Nature S Robots

Proteins are amazingly versatile molecules. They make the chemical reactions happen that form the basis for life, they transmit signals in the body, they identify and kill foreign invaders, they form the engines that make us move, and they record visual images. All of this is now common knowledge, but it was not so a hundred years ago. Nature's Robots is an authoritative history of protein science, from the origins of protein research in the nineteenth century, when the chemical constitution of 'protein' was first studied and heatedly debated and when there was as yet no glimmer of the functional potential of substances in the 'protein' category, to the determination of the first structures of individual proteins at atomic resolution - when positions of individual atoms were first specified exactly and bonding between neighbouring atoms precisely defined. Tanford and Reynolds, who themselves made major contributions to the golden age of protein science, have written a remarkably vivid account of this history. It is a fascinating story, involving heroes from the past, working mostly alone or in small groups, usually with little support from formal research groups. It is also a story that embraces a number of historically important scientific controversies. Written in clear and accessible prose, Nature's Robots will appeal to general readers with an interest in popular science, in addition to professional scientists and historians of science.

The proceedings provide state-of-the-art scientific and engineering research findings and developments in the area of mobile robotics and assistive technologies. The proceedings collected together peer reviewed articles presented at the CLAWAR 2013 conference. It contains a strong showing of articles on legged locomotion with numbers of legs from two onwards. There is also a good collection of articles on systems that walls climbing, poles balancing, and other more complex structures following the traditional of CLAWAR themes. In addition, the proceedings also cover the subject of robot-human interaction, which focus on a more “human” way of communicating with humanoid robots. As for human assistive devices, proceedings also cover exoskeletal and prosthetic devices, robots for personal and nursing cares to address the issues of ageing population in our society. Finally, the issue of the deployment of robots in society, it social and ethically consideration are also addressed in the proceedings. Contents:Plenary PresentationsAssistive RoboticsAutonomous RobotsBiologically-Inspired Systems and SolutionsHMI, Inspection and LearningInnovative Design of CLAWARLocomotionManipulation and GrippingModelling and Simulation of CLAWARPlanning and ControlPositioning, Localization and PerceptionSensing and Sensor FusionService Robot Standards and Standardization Readership: Systems and control engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers in academic, research and industrial settings; engineers and practitioners in the public services sectors in health care, manufacturing, supply and delivery services. Keywords:Assistive Robotics;Autonomous Robots;Biologically Inspired Robotics;CLAWAR;Climbing and Walking Robots;Design of CLAWAR;Hybrid Locomotion;Legged Locomotion;Mobile Robots;Modeling and Simulation;Planning and Control;Robot Standardization;Service Robotics;Wheeled Locomotion

Identifies and explores innovative robotic technology that was inspired by nature. Accessible text, supplementary sidebars, and an interesting infographic reveal for readers the science behind these technologies and the animals and plants that inspired them.

How are robots used in nature? Readers discover the answer to this question as they examine the complex relationship between technology and the natural world. This and other aspects of STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math, are presented to readers through clear, informative text that aims to make challenging concepts easier to understand. Fact boxes provide readers with additional information, and vivid photographs keep and hold readers' interest with each turn of the page.

This pioneering book describes the development of a robot mapping and navigation system inspired by models of the neural mechanisms underlying spatial navigation in the rodent hippocampus. Computational models of animal navigation systems have traditionally had limited performance when implemented on robots. This is the first research to test existing models of rodent spatial mapping and navigation on robots in large, challenging, real world environments.

Soon to be a DreamWorks movie, coming to theaters 9/20/24! Wall-E meets Hatchet in this #1 New York Times bestselling illustrated middle grade novel from Caldecott Honor winner Peter Brown Can a robot survive in the wilderness? When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants. As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her. From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.

Making a robot that looks and behaves like a human being has been the subject of many popular science fiction movies and books. Although the development of such a robot facesmanychallenges,themakingofavirtualhumanhaslongbeenpotentiallypossible. With recent advances in various key technologies related to hardware and software, the making of humanlike robots is increasingly becoming an engineering reality. Development of the required hardware that can perform humanlike functions in a lifelike manner has benefitted greatly from development in such technologies as biologically inspired materials, artificial intelligence, artificial vision, and many others. Producing a humanlike robot that makes body and facial expressions, communicates verbally using extensive vocabulary, and interprets speech with high accuracy is ext- mely complicated to engineer. Advances in voice recognition and speech synthesis are increasingly improving communication capabilities. In our daily life we encounter such innovations when we call the telephone operators of most companies today. As robotics technology continues to improve we are approaching the point where, on seeing such a robot, we will respond with ‘‘Wow, this robot looks unbelievably real!’’ just like the reaction to an artificial flower. The accelerating pace of advances in related fields suggests that the emergence of humanlike robots that become part of our daily life seems to be imminent. These robots are expected to raise ethical concerns and may also raise many complex questions related to their interaction with humans.