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DOMESTIC ROBOT-

The Trilobite 2.0 is a state of the art vacuum cleaner designed and developed by Swedish Electronics giant, Electrolux. The Electrolux Trilobite 2.0 is smart, flexible, and very handy. The  Electrolux Trilobite Robotic vacuum will make household chores seem like a simple task. The convenience of a robot vacuum cleaner is unheard of. This product is a new and improved version of its prototype, first introduced in 1997. This robotic vacuum has a mind of its own, as it uses advanced sonar technology to navigate throughout your home and to detect potential roadblocks as it roams. Homeowners can create virtual boundaries by laying special magnetic strips, although a new infrared stair sensor has been built in, to detect stairs and keep the Trilobite from taking a spill – all without the need for special strips. The robotic cleaner has four sophisticated motors that operate each wheel, the brush, and the vacuum itself. The system is so advanced that the Trilobite has the ability to find its own way back to the charger. Never will you need to charge your vacuum, as it will return to its station to charge automatically once it has cleaned for a 60 minute period, and it requires no bags that need to be replaced.

Its three cleaning programs include normal, quick, and spot. During a normal cleaning cycle, Trilobite covers along walls and all open areas, then calculates the period of time needed for independent cleaning. The quick cycle skips the wall phase and goes directly to the independent cleaning phase, while the spot cycle cleans a single area of approximately 10 sq. ft. twice. This robotic vacuum is truly a handy device that can drastically reduce your cleaning time for just $1,800.

                       Orange Version                                                                                                   Silver Version

Links:

http://www.electrolux.com/

http://www.appliancist.com/vacuum_cleaners/electrolux-trilobite-robotic-vacuum.html

ROBOT

According to the Princeton Dictionary a robot is “a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, esp. one programmable by a computer”

Ross King http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/79820742.html

ADAM

More recently in 2010 Ross King of Aberystwyth University in Wales, UK created a new scientific robot called ADAM. It is officially the first  robot to independently gather scientific information. “Normal robots just do what you tell them, but ADAM is different, because it can hypothesize and try to solve a problem itself,” King said. It is able to carry out independent experiments without human guidance. Testing the robot, King and his team gave ADAM the task of discovering more about a specific genome. After creating around 20 hypotheses and carrying out several experiments ADAM eventually identified the genes involved. King was able to verify ADAM’s results.

ADAM & HUMANKIND

David Waltz of the Center for Computational Learning Systems at Columbia University states that “ADAM will inspire other scientists they’ll realize they can automate more of the process than they currently have. They can explore a wider range of possibilities without doing it all by hand.” More robots like ADAM will began working with scientists to help productivity because some topics are so complex that more scientists are needed. They could assist in drug design and screening. King is currently working on a new robot scientist called EVE to help treat tropical diseases. “While robots are better at coordinating thousands of experiments,” King said, “humans are better are seeing the big picture and planning the overall experiment.”

Sources:

1.  http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/04/enter_adam_the_robot_scientist.php
2. http://singularityhub.com/2010/03/16/adam-the-robot-scientist-makes-its-first-discovery/
3. http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/cs/research/cb/projects/robotscientist/
4. http://www.google.com/webhp?rlz=1C1CHNU_enEG340EG340&sourceid=chrome-instant&ix=ieb&ie=UTF-8&ion=1#hl=en&rlz=1C1CHNU_enEG340EG340&q=robot&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=TFlXT9fvHc_44QT-sKnGDw&ved=0CCYQkQ4&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=95e6f5d098e4da22&biw=1680&bih=959&ix=ieb&ion=1

Finding other ways of producing energy has been scientist’s objectives for a while now. Fossil fuels are running and we need to find alternative sources of energy. Piezoelectric energy could be a solution to this problem. Piezoelectric devices consist of a thin film coating that extracts energy using sound, motion, or other natural resources.

These shoes have a piezoelectric generator that is embedded into the sole of the shoes so that every time you take a step the s

hoes are generating energy. It is soft and strong so in can replace a normal shoe’s shock absorber so that the user can still use the shoes for their everyday activities. The new voltage regulation circuits of the generator turn the piezoelectric charge into electricity for charging batteries or powering small electronics. They can give an average of two milliwatts per shoe on an average walk.

Putting piezoelectric generators in the soles of shoes is a very creative way to generate energy while still allowing people to maintain their daily activities. Not only does this help us conserve fossil fuels, but it is also a convenient way of getting the energy we need to use our daily electronics like cell phones etc…

Sources:

http://www.energyharvestingjournal.com/articles/power-generating-shoes-00001653.asp?sessionid=1

http://inhabitat.com/shoe-generator-harvests-power-from-walking/

http://www.crunchwear.com/piezoelectric-devices-may-make-endless-energy-a-reality/

Eating too much? Perhaps too little? Can’t find anyone to control your appetite? No worries, now you’ll be able to control any food aspect without the help of others. Now with LG’s ThinQ Smart Refrigerator that scans the food entered and consumed with a personal dietician installed, you can eat healthy and get advice on what to eat, and of course, what not to eat. 

Using voice recognition and smart TV the fridge is able to know who is opening it, while you store your weight loss/gain targets, the fridge then uses that person’s details to give suggestions for other meal ideas, recipes, and healthier options.

The fridge also includes an internal oven for recipes you wish for, and all at the same time has a high speed chiller that can take warm bottles and turn them to ice cold in 5-15 minutes.

This high tech refrigerator can also scan barcodes of products inside and send you a text message when that product expires, while having inner cameras for you to check whats finished from your mobile phone a long distance away.

Technology can’t get any better when it intervenes and enhances your appetite life and help you with food choice, diet, beverages, and health.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2084729/ThinQ-Smart-refrigerator-Talking-diet-fridge-keeps-weight-check.html

General Motors displayed newest latest innovation in the field of smart materials for its plans in the 21st century. New technologies such as shape memory alloys and polymers serve as future options for the development of GM in the field of cars. The materials are known to be able to change shape, stiffness or strength when either heat, stress, electric current or a magnetic field is applied and can then return to its former state when the stimulus is removed.

The discovery of these materials could eventually lead to many possible movable features in cars, and we may even see prototypes as early as 2012. Examples of these advantages would be to include buttons and handles that automatically pop out when required, active surfaces that can move depending on cars speed to ease in the process of implementing effective aerodynamics results, and light-weight actuators and sensors that could replace the heavy motors and hydraulic systems found in today’s cars. The possibility of the creation of cars that can self-heal in the event of damage, or can be designed to change color or appearance at the touch of a button are ones that are revolutionary to the automobile industry. Such a development in the field of cars can undoubtedly revolutionize the human aspect of technology because soon in the future cars can reach abilities never witnessed before, and also such a development will cut down on costs for many people.