Traditionally, robots have been machine-like, rigid, fast and efficient contraptions, much like Doctor Who’s Cybermen and Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit.
But, researchers at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne’s (EPFL) Reconfigurable Robotics Lab (RRL) have turned this notion on its head with their soft robots.
Kobi is a modular robot that’s basically a Roomba for snow and leaves. It’ll mulch grass and leaves, throw snow into a dedicated area, and mow the lawn. You have to define its physical boundaries through its app and where to dump the leaves and snow, but after that, the company says Kobi apparently can figure out its way and remember the route it needs to take. It’s equipped with a GPS and sensors to help avoid obstacles, and you can even put snow tires on it! Kobi starts at $3,999, but we don’t know when preorders will open.
The idea of an autonomous snow blower is amazing. I hate snow, and I hate cold weather, so this is all great for me. Kobi can throw snow up to 40 feet! I just wish Kobi could shovel off my car windows. Autonomous lawnmowers already exist, but I guess the appeal of Kobi is that one device can do everything.
Now that I feel like I have a solid understanding of Kobi, I do have a few questions regarding an image on Kobi’s website. Please see here:
Continue reading “My new robot friend Kobi loves to mow the lawn and plow snow” »
Robotics and AI have “huge potential” to reshape the way people work and live, but the government needs to do more to address the issues raised by such technology, says a report.
MPs on the Science and Technology Committee have called for careful scrutiny of the probable ethical, legal and societal impact.
They want the government to establish a commission to look at the issues.
As I and others have warned industry about for a ling while now. Wait until you see the AI experience on QC and how we enable synthetic biocomputing on this connected infrastructure.
Next year, we may see the launch of the first true quantum computers.
Continue reading “Massive Disruption Is Coming With Quantum Computing” »
Russia’s largest social network Vkontakte together with the Russian space agency Roscosmos is preparing to launch the first-ever spacebot named Spotty to the International Space Station.
The capsule containing the spacebot – a chat bot called Spotty developed by Vkontakte – is expected to be delivered to the space station in March 2017 by Roscosmos cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.
With the help of Spotty, Vkontatke users will be able to communicate with cosmonauts and astronauts aboard the ISS in real time and receive photos and videos from them, while a built-in projector can playback the content sent from Earth.
Continue reading “First in Orbit! Russian ‘Spotty the Spacebot’ Joins ISS Crew (VIDEO)” »
Researchers at Sapience.org foresee market instability intensifying by the computer trading ‘arms race’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Last Friday the sterling has experienced a dramatic, ultrafast crash. It lost 10% of its value in minutes after the Asian markets opened — a decline usually reserved to declarations of war, major earthquakes and global catastrophes — and bounced right back. Although the affected exchanges are yet to release the details, computer trading algorithms almost certainly played a key role. Just like the 2010 Flash Crash, yesterday’s event is characteristic to Ultrafast Extreme Events[1]: split-second spikes in trade caused by ever smarter algorithms razor-focused on making ever-quicker profits. But the arms race is only likely to intensify as computing speed accelerates and AI algorithms become more intelligent.
