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Since the first release of ROS on March 2, 2010, Willow Garage has significantly invested in the development of this software. The framework is meant for programming robotic systems that organize a great number of modules running on a real robot, and helps to develop and use already tested code. In brief, it makes development with several tools a lot easier, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel because there are a good number of robotic applications already integrated in the framework, covering topics such as SLAM, Path Planning, Computer Vision, etc. Additionally, many commercial robots use it, for example, Willow Garage’s PR2, Clearpath’s Husky, PAL Robotics’ REEM, etc. […] Read More

“Though these robots don’t clean your house, wash your car, walk your dog, or sing and dance.  They do however light up.  I pay cash for junk that nobody else wants…old tools, scientific equipment, vintage kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners, floor polishers, marine and auto salvage, etc… and turn them into robot sculpture night lights.” – Tal Avitzur – Santa Barbara, CA, USA What began as a single trip to a salvage yard in search of a few pieces of scrap metal to use in a home remodel project has become an obsession for Santa Barbara, California artist Tal Avitzur.  In a workshop full of thousands of parts collected over the last […] Read More

By : Martin Hans Schmitt, Germany Short synopsis: The non-verbal documentary ROBOT WORLD depicts the evolution of robots from a mechanical somnambulist to an autonomous sensorium. The neoclassical violinist Matt Howden emphasizes the film’s message: these artificial people are our alternate doubles. ROBOT WORLD is a compilation. The source material for this one-hour film comes from robot laboratories at universities, from private footage at industrial fairs, military archives and corporate videos from the robot industry. Motion pictures of old 16 mm films from the 1930’s were added. This non-verbal documentary was recycled from far in excess of one hundred hours of raw material. ROBOT WORLD is the second film in […] Read More

Coyote—A Tale of Unexpected Consequences Elizabeth Rhett Woods Synopsis Part I Coyote—A Tale of Unexpected Consequences is the story of an intelligent robot coyote who longs to be free, and her relations with her creators. Zoë Neville, a published poet, and amateur photographer, is invited to submit a short film, on any subject she chooses, for a New Films/New Filmmakers Festival. Annoyed by learning of the array of electronic and other surveillance gadgets along the US/Canada border, which can peer deep into Canada, Zoë decides to make a film about a robot coyote smuggling marijuana into the States in a private gesture of protest and defiance, and enlists Peter Whittaker, […] Read More

The Far Future With Computers   What will happen to humans when computers take over?   Hannele Tervola COMPUTERS DEVELOP QUICK AND INFLUENCE LIFE HUGELY   Now, year 2010, it seems inevitable that the future of the human kind will be hugely influenced by the development and use of computers and other technological devices. Even already now technology is one of the biggest elements of modern city life and in the future its effect will be much greater. Already now the logic of ordinary people is influenced by their views of what computer logic and the hard rationality used in developing computers say about things. If those neglect feelings, so […] Read More