Slashdot Mirror
Robot Catches High Speed Objects
shpoffo writes "Engineers at the University of Tokyo in Japan have created a robot that can catch a ball moving faster than 186 miles per hour (300 kph) - more than 270 feet per second. It uses an array of photodetectors to directly control the three finger actuators - which can rotate 180 degrees in 0.1 seconds. It's only catching softballs at the moment, but operators are optimistic for it to soon catch other objects and grasp moving things. A video with odd sci-fi TV-series (coral cache) accents is available."
I for one welcome our new Joe DiMaggio-bot overlords. (I am so very sorry.)
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever.
- George Orwell
can it catch a fly with chopsticks?
Next milestone: - Catch high speed eggs.
I for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.
Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
Add a ball-throwing mechanism and you can watch two robots playing with eachother. If we are very lucky, humans won't have to have fun at all, we have robots for that.
11. Thou shall obey Da mighty Swing
I can also catch objects, with my body; hurts like hell though. Who needs hands?
The hand is fixed in place so yes for this prototype you have to 'throw' the ball close enough to the hand for it to catch it with it's fingers.I believe they want to use it as a demo of the speed and accuracy of the technology, it is quite impressive.
:)
We already have bowling robots, now we have a catching hand, just need to build the 'battathon 2000' and England may have a chance in the next test
brush up, brush down
Can it file my taxes for me?. Imagine the thing playing the piano, or handing out packs of chips at the baseball! hoy, hoy, hyuuuup over there! evanism ;)
Just bought a new quantum computer, but I'm uncertain how it works.
1) Make them big
2) One of these on Earth
3) One of these on the Moon
4) Make big ball-shaped transport vessels.
5) SPACE PROFIT!
Certainly a lot better than crappy shuttles that are critically damaged by bloody foam insulation.
I can just hear it....
Number 5 is alive!!
Number 5 is alive!!!!
Is there any chance such a contraption could be used to save some silly person's butt in case they decide to go that fast?
Wow this is great! Has anybody told the Ballistic Missile Defense Agency? Maybe they'll have more luck catching a missile than shooting it down!
== Shipwrecked and comatose
That will become really fun if it suddenly learns to throw the ball back at you at the same speed, just when you switched from a soft ball to a baseball (-:
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
Brick wall deflects high speed objects.
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If you're bored give this a try:
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Steinbrenner has already optioned the contract on the robot for 2008. Apparently, he likes it because you can scream at it all day long and it doesn't get upset.
The Japanese industrial heartlands had a few difficulies around then. In particular Hiroshima and Nagasaki had infrastructure difficulties.
init 11 - for when you need that edge.
While the raw maths is pretty simple by itself, when you factor in stereo image processing to see a ball, work out it's speed and trajectory, and move potentially hundreds of muscles into the correct position to catch the ball, you realise just how powerful the human brain is and how well it can adapt.
My dog is better at catching tennis balls than I am, and he does it in his mouth.
Does this mean that dogs have been secretly hiding the power of the canine brain? What are they planning? Oh my god...
That has to be one of the most retarded things I've heard on slashdot, and I occasionally read at -1. If anything, we should have more money to throw at robotics by saving so much money by hiring illegal immigrants.
Well, since you're compiling a wish-list, let's not forget ... BREASTS!!
You were 80% angel, 10% demon. The rest was hard to explain. - Over The Rhine
"Math in a song is good."-Linford
"186 miles per hour (300 kph) - more than 270 feet per second."
Or 499,968.9936 furlongs per fortnight, if that helps you put things into perspective...
=Smidge=
Screw the robot... how do you launch a softball at 190mph? I believe that has a more useful application.
"The need to build the internet comes from something inside us, something programmed... something we can't resist."
We allow Mexicans to come into this country in lieu of robotic research. Japan has a much tighter immigration policy.
...
They also have a moat the size of an ocean
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
I think we've all had our balls-busted enough to know that we don't need to put breasts on something which can catch balls at 300 km/hr.
It wouldn't be long before we have a bunch of cranky, female-looking robots grabbing your parts at high-speed and little delicacy.
Not a good combination.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.