3D Printer Brings Out Realistic Model of a Cancerous Tumor

A three-dimensional model of a cancerous tumour has successfully created by an international scientific team using a 3D printer. Their model could ultimately help discover new drugs and cast new light on how tumours develop, grow and spread.

The Era of the Robotic Vehicles Has Arrived

From robotic construction trucks to robotic submarines, the world of robotic vehicles is being employed to revolutionize our lives. Traditionally associated with the military, robotic planes, submarines, tanks, trucks, cars, mechanical bugs and other types of mobile robots are being developed for civilian use as well. Futuristic advancements are no longer a matter of "How," but more so a matter of "When," as to when the technology will be affordable enough for average citizens.

"The good thing about this system is you don't have to send a marine out and risk that life," Captain James Lee said of his bomb-disassembling and reconnaissance mission robotic vehicles. The machines may cost $100,000 a piece, but they're fairly durable, especially considering that duct tape and common materials can be used to patch them. The Packbot Scout Robot (developed by Robotic Systems JPO) quickly takes apart a bomb, saving an entire Humvee full of soldiers.

The Dragon Eye and Raven B unmanned aircraft patrols the battlefields, even in adverse weather conditions. The Stalker (developed by Lockheed Martin) is especially keen for silent night operations, while the Golden Eye can hover for three hours, assessing the scene. The unmanned Predator drone is one of the most highly-touted autonomous robots used by the US military today.

Civilian robotic vehicles are also being developed for a number of uses. Sonar robotics technology is capturing never-before-seen images of deep sea beds with the Synthetic Aperture Sonar. Farmers use these vehicles to check on their crops. Forest rangers count trees and monitor wildlife in remote regions of their parks. Surface water vehicles are skimming the coasts, while underwater devices are recovering old shipwrecks and AWOL lobster traps that have fallen loose, thus threatening endangered marine animals.

You may not know it, but automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are transporting materials all around warehouses and hospitals at this very moment. The early robotic vehicles were easy to make, researchers say, but they were fairly limited in their paths and found it difficult to adapt to changes in their environments.

The interim robotics automation could scan bar code grid lines on the floor or use laser technology to maneuver around, although tall obstacles still blocked the way and routine maintenance was high. New robotic vehicles are trained to circumnavigate around any obstacle, whether it is a pallet or a person. They use 3-D scanners, maps and other complex systems. In the future, people are expected to work alongside robots much more frequently.

Drone Technology

Drones

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS), also known as drones, have no human aviator onboard, and instead are either controlled by a person on the ground or apart via a computer program. These stealth craft are becoming more and more famous, not just for war and military purposes, but also for everything from wildlife and atmospheric research to emergency relief and sports photography. Drones are becoming the eyes and ears of scientists by surveying the ground for archaeological sites, signs of illegal hunting and crop damage, and even zipping inside hurricanes to study the wild storms. You can even rent a personal drone to soar above the horizon and snap a photo or video. Our news and features will cover developments in drone technologies, innovative uses for drones and how drone use will impact society.

The use of drones has developed quickly in recent years because dissimilar manned aircraft they can stay above for many hours they are much low-cost than military aircraft and they are flown remotely so there is no danger to the flight crew. Zephyr a British drone under development has just cracked the world record by flying for above 82 hours nonstop.

OLED VS LED & LCD

OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode. OLEDs are solid-state devices composed of thin films of organic molecules that create light with the application of electricity. OLEDs can grant brighter, crisper displays on electronic devices and use lower capacity than regular light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or liquid crystal displays (LCDs) used today.

LED stands for light-emitting diode. LEDs are nearly small compared to compact fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs, but they can get hugely bright. Anyhow, LEDs aren’t small suitable to be used as the pixels of a television, they are too huge for that. That’s why LEDs are only used as the backlight for LCD televisions.

LCD stands for liquid-crystal display. LCD displays utilise two sheets of polarising material with a liquid crystal solution between them. An electric current passed through the liquid causes the crystals to adjust so that light cannot pass through them. Each crystal, therefore, is like a shutter, either allowing light to pass through or blocking the light.

Resolution:

Champion - OLED & LCD

OLED and LCD are extensively available in Ultra HD 4K design. In OLED's there is only one model of 1080P but for LCD's there are so many.

Black Level:

Champion - OLED

OLED is the champion here because of its intelligence  to turn off individual pixels completely. It can produce exactly perfect black. The better LCDs have local dimming, where sections of the screen can dim independently of others. This isn't quite as good as per-pixel control because the black parts still aren't absolute but it's better than nothing.

Brightness:

Champion - LCD & LED

When it comes to brightness, LED TVs have a modest asset. LEDs are just really good at getting extremely bright. OLED TVs can get bright, too, but cranking OLED pixels to maximum brightness for extended periods not only reduces that pixel’s lifespan, but the pixel also takes a little while to return to total black.

Contrast Ratio:

Champion - OLED

Contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest and the darkest a TV can be. OLED is the champion here because it can get nearly as bright as LCD, plus it can produce complete black with no blooming. It has the best contrast ratio of any modern display.

