Robots inspired by origami can fold selves, walk away

Robots inspired by origami can fold selves, walk away

 

It starts out laying flat, like a sheet of paper.

 

Then it springs up, almost lifelike, and folds into moveable parts much like origami art.

 

And then it crawls away.

 

This new kind of robot could someday be used in space exploration, to slide into collapse sites to aid search and rescue, or to speed up manufacturing on assembly lines, experts said Thursday.

 

While this particular machine's march to the world market is still years away, the report in the journal Science said the latest advances open the way to a new frontier in personalized robotics.

 

Not only is the material cheap -- it cost just $100 -- it could be easily reprogrammed from one task to another, said Sam Felton, a researcher at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

 

"In the same way that if you have a Word document and you want to change few words, you just reprint it at your home computer, you could take a robot's digital plan, change a few things and reprint it," Felton told reporters.

 

The thin robot is built of layers, including paper, a middle layer of copper etched into a network of electrical leads, and an outer layer of shape-memory polymer that folds when heated.

 

Once the batteries and motor are activated, the robot folds itself much like a child's Transformer toy, and scuttles away like a crab.

 

Felton said the total start-up costs for equipment used to make the robot were around $11,000.

 

The origami machine itself cost $80 for batteries and motor, and $20 for materials.

 

"If we were to build a new one it would cost another $100," he said.

 

Other potential uses could include self-assembling furniture, or even shelters that build themselves in disaster zones.

 

"The exciting thing here is that you create this device that has computation embedded in the flat, printed version," explained Daniela Rus, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

 

"And when these devices lift up from the ground into the third dimension, they do it in a thoughtful way."

 

The team hopes that commercial uses for the robots will grow in the years to come.

 

In the meantime, its early tasks and functions may be incremental in nature.

 

"Since we are an academic lab, we try and come up with the most interesting and challenging problems, not necessarily the most practical," said Felton.

 

"In space, maybe it would be too hard to build a completely self-folding satellite but maybe you would just have the solar panels deploy using shape memory materials, and that would be a very easy and short-term addition."

 

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Research at Harvard, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

 

The researchers plan to present their work at the Sixth International Meeting on Origami in Science, Mathematics and Education in Tokyo from August 10-13.

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 7 Thursday August 2014 The Roman)

 

Hitchhiking robot thumbs its way across Canada

Hitchhiking robot thumbs its way across Canada

 

A talking robot assembled from household odds and ends is hitchhiking thousands of kilometers across Canada this summer as part of a social experiment to see if those of its kind can trust humans.

 

Society is "usually concerned with whether we can trust robots," Frauke Zeller, co-creator of the "hitchBot," told AFP.

 

Hollywood movies like "The Terminator" and "The Matrix" often depict machines as enemies of mankind, according to the assistant professor at Toronto's Ryerson University.

 

But, she noted, quite the opposite is true of hitchBot.

 

"This project turns our fear of technology on its head and asks, 'Can robots trust humans?'" Zeller said.

 

"Our aim is to further discussion in society about our relationship with technology and robots, and notions of safety and trust."

 

Zeller and fellow professor David Smith of McMaster University, along with a team of specialists, designed hitchBot to be fully dependent on people.

 

"It cannot achieve its task of hitchhiking across Canada without the help of people, because it cannot move by itself," she said.

 

And hitchBot certainly has what it takes to charm its way into people's hearts.

 

It can strike up a conversation and can answer trivia questions by consulting information using its built-in computers.

 

And it will even tell you when it's tired and in need of recharging from your car's cigarette lighter.

 

HitchBot has what has been described by Canadian media as a "yard-sale aesthetic," built for about $1,000 from parts found in a typical Canadian home or hardware store.

 

It has an LED-lit smiley face wrapped in a transparent cake saver set atop a plastic beer pail wrapped in a solar panel, with swimming pool noodles for limbs.

 

Its feet are rubber boots and it wears yellow latex gloves -- including one with its thumb extended to show it wants to catch a ride.

 

The automaton's design couldn't be too heavy because it had to be manually lifted into a car.

 

The robot also had to be small enough to fit into the backseat of a car but still have enough heft so it would not be blown over by a gust of wind while hitchhiking on the side of the road.

 

And it had to be resistant to chilly temperatures common during Canadian late summer nights.

 

"It had to be sturdy but also appealing to people," Zeller said.

 

"We wanted people to feel like, 'Yeah, I should stop to help that robot.'"

 

And that's exactly what's been happening.

 

It began its trip on July 27 in Canada's Atlantic port city of Halifax, after being picked up by an elderly couple in a camper van.

 

They handed it off after a night in the Canadian outback to three young men from Quebec province.

 

HitchBot then zipped through eastern Canada to Toronto for a brief check-in with its creators before hitting the road again.

