Random Robot Roundup

Posted 5 Mar 2009 at 23:45 UTC (updated 6 Mar 2009 at 16:40 UTC) by steve

While the economic crisis has cost some jobs, new ones are on the way thanks to robots. Cassie Bowman of NASA let us know about a national competition to promote careers at NASA that include robotics and other fields. As we've reported before, MobileRobots Inc. is also heavily promoting the idea of new jobs created by robotics, now with a traveling roadshow on career opportunities. Thanks to Nelson Bridwell we heard about Tomomasa Sato's call for an Open Source Model-T robot. Sato reasons that what's need to really get robot development going is a standardized humanoid robot designed to run an open-source operating system, which could be shared with thousands of researchers and innovators around the world. The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies posted two new stories of interest to roboticists: one on prosthetics as fashion accessories and one on that perennial favorite, the ethics of killer robots. Reader Doug Emes sent a link to a Boston Big Picture article on robots. The Swirling Brain sent a link to a DIY arduino-based robot toaster inspired by the XKCD "Sudo make me a sandwich" comic. Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please.