Price:

Champion - LED & LCD

At present OLED's are more costlier than the LCD's and LED's. And it take some time for price reduction.

Power Consumption:

Champion - LCD & LED

LCD's and LED's are some what better power consumption than the OLED's. OLED's are also better for power consumption.

Size & Weight:

Champion - OLED

OLED panels are awfully thin and they require no backlight. As such, OLED TV’s tend to be lighter than LED/LCD TVs and considerably thinner. They also require less power, making them more efficient.  

Response Time:

Champion - OLED

While LED/LCD TVs have improved greatly over the past few years, OLED simply blows them out of the water in terms of response time. In fact, OLED currently offers the fastest response time of any TV technology in use today, making it a clear winner in this regard. 

Google Self-Driving Car

Manufacturer - Google
Type - Self-Driving

Google make known a brand new self-driving car prototype on Tuesday. The first company to build a car with no a steering wheel, accelerator or brake pedal.

It is the first genuinely driverless electric car prototype built by Google to test the next stage of its five-year-old self-driving car project. Unlike previous models, these cars won't have human drivers keep track of them at all times. Google said the cars can detect objects up to 200 yards away in all directions and adjust their speed, turns and braking accordingly. The cars' speed for now has been exceed at 25 mph, allowing engineers to minimise the risk of crashes during testing. It operates in and around California, primarily around the Mountain View area where Google has its headquarters. 

It ferries two people from one place to another without any user interaction. The car is summoned by a smartphone for pick up at the user’s location with the destination set. There is no steering wheel or manual control, simply a start button and a big red emergency stop button. In front of the passengers there is a small screen showing the weather, the current speed and a small countdown animation to launch. Once the journey is done, the small screen displays a message to remind you to take your personal belongings – reinforcing that this is not aiming to be a substitute for your personal car at the moment, but more as a replacement for the taxi without the human driver.

It is powered by an electric motor with around a 100 mile range, the car uses a combination of sensors and software to locate itself in the real world combined with highly accurate digital maps. A GPS is used, just like the satellite navigation systems in most cars, to get a rough location of the car, at which point radar, lasers and cameras take over to monitor the world around the car, 360-degrees. The software can recognise objects, people, cars, road marking, signs and traffic lights, obeying the rules of the road and allowing for multiple unpredictable hazards, including cyclists. It can even detect road works and safely navigate around them.

One of the biggest hold-ups to the improvement of the technology onto the open road of Britain, the US, Australia and the rest of the world will be legislation. Google says the cars should be road-ready by early next year, but that testing would take more than two years. At that point the technology will be ready for the next stage, which is likely to be greater pilot testing. Current expectations are that these self-driving cars are at least five years away from being mature enough to create a real, non-prototype product, but it may be far longer until you can buy or hire one for personal use.

VARIOUS PROJECTS ABOUT HUMANOID ROBOT AROUND THE WORLD

A humanoid robot is a robot with its overall presence based on that of the human body, allowing interaction with made-for-human tools or environments. Basically humanoid robots have a torso with a head, two arms and two legs, Even if some forms of humanoid robots may model only part of the body, for example, from the waist up. Some humanoid robots may also have a 'face', with 'eyes' and 'mouth'. Androids are humanoid robots built to theory of art resemble a human.

ASIMO

Manufacturer - Honda

Type - Humanoid

Height - 4'3 tall

Weight - 53.97kg

Released - 2000

Website - asimo.honda.com

ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) is a humanoid robot. ASIMO is the culmination of two decades of humanoid robotics research by Honda engineers. It has the ability to that can climb stairs, recognise faces, and maintain a conversation with someone. ASIMO has the ability to walk over uneven surfaces and run at 9 km an hour.

CHARLI

Manufacturer - Virginia Tech Engineering Students

Type - Humanoid

Height - 4'7 tall

Weight - 12.24kg

Released - 2010

CHARLI (Cognitive Humanoid Autonomous Robot with Learning Intelligence) is the first atomise, autonomous, full-sized, walking, humanoid robot with four moving limbs and a head, built in the United States. CHARLI can talk and is learning to play soccer at the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMela) at Virginia Tech.

NASH

Manufacturer - Associate Professor Xie Ming

Type - Humanoid

Height - 1.8m tall
Operating Time - 2 Hours

NASH STANDS FOR NTU(Nanyang Technological University) ADVANCED SMART HUMANOID. NASH  is able to gesture, walk, climb stairs, follow verbal instructions and recognise objects such as apples and cups. It can easily carry up to 40kg worth of weight on its torso, and it can able to hold up to 10kg per arm.

RIBA-II

Developed by - RIKEN and TOKAI Rubber Industries

Type - Humanoid

Height - 137cm tall

Weight - 230kg
Length and Width - 103cm long and 82cm wide

RIBA-II, the new version of nursing-care assistant robot RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance). Each arm has 7 degrees of freedom, its neck has 3 DOFs, its waist has 2 DOFs, with 3 DOFs more thanks to its omnidirectional base. A new version of the robot is even better at picking up and carrying disabled patients of up to 80kg, which is 19kg more than the first RIBA could handle. Moreover the robot can to lift a patient from a floor thanks to introduction of a powerful new joint that lets RIBA-II bend deeply at the waist. It can then transfer the patient to a wheelchair (and back again). 

