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Robots could ditch fingers for beanbags
TECHNOLOGY john amend/cornell
For daily technology stories, visit www.NewScientist.com/technology
Robot hand is full of beans IT LOOKS like a cross between a Dalek’s suction pad and a rubber ball on a stick. But this simple robot gripper (left) can pick up unfamiliar and even delicate objects, and could rival robotic fingers for grasp and dexterity. Grasping is a difficult task for robots, as it requires them to know precisely where to place their fingers, and how hard to grip the object to hold it securely without crushing it. This differs depending on whether the robot is picking up a light bulb or a hammer, so it must rely on sophisticated, costly sensors. “Our gripper is simpler because it does not need tactile sensing,” says Eric Brown at the University of Chicago. His team has created a robot hand that is simply a rubber bag filled to about 80 per cent of its volume with glass spheres, each
100 micrometres in diameter. When the bag is pressed onto the object to be picked up, the spheres flow around it and the bag moulds to its shape. A pump then creates a vacuum in the bag, jamming the spheres in place and hardening the gripper around the object. As the
“The force is distributed evenly across a large area so the gripper can pick up delicate objects like eggs” force is distributed evenly across a large surface area, the hand can pick up delicate objects like eggs without crushing them, says Brown. A larger version of the gripper could be used to pick up many objects at the same time (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/ pnas.1003250107).
–Finger-free lifting–
Captcha adverts capture you
‘Mortified’ Google admits bungle
IT IS an online advertiser’s dream. Some ads on the websites you visit could soon be impossible to ignore, as they will be integrated into the “captchas” used to check whether site visitors are human. With many web users using tools to block online adverts, companies must find new ways to get their message across. Software firm NuCaptcha, based in Vancouver, Canada, believes the answer lies in captchas, as they require a user’s full attention to solve. The firm has created NuCatpcha Engage to exploit this. Instead of the traditional squiggly word that users have to decipher, the new system shows them a video advert with a short message scrolling across it. The user has to identify and retype part of the message to proceed. Companies including Electronic Arts, Wrigley and Disney have already signed up.
GOOGLE’S Street View cars have driven into fresh controversy. The company has admitted that the fleet of cars it uses to photograph streets has also been capturing entire email addresses and passwords from wireless routers inside people’s homes. Google intended to map Wi-Fi routers and cellular network towers. Its aim was to improve the accuracy with which smartphones can work out their location through Google Maps, especially where tall city buildings interfere with GPS signals. The position and signal strength of routers could
220
million Sony Walkman cassette players have been sold since 1979. The player is still sold in Asia, but is now no longer made in Japan
help pinpoint the phone’s location. The firm did not make its plans public at the time, but in May, it acknowledged its cars had acquired and recorded the names and ID codes of domestic Wi-Fi networks. Google at first said the data was probably unreadable. Then, last week, it revealed on its official blog that a detailed analysis of the data had recovered entire email addresses, passwords and URLs. Google says it is “mortified”. Regulators in the US and at least 10 other countries are investigating the company’s privacy practices. The admission “validates and heightens our significant concerns”, Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal told Reuters.
“You‘re 220 miles above Earth travelling at 17,500 mph” The message received by astronaut Doug Wheelock when he “checked in” to the International Space Station using the smartphone app Foursquare, whose users compete for achievements by broadcasting their whereabouts (The Next Web, 22 October)
30 October 2010 | NewScientist | 23
For daily technology stories, visit www.NewScientist.com/technology
Robot hand is full of beans IT LOOKS like a cross between a Dalek’s suction pad and a rubber ball on a stick. But this simple robot gripper (left) can pick up unfamiliar and even delicate objects, and could rival robotic fingers for grasp and dexterity. Grasping is a difficult task for robots, as it requires them to know precisely where to place their fingers, and how hard to grip the object to hold it securely without crushing it. This differs depending on whether the robot is picking up a light bulb or a hammer, so it must rely on sophisticated, costly sensors. “Our gripper is simpler because it does not need tactile sensing,” says Eric Brown at the University of Chicago. His team has created a robot hand that is simply a rubber bag filled to about 80 per cent of its volume with glass spheres, each
100 micrometres in diameter. When the bag is pressed onto the object to be picked up, the spheres flow around it and the bag moulds to its shape. A pump then creates a vacuum in the bag, jamming the spheres in place and hardening the gripper around the object. As the
“The force is distributed evenly across a large area so the gripper can pick up delicate objects like eggs” force is distributed evenly across a large surface area, the hand can pick up delicate objects like eggs without crushing them, says Brown. A larger version of the gripper could be used to pick up many objects at the same time (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/ pnas.1003250107).
–Finger-free lifting–
Captcha adverts capture you
‘Mortified’ Google admits bungle
IT IS an online advertiser’s dream. Some ads on the websites you visit could soon be impossible to ignore, as they will be integrated into the “captchas” used to check whether site visitors are human. With many web users using tools to block online adverts, companies must find new ways to get their message across. Software firm NuCaptcha, based in Vancouver, Canada, believes the answer lies in captchas, as they require a user’s full attention to solve. The firm has created NuCatpcha Engage to exploit this. Instead of the traditional squiggly word that users have to decipher, the new system shows them a video advert with a short message scrolling across it. The user has to identify and retype part of the message to proceed. Companies including Electronic Arts, Wrigley and Disney have already signed up.
GOOGLE’S Street View cars have driven into fresh controversy. The company has admitted that the fleet of cars it uses to photograph streets has also been capturing entire email addresses and passwords from wireless routers inside people’s homes. Google intended to map Wi-Fi routers and cellular network towers. Its aim was to improve the accuracy with which smartphones can work out their location through Google Maps, especially where tall city buildings interfere with GPS signals. The position and signal strength of routers could
220
million Sony Walkman cassette players have been sold since 1979. The player is still sold in Asia, but is now no longer made in Japan
help pinpoint the phone’s location. The firm did not make its plans public at the time, but in May, it acknowledged its cars had acquired and recorded the names and ID codes of domestic Wi-Fi networks. Google at first said the data was probably unreadable. Then, last week, it revealed on its official blog that a detailed analysis of the data had recovered entire email addresses, passwords and URLs. Google says it is “mortified”. Regulators in the US and at least 10 other countries are investigating the company’s privacy practices. The admission “validates and heightens our significant concerns”, Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal told Reuters.
“You‘re 220 miles above Earth travelling at 17,500 mph” The message received by astronaut Doug Wheelock when he “checked in” to the International Space Station using the smartphone app Foursquare, whose users compete for achievements by broadcasting their whereabouts (The Next Web, 22 October)
30 October 2010 | NewScientist | 23