To assemble the iPhone and other devices from Apple company Foxconn, which accrue to all orders using tens of thousands of workers. The leader of the Taiwanese company in August last year promised to replace humans on robots in the next three years. He will be able to fulfill the promise or not – time will tell, but he came to the aid of a powerful ally – the company Google.

The search giant has recently made ​​a number of acquisitions of robotics. Among the most high-profile acquisitions can be distinguished Boston Dynamics, which produced robots for the Pentagon. In Google is also working on an operating system for robots in manufacturing. It seems, Android still can justify its name.

According to the Wall Street Journal, chairman of Foxconn Terry Gou recently met with Andy Rubin from Google. The subject of the meeting was just the automation of production – namely, accelerating the introduction of robots. Both sides were satisfied with the conversation, and, apparently, manufacturing, Foxconn will not do without Google and its acquired companies.

We have previously mentioned that Google is running ahead of all with their innovations. In my opinion, the fact that the company is trying to influence not only on the consumer market, but also to make changes in production processes, says of her best side. Of course, lose a large number of people who will not work, but a positive impact on the devices that will be collected using the latest manufacturing technologies. «Designed by Apple in California, assembled by Google robots in China» – sounds strange, but it is more than real.

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A few days ago, there was one of the main events of the year in the field of robotics – summarizing competitions DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC).

The competition was attended by 16 robots developed by teams of researchers from around the world. The winner was named member of the jury on the basis of compliance with the mandatory program, which consisted of eight different tasks: driving, crossing the bricks, climbing stairs, overcoming landslides, passage doors, passage walls, twisting valves and hose connection to the connector.

So, the table of results is as follows:

For successful execution of tasks to each robot awarded a maximum of four points. In this case the maximum grade did not affect how fast the robot cope with the task. It was necessary only to invest in the allotted to each task 30 minutes.

Unfortunately, grants for further development and modernization of their robots Agency Defense Advanced Research Projects USA (DARPA) will receive only the first eight teams. Their decisions come together again in the final battle in the contest DRC in 2014. It is worth noting that the losing team will also be able to take part in the finals, but the source of funding for the improvement of robots they have a look for yourself.

Eight finalists DRC is as follows:

1. SCHAFT
2. IHMC Robotics
3. Tartan Rescue
4. MIT
5. RoboSimian
6. Team TRACLabs
7. WRECS
8. Team TROOPER

According to DARPA, each of these teams can count on grant of up to $ 1 million, of course, it all depends on the conditions of the contract.

Best with the specific task coped following robots:

• driving: WRECS;
• transition on the bricks: SCHAFT;
• climbing stairs: SCHAFT;
• overcoming collapses: SCHAFT;
• passage doors: IHMC Robotics;
• passage walls: IHMC Robotics;
• twisting valves: THOR;
• hose connection to the coupling device: SCHAFT.

Best results in most categories showed robot company SCHAFT, owned by Google. Not so long ago, the search giant also acquired Boston Dynamics , developer humanoid robot Atlas and other interesting projects.

SCHAFT robot is based on a HRP-2. It weighs about 100 kg, and height – 1.5 m

By the way, the prize money in the finals DRC, which will be held in December next year, is $ 2 million

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NASA experts have created a robot that will take part in competitions DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) with a prize fund of $ 2 million

Humanoid robot Valkyrie growth 183 cm and a weight of 125 kg has 44 degrees of freedom and is equipped with all kinds of sensors. According to the space agency, a mobile robot and agile enough to perform rescue missions in disaster areas.

During the interview with the resource IEEE Spectrum project manager in Valkyrie Space Center. Nicholas Johnson Radford said that Valkyrie is designed especially for the contest and DRC differs strong legs that allow the robot to move easily over rough terrain. As mentioned above, the robot is equipped with a plurality of sensors that help him determine the location, speed and applied to objects mechanical force. In addition, almost all parts of the robot’s body (head, arms, knees, legs, torso) placed camera sensors that provide visual information. Additional information on the sensors comes from hydraulic joints and laser scanner LIDAR.

Unlike other contestants – ATLAS robot , “Valkyrie” is equipped with a built-in battery capacity of 2 kWh, not cables that severely restrict freedom of action. The battery is located in a compartment on the back of the robot. In terms of autonomy Valkyrie creators promise to work for about an hour in the intensive mode. By the way, the modular design allows the robot to replace in a matter of minutes, not only the battery, but also my hands.