PI4_Workerbot

Manufacturer - Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK, Berlin

Type - Humanoid

The PI4_Workerbot can study new tasks without needing to be programmed line by line. PI4_workerbot has two 7 degree of freedom arms, which allow it to move an item from one hand to another, which is useful when examining the entire surface. It can hold an egg without cracking it. Its head is implemented with three cameras: a 3D camera observes its surroundings, while the other two can be used for detailed inspection tasks. It can also show various emotional expressions on face.

LUNA

Manufacturer - RoboDynamics

Type - Humanoid

Height - 157cm tall

Weight - 30kg

Luna introduced by RoboDynamics, world's first personal robot designed for mainstream consumer adoption. Luna is the first robot to feature a native App Store, standard PC architecture, an open Linux based operating system, touch screen display, Wi-Fi, and multiple tactically located standard USB based expansion ports for infinite expandability. it has equipped with camera, microphone, speakers and 8 inches touch screen for holding live video conversations. If we charge once it can move on a stable wheeled base and can operate for 4 hours. It has prime sense 3D sensor, with this LUNA can capable to  navigation and obstacle avoidance.

CIROS 3.0

Type - Humanoid

Height - 160cm tall

Weight - 150kg

Degrees of Freedom - Waist: 1 DOF / Manipulator: 7 DOF x 2 / Pan-Tilt : 2 DOF
Hand : 4 DOF x 2  / Mobile : 2 DOF

CIROS stands for Center for Intelligent Robotics. The household service robot CIROS is intended to help out around the home by performing simple duties. Also CIROS is able to recognise common objects as well as kitchen appliances like microwaves, sinks, refrigerators, and dishwashers, and can move intelligently through its environment. The robot's head contains stereoscopic cameras and a 3D IR sensor, which it uses to recognise objects. Moreover, robust speech recognition is made possible with a 12-piece microphone array. It can detect and avoid obstacles in its vicinity thanks to a pair of laser range finders and six ultrasonic sensors in its body. 

SDA5D

Manufacturer - Yaskawa Motoman

Payload - 5 kg/arm

New Motoman SDA5D robot has 15 axes of motion i.e 7 axes per arm, plus a single axis for base rotation. Internally routed cables and hoses reduce interference and maintenance, and also make programming easier. Both robot arms can work together on one task to double the payload or handle heavy, unwieldy parts, trays or pallets.  It can hold a part with one arm while performing operations on the part with the other arm, and can also transfer a part from one arm to the other with no need to set the part down. 

Taking A Look At The History Of Robotic Technology

Robotic technology can be found in clocks, remote control vehicles, automobile computers, Aibo, factory robotic arms, self-guided rovers, service bots like ASIMO, robotic toys like AIBO or Robo-Raptor and a CNC milling machine. To be considered a "robot," the specimen must be able to interact with its environment and physically do something. Most recently, robots are being used in surgery, disaster recovery and firefighting. 

Historically, ancient people believed in the existence of a humanoid robot species. The Greek god Hephaestus was thought to have created mechanical servants to help him build temples. Furthermore, the Jewish people thought that clay golems could come to life and the Norse believed that clay giants could awaken. 

In 4th Century BC, Greek mathematicians Archytas of Tarentum proposed that he could create a steam-powered bird known as "The Pigeon." Additionally, Hero of Alexandria (10-70 AD) devised automated machinery powered by air pressure and steam. In 1088, Su Song developed the first clock tower that was built using mechanical figurines and audible chimes. In 1206, the first humanoid robot was created by Al-Jazari, a Muslim inventor who wished to entertain royal guests with automated musicians who played on a boat in a lake. Al-Jazari was already well-known for constructing everything from kitchen appliances and other astounding robotic machines.

There are many different ways to think about robotic technology. For instance, do we want an artificial being to look like a human or an unmistakable nuts-and-bolts prototype? Should they go to work at the plant or in our own homes? Should they think for themselves or be simply capable of pre-programmed simplified tasks?

There are "soft robots," which have silicone bodies and flexible actuators that behave almost human-like. There are "swarm robots" that behave like bees or ants, cooperating together to find something, clean, explore space or spy. 

"Haptic interface robots" allow users to interact with virtual simulation environments. Engineers are always coming up with new designs and uses for automation robotics.

Robotic technology is continually progressing. Early prototypes used steam, water or air, while new robotic prototypes use actuators, electric DC motors and air muscles. To study robotics engineering, interested students can attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which is the only school that offers a Bachelor of Science in Robotics Engineering.

Other schools have graduate programs based on robotics automation, including Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, UPENN and UCLA. To increase early interest in this field, programs like FIRST Robotics were devised to encourage students as young as six to look to math, science and technology fields for hobbies.