Slashdot Mirror

http://www.plyojump.com/

Favorites:
BigDog http://www.bdi.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog
RHex http://www.rhex.org/
ZMP, Inc. http://www.zmp.co.jp/e_home.html
RiSe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzfP0Ig7eVQ

Actually, robot revolution is also happening in China and Korea as well, but there's indeed very little in a way of practical accomplishments coming from west.

http://plyojump.com/ has some in-depth info and couple good essays on these topics and why exactly this is happening. The core problem seems to lie in deeply rooted cultural issues

Also check out Marshall Brain's ( the howstuffworks.com guy ) http://roboticnation.blogspot.com/ blog

Actually, robot revolution is also happening in China and Korea as well, but there's indeed very little in a way of practical accomplishments coming from west.

http://plyojump.com/ has some in-depth info and couple good essays on these topics and why exactly this is happening. The core problem seems to lie in deeply rooted cultural issues

Also check out Marshall Brain's ( the howstuffworks.com guy ) http://roboticnation.blogspot.com/ blog

The most efficient employee, in terms of work per unit of compensation, is a slave laborer...

Actually the best employee from an employers standpoint is a non-existent one that has been replaced completely via automation.

We are rapidly moving into such a society. Every year more and more jobs are being done by some form of automation including the servicing and production of those automations.

I think it is not too bold to predict that in the next 50 years most jobs related to the production of physical goods will in fact be done by machine. Everything from digging the ore out of the mines to the friendly fedex robot that will deliver it to your doorstep.

http://www.plyojump.com/qrio.html

In my mind labor laws are just accellerating this change by making the cost of human workers that much more expensive. But really it is going to happen no matter what bacause machines are quite simply getting better and better than men at producing goods and services more cheaply, faster and with higher quality.

So the real question then is how does a person get what he desires in the way of physical goods and services in an environment of increasing competition and falling costs for goods and services?

Ultimately we seem to be moving away from a monetary physical goods trading economy and into what some are calling an 'attention economy':

http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue2_4/goldhabe r/index.html

However until we are safely in that future how does one survive now?

1. buy imported/auto-produced goods/services cheaply.
2. find some facet of the current economy that is hard to outsource and/or automate and/or that you have a special talent for such as: (artist, musician, blogger, podcaster, plumber, engineer, cook, etc...)
3. if you don't like what you are currently doing then do something else.

Apparently Team Robo Monster is looking for programmers in the Los Angeles area. The team is headed by the guy from the noteworthy robots that jump blog. From their page:

We are currently seeking additional team members with the following skills and/or resources:
* Sensor integration
* DSP programming
* Gumstix hardware/programming
* Autonomy/AI - CYC/DAML or other ontology-based programming experience
* Game engine programming (for robotic simulation)
* Desert racing/driving experience
* Hobby robotics competitions (e.g. Robo-Magellan, Robotica, Robot Wars)

They've got quite a nice vehicle, and so far have things at the "drive by wire" stage.

Not sure what's with the blink tags on their web site, though.

...and plyojump.com has a great webpage full of photos and info on the HRP, too.

Quick correction about the "Sudden IQ drop among the 'tech-bloggers' when robots are mentioned..." post: the link is actually here.

It's amazing how accurately the plyojump blog entry describes the posts in this discussion. I really should've linked to it in my original submission.

Hey, whats up with the exclusively moronic replies to robot news ?
Half of the posts are "robots taking over" and the second half make stupid anime jokes. and i thought Slashdotters are know their stuff when it comes to technology.
I recommend reading plyoump.com-s blog too, once you are on the site, for instance a recent post titled Sudden IQ drop among the "tech-bloggers" when robots are mentioned
I guess slashdot just proved the point again

Qrio could totally that things windows-running ass.

It looks like Johnny 5, but a cool project none the less. Perhaps they could install Pocket Skype on the PPC and have the robot follow you around as a mobile speakerphone.

Chris

Check out http://plyojump.com and its accompanying blog for very good summaries on Japanese humanoid robot developments. ( the site seems to be down at the moment, but google cache helps )
QRIO was presented already back in august, at Robodex2003. QRIO is a direct followup, "production release" for previous development codenamed SDR-4XII.

There were other bots presented at Robodex, that were able to perform jumps and even somersaults.

The most interesting two IMO, are not megacorps entertainment bots ASIMO, AIBO etc, but humanoids that are of practical use or very low-budget, like HRP-II that is able to drive a backhoe, remotely assisted

And other one, SILF developed by a single person ( student ? ) on obviosly quite a low budget. Still, the bot is able to perform jumps.

Check out http://plyojump.com and its accompanying blog for very good summaries on Japanese humanoid robot developments. ( the site seems to be down at the moment, but google cache helps )
QRIO was presented already back in august, at Robodex2003. QRIO is a direct followup, "production release" for previous development codenamed SDR-4XII.

There were other bots presented at Robodex, that were able to perform jumps and even somersaults.

The most interesting two IMO, are not megacorps entertainment bots ASIMO, AIBO etc, but humanoids that are of practical use or very low-budget, like HRP-II that is able to drive a backhoe, remotely assisted

And other one, SILF developed by a single person ( student ? ) on obviosly quite a low budget. Still, the bot is able to perform jumps.