MIT’s robotic limbs pave the way for real-life Doc Ock (video)

Two groups of MIT scientists are working on robotic limbs, which when worn together can make you look like one famous comic book villain: Doctor Octopus. Unlike prosthetic limbs developed to replace real ones, the teams’ (from MIT’s d’Arbeloff Laboratory) Supernumerary Robotic Limbs (SRLs) are designed to supplement your existing arms. One team showcased its latest shoulder-mounted SRL prototype at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Hong Kong, where members showed how it can take over tasks when your real arms are too busy. These particular SRLs take data collected by the accelerometer and gyro embedded in the base of the shoulder mount, as well as their accompanying wrist monitors. The limbs then move on their own based on your actions — for instance, they move up when you raise your real arms, and in the future, they could open doors when you’re carrying something.

The second team, on the other hand, is working on waist-mounted SRLs. Since the project was mostly sponsored by Boeing for its aging employees, the mechanical limbs are designed to be used either as arms or legs, in order to help with airplane construction by bracing or supporting workers’ weights. Sadly, neither machine has mind-control capability, so you’ve got a lot of work to do to fulfill your Doc Ock dreams.

Filed under: Robots

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Via: The Verge

Source: IEEE, MIT

Relish drops the landline to offer ‘fibre-fast’ broadband without the hassle

UK broadband is in a state of flux. Fixed-line providers like BT and Virgin are expanding their services to deliver super-fast broadband into homes. Elsewhere, operators including EE, Vodafone and Three are cementing their mobile backbone to meet the UK public’s insatiable thirst for data over the airwaves instead. A small number of companies have tried to find the middle ground, the space where broadband and mobile networks meet, but none have ultimately succeeded. A new service called Relish wants to change that, and it believes it has the credentials to win where others haven’t.

Relish is a mobile provider with a difference. Its primary goal is to serve Londoners with fast broadband “without the wires.” As you might have guessed, it’s relying on 4G connections to deliver internet to customers, but unlike rivals EE or Three, it places no restrictions on the amount of data you can consume. Because it’s a mobile provider, there’s no need for a landline, meaning you won’t have to wait for an engineer to install routing kit and activate your connections. It also means you don’t have to pay monthly line rental or sign up for lengthy contracts.

Unlike rivals EE or Three, it places no restrictions on the amount of data you can consume

How does it work? Relish, which launches today in select London postcodes (we’re told it spans from Kensington in the west to Canary Wharf in the east), lets you call or order online and have a custom-couriered (on a colourful motorbike) welcome pack delivered to you the very next day. Plug the Huawei-suppied TD-LTE router in and you’re immediately online. The home service runs completely on Relish’s own spectrum (owned by UK Broadband), delivering what the company calls “fibre-fast” broadband. That connection is said to average 30Mbps, which isn’t as fast as many true fibre services, but Relish says those speeds won’t be affected by data limits or evening slowdowns, which heavily-contested fixed-line providers regularly employ.

Make no mistake, the service is not for everyone. Relish itself says it’s aiming for specific segments that “haven’t had enough choice to buy broadband to suit their lifestyle.” London’s young professionals, renters and people who want more flexibility are the Relish’s key demographics. Because all the service needs is a power connection, customers can take their box wherever they go (depending on Relish’s coverage). Monthly contract’s start at £20, but you will have to buy the router for £50. Sign up for a 12-month contract and the router is thrown in free of charge.

Monthly contracts start at £20, but you will have to buy the router for £50

The home service is just one of four packages that Relish offers. There’s also a mobile broadband package which operates similarly to a MiFi from Three. Depending on the package you buy, you will be supplied with a Huawei-supplied mobile router called the Pocket Hub (which normally costs £35) which works nationwide. While it will take advantage of Relish’s own networks in the city, the company is using Three’s HSPA+ 3G networks as a fallback, letting you obtain connectivity anywhere in the UK. Prices start at £10 for 1GB and you’ll receive a £5 discount if you already own the home product. However, any data you don’t use in a 30-day period will be wiped off your allowance.

