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LONDON, England (CNN) — A revolutionary machine that can copy itself and manufacture everyday objects quickly and cheaply could transform industry in the developing world, according to its creator.

The “self-replicating rapid prototyper,” or “RepRap” is the brainchild of Dr. Adrian Bowyer, a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of Bath in the UK.

It is based on rapid prototyping technology commonly used to manufacturer plastic components in industry from computer-generated blueprints — effectively a form of 3D printer.

But Bowyer told CNN the RepRap’s ability to copy itself could put rapid prototyping technology within reach of the world’s poorest communities by alleviating the need for the sort of large-scale industrial infrastructure common across the developed world.

“People can start manufacturing goods at a low price,” said Bowyer. “All one needs is a computer and a machine that can copy itself. It can spread without enormous expenditure of capital and where labor costs are low.

“It is the first technology that we can have that can simultaneously make people more wealthy while reducing the need for industrial production.”

Prototyping machines currently cost around $45,000 but Bowyer believes that price could drop to a few hundred dollars as the number of self-replicating models increases exponentially.

“It makes industry a little more like agriculture,” said Bowyer, who specializes in biomimetics, the study and application of natural processes in technologies such as engineering, design and computing.

“Farmers have been dealing with self-replicating products for years.”

Rapid prototyping machines work by building a succession of layers, either bonded by a laser or held together by alternating layers of glue.

The key feature of the RepRap is its ability to print electrical circuits by squirting a metal alloy with a low-melting point from a heated nozzle.

It seems a great machine. However, the problem with today electronic devices is that they are all using processor, micro-processors or micro-controllers. What you seem to be able to do with this machine is to replicate an electronic board, but you will always need to have these high-tech micro-puce and other electronics devices like resistances, relays, conductors, etc. It is sure that it is better than nothing but I can agree, for the moment, with the following assertion:

“People can start manufacturing goods at a low price,” said Bowyer. “All one needs is a computer and a machine that can copy itself. It can spread without enormous expenditure of capital and where labor costs are low.

Read more at The machine that can copy anything

‘Indian scientists claim to have invented a new robot which has the ability to improve couple`s sex lives.
Dr CRJP Naidu, of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, says the robot can simulate body movements and he boasts of its “sexual prowess”.

He told that the robot could be used to help couples with marriage problems.

Dr Naidu said, “One of the reasons for marital break-ups today is physical inadequacy. Couples are so stressed out that there`s no time for foreplay, so essential to get the juices flowing. A smart machine can bridge that gap in no time.”

The Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility robot (ASIMO) is being produced by Honda, and scientists are working to improve it further before it is marketed to “gadget loving” Indians.’

It is not really a breaking news, but I blogged it because I think it open our mind on what robotic could bring us and how it can be use in our daily life. I have to say that I never, ever, thought about this application of Asimo when I saw him at Pittsburgh, walking, dancing and climbing stairs.

Read more at Robotic relief for stressed couples

‘NASA’s next mission to Mars will attempt to put a long-armed lander on icy ground in the north.

The agency approved Thursday the Phoenix lander for an August 2007 launch.

Phoenix will look for possible water ice and signs of life.

The project was selected in 2003 for planning and design, and will now begin to prepare for the trip. It is the first project in NASA’s Mars Scout Program of competitively selected missions, the agency said in a news release.

Unlike the still-active rovers Spirit and Opportunity, Phoenix will be stationary. It has a robotic arm to dig down to the martian ice layer and deliver samples to sophisticated analytical instruments on the lander’s deck.’

After the Canadian arm comes the Pheonix’s arm. What is awesome is the price of the mission: around 386 million USD. This is the new way NASA makes things: multiple little low cost space projects. The only way for them to archive this is by continuing to develop current and new robotic platforms, and this is what they do.

Read more at NASA Approves Long-Armed Robot For Next Mars Mission

‘From building cars to exploring other planets, robots have proven to be useful partners in advancing human achievement. These magnificent machines have been the focus of many movies, in which they are depicted as mimicking their human counterparts by walking, talking and behaving like human beings.

With the latest breakthrough in robotics technology, robots may actually be capable of what many modern movies have depicted, and thus become even more indispensable to our society.

University Electrical Engineering Professor Jessy Grizzle and a team of French scientists have designed a robot called RABBIT that can perfectly mimic human ambulatory patterns.

When RABBIT is nudged it can regain its balance instantly, which prevents it from falling over like its predecessors would have done.’

While I am reading things like this about biped robots, I always think about the goal of the RoboCup competition: having a team of biped robots to win over the best human soccer team by 2050. I think they will be able to reach their goal.

Read more at Researchers take the next step in robotic technology

‘James McLurkin has a novel party trick - he coaxes 20 small, autonomous wheeled robots to form herds, disperse, wheel in neat circles, sing a harmonic rendition of the Star Wars theme, and automatically recharge from a power station.

Mr McLurkin, a postgraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is designing robots to work together to make collective decisions. If he succeeds, swarms of robots could be put to work in business, in the home, and by the military, perhaps in space.

“A swarm or a team can collaborate to overcome what a single robot might not be able to do,” explains Paolo Gaudiano, who works on swarms at Icosystem in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Soon, teams of 40 robots could be employed as border security guards and outside airports. Frontline Robotics in Ottawa, Canada, installed collaborative software on its vacuum cleaner-sized PC-bots and its much larger vehicle-sized “Grunts”, which it plans to put to work patrolling a runway at Ottawa airport. The firm has also sold Grunts to a South Korean company called DoDaam Systems, which is hoping to win a contract from the South Korean Government to patrol its border with North Korea.

The patrolling robots will use wi-Ff to share what they see, sniff and hear. They may even be able to triangulate the exact position of an intruder, or the source of a plume of smoke from an explosion, something no single robot could do.’

“Swarm” is a new Artificial Intelligence domain that scientists explore since some decades. I think that the most promising avenues of the technologies are in military or for the space exploration. I know that the NASA works on such robot teams to eventually send them to explore a new planet or to build a pre-base for humans.

Read more at Robot swarms must learn to bee hive

‘It looks like a watermelon-sized eyeball on wheels that glows in hues of purple, blue and orange while gurgling with whimsical buzzes and rings.

The new Roborior gadget works as interior decor, but it’s also a virtual guard dog because it has a digital camera, infrared sensors and videophone capability – to notify householders of intruders while they are away from home.

The £1,400 contraption by Japanese robot maker Tmsuk Co. Ltd. and electronics company Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. can connect with the owner’s mobile phone to relay streaming video taken on the robot’s digital camera.

It can be remote-controlled with a handset to go forward, backward, left or right. The buttons also adjust the angle of the digital camera to look up or down.

The US army is also developing such type of robots. The only difference is that they are shipped with build-in RPG.

Read more at New Japanese Robot Works as Guard Dog

‘Toyota Motor Corp aims to start selling robots that can help look after elderly people or serve tea to guests by 2010, the Asahi daily reported on Tuesday.

Japan’s top automaker sees a declining birthrate and aging population leading to growing demand for robots that can help in tasks such as child care and nursing care, the report said. ‘

The World will chance in a near future with these new robot projects. I saw Asimo in action in Pittsburgh some years ago: he was astonishing. Japanese have a great problem: the population is getting older and the young generations seem to stop mating. It’s why they started a national robotic project. The project is intended to build domestic robots to take care of elders. They will benefits from these new products. In a near future we too, Canadians, will benefits from these robots because we will face the same demographic problem in 10 or 20 years.

Read more at Toyota aims to sell service robots by 2010