#robotics

#robotics

Originally shared by EuroTech

Justin, the humanoid robots built to explore space, play ball
The German Aerospace Center develops the robots of the future

Germany’s national centre for aerospace has just added a new member to their family of advanced robots: Agile Justin. This new robot is an optimized version of its predecessor: Rollin’ Justin, which had taken the world by storm when it was shown catching a ball and mimicking John Travolta’s dancing to Chuck Berry’s You Never Can Tell.

Agile Justin the robot has two arms and a friendly face, and moves on the ground thanks to its rolling base. Two stereo cameras are integrated in its “head”, allowing the 3D reconstruction of the robot's environment. These, when combined with an IMU (inertial measurement unit) which compensates for movements of the head, allow Agile Justin to perform various tasks, such as catching a ball, autonomously.

The “Justin” platform is actively used to support the major researches in the robotic field, in particular for the development of robust control strategies and intelligent manipulation planners for dual handed manipulation. In general, the capability to carry out complex manipulation tasks is a key issue.

The DLR’s researchers plan to send yet another version of the robot, Space Justin, into space in the future. As Berthold Baeuml, Lead Scientist in Autonomous Learning Robots at DLR, told Eurotech: Space Justin is used for research in telepresence, which will be the first application of a humanoid in space. This is possible because in a telepresence mode the robot does not have to perform tasks completely autonomously, but can follow the shared-autonomy principle. There the operator (on the ground or the space station) can give higher level commands that the robot executes with its local intelligence sub tasks. The long term goal is to take such a system into space, but we already had components (a little arm with two joints) of the arm-technology for 5 years mounted at the outside of the space station performing successfully high fidelity tasks.

The humanoid robots, however, are also envisioned in household applications.

The DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) is the national centre for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany. It was created in 1969 and is now spread over 13 sites all around the country.

Would you like to have one of them at home or does this technology frighten you?

Further reading : http://www.robotic.dlr.de/bcatch

Author: Kellya Clanzig

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93WHRSKg3gE

absurd having so many people dying of malpractice..

absurd having so many people dying of malpractice..
the medicine is Brazil is better than in Germany. here if you have something they just prescribe some painkillers and tell you to come a week later to see if the symptom is still there, while in Brazil they promptly make tests to find out what's the source of the problem.
can you believe that in Germany they even tend to blame the weather for practically everything that you're feeling? it's laughable!
medicine in Germany looks like it's in the middle age sometimes.. unless it's something pretty serious and you're about to die, then they are good.
it looks like there's no preventive medicine here. and they're motto is: let's wait for it to get serious to operate. that's very sad..
http://www.noz.de/deutschland-und-welt/politik/60867135/bild-mehr-todesfaelle-durch-aerztepfusch

EU Parliament Chief Speaks out Against ACTA

Originally shared by Stop SOPA

EU Parliament Chief Speaks out Against ACTA

The head of the European Parliament has spoken out against the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) as thousands took to the streets across Europe to protest the deal.

The Parliament's new chief, Martin Schulz, said on German TV Sunday that the agreement lacks balance between protecting copyright and protecting the rights of Internet users. Meanwhile anti-ACTA marches were held in the U.K., Germany, Poland and the Netherlands. An estimated 15,000 protesters turned out in Munich with a further 10,000 in Berlin.

Germany is the latest country to halt ratification of the treaty. The government said it will wait until after the European Parliament has voted in June before making a decision. Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Latvia have also put their ratification on hold.

The European Commission, which negotiated the deal, has attempted to allay fears about the deal, but with even those opposed to the deal admitting that there is much misinformation about, the pressure seems unlikely to decrease.

Some of the more alarmist suggestions from protesters, for example that private MP3 players would be inspected at borders, are specifically ruled out by the treaty. "A party may exclude from the application small quantities of goods of a non-commercial nature contained in travelers' personal luggage," reads the current text.

The deal also states that in implementing the treaty, countries "shall take into account the need for proportionality between the seriousness of the infringement, the interests of third parties, and the applicable measures, remedies and penalties."

As the agreement stands it will not create laws and it is up to individual countries to decide how to implement it.

Nonetheless, some paragraphs still contain potentially worrying news for hactivists: "A party may ... order an online service provider to disclose expeditiously to a right holder information sufficient to identify a subscriber whose account was allegedly used for infringement ... where such information is being sought for the purpose of protecting or enforcing those rights." Many are furious that ISPs could thus become the Internet's unofficial police force.

This text has been somewhat watered down from the original wording, which said that parties "shall" provide laws to demand information from ISPs. But sources close to the negotiations said that ACTA can be seen as suggesting "what is considered best practice," which may be interpreted as encouraging countries to introduce draconian measures such as the so-called three-strikes rule.

Other protesters are concerned about the potential penalties. National authorities would be able to impose financial penalties on an infringer who, knowingly "or with reasonable grounds to know," engaged in infringing activity such as illegally downloading music or a film. These penalties could be the value of the infringed goods or services measured by the market price, or the suggested retail price.

The proposed agreement would also place sanctions against any device or software that is marketed as a means of circumventing access controls such as encryption or scrambling that are designed to prevent copying. It also requires legal measures against knowingly using such technology. This crackdown could have implications for so-called dual-purpose technology, which also has totally legitimate applications.

However, ACTA's final battleground will be in the European Parliament. The European Union cannot go ahead to ratify the treaty unless parliamentarians back it in a vote in June. When the deal last went before the Parliament in November 2010, it was only very narrowly passed -- 331 to 294, with 11 abstentions.

