[Via GeeksAreSexy]

Lee believes the key to this advancement is achieving a better understanding of how living things compute information and transferring that information to the robot realm. “Traditional computer algorithms which do fast search and brute computation will not make machines intelligent,” he says. “So we need to develop algorithms that approach these problems in different ways in order to build robots that can perform in complex environments.” Lee says robots’ artificial intelligence will be enhanced as their ability to sense their environment and execute motorized tasks steadily improves over time.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has given Lee and his team funding in recent years to teach robots to walk as well as to develop a class of machines that can navigate difficult terrain through the use of sensors. Lee’s team engineered a Toyota Prius to navigate city streets while obeying traffic laws and signs and avoiding collisions with the other unmanned vehicles participating in a DARPA-sponsored competition.

DARPA wants to make one-third of all U.S. military vehicles driverless by 2015. Meanwhile, the U.S. Pentagon is funding the development of machines that can assist or replace human soldiers. Lee and other members of a University of Pennsylvania team have received funding under the U.S. Department of Defense’s Future Combat Systems modernization initiative.

Source: Knowledge at Wharton

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The Complete History of Internet
An animated documentary explaining the inventions from time-sharing to filesharing, from Arpanet to Internet.

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“Labs is for Gmail to experiment with new features when we’re not really sure if they’ll be a hit,” Jackson says. “It’s a place where we can throw stuff out there, see what sticks.”

Launched last June, Gmail Labs has added about one new Lab feature per week, with ideas coming from individual engineers and developers in the company, instead of from corporate offices as part of a business plan. Some Lab applications, such as Tasks and Forgotten Email Attachment, are designed to be useful to Gmail users, while others are designed for fun and novelty. So far, no applications have graduated from the Lab section in Gmail and become a standard email tool, but Jackson says some could be released soon.

“The criteria for release is really a collection of things,” he says. “Primarily we look at user feedback, including how many users have installed the Lab and how many people continue to use it.” Jackson says because all Google employees use Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs, bugs and problems are usually caught well before an application reaches the consumer. He says the added pressure of knowing that coworkers are relying on the stability of the product is a major motivator to ensure the product is strong.

Source: ComputerWorld

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The researchers have developed a test magnetic recording head that includes a new device that acts like an optical antenna. They say that a thin film of tiny magnetic particles could be heated while receiving data bits and made more stable. The device, a near-field transducer, can focus a laser beam inside an area less than 75 nanometers in diameter.

The researchers say that as the grains cool down, their magnetic alignment is stabilized by the laser heating and allows them to hold data indefinitely. As a result, diskmakers would be able to pack rows of bits more tightly, which would significantly increase data-storage space. Engineering adjustments, such as improving the delivery of laser light to the recording head, should enable the team to surpass the industry standard of 250 gigabytes per square inch.

The researchers believe they can perfect the technology before the storage capacity of standard, magnetic hard drives is reached in about five years.

Source: ScienceMag.org

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However, while the technology may be sound, a profitable business model remains elusive. Developments that may help convince manufacturers to incorporate wireless charging modules into their devices include the organization of the Wireless Power Consortium, a group committed to establishing a common inductive wireless charging standard.

Consortium chairman Menno Treffers admits that greater collaboration is needed to guarantee that different devices can share the same charging gear. Notable products include Palm’s Pre smart phone, which features an optional charging pad that charges the handset wirelessly via electromagnetic induction.

Also under development are other domestic applications such as the wireless operation of household appliances by incorporating charging pads into kitchen counters. Last November, Texas Instruments announced a partnership with Fulton Innovations “to accelerate development of efficient wireless power solutions” by investigating the manufacture of integrated circuits that support Fulton’s technology in order to shrink the cost and size of the components needed for wireless charging as well as ease their rapid incorporation into products.

Among alternative technologies being developed and marketed is a pad designed to charge mobile devices that interface with it using four conductive metal studs. Power beamed to devices via lasers is another method being explored, although it faces regulatory challenges.

Source: Econimist.com

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The AR technology is being explored to find applications for professional divers. Underwater use is a major challenge for technical systems, which have to be waterproof and robust enough to withstand the pressure of diving.

FIT’s AR system is a waterproof display in front of a diver’s mask that allows the diver to see the real underwater environment as well as additional virtual objects. An ultra-mobile PC, worn on the diver’s back, detects underwater markers in a video stream supplied by a camera on top of the diver’s mask.

The system uses pictures from the camera and data from inertial and magnetic field tracking of the diver’s orientation to generate three-dimensional scenes. The researchers developed a prototype AR game that places divers in the role of an underwater archaeologist in search of a treasure chest. The researchers say the prototype game is a robust platform that could be used to develop technology to support professional divers in the maintenance of bridges, offshore oil rigs, or dams.

Source: Fraunhofer.de

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