It is worth noting that Valkyrie is based on other humanoid systems NASA, in particular exoskeleton Robonaut. However, it differs completely new technology, and its lightweight body and legs make it stable aimed at performing tasks on earth, not in space.

Mr. Radford also said that the team has paid due attention and a lot of time designing the robot design. Metal components Valkyrie covered with special material, which in addition to protective functions gives Valkyrie aesthetic appearance.

It should be noted that NASA is funding another project codenamed Valkyrie – «kriorobot”, which works on the creation of the company Stone Aerospace, equipped with a special laser to penetrate through the thick bowl of ice on the satellite in Europe. However, this mission will not mated with “Valkyrie”, developed by a team of Nicholas Radford. According to him, at the moment comic agency more interested in Mars and perhaps, Valkyrie will soon become a full-fledged member of the team colonists.

Finally it is worth mentioning that the creation of Valkyrie team from 55 people took nine months.

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According to the resource 3DNews, currently at the Research Cosmonauts Training Centre Gagarin pass a practical test of the Russian android SAR-400. It is designed to perform certain types of work on the International Space Station and beyond. This was stated by deputy head of the scientific management center Oleg Gordienko.

It is noted that the performance of work in the open space is always fraught with risk to life because of the risk of damage suit astronaut negligent act or small meteorites. Moreover, this procedure is costly in terms of plant operation. Maybe in the future human presence in space will be optional, but so far it is only the introduction of robots to perform simple, but dangerous to human operations. For example, robots can perform spacecraft docking station or an external inspection for damage and correct them.

SAR-400 – is torsovy anthropomorphic robot. Its main unit for interaction with the surrounding objects are the limbs in the form of hands, allowing him to use tools made for man. Android devoid of similarity intelligence and management is fully charged pilots. It accurately reproduces all the movements of the operator, giving it an image, sound, and even tactile sensations. The creators claim that the robot can be done at a distance and do not require high skills of the operator. It can also be programmed for autonomous execution of routine operations. Robot SAR-400 has 144 kg weight and can operate objects weighing up to 10 kg. Send it to the ISS will be held in the next two years. In the future we plan to use the robot missions to the Moon and Mars.

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A dream come true for millions of children around the world, as well as the loyal fans of animation studio Pixar – Michael McMaster (Michael McMaster) and his friends managed to create a robot WALL-E in full size.

His creations are shown at the event Geek Week. It is worth noting that WALL-E is not the only masterpiece enthusiasts, recently they have managed to create at least the famous robot R2-D2 from the cult fiction saga “Star Wars.”

Determine the dimensions of WALL-E was not quite the easiest task. To do this, Michael and his friends turned to the videotapes and the Rubik’s cube. That they are allowed to determine the life-size robot hands, from whom he repelled the creators.

Control of the robot by using the remote control. It is worth noting that created Michael WALL-E is not only a replica creation Pixar, but also accurately reproduces all the movements and sounds.

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Unfortunately for fans of animation studio Pixar, the first in the world robonavtom was not WALL-E, and the development of the Japanese company Toyota called Kirobo, which has been successfully sent into space.

Robot Kirobo was the only passenger cargo module HTV4 «Konotori” (4 Transfer Vehicle), which was sent into orbit by the rocket H-IIB F4 from Tanegashima Space Center. On board the cargo module is also about 3.5 tons of food, water, objects of daily use and scientific equipment to the ISS astronauts. According to plan, the ship will dock with the ISS is August 9.

The height of the humanoid robot Kirobo is slightly more than 30 cm It is part of the «Kibo Robot Project» researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University (University of Tokyo).

It is worth noting that the name Kirobo robot received by merging the words «kibo», which means “hope” in Japanese, and «robot». Robonavt Kirobo understand human speech, can recognize faces and is able to interact with plant personnel. Moreover, it can also record all conversations. The developer believes that the robot will be able to become a good conversationalist and maintain emotional mood isolated for a long period of astronauts.

“The robot Kirobo to become a sort of link between humans and machines or people, and the Internet, and sometimes between people,” – said the creator Kirobo Tomokata Takanashi (Tomotaka Takahashi) during the interview BBC .

The second robot, the project «Kibo Robot Project» will be called Mirata, but he will remain on earth in case Kirobo with unforeseen problems and will have to solve remotely.

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