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Dreamer From Meka Robotics
Meka Robotics has created a robot called Dreamer that uses Willow Garage’s ROS or Robot Operating System. The robot has no mouth, some very expressive ears as well as some cute eyes containing FireWire cameras.
The idea here is to create a humanoid robot that is able to be used around humans. The robot’s arm has seven degrees of freedom and is pliable like a human arm.
Meka robotics is based in San Fransisco and Dreamer is being developed by Luis Sentis , an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Austin in Texas.
Seems like Dreamer is a Japanese styled version of what Heartland Robotics is also working on.
Check out Dreamer in the clip below.
PR2 and ROS Grow
PR2 from Willow Garage uses ROS (Robot Operating System) and is one amazing robot.
First PR2 learned to play pool and fetch beer for the staff at Willow Garage.
PR2 is currently listed at $400,000, out of the range of most regular guys like me, but some universities have gotten one and boy, have they taught PR2 some neat tricks.
First PR2 learned how to fold clothes and now it is learning how to solve the entire laundry problem , including washing, drying, folding and putting clothes away!
Some other folks have taught PR2 to read.
For it’s latest trick, PR2 has paid a visit to MIT and the robot has learned how to bake cookies!
Click through to see PR2 do his amazing stuff.
Read the remainder of this entry »
The BilliBot Project
The BilliBot Project is a project started by Garrat Gallagher from MIT that uses the iRobot platform and a Kinect sensor with ROS software. ROS is the Robot Operating System developed by Willow Garage.
What is BilliBot you ask?
Bilibot, from the German word ‘billig’, or cheap, is a sophisticated robotics platform at an affordable price. A Bilibot consists of:
* a powerful computer
* an iRobot create
* a Kinect sensor
* mounting hardware to put it all together
* the ROS Robotic Operating system, with research contributions from roboticists all over the world!
Pre order one now for only $1,200 and if you make a cool project with it and share it , you can have $350 refunded!
Click through for a video.
Graspy Learns to Read
Using a PR2 from Willow Garage they named Graspy, students from the University of Pennsylvania, have given Graspy the ability to read short texts. This is actually a difficult task as words can come in a variety of fonts the robot must learn to recognize. The code is open source and can be downloaded from ROS.org.
TurtleBot From Willow Garage
Willow Garage, famous for the PR2, a pancake flipping robot, have recently introduced TurtleBot. Now your very own snack serving robot can be yours.
TurtleBot is an affordable home robot kit and you can choose from 2 models.
If you already have an iRobot Create and a laptop, you can purchase the TurtleBot Core kit for $499.99. The TurtleBot Core kit includes:
- USB Communications Cable
- TurtleBot Power and Sensor Board
- TurtleBot Hardware
- Microsoft Kinect
- TurtleBot to Kinect Power Cable
- USB Stick TurtleBot Installer
- #10 Torx Allen Key
The TurtleBot Complete kit sells for $1199.99 and includes everything you need to get started:
- TurtleBot Core Kit
- iRobot Create Robot
- 3000 mAh Ni-MH Battery
- Fast Charger
- ASUS Eee PC 1215N
Your new robotic servant can be easily programmed in Willow Garage’s ROS or, Robot Operating Software. Willow Garage is taking pre-orders now for delivery in early summer.
See all the possibilities of what your new household helper robot can do in a video after the break.