFTE) and AFTE Command Center. It will help customers increase speed and accuracy in business processes. AFTEs are “robots,” or software agents, that are programmed to perform repeatable and repetitive tasks, freeing up employees who were otherwise doing … continue reading
Google recently announced it was becoming a new company named Alphabet, but there is just one problem: Someone already owns the trademark and Internet domain. The New York Times reported that BMW is the current owner, and the company doesn’t want to sell. A spokeswoman for BMW told the Times the company has no plans … continue reading
Engineers at MIT have developed a way to give robots better dexterity and grip. The engineers developed a model that allows robots to predict the force a gripper needs to pick up something, giving it the ability to adjust its grasp. The researchers see this new approach as being helpful in medicine, disaster response, and … continue reading
Researchers from Cornell University and the École Polytechnique de Montréal have developed a programming language designed to code behaviors for heterogeneous robot swarms. Buzz is an extensible, dynamically typed programming language defining primitive commands for self-organizing robots and swarms of robots. Developers can use the language to code behaviors both from the perspective of a … continue reading
Researchers from MIT’s department of mechanical engineering are working on improving object recognition for robots. The researchers have developed a monocular Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) object recognition system designed to provide better performance than traditional object recognition methods. “The goal is for a robot to build a map, and [to] use that map to … continue reading
A group of researchers have created a robotic garden they say is an aesthetically appealing way to get young students involved in programming. The researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and the Department of Mechanical Engineering uses robotic sheep, origami flowers and robotic ducks to introduce students to topics such as … continue reading
Soon you’ll have to bow before your robot overlords. New research from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) revealed that workers actually favor robots having control over human responsibilities. “In our research we were seeking to find that sweet spot for ensuring that the human workforce is both satisfied and productive,” says project … continue reading
Robots can walk, talk, fly and even tell jokes, and now they are adding another special ability to that ever-increasing list: X-ray vision. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have developed a way for robots to see through solid walls using radio frequency signals. “This is an exciting time to be doing … continue reading
