[Tyler]

Robots Podcast #113: Mark Tilden
23 September 2012, 4:30 pm

 

In Robots Podcast #113, Mark Tilden talks about the the efforts and events leading up to the creation of Robosapien and Femisapien, and other designs marketed by WowWee, and how his attention has turned from toys, the current market for which he terms saturated, to robots that do things people need done, and his belief that bottom up BEAM robotics (Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, and Mechanics) is essential in creating low cost, competent, robust and flexible robots. In the news segment, which precedes the interview(s) in the podcast, Rethink Robotics, the company formerly known as Heartland Robotics, has emerged from 4 years of stealth mode and introduced its first product, a humanoid called Baxter, a dual-armed, pedestal-mounted robot that's trainable and can safely work in close proximity to people. In other news, US company iRobot has acquired US company Evolution Robotics, maker of the Mint vacuum cleaner and North Star positioning system and developer of visual SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) algorithms.  And, finally, a group of researchers at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland have begun marketing the Thymio II educational robot, the toolset for which is now complete. The price is 99 Swiss Francs, plus another 32 Swiss Frans for administrative and shipping costs, outside of Europe, for a total of just over US$140.Read On | Tune In | Transcript

Source: robots.net

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