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"Stickybot" - The Wall Climbing Robot

Mark Cutkosky and a team at Stanford University have developed Stickybot, the latest in what seems to be a trend towards wall-climbing robot.

Stickybot is inspired by the gecko. The gecko can climb walls - and even across ceilings - due to the tiny hairs (setae) on their feet. Stickybot simulates this with tiny polymer pads.

Needless to say the military would be interested in such technology. So, I imagine, would a number of cat burglars...

Cognex Buys Assistware

Cognex Corp of Natick, MA has purchased AssistWare, formed in 1995 by researchers from Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute. The price has not been disclosed.

Both companies specialise in machine vision sensors - in other words "seeing computers" or "robot eyes". Cognex is best known for its factory automation systems. AssistWare is known for its SafeTRAC Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system which is installed in commercial vehicles.

The acquisition will help Cognex to position itself in the market for in-vehicle seeing devices. The new Cognex's In-Vehicle Vision Sensor unit will be based in AssistWare's Gibsonia, PA facilities. The initial focus will be on the heavy truck market however the company hopes eventually to enter the domestic passenger car market.

Cognex aims to build on the core SafeTRAC LDW technology and add extra features such as collision warning and adaptive cruise control.

Agent Ro Bo Seven to Infiltrate Cockroaches

Researchers from the Free University in Brussels ave developed a miniature robot that can can fool cockroaches into thinking it is one of them.

The Insbot is a matchbot sized robot that has been treated with pheremones to smell like a cockroach. It has infrared sensors to detect obstacles and other cockroaches. A computer model of cockroach behaviour has been used to allow it to behave sufficiently like one to fool the real thing.

What's the point? Well, once it has the "trust" of real cockroaches the Insbot can take a lead and "persuade" them to change their behaviour - for instance, venturing out more into better lit areas where they can be found. A cockroach version of matching and leading.

The researchers hope that this idea can be applied to other animals with emergent group intelligence or pack behaviour.

Oh, and the Insbit is known informally as a "robo-roach" - not a "cockbot".

Lego Mindstorms NXT to be "Open Source"

Lego has announced that the code for the eagerly awaited Mindstorms NXT robotics platform is to be "open source".

Following the level of user innovation that surrounded the original Mindstorms, Lego will be releasing the source code to the firmware that drives the NXT brick. Søren Lund, director of Lego Mindstorms, said: "the right to hack is a 'no brainer'".

Some might quibble with Lego's definition of "open source", however even so this commitment to openness is admirable.