The SmartROB is used by Prof. Siegwart and Dr. Buhler at the ETH Zurich for the course “Smart Mechatronic Product Design”. It gives the users a versatile, high-level mobile robot kit suitable for a wide variety of tasks. The SmartROB-2 contains all features necessary to drive several DC servo- or stepper motors up to 100 W per channel in addition to a number of uncommitted analogue and digital inputs and outputs. Continue reading
Design Principles
 Computers stay normally where they are. Man-machine interactions depend thus only on the part of the human being. On the other hand, autonomous mobile robots have a radically expanded work space, shared with that one of human beings. It enables them to initiate an interaction by themselves. This gives rise to a new kind of man-machine interactions under circumstances which would not have happened otherwise, for instance with people without technical experience. It is therefore desirable to design mobile robots in a deliberative way, keeping their appearance friendly, decent and not dangerous. Continue reading |
Among the amazing robots being prepared in secret labs French must include Psikharpax, which works on the Lip6 (Computer Lab Paris 6).The mobile robot that looks like a mouse – its “head” ends with a dart nose where long whiskers – will be released in an unfamiliar environment where he must survive. He will remember the important places where recharge his batteries and those where he runs a risk – there heard footsteps – to better avoid them, and will plan its tasks according to the constraints. Continue reading
On September 7, 2001, a woman who was in Strasbourg has been made by a doctor who happened to him … the United States! This world premiere was performed by a French Professor Jacques Marescaux, head of Digestive and Endocrine Surgery University Hospital of Strasbourg and founder of the European Institute of telesurgery.
The feat would not have been possible without Zeus Continue reading
Everyone knows Aibo, although few copies of this amazing animal has been purchased in Europe. For a few thousand euros, the robot designed by Sony mimics the behavior of a small dog which he reproduced the brisk walking and attitudes. He knows how to play with a bone, a dance, respond to your caresses, recognize your voice and even go to recharge electric power alone. Continue reading
It is the “Holy Grail” of all robotics: build a machine that can communicate, move, act, adapt to new situations as would a man. A device where all the specialties of robotics would be met – visual recognition, speech synthesis, walking, handling, etc.. – And having our appearance. Only problem: the dream of engineer not enthusiastic about the French industry, the only ones able to finance such research. In Japan, however, large companies like Toyota and Honda are committed to compete in this area. Continue reading
Humanity is at the dawn of the robotics era. The final verdict is that of Philippe Coiffet, one of the founding fathers of robotics in France, now director of research at the CNRS Laboratory Robotique de Versailles (LRV) and writer. However, significant scientific advances of this major emerging discipline has undergone major changes. Continue reading
The “secular change” refers to the phenomenon that the physical characteristics of the human body changes in a long period of time compared to the human longevity. The most well observed secular change is that of the stature. In many countries in the world, stature has been increasing in last 100 years. Figure 1 shows the changes in the mean stature of adult male Continue reading
Design Principles
Computers stay normally where they are. Man-machine interactions depend thus only on the part of the human being. On the other hand, autonomous mobile robots have a radically expanded work space, shared with that one of human beings. It enables them to initiate an interaction by themselves. This gives rise to a new kind of Continue reading