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Domain: gorobotics.net
Stories and comments across the archive that link to gorobotics.net.
Stories · 4
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University of Maryland Team Wins Robot Sub Competition
William Cox writes "A team from the University of Maryland has won the 11th Annual International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition, held in San Diego, CA, this weekend. Twenty-five teams from around the world (US, Canada, Japan, and India) built autonomous submarines to complete a series of tasks using vision recognition, autonomous navigation, and sonar. Maryland unseated the 3-time record holder, University of Florida, to win first place. University of Texas at Dallas took 2nd, and a Canadian team, École de Technologie Supérieure, took 3rd." -
Robot Pets Almost as Good as Real Ones?
Gallamine writes "Many people claim that pets are good for their owners. But, what about robot pets? Some scientists at the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue's Veterinary school say yes, robot pets can benefit humans. Petting an AIBO caused the human stress hormone cortisol to decrease in patients, much like a real dog, although the effects weren't as pronounced. Also, AIBOs sent to nursing homes caused the residents to be less depressed and lonely. Similar research is being done by Dr. Dr. Takanori Shibata with his robotic seal named Pero." -
Berlin's Robotic Pub
Gallamine writes: "Take a trip to Berlin, and visit the Automaten Bar to have a drink served by a robot. This members-only bar is completely automated. While this may sound rather cool, the part I find disturbing is the fact that the owner plans on webcamming the security cameras so you can check on who's at the pub. The owner also wants to make it so you can have a SMS message sent to you when a particular person's entrance card is swiped by the system. I guess the idea is that you can get an e-mail to let you know that Bob is having a drink so you can stop by and chat. While it sounds like a bunch of baloney to me, it appears to be pretty popular in Berlin, as they've already got 130 members after 2 weeks without any advertising." -
Info on the LOTR:FOTR DVD
WonderBoy Cox writes "IGN's FilmForce has an interesting article about the much anticipated Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (LOTR:FOTR) DVD coming in the fall of 2002, and the next two movies. According to Jackson The Two Towers is fairly complete in rough cut and Return of the King is coming along nicely. "Both films will be between two-and-a-half and three hours in length with 500 to 600 effects shots, much like the first movie." But, the best part, is that he DVD will have around 30 to 40 minutes of extra footage! "