Raytheon CGI rendition: As we initially reported here, we now have the ability to shoot down aircraft with high-powered lasers. The LaWS (Laser Weapon System) and Maritime Laser Weapon Systems are built onto the Phalanx target-tracking platform, but use lasers instead of bullets to take down targets. Raytheon’s Maritime Laser Weapon System was just [...]
Posted in DARPA, defense, flying, milestone, military / law enforcement, video, weapon 
Tags: anti-aircraft, laser, LaWS, Maritime Laser Weapon System, phalanx, r2-d2, Raytheon, uav 
No Comments »“In mid-June, a single-turbine helicopter took off from a test field in Mesa, Arizona, avoided obstacles in-flight, scoped out a landing site and landed safely. It’s like the kind of flight choppers have made tens of thousands of times before. Except this time, the helicopter did it entirely on its own – with no humans [...]
Posted in autonomous, flying, milestone, video Tags: flight, helicopter, helo, milestone No Comments »Interesting and informative article about robots teaching humans. South Korea is employing hundreds of robots as teacher aides and classroom playmates. One concern that will resonate with readers of this website was voiced by Mitchel Resnick, head of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the Media Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who commented, “I worry that [...]
The chaps at Willow Garage have put together a safety film featuring their PR2 robot. They have a lot of firsthand experience and observations involved with what amounts to large, heavy, powerful, moving machinery around people. Very insightful, it will probably become required training for people working with or purchasing domestic robots. via [PlasticPals]
Posted in autonomous, domestic, education, milestone, roboticists, video Tags: pr2, safety, training, video, willow garage No Comments »
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Posted in autonomous, defense, ethics, featured, milestone, military / law enforcement, video, weapon Tags: camera, drone, laser, rgb, tank, tracking No Comments »
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Posted in defense, flying, government, milestone, military / law enforcement Tags: aerial, border, drone, predator, uav, US No Comments »A surgical robot in Russia has assisted in the removal of a liver tumor. “A surgical robot is a real technological breakthrough for Russian medics. Its thin manipulators take a 360 degree bend, which makes surgery much more accurate. A patient won’t have ugly scars, but barely visible traces of belly wall punctures. After operation, a patient [...]
NASA and General Motors announced on Tuesday that they planned to send a robot to the International Space Station, with the eventual goal of having it subdue help the astronauts there. According to NASA and G.M., Robonaut 2 (R2) will be the first humanoid robot to leave Earth. R2 will be a passenger on the [...]
Meet CHARLI, United States’ First Full-Height, Free-Walking Humanoid Robot, designed by a group of undergraduate and graduate students at the Virginia Tech College of Engineering’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) under the direction of Dennis Hong. Built with only $20,000 in funds and some donated equipment from National Instruments and Maxon Precision Motors, CHARLI is [...]
