On Wednesday, Google DeepMind announced two new AI models designed to control robots: Gemini Robotics and Gemini Robotics-ER. The company claims these models will help robots of many shapes and sizes understand and interact with the physical world more effectively and delicately than previous systems, paving the way for applications such as humanoid robot assistants.… Read More »
Brandon Kashani, a former student of Brain’s and startup mentor at NC State’s entrepreneurship clinic, recalled to the Technician about how he met with Brain on November 15. “He felt like his reputation was tarnished, like everything he worked for was ruined, and the root of all that was he didn’t get any support from… Read More »
Two years ago, Tesla’s Optimus prototype was an underwhelming mess of exposed wires that could only operate in a carefully controlled stage presentation. Last night, Tesla’s “We, Robot” event featured much more advanced Optimus prototypes that could walk around without tethers and interact directly with partygoers. It was an impressive demonstration of the advancement of… Read More »
Benj Edwards / Google DeepMind reader comments 39 On Wednesday, researchers at Google DeepMind revealed the first AI-powered robotic table tennis player capable of competing at an amateur human level. The system combines an industrial robot arm called the ABB IRB 1100 and custom AI software from DeepMind. While an expert human player can still… Read More »
Enlarge / A still image of a robotic quadruped armed with a remote weapons system, captured from a video provided by Onyx Industries. reader comments 184 The United States Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) is currently evaluating a new generation of robotic “dogs” developed by Ghost Robotics, with the potential to be equipped with… Read More »
Enlarge / An illustration of a humanoid robot created by Nvidia. reader comments 101 In sci-fi films, the rise of humanlike artificial intelligence often comes hand in hand with a physical platform, such as an android or robot. While the most advanced AI language models so far seem mostly like disembodied voices echoing from an… Read More »
reader comments 37 In 1921, Czech playwright Karel Čapek and his brother Josef invented the word “robot” in a sci-fi play called R.U.R. (short for Rossum’s Universal Robots). As Even Ackerman in IEEE Spectrum points out, Čapek wasn’t happy about how the term’s meaning evolved to denote mechanical entities, straying from his original concept of… Read More »
Enlarge / The Tesla Optimus Gen 2 robot. Tesla | Benj Edwards reader comments 164 On Tuesday, Tesla released a demo video showing the latest version of its prototype humanoid robot, Optimus Gen 2. Over one year after Tesla’s first public Optimus robot demonstration, which showcased shaky robots that waved and slumped over, things have… Read More »
Enlarge / The Ekobot autonomous weeding robot roving around an onion field in Sweden. reader comments 74 with Anybody who has pulled weeds in a garden knows that it’s a tedious task. Scale it up to farm-sized jobs, and it becomes a nightmare. The most efficient industrial alternative, herbicides, have potentially devastating side effects for… Read More »
Enlarge / A 2020 file photo of a Starship Technologies food delivery robot. Food is stored inside the robot’s housing during transportation and opened upon delivery. reader comments 73 with On Tuesday, officials at Oregon State University issued a warning on social media about a bomb threat concerning Starship Technologies food delivery robots, autonomous wheeled… Read More »