 

It is ultimately headed for the country's westernmost city of Victoria -- more than 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) from its starting point.

 

- Rooting for hitchBot -

 

The trip is being documented on social media (www.hitchBot.me), allowing people around the world to connect with the robot.

 

Less than 24 hours after it began its journey, it had already snapped up 12,000 followers on Twitter, including one fan who posted a photo of a cardboard box look-alike.

 

By Friday, the number of Twitter followers was nearly 20,000.

 

"Everyone is rooting for it," Zeller said.

 

"It's an interesting phenomenon -- people are developing attachments to the robot, including many who (will) never meet hitchBot, but are following it on social media."

 

Once its travels are over, researchers will analyze comments posted on Twitter and Facebook to see what they can surmise about the public's attitudes concerning robot-human interactions.

 

With growing use of mechanical humanoids in space, manufacturing and everyday life, "it's becoming more important to explore our relationship with robots -- especially if they come into our households," Zeller said.

 

Particularly interesting, she added, is the question of whether robots will be seen as disposable as they age and break down.

 

"What do we do when they will need to be repaired?"

 

Zeller said, suggesting that some people may become attached to the little humanoids and will "keep and cherish" them.

 

"Do we repair them, or will they become just another convenient item that we can throw away?" she asked.

 

"We have to study all of that to ensure it works out right."

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 2 Saturday August 2014 The Roman)

 

Boson de Higgs: les preuves s'accumulent mais le suspense dure Higgs boson: evidence is accumulating but the suspense lasts

Boson de Higgs: les preuves s'accumulent mais le suspense dure

 

De Laurent BANGUET (AFP)

 

Paris — Un an après la découverte spectaculaire d'une nouvelle particule élémentaire par le Cern, les preuves s'accumulent mais restent encore insuffisantes pour conclure officiellement qu'il s'agit bien du fameux boson de Higgs.

 

Et le suspense risque de durer encore quelques années...

 

"On a établi qu'on avait une nouvelle particule, hors de tout doute, et on sait que c'est un boson. Ce qu'on tente de faire depuis lors, c'est de s'assurer que c'est bien effectivement un boson de Higgs", résume Pauline Gagnon, physicienne ayant participé à la découverte annoncée le 4 juillet 2012 au Cern, l'organisation européenne pour la recherche nucléaire.

 

Le boson de Higgs, insaisissable car extrêmement instable, est considéré par les scientifiques comme la clef de voûte de la théorie du Modèle standard, la particule élémentaire qui donne leur masse à nombre d'autres particules.

 

Son existence avait été postulée pour la première fois en 1964 par le physicien britannique Peter Higgs, dont il porte le nom, avec ses collègues belges Robert Brout et François Englert.

 

Mais quel boson a été débusqué par le Cern ?

 

Car il existe plusieurs théories qui prédisent chacune différents types de boson de Higgs.

 

Le Modèle standard, qui définit la structure fondamentale de la matière, en postule un seul et unique, aux propriétés strictement définies.

 

"Est-ce qu'on a trouvé LE boson, ou est-ce plutôt un des bosons de Higgs prédits par d'autres théories, par exemple un des cinq prévus par la théorie de la supersymétrie? Jusqu'à maintenant tout indique que c'est le boson unique du Modèle standard", explique à l'AFP Mme Gagnon.

 

"Il en a l'allure, l'air, la chanson, il danse et se promène comme un boson de Higgs", assure la chercheuse de l'expérience ATLAS.

 

Depuis le 4 juillet 2012, les physiciens ont analysé au moins deux fois et demie plus de données que ce qui était alors disponible.

 

Ainsi, dans le Modèle standard, le boson de Higgs est supposé avoir comme propriété un spin nul, et sa parité, c'est-à-dire la façon dont se comporte son image miroir, doit être positive.

 

Toutes les analyses vont dans ce sens jusqu'à présent.

 

Les scientifiques doivent encore étudier "les différentes façons par lesquelles il se désintègre.

 

C'est un peu comme si je vous donne une pièce de deux euros et que je vous demande de faire la monnaie: on peut faire la monnaie de plusieurs façons différentes.

 

Or la théorie nous dit exactement comment le boson de Higgs doit rendre la monnaie", indique Mme Gagnon.

 

"Il se désintègre bien en plusieurs types d'autres bosons (particules associées aux forces fondamentales, comme le photon) mais pour les fermions (les particules de matière, comme les quarks b ou les tau), on ne sait pas encore très bien" car il y en a très peu, souligne-t-elle.

 

"Fichue particule"

 

Certains nouveaux indices pourraient être dévoilés en juillet lors d'une conférence de physique à Stockholm, qui fera le point sur la traque de cette "fichue particule".

