Blog
Facebook AI Goes Off the Rails
Two AI bots Facebook created quickly developed their own method
of communication, leaving the English they had been trained to use in the dust.
Instead, like a couple of pre-teens, they developed their own preferred language.What Facebook developers found most disconcerting was that
they could not follow what the bots were saying to each other. Bob, one bot, said, "I can i i
everything else," to Alice, the second bot, replied, "Balls have zero
to me to me to me..." It is believed that the
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Jul 31st 2017
It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere: The Universal Robots Bartender
Talk about versatile. Not only does the Universal Robots cobot mimic the movements of a human, now it can appreciate a good stiff drink as well. As part of an ensemble of robotic arms outfitted with
special end-effectors, the arms are programmed to pick up glasses, fill them
with ice and then complete your beverage with the mixer of your choice and send
it on down a conveyor belt to deliver it to your seat.The “Cocktail Bot” determines which of two types of glasses
is bes
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Jul 28th 2017
India Bans Self-Driving Cars
It seems that there are more than technology barriers to deploying
driverless cars. A full 75% of people polled by IBM across India indicated that
they were in favor of self-driving cars due to the reduction in traffic and pollution,
given that 10 of the most polluted cities are in India. The government,
however, cites unemployment as the reason for the ban. Production of driverless
cars is still permitted and some Indian companies have formed partnerships with
the likes of Bosch and Ni
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Jul 26th 2017
The Automated Chicken Coop
Tell some farmers that they can leave town for a week and not
have to put their lives on hold to go home and feed, they will jump for joy.
Daniel Badiou has invented a robotic chicken coop, Rova, that moves around the
pasture automatically.
Rova is solar-powered with a battery backup that can last for
up to 5 days. Badiou spends only 5 or 10 minutes a day checking on his chickens
through his smartphone. The automated coop comes with a GPS, wireless temperature
and wind sensors and cam
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Jul 24th 2017
A Robot with Whiskers
Regardless of your feelings toward facial hair, whiskers are
a feature among nearly all mammals – mice, cats, sea lions – and each animal
may use them in a slightly different capacity whether to track currents or obstacles.
Mechanical engineer Mitra Hartmann of Northwestern University and her team are
implementing this concept for robotics.
When the whisker encounters an obstacle or other stimuli, it
trips a sensor on the follicle end, not in the whisker itself. Robot whiskers
would b
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Jul 21st 2017