RAP

Artist Robot Signs Own Work

(via: networked_performance) RAP (Robotic Action Painter) by Leonel Moura is a new generation of painting robots designed for Museum or long exhibition displays. It is completely autonomous and need very little assistance and maintenance. RAP creates it’s own paintings based on an artificial intelligence algorithm, it decides when the work is ready and signs in the right bottom corner with its distinctive signature. The algorithm combines initial randomness, positive feedback and a positive/negative increment of ‘color as pheromone’ mechanism based on a grid of nine RGB sensors. Also the ‘sense of rightness’ – to determine when the painting is ready – is achieved not by any linear method, time or sum, but through a kind of pattern recognition system.

Check also via we-make-money-not-art: RAP + ArsBot, The Grass Drawing Bot, The Teleoperated Drawing Robot and Hektor the Graffiti Machine.

[ www.leonelmoura.com/rap.html ]

Bion

explorative robotic sculpture

(via: networked_performace) Bion is a robotic sculpture that explores the relationship between humans and artificial life. The name makes reference to an individual element of primordial biological energy identified as orgone by Wilhelm Reich. The installation is a sensor network that is composed of 1000 glowing and chirping forms. Each bion is a synthetic “life-form” consisting of a tiny computer, an audio speaker, blue LEDs, and sensors.

As a visitor approaches the installation space, one of the bions is alerted and quickly communicates the presence of a stranger to the swarm of bions. ... By Adam Brown and Andrew H. Fagg, University of Oklahoma.

[ isisconceptuallaboratory.com/...Bion.html ]

Robocup

Weltmeisterschaft im Roboterfussball

RoboCup ist eine internationale Initiative zur Förderung der Forschung in den Bereichen “Künstliche Intelligenz” und “autonome mobile Roboter”. Roboterfußball wird als standardisiertes Problem benutzt, an dem sich Ergebnisse aus den verschiedenen Forschungsdisziplinen direkt vergleichen lassen. Der RoboCup bietet damit den Forschern die Möglichkeit, das Erreichte im direkten internationalen Vergleich mit ihren Kollegen zu testen und so gemeinsam Fortschritte in den jeweiligen Fachdisziplinen zu erzielen.

Das entscheidende Ziel der RoboCup-Initiative ist bis 2050 ein Team, bestehend aus völlig autonomen humanoiden Robotern, zu entwickeln, das gegen das menschliche Weltmeisterteam im Fußball gewinnen kann.

Robocup 2006 findet vom 14. bis 20 Juni in Bremen statt. Die Veranstalter sind das Technologie-Zentrum Informatik (TZI) und Messe Bremen.

Abb.: Abio, Team Humboldt.

[ www.robocup2006.org ]
[ www.robocup.org ]

DFKI-Labor Bremen

Eröffnung am 27.2.2006 in Bremen

Das Land Bremen und das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) fördern die Einrichtung eines neuen Labors des Deutschen Forschungszentrums für Künstliche Intelligenz (DFKI).

Die festliche Eröffnung des DFKI-Labors Bremen findet am 27. Februar 2006 in der Oberen Rathaushalle des Bremer Rathauses statt.

Das neue DFKI-Labor in Bremen wird als drittes Standbein des DFKI – neben den Standorten Saarbrücken und Kaiserslautern – seinen Schwerpunkt auf Robotik, Servicerobotik und sichere Kognitive Systeme legen. Zunächst stehen die in Bremen traditionell stark vertretenen Anwendungsbereiche Unterwasserrobotik, Logistik und Weltraumrobotik im Vordergrund.

[ www.ideexpress.de/...content_id=12599 ]
[ www.dfki.de/.../pm.160206.de.html ]

Robots Dreams

A Car And A Robot Are A Boy’s Dreams

A lot of the toys we play with as kids have a huge influence on what we desire as adults. If you played with ‘Transformers’ as a child, then it’s only natural that you would want a robot that can transform itself into a car. And, if you happen to be a Robo-One robot designer, you just might go ahead and make one yourself. . .

That’s just what Nakamura-san at Himeji Soft Works in Japan decided to do, and he certainly had the know-how and experience to make it happen. The robot/car creation, named “WR-07” had us drooling, as you can easily imagine from the screen shots below. It’s featured in action in the latest streaming video on the robot-fan.net website. We can hardly wait to see it do its stuff in person at the Robo-One competition event here next month.

[ www.robots-dreams.com/.../a_car_and_a_rob.html ]
[ www.robots-dreams.com ]