„Rollin' Justin“

The mobile humanoid roboter, named "Rollin' Justin", with its compliant controlled light weight arms and its two four finger hands is an ideal experimental platform for current research issues, such as the capability to carry out complex manipulation tasks.The newly developed mobile platform allows the long range autonomous operation of the system.The individually movable, spring born wheels match the special requirements of “Justin's” upper body during manipulation tasks. PMD sensors and cameras allow the 3D reconstruction of the robot's environment and therefore enable Justin to perform given tasks autonomously.
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Google Patents Transition To Autonomous Driving For Cars

Google has just been granted a patent that describes a possible switch from a car that is driven by a human to an autonomous driving mode. The patent was written by a group of engineers that includes the winners of the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge.

We have heard quite a bit about Google’s autonomous cars driving around in California. A patent approved by the USPTO yesterday provides more detail on these cars and the technology they may use. The patent #8,078,349, filed on May 11 of this year, specifically refers to the event when a mixed-mode car is enabled to transition from a human driver to an autonomous mode.

source:
http://www.conceivablytech.com/9983/products/google-patents-transition-to-autonomous-driving-for-cars

If it's to be a bit more professional

"For 15 years I had been looking for the ideal programming language for robotics. Until I found LabVIEW..."

But what is LabVIEW?

National Instruments launched LabVIEW Robotics 2009, a new version of the graphic system design software providing a standard development platform to design autonomous robot control systems.

»»» More information: www.ni.com/labview/whatis/

I'd rather build my own little helper

Image source: www.nncn.uni-freiburg.de

With LEGO Mindstorms it's a child's play...

thanks to research it can walk quickly and slowly:

Scientists from Göttingen have developed an autonomous walking robot which can use different gaitsdepending on the situation by means of "chaos control"...

»»» http://www.nncn.uni-freiburg.de/

Looks like I was a bit hasty...

For a better understanding: Lego Mindstorms is the name of a product series by the toy manufacturer Lego, containing a programmable Lego brick (RCX = Robotics Command system, or NXT) as well as electric motors, sensors and Lego Technic components (toothed wheels, axes, hole beams, pneumatic parts, etc.) to design and program robots and other autonomous and interactive systems.

Ok, though I'm not a child anymore:


Image source: www.educatec.ch


... well, ok, this is not mine...

but this is what it could look like :)

... not at all childish, don't you think?

How you control an excavator arm

Now we go into the details and find the scientific world...

Modeling and controlling an excavator's arm

Authors: Daqing Zhang, Qinghua He, Peng Hao, HaiTao Zhang

22nd International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction ISARC 2005 – September 11-14, 2005, Ferrara (Italy)

Controlling of excavator’s arm is an important and basic task in autonomous research of hydraulic excavator at present, but the behavior of the excavator’s arm is dominated by the nonlinear dynamics of the hydraulic actuators. To find a feasible way to control excavator's arm and realize autonomous excavation, firstly, Full kinematic and dynamic models of the excavator arm, regarded as a planar manipulator with three degrees (boom, dipper and bucket) of freedom...



The experimental robotic excavator


Further information:

»»» www.baufachinformation.de

»»» free PDF download