iRobot In The Gutter

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Jan 112010

Roomba maker iRobot has introduced a new household robot, the Looj, made for cleaning rain gutters.

You just drop the small Looj into you gutter and it “augers” it way through and ejects the crappy buildup out and away. Just in time for the fall season.

The price range from US $100 to $170 depending on the options you get. Available now from the iRobot web store. I would guess that it will be available in suburban Home Depots soon. And also available to clear the rain gutters in your third world countries.

I like the belt holster. I can help you to climb the ladder sure, but also wearing it around the yard would make you the coolest guy in the ‘hood.

iRobot Corporation: About Looj

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Dec 082009

Robots are one of the most popular visions of the future, evident in many science fiction novels, from Isaac Asimov’s “I Robot” to Douglas Adam’s “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Often humankind fears that robotics technology could get so advanced that these cybernetic organisms will begin thinking and acting for themselves, with little regard for human hierarchy. However, the robots we use today are quite harmless and perform a number of useful functions.

Scientists are looking at how robots may function medically to help people live longer, more productive lives. For instance, researchers found that test monkeys can move a robotic hand simply by using their minds. That hand can wave, peel a banana and pick up items, just by reading the brain’s electrical output.

Doctors say medical robots can help stroke victims or paraplegics accomplish everyday tasks. Currently, electronic wheelchairs can maneuver and computers can type based on one’s thoughts. Dr. Bruce Volpe of the Burke Medical Research Institute is developing a “robotic therapist,” which will help stroke patients perform arm exercises. “By improving movement in the shoulder and upper arm, patients can do simple things like push objects across a table, use a computer mouse or write,” he explains.

Rehabilitation is another fascinating use for robots. At a consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, Paro Roberts revealed his $6,000 robotic seals that may replace cat and dog therapeutic robots used in hospitals and nursing homes. These exotic machines are also finding their way into homes, as they’re cheaper (and easier) than caring for a traditional pet.

This robot, named Paro after its creator, reacts with noises and expressions of approval or disapproval, depending on how it’s handled. Japanese robotics engineering creators say that robots could be the key to helping an aging population with problems of loneliness. “Playing with robots reduces problem behavior and they gain a certain peace of mind,” explains Toshiyo Tamura, a professor at the National Institute for Longevity Sciences.

Who could forget the ever-so-endearing “Rosie,” the house-cleaning robot from The Jetsons? While she seemed like every homeowner’s dream come true back in 1962, her doppelgangers are now becoming a reality in 2009. Engineers at MIT Humanoid Robot Group say “Domo” can place objects on a shelf, put away dishes, turn lights on or off, fetch items, put away groceries, set the table, carry boxes and follow basic commands. While the technology is far too expensive to be commonplace in every household right now, the future for intelligent robots is bright.

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Dec 052009

Robots by their very nature are science fiction and this area appeals to many fans of the genre, and so it is quite right that we go through another drawing article on how to draw a futuristic robot from scratch, it is important to note that this article and the following link are only an idea of inspiration and one possible way to draw a robot as you own imagination will apply to your own robot creations.

Every drawing must have a framework and a robot is no different. However, unlike the human body you can draw a robot based off a human form or just something entirely futuristic with its own structure and shape, but in this tutorial we have the humanoid structure to work from, and so we start off with an oval shape for the head as usual and then all the joints such as the shoulders, the elbows, the wrists, the pelvis, the knees and the ankles are all roughly sketched in as round circles and then the biceps, the forearms, the thighs and the calves are all sketched in a sausage shaped.

The torso of the robot is like one large fat oval egg shape that doesn’t have to be stressed over at this point, so long as it loosely connects to all the other robot parts such as the arms, legs and the head.

The above method is ideal for drawing robots, especially as you are marking in all the areas that you want to define, but it necessarily doesn’t have to stay that way, not with it being a robot anyway, there is a tendency to try and draw too much detail right at the beginning, but this is advised against as the more you learn to draw from the start by planning your sketches then the better your drawings will be every time you draw.

The next step is to slowly change them sausages and circles into actual robot body parts that look like they would move and be essential working parts, to do this you can just sketch over the circle and cylinder shapes by using them as the original framework, let your imagination take over at this point, because you want to envision a futuristic robot with heavy metal plated armour, or something that resembles metal casing, we could also sketch in a gun on one of the robot arms just to see if it works.

Details are important in this third stage of robotic drawing development, and we can start to add more design features to our robot design, wires and other buttons can be added and a blank robot face makes the robot appear with no emotions. Cleaning the drawing up is a good idea too and inking over the pencil lines makes your drawing stand out.

Drawing robots is something that can be learnt like any other thing you can possibly learn to draw, so just enjoy using your imagination to create them.

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