Relish is targeting businesses too. Its standard business offering is designed to cater for 20 employees, mainly in companies that are on the move. Startups, pop-up shops, coffee shops and companies moving offices are what Relish wants to cater for, by offering a number of additional services that aren’t normally reserved for regular customers (like static IPs). Bigger companies with very high data requirements can apply for the company’s dedicated business service, which offers speeds up to 1Gbps and is installed within 10 days. Relish didn’t say much about this package, suggesting it wants to scale for consumers and smaller businesses first.

Relish is targeting businesses too. Startups, pop-up shops, coffee shops and companies moving offices…

It’s very easy for Relish to overstep the mark and oversell a service that is limited to specific regions in London, so it’s employing a number of checks to ensure customers aren’t dissapointed with the service they receive. The company is using high-frequency bands (Bands 42/43, or 3.5-3.8GHz if you’re interested) to deliver high speeds in densely-populated areas. Because it runs a pure data service and doesn’t lay voice transmission on top, you’ll only get the service that it’s specifically designed to offer. If you enter your postcode on the Relish website and you fall outside of the supported areas, it simply won’t sell broadband to you.

Relish says that it’s only using 1/6th of the spectrum it owns in London, allowing it to expand its service city-wide in the future. There’s no date for an expansion to other cities, so if you live outside London, you’ll only be able to sign-up to Relish’s roaming offering. If the company’s postcode checker says you’ll get service, but you live in a basement or somewhere normally outside of the reach of mobile signal, Relish will let you test its service as part of a 14-day trial and send it back if you’re not happy.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Relish

Watch strap batteries could double the life of your wearable

Smartwatches are starting to look a whole lot better, but they’re still liable to run out of juice in mere days. A flexible-battery manufacturer here at Computex reckons its thin, flexible lithium-ceramic cells, shaped into wristbands, could offer as much as 500mAh of extra power, with existing models already offering an extra 300mAh. According to ProLogium, that would effectively double the battery of Pebble’s smartwatch and, well, on-paper specifications suggest that it could more than double the capacity.

The lithium-ceramic batteries used are solid-state, meaning they avoid the volatility of other lithium-powered power sources. Other safety boons include non-flammable materials and the fact that it won’t explode or set fire if cut into pieces — always good to know. (We saw a demo cell cut apart, and it was still able to power a strip of LED lights). These three- to five-cell layers are also only roughly 1.5mm thick, meaning wearables seem an ideal place for them, from smartglass headsets to light-up clothing, heating elements and, yes, smartwatches.

The company is already making the bands, and while we were handling the one-piece design, it also offers a more typical strap-like, two-piece design that connects at the ends of a watch face, and a “chin” design that would connect and overlap an existing strap. The (admittedly not working) sample was plenty flexible to substitute in for a watch strap, but we reckon the biggest test will be the aesthetic one.

Filed under: Wearables, Science

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NASA readies Mars ‘flying saucer’ for risky hypersonic flight test

The wispy atmosphere of Mars is 99 percent thinner than Earth’s — not great for slowing down space ships or metorites. NASA’s testing a way to make it work, however, using a helium balloon, rockets and a Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) vehicle, which looks suspiciously like a UFO. The plan is to launch the LDSD to 120,000 feet using the balloon, then push it to the edge of space (180,000 feet) with the powerful solid-fueled rocket. At that point it’ll be traveling hypersonically at Mach 4 in the stratosphere, simulating a Mars arrival. A second, donut-like balloon called the “supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator” will then deploy, increasing the craft’s surface area and slowing it to about Mach 2.5. Finally, the largest supersonic parachute ever tested will pop, allowing the vehicle to eventually touch down in the ocean. If the complex plan goes awry, NASA will learn from the data it gathers and try again in order to meet its ambitious Mars exploration schedule. Either way, it’ll be fun to watch — the launch is set for tomorrow in Hawaii between 2:00 and 3:30 PM ET.

Filed under: Transportation, Science, Alt

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Via: HobbySpace

Source: NASA

An up close look at the giant gaming PC that’s also a desk

Lian Li usually deals in computer towers, but it occasionally dabbles in incredible (or mad) desks built specifically to house desktop PCs. We even got to see one of these monstrosities in person, the top-end model above, spotted right in the epicenter of Computex, Asia’s biggest tech show. Given the trend toward tablets, phones and wearables this year, it could well be the most… Computex thing here. We just wish there was some kind of award for that.

Filed under: Desktops

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