blacksundae

The Laboratory of Intelligent Systems (LIS) directed by Prof. Dario Floreano focuses on the development of robotic systems and artificial intelligence methods inspired by biological principles of self-organization. Currently, we address three interconnected research areas: flying robots, artificial evolution and social systems.

Link! Be sure to check out their projects page (which I would link to directly, but they’re using frames…. Tsk! Tsk!). Via this post on Current.

A blog that is either called “Lego Blog, “Lego Is Fun” or “Lego Mania” (some branding issues here) has some pretty nifty photos of “microscale” versions of Transformers done in Lego. They actually transform, with some help.

Also, check out Lego Stephen Hawking.

“When you have Optimus Prime AND Master Chief cheering from the Superdome, is there really any doubt which team is superior?” - io9

Probert’s thirty-year career has been wide and varied, although his greatest claim to fame stems from serving as Senior Illustrator for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Do you get goosebumps when you see the Enterprise-D or feel your pulse rush at the sight of the updated Romulan Warbird? Thank this guy.

But before giving Starlfeet a facelift was even a twinkle in Andrew’s eye, he was hard at work whipping the Cylons into shape.

Link!

SEVERAL years ago, I built a robot whose sole purpose in life was to create an even smaller robot just like himself… So much like himself, that this robot endeavoured to create yet another tiny robot, ad infinitum. This continued for a while until an extremely tiny speck of robot tried to endow purpose upon a cloud of molecules with ruinous result.

Link!

Take a look at how drastically warfare has changed in the last decade and you’ll understand why the U.S. military is increasingly turning to robots to do its dirtiest work. Dangerous missions once performed by human beings, such scouting for the enemy and defusing bombs, now fall to a wide range of bots known as Unmanned Vehicles, or UVs.

UVs come in all shapes, sizes and prices — from four-pound, hand-launched Raven aerial drones costing just $30,000 to Global Hawk spy planes with the wingspan of a 737 and a whopping $100-million price tag. Tens of thousands of UVs are in military service worldwide, and now you can get in on the action, too. Using a combination of hobbyist radio-controlled airplanes and trucks, cheap cellphones, digital cameras and off-the-shelf software, you can produce robots that perform basic tasks.

Although not quite as capable as their military counterparts — your creations will likely be dealing with sleeping cats rather than armed terrorists — these bots can deliver some impressive results.

Read on.

“Now I wouldn’t go as far to say that we’re worried it’s going to go run amok and take over the space station or turn evil or anything…”

Oh, no? How far would you go, then? Hmmm? Be prepared, or else you’ll be the first against the wall when Skynet becomes self-aware. Read on. [via Boing Boing]

Gizmodo:

When it comes to Dubai and attracting wealthy tourists, the word “restraint” is seldom used. Perhaps that is why it is not surprising that the locals are building a $1 billion theme park that will feature over 100 animatronic dinosaurs of 40 different species. Dubbed “Restless Planet,” the park will attempt to provide an educational experience amid all of the Vegas-style spectacle. This will be done using history themed rides and robots/habitats that represent an accurate portrayal (based on current knowledge) of what life was like millions of years ago.

Hmm… Two Michael Crichton stories in one! What could possibly go wrong?

I feel like I imagine Shannon would feel if somebody came out with a movie about zombie dinosaurs. Behold: robots doing a fine rendition of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” on theremin and various percussive objects.

From the comments: “I’ve got a fever… and the only prescription is more frog!”

[via boingboing]