Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

humanoid robot

Apple reportedly exploring new human-robot training method using Vision Pro

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Apple is investigating a more effective way to train humanoid robots by incorporating human instructors alongside robot demonstrators, a novel combined strategy the company has dubbed “PH2D”, according to a report on Apple Insider.

This development was detailed in a research paper published on Wednesday, just a week after the tech giant unveiled its Matrix3D and StreamBridge AI models, signaling a continued push into artificial intelligence and robotics.

The research paper, titled “Humanoid Policy ~ Human Policy”, addresses the shortcomings of conventional robot-training techniques and puts forward a new, scalable, and cost-effective solution. [Read more…] about Apple reportedly exploring new human-robot training method using Vision Pro

Leading humanoid roboticist unveils new android

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One of the world’s leading humanoid roboticist has unveiled a new android which is modeled on a 10-year-old boy, although no-one specific. (See video below.) 

Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, Wakayama University, Japan, has previously made a robot called Geminoid that looked exactly like himself and another modeled on a young woman, which he called Erica.

The new robot, called Ibuki, and the IEEE has given us all permission to panic over it.

While some would say it’s a technical achievement, others would say it’s downright creepy.

Ibuki gets around on wheels but “can fake walking”, meaning it looks like it’s walking if you view the top half.

humanoid robot ishiguro
Professor Ishiguro (right) with his Geminoid robot (left)

What its application might be is uncertain, but this is more of a research robot rather than a commercial one.

But according to a story on TechWorld.com, Professor Ishiguro “wants a humanoid future” when humans and androids live together.

“The more human we make robots, the more we will accept them in our daily lives,” he said.

 

Toyota launches tiny humanoid robot that fits into the palm of your hand

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Toyota has launched a tiny robot small enough to fit into the palm of your hand. 

The KiRobo Mini is clearly the company’s way of taking a break from making cars, and is now on sale in Japan.

According to Nikkei, the little robot “can talk, learn, and serve up information on your car and home”.  [Read more…] about Toyota launches tiny humanoid robot that fits into the palm of your hand

From the biggest to the smallest: Hitachi takes first nimble steps in robotics market

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Exclusive interview with Dong Li, research engineer at Hitachi R&D Europe, about the company’s new humanoid robot, Emiew

At street level, the Barbican area of London, England has the strange quality of looking like a small underground city. But it’s actually not.

True, it has an Underground railway station, but the rest of the commercial and cultural district – with its museums and office blocks – is mostly above ground.

It may be because the buildings are so imposing that they overshadow the often narrow streets and block out the sun in some places. The bridges overhead connecting one set of buildings to another, or one side of the road to the other, and the tunnels that go underneath the building complexes themselves, exacerbate the feeling of being underground.  [Read more…] about From the biggest to the smallest: Hitachi takes first nimble steps in robotics market