Category Archives: Robot

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Robotic Arm Driven by Brain (Update)

January 2nd, 2013 | Brain, Robot

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I’ve posted about this before (here), but 60 Minutes did a nice special on the advancement of Robotic Limbs, so I thought I would post an update.  The 2 main advancements I’ve noticed are that scientists have begun to add touch sensation to some of the prosthetics.  This will give the user the feeling that the prosthetic is actually a part of them and not just some strapped-on tool.  And secondly, this new brain-powered robotic arm appears to have much greater finesse than previous models.

I wrote a bit about how it works in the past, so I pasted that here:

The technology basically works by implanting a sensor in the motor cortex of the brain (see below).  This sensor reads the brain’s electrical “thoughts” and then sends them to an external computer for decoding.  This decoded signal is then transferred to the robotic arm so that it can deliver the coffee (or whatever else the user desires).

Motor and Somatosensory Cortex

 

Needless to say, I’m pretty excited about the emerging field of Neuroengineering.  Infection will always be a major concern for any implanted device, and especially when it’s located in the brain, but I’m sure scientists will find a way to make this feasible for the longterm.  One day, you WILL see tetraplegics walking around in robotic suits.

Robotic Suit - Exoskeleton

 

Exciting things to come in 2013 and beyond!

-RSB

Winter Wonderland Multicopter

December 27th, 2012 | Robot

Winter Wonderland Multicopter

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful holiday season.  I think it’s a perfect time to share this amazing footage shot on a Cinestar Axis 3 Gimbal (with a Sony FS100 camera and 18-55 lens).  The gimbal allowed for the unrestricted 360 capture of the winter wonderland.

The multicopter flies incredibly smooth, even in the snowy conditions, and the slow-motion editing worked perfectly.  This almost makes me wish Texas was cold enough to get snow.

You can purchase the multicopter ready-to-fly for a cool $10,000 if you’ve got the money.  I would most certainly crash this thing the day I bought it.

-RSB

The Making of Crysis 3

December 8th, 2012 | Robot

Crysis 3

Crysis 3

Crysis 3 is a futuristic first-person shooter from the German video game company Crytek that’s set to be released this coming February 2013 for the XBOX 360.  In this third game in the series, Prophet returns to New York City and finds an urban rainforest teeming with overgrown trees, dense swamplands and raging rivers.  If you watch the video above, you’ll see the exhaustive level of detail the designers put into the environment.
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I’ve admittedly never played the Crysis series, but this game looks pretty fun and challenging.
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 In my humble opinion, video games have taken the back seat to graphics in the past few decades.
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Games for Nintendo released over 20 years ago focused on creating challenging puzzles, and as a result, the games were both difficult and rewarding.

It appears that with Crysis 3, Crytek put an emphasis back on gameplay to accompany their stunning graphics.  I sure hope it delivers.

-RSB

“Expected Closure” from Underwater Orchestra – Album Review

December 4th, 2012 | Robot, Space

Underwater Orchestra

“Expected Closure” is the 12-song debut album from synth pop band, Underwater Orchestra. I first heard the record a few weeks back on Eklektikos, a great radio show hosted by John Aielli on KUT Austin, and I’ve wanted to do a review ever since. Adrian Croom, an artist hailing from Austin, TX, is the force behind the group, which formed back in 2007.  I’ve been a fan of Adrian’s music since his debut album Sub Яosa was released last year and thankfully, “Expected Closure” didn’t disappoint. This time around, Adrian’s exploding synth melodies are backed by live guitar, drums, trumpet, and violin from a slew of talented artists including Jon McMahan (currently on tour with Caspian), Ira Henderson, Gonzalo Hernando, Roberto Riggio, and Isaac Pena.

“Expected Closure” is a journey, or rather a quest, into the world of alien soundscapes, video game synth, and tribal beats, woven together with the warmth of violin and trumpet.  Many vocal-less albums feel monotonic, but this album faces no such fate.  Songs like ‘Proteus’ with its crashing cymbals and uplifting horns could set the stage for even the most heroic cinematic sequences, while the machine-like march of ‘Intrusion’ might be played at The Singularity by our future robot overlords, and I’ve recently been listening to the acoustic guitar riffs of ‘Vacancy’ as a soft, wakeup jam.  I suppose what I’m trying to say is that this is the type of album you hope to find when sifting through the vastness of the electronic music genre – a wonderfully eclectic collection of songs, from start to finish.

I’m hoping to check these guys out in person sometime in the near future.  They play around the Austin area pretty regularly, and I’ve heard rumors they may have an international tour in the works, so stay tuned.

If you’re interested, you can pick up the album here or learn more about Adrian Croom and the rest of Underwater Orchestra here.

Adrian will also be doing an interview with KUT Austin on December 19th at 10AM, and there is a CD release party planned for Saturday, January 19th, at El Sol y La Luna in Austin, TX.

-RSB

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