This Engineering Newswire looks at changing the face of the Navy, having our lives taken over by A.I., and fighting fires with the shipboard autonomous robot.
The Navy’s Changing Face
The Office of Naval Research has partnered with the University of Central Florida to study how humans interact with avatars, animatronics, and other types of surrogates.
Part of a three year long investigation, the initial experiment is simple, and involves of a surrogate “lobby greeter” at the university that is controlled from a separate location.
Additionally, the navy will use the findings to determine how they can best use the technology in military training systems, such as with their Infantry Immersion Trainer.
A.I. Takes Full Control of Your Life
Today, New York startup Robotbase concluded its successful Kickstarter campaign, more than tripling its original goal to bring the Personal Robot into your home.
The robot isn't just another pretty fake face as it combines facial, object, and emotion recognition with natural language processing and smart home automation. As least it has a face. Remember Jibo?
The simply named Personal Robot brings artificial intelligence to your home or office using a combination of components. The basic package comes pre-installed with the robot operating system and Ubuntu open source software. It has a Kobuki mobile base, a 3D depth camera, Qualcomm's IFC6410 development board, and a 9-inch screen combined with servos, a microphone, speakers, humidity and temperature sensors, as well as a CO2 meter.
Navy’s Firefighting Robot
This week the Naval Future Force Science & Technology EXPO is taking place in Washington D.C. Naval researchers from across the country are discussing the status of key programs and research opportunities within the Navy. One of the most intriguing announcements was that of a firefighting robot prototype.
The Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot (SAFFiR), sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), successfully demonstrated its ability to walk across uneven floors, use thermal imaging to identify overheated equipment, and use a hose to extinguish a small fire in a series of experiments last November aboard the USS Shadwell, a decommissioned naval ship.
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