 

Mais pour Pauline Gagnon, il faudra vraisemblablement récolter davantage de données "pour en avoir le coeur net".

 

Or le LHC, Grand collisionneur de hadrons situé à la frontière franco-suisse, est fermé depuis le mois de mars afin de procéder à des améliorations.

 

Et il ne reprendra pas ses expériences avant 2015.

 

Ces améliorations permettront de "produire des particules plus lourdes.

 

S'il existe d'autres bosons de Higgs plus lourds, on pourra les produire et le vérifier.

 

On pourra aussi produire un plus grand nombre de particules donc avancer plus rapidement", relève la physicienne.

 

Le doute sur la nature de l'insaisissable particule ne sera donc probablement pas levé avant quelques années.

 

Et paradoxalement, les physiciens préfèreraient qu'il ne s'agisse pas du fameux boson.

 

"Avoir trouvé le boson de Higgs, ça cimente le Modèle standard, tout est cohérent" mais cette physique ne décrit que 5% du contenu de l'univers, la matière ordinaire, "c'est quand même bête!", lance Mme Gagnon.

 

"On sait qu'il faut autre chose. Mais pour trouver la porte d'entrée vers une autre théorie, plus universelle, on n'a pas encore de piste. C'est aussi pour ça qu'on continue à vérifier les moindres détails, pour trouver des réponses à ce qui est inconnu", conclut la chercheuse.

 

Copyright © 2013 AFP. Tous droits réservés.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 30 dimanche juin 2013 Le Roman)

 

 

Higgs boson: evidence is accumulating but the suspense lasts

 

Paris - One year after the spectacular discovery of a new elementary particle by CERN, evidence is accumulating but still insufficient to conclude that it is officially the famous Higgs boson.

 

And suspense is likely to last a few years ...

 

"It has been established that they had a new particle, beyond any doubt, and we know that it is a boson. What we tried to do since then is to ensure that it is actually a Higgs boson, "explains Pauline Gagnon, a physicist who participated in the discovery announced July 4, 2012 at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

 

The Higgs boson, elusive as extremely unstable, is considered by scientists as the cornerstone of the theory of The Standard Model, the elementary particle that gives mass to other particles number.

 

Its existence was first postulated in 1964 by British physicist Peter Higgs, whose name it bears, with his Belgian colleagues Robert Brout and François Englert.

 

But what boson was flushed by CERN?

 

Because there are several theories that predict each different types of Higgs boson.

 

The Standard Model, which defines the basic structure of the material, assumes a single, with strictly defined properties.

 

"Is what we found THE boson, or is it rather a Higgs bosons predicted by other theories, such as one of the five predicted by the theory of supersymmetry? Far everything indicates that c is the single boson of The Standard Model,” told AFP Ms. Gagnon.

 

"He has pace, air, song, dance and it walks like a Higgs boson," says the researcher of the ATLAS experiment.

 

Since July 4, 2012, physicists have analyzed at least two and a half times more data than what was then available.

 

Thus, in The Standard Model, the Higgs boson is supposed to have property as a zero spin and parity, that is to say, how to behave its mirror image, must be positive.

 

All analyzes in this direction so far.

 

Scientists still need to study "the various ways in which it decays It is almost as if I give you a two-euro coin and I ask you to make change:. They can make money in several different ways. However, the theory tells us exactly how the Higgs boson must make change," said Gagnon.

 

"It decays well several other types of bosons (associated with fundamental forces, like the photon particles) but for fermions (particles of matter, as the b quark or tau), we do not yet know very well" because there is very little, says she has.

 

"Damn particle"

 

Some new evidence could be unveiled in July at a physics conference in Stockholm, which will take on the hunt for this "damn particle".

 

But Pauline Gagnon, it will likely collect more data "to get to the bottom."

 

But the LHC Large Hadron Collider located on the Franco-Swiss border has been closed since March to make improvements.

 

And he did not resume his experiences before 2015.

 

These improvements will "produce heavier particles. If there are other heavier Higgs bosons, we can produce and check. We can also produce a larger number of particles therefore move more quickly, " notes physicist.

 

Doubt on the nature of the elusive particle will therefore probably not lifted a few years.

 

And paradoxically, physicists would prefer it not whether the famous Higgs.

 

"Having found the Higgs boson, it cements The Standard Model, everything is coherent" but this physics describes only 5% of the content of the universe, ordinary matter, "it's still stupid!" Joked Ms. Gagnon.

 

"We know we need something else. But to find the entrance to another theory, more universal door, we do not yet track. This is also why we will continue to check every detail, to find answers to the unknown," concludes the researcher.

 

Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 30 Sunday June 2013 The Roman)

(Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 30 Sunday June 2013 The Roman)