Meet BonsAI: an interactive Bonsai plant that relies on sensors and LED lines to find the best place to get the right amount of light. It can also provide its owner with encouragement and serve as a smart companion. The below video shows how something like this would work:
Robots are going to do many things for us in the future. They are already very capable of helping in the construction industry. Take Built Robotics’ Autonomous Track Loader for instance: it is capable of completing low level excavation on its own to improve jobsite productivity.
Here is another educational kit that allows your kids to build multiple robots and learn a thing or two about programming in the process. The Makeblock MotionBlock Robot has over 10 forms. It can be programmed in Scratch and Python. You get a simple app to interact with the robot.
Boston Dynamics is putting the finishing touches on the Spot Mini robot. This video from TechCrunch shows a close-to-production Spot Mini in action. This robot has many redesigned components. It has cameras on all sides to see in all directions.
The robot has built-in WiFi. It also has a cute arm to manipulate items. Pretty neat, don’t you think?
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Here is a robotic system that lets you close any road in a flash. The Bulkhead is an automatic traffic barrier system that opens in 3 seconds and bursts tires of vehicles in 2 seconds. It weighs 42kg and can last 400 unfold cycles. The Bulkhead is 4.2 meters long when fully deployed. It has a modular design and wireless control of 150 meters.
There is no better way to learn robotics than building and programming your own. The Pi-motion AI Robot comes with everything you need to get some practice on machine vision and Python. It is powered by a Raspberry Pi and has 2DOF metal servos. You also get a 100 degree wide angle camera and an ultrasonic module.
Robots are already being used to put out dangerous fires and save lives. Take the Colossus for instance: it is a robotic firefighter that can put out strong fires without putting human firefighters in danger. It has a payload capability of 550kg and lasts up to 12 hours on battery.
Here is a robot fish modeled after the muskellunge that can swim autonomously in the water like a real fish. It doesn’t make a whole lot of noise or vibration in the water. It can be deployed in rivers for water quality detection.
In the future, more companies will use robots for handling cargo and making their workers more productive. Project KALI is a force-assisted mobile system for cargo handling. It reduces physical stress in manual cargo handling.
