U-Cat
Modeled after sea turtles, U-Cat has four flipper-like propellers to maneuver it through underwater environments. The small craft focuses on its maneuverability, with each independently controlled propeller allowing the robot to swim up, down, and stop and turn on a dime. This feature is especially useful when exploring confined spaces, like shipwrecks.
This robot follows the trend of "biometric" robots, robots modeled after living creatures. This takes the natural advantages that some animals already possess (like the sea turtle's maneuverability) and automates it using motors and gears to perfect it. U-Cat can act like a regular turtle, but can investigate and document the sea floor without stopping.
This robot follows the trend of "biometric" robots, robots modeled after living creatures. This takes the natural advantages that some animals already possess (like the sea turtle's maneuverability) and automates it using motors and gears to perfect it. U-Cat can act like a regular turtle, but can investigate and document the sea floor without stopping.
Amazon Prime Air
The product delivery company Amazon recently introduced a revolutionary way to deliver packages: by flying drone. The drones, known as "octocopters", have eight arms, each with a powerful propeller. They are programmed with small but long-lasting motors, to deliver the ordered items (up to 75 lbs.) to the buyer in under 30 minutes. The technology isn't fully approved or safety tested yet, but Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos claims that "Amazon Prime Air" will be in progress in as little as five years.
This concept could revolutionize the delivery process. If it works well, other companies may replicate the idea, leading to an airspace filled with delivery drones. Deliveries that could have taken days could be shortened to minutes with reduced traffic and individual delivery, as opposed to waiting for a truck to drive over.
This concept could revolutionize the delivery process. If it works well, other companies may replicate the idea, leading to an airspace filled with delivery drones. Deliveries that could have taken days could be shortened to minutes with reduced traffic and individual delivery, as opposed to waiting for a truck to drive over.
Singularity
Singularity is the theoretical moment when artificial technology surpasses human intelligence. At the moment, the average prediction for this date is in the 2040's. However, as time passes, our technology is growing and learning faster and faster, potentially changing this date. No one knows what exactly will happen when robots become smarter than humans, but we do know it will change the course of the human race forever.
Soft Robots
For the entire history of robotics, robots have struggled with picking up things delicately. Usually, claws would be too powerful to hold eggs or flowers, and crush them completely. This new design, which consists of a tentacle-like apparatus that can inflate in three different tubes to bend into any three dimensional shape. This allows it to shape itself around fragile items like a flower. The team also experimented with adding a video camera, syringe or suction cup to the end of the tentacle, making it more useful than a simple grabbing arm. This robot offers maneuverability like no other robot before, and could use these additions to perform certain tasks in dangerous or hazardous areas where delicacy is required.
Robothespian
A recent creation, Robothespian was showcased at the 2014 Consumer's Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The robot offers no exceptionally useful techniques, but can recognize and imitate emotions. Additionally, it can perform a sing and dance routine, much to the amusement of the visitors. This technology could be used in all forms of entertainment, from television to the theater. The emotion detecting software could be used to create even more lifelike robots, almost like humans themselves.
Watson 2.0
Developed by IBM, Watson 2.0 may be the most prolific and advanced Artificial Intelligence yet. You may have seen it performing on game shows like Jeopardy, where it blew away the competitors with its vast database knowledge, or in chess, where it was able to beat world grand-masters multiple times. Using its program, with no outside help, it is able to learn and use information it can collect from its environment. Watson 2.0 is the closest humans have come to the theoretical Singularity event (See above). IBM, a major computer company, created this robot to analyze data, compare it againstits database, and respond accordingly.