Even with the approved vote, Parliament sought additional assurances from the Commission. However many parliamentarians are still angry that the agreement was pushed through in an "undemocratic" way. Negotiations were carried out in secret with "never-before-seen maneuvers" according to the last member of Parliament charged with evaluating ACTA. The member of Parliament, Kader Arif, resigned in protest at the lack of transparency surrounding the deal last month.

Parliament's international trade committee will discuss the agreement on Feb. 29. It must then reach an opinion that it will put to the rest of Parliament. The full vote in plenary is scheduled for June.

#acta #stopacta #actagainstacta #europe

SPREAD THE WORD | READ | Act | FIGHT | LEARN | TELL | WATCH | TEACH | SAVE THE INTERNET

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/249863/eu_parliament_chief_speaks_out_against_acta.html

it's amazing how people drink coffee here in Germany too.. it doesn't even compare to Brazil..

it's amazing how people drink coffee here in Germany too.. it doesn't even compare to Brazil..

Originally shared by Georges Abou Faical
http://www.gafnews.com/content/drug-choice-united-states-coffee-addicts

good.

good.

Originally shared by Internet Freedom Movement

More EU countries backing away from ACTA
The European Commission is behind the push for ACTA in the E.U. But even some of its own members have expressed doubts. The Commission says ACTA does not restrict Internet freedoms and does not affect existing E.U. laws, but Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht has said, "ACTA does change existing EU rules."

"Cyprus, Estonia, The Netherlands, Germany and Slovakia have yet to sign the agreement and whether they will still do so with protests spreading remains to be seen. However anti-ACTA activists see the European Parliament as their last bastion of hope. The deal must get Parliament's approval before it can be adopted in the E.U. And a large number of parliamentarians are on the record as being against it."

Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia, and others are either suspending the ratification process or are seriously considering it. On #F11 , hopefully others will follow them.

By the way, there will a public workshop on #ACTA in Brussels, Belgium on March 1. Please be sure that you educate yourself on the facts about ACTA, as there are some groups that are spreading falsehoods, methods, and misconceptions that could come back to hurt us in the future.

Read + Share + Educate + United Voices = Stop ACTA

#IFM #Europe #EU #EC #Poland #CzechRepublic #Slovenia #Germany #slovakia #Cyprus #Romania #MEP PCWorld #Estonia #Netherlands #Brussels #Belgium
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/249456/opposition_to_acta_swells_in_europe.html

Your choice: biological or chemical preservatives on your food?

Originally shared by EuroTech

Your choice: biological or chemical preservatives on your food?
German researchers found a way to use freely available natural preservatives to keep your food fresh without using chemicals and plastic foils.

Every health nut loves fresh produce: who wouldn’t? It has better taste, quality, nutrients and style. But it is also more difficult to bring to market: fresh produce goes bad quicker than preserved produce, and thus grocery stores end up throwing out a lot of “fresh” produce gone bad.

The challenge facing us today is to extend the shelf life of fresh produce while minimizing the number of preservatives added. Food conservation techniques range from maintaining constant temperature, to applying chemical coatings on fruits and vegetables, mixing stabilizers into food products and to using shrink-wrap foil coated with chemical compounds.

Researchers from the Frauenhofer Institute have found a scalable technique to use, a biological protein based on whey, to extend the shelf life of fresh produce.

Whey or milk serum is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a co-product of cheese production. Throughout history, whey was a popular drink in inns and coffee houses. Whey protein is currently discarded during commercial processing of whey. The only commercial use currently is as a protein for bodybuilders and similar sports.

Most of the whey is however discarded. That’s a big waste. But rather than throw it away, why not use it to replace expensive synthetic polymers in food packaging? That’s just what the Frauenhofer Group did: they found a solution allowing plastic films coated with whey proteins that can extend the shelf life of fresh produce in the same way that current packaging does (by blocking oxygen uptake through the packaging).

The difference is that their proteans are a natural by-product and not a potentially harmful, synthetic chemical cocktail. And not just that: they’ve also developed a commercially viable mass-production system for this new foil.

The remaining question is, what do consumers want? Given a choice between an apple without excess packaging and apples in a plastic bag or tray, which would you take? And if you knew that the packaged apples were coated with less chemicals than the non-packaged ones, would that change your mind?


Author: Sophie Wrobel

#food #bio #chemical #freshfood #fraunhofer #whey #produce
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nice

nice

Originally shared by Persika Music

A #creative + #green boat!

^^

^^

#robotics

Originally shared by Bruce Head

Today in Robot News

NO WAY! Life imitates art: an episode of The Big Bang Theory featured a "kissing machine" invented by Howard (hilarious - The Big Bang Theory - Howard's kissing machine). Howard's machine is better, as it has the tongue upgrade. ;)

Also ... the device below is named "Kissinger"? Really? That's about the worst marketing name for a kissing robot I can imagine. If I were virtually kissing, I wouldn't want to be remined of a 90-year-old Republican with a heavy accent.

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"An artificial intelligence researcher in Singapore has developed a robot with a virtual mouth that can emulate and transmit a kiss - bringing an extra touch of intimacy to a long-distance relationship or even a video game. The 'Kissinger' 'is the size and shape of a softball and has a pair of touch-sensitive lips that detect and copy how each partner delivers their kiss."
http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/caring-just-got-creepier-kissinger-breaks-new-ground-in-human-robitic-relations/story-fn5fsgyc-1226259359588