:::ROBOTIS:::

[ROBOTICS TRENDS] ROBOTIS CM-900: Let the Robot Party Begin

ROBOTIS — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:44:12 +0900

ROBOTIS CM-900: Let the Robot Party Begin

Open Source 32-bit ARM Cortex Embedded Board for $19.90

By RoboticsTrends' News Sources - Filed May 09, 2013

ROBOTIS, a leading provider of smart servo DYNAMIXEL & open-source humanoid DARwIn-OP, has recently released the CM-900, a 32-bit ARM Cortex embedded board dedicated to develop robots at $19.90 price tag.

Prof. Mason at CM-900 workshop (top left)

Era of Open Hardware

In recent years, Arduino has been leading the open hardware movement thanks to its low cost microcontroller, open source software and contributions from like-minded people. A growing number of robot developers using DYNAMIXEL also wanted to find ways to share their ideas and cooperate like Arduino did. The CM-900 project was launched by ROBOTIS to create an open hardware community with easier access to the robotic world.

Continues ...

Click here to see original post.

[Winner] 2013 DARwIn-OP Humanoid Challenge

ROBOTIS — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:59:55 +0900

[2013 ICRA] DARwIn-OP Humanoid Application Challenge.

Karlsruhe, Germany May 08, 2013 - teams from across the US, Canadaand Germanygathered at the

Kongresszentrum Karlsruhe to compete in the ICRA 2012 DARwIn-OP Humanoid Application Challenge.

The winner of the humanoid challenge was a team Angry DARwIN from the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA (Hae WonPark, Rick Coogle, and Ayanna Howard)

The winner was awarded, like last year, one DARwIn-OP humanoid robot, LabVIEW Robotics Software from National Instruments, and Webots Pro from Cyberbotics.

All our finalists were rewarded either a Bioloid Premium Kit or $500 gift certificate from ROBOTIS.

Each team's presentation was ten (10) minutes in length which included a live demonstration of the team's DARwIn-OP application and Q&A session, open to judges, participants and audience members. The challenge was based on creativity, technical skills and overall completeness. The winner was determined by peer review from competing teams and our judges, Professor Daniel Lee (University of Pennsylvania), Professor Sven Behnke (University of Bonn) and Vice-President of ROBOTIS Inyong Ha.

The event was later followed by dinner and great tasting beer with the teams.

[2013 ICRA]Schedule for DARwIn-OP Humanoid Application Challenge

ROBOTIS — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:42:51 +0900

Challenge floors will be open on May 7th [Tuesday] for the participants.

[Online Winner] 2013 DARwIn-OP Humanoid Application Challenge

ROBOTIS — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:26:45 +0900

Congratulations to Team Angry DARwInfrom Georgia Tech!

[Team members include : HaeWon Park, Rick Coogle, and Ayanna Howard

Over 5,000 people participated on our online vote to select the best DARwIn-OP Application this year.

The winner will be awarded a $1,000.00/USD gift certificate from ROBOTIS.

[This is apart from the actual challenge at 2013 ICRA.]

The challenge has not ended yet. The final winner of this challenge will be once again

awarded a DARwIn-OP,LabVIEW Robotics Software, and Webots Pro.

All finalist will either receive a Bioloid Premium Kit or $500 gift certificate by draw.

We would like to thank all those who have participated in this poll.

Results and video link of online winner below :

Angry DARWIn
Affiliate	Georgia Tech	Country	USA
Link	http://youtu.be/eCKInnYDB2E
Description	Our team, Angry DARwIn, presents a case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to robot learning from human demonstration. The application domain of the proposed algorithm is a turn-based interaction between human and robot on a shared tablet workspace. We find that a CBR approach to this problem, retrieving what has been observed in the past and reusing existing behaviors to respond to the current problem, generates reliable interaction behaviors. The process is composed of task demonstration to task-case conversion, task-policy derivation, and embodiment mapping. At ICRA 2013, Angry DARwIn intend to demonstrate the proposed algorithm through learning to play a popular tablet game: Angry Birds.

[2013 ICRA] Vote for the Best DARwIn-OP Application

ROBOTIS — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:49:00 +0900

How can scientist and researchers make humanoids become more useful to manking?

Here are our top 6 finalist who are making a difference with DARwIn-OP .

Now, please shed some love to your favorite application!

The online vote will go on until April 1st or 2nd, depending on your time zone.

Please click on the link to see the video.

The winning team for this online vote will be getting a $1,000.00

gift certificate from ROBOTIS. This is apart from the actual

challenge at 2013 ICRA.

Vote Here : http://www.robotsource.org/xe/Circle_Darwin/12708


1. AIS Lab
Affiliate	Ritsumeikan University	Country	Japan
*Link*	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkyF7Y93EwQ
Description	The motion capture is one of the easiest way to generate humanoid motions. However, there are lots of problems. Often, it requires offline process for building motion data base. High computational cost is also a big problem in a small-size humanoid. Moreover, because of difference between human and robot kinematic structure, the original captured human motions are often infeasible movement for a humanoid. In this work, with visual motion captured by Microsoft Kinect Camera and small-size DARwIn-OP humanoid robot, we propose a human imitation system that cleared the mentioned problems.






2. Team AWK
Affiliate	Purdue University	Country	USA
*Link*	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Vj6yyorVw
Description	We will utilize the DARwIn-OP's on-board vision system to create an open-source library of functions to facilitate autonomous navigation between two points on a map. Our algorithms will enable the DARwIn to recognize navigational and warning signs in order to navigate an obstacle course. If we have time, we will expand the libray to include RFID-tag recognition algorithms as well. This functionality will benefit other developers by eliminating a time-consuming step of navigational algorithms.





3. Snobots
Affiliate	University of Manitoba	Country	Canada
*Link*	http://youtu.be/f0Yr-VwPaIQ
Description	Following up on our ice skating project from last year, we are focusing on improving the robot's dynamic stability by making the robot balance on a gymnastics training balance board.The balance board is a flat board that rolls on a single wheel, creating a highly unstable platform (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_board). The problem is similar to the cart-and-rod inverted pendulum problem, except that the pendulum(the robot) controls the position of the cart (the wheel), instead of the card moving to keep the pendulum above it. Using the Darwin's accelerometer and gyroscope data as inputs we dynamically control the robot's body to shift weight left and right, controlling the position of the balance board's wheel below the robot.









4. Berlin United @ Home
Affiliate	Freie Universitat Berlin	Country	Germany
*Link*	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSrYhvfTSMM&feature=youtu.be
Description	During 10 years of work in robotics, I have developed client-server software capable of making a robot either playing soccer or bringing objects and finding persons. Now, with Darwin-OP, my programs early developed for servers (small-size), later optimized(at-home) and finally adapted to small boards (kid-size) can be easily integrated into a "general-purpose" humanoid robot. My Darwin-OP is capable of playing soccer, reacting to spoken commands, making complex commands and even to real-time learning. It can control other robots like the autonomous wheelchair that we develop. Now, I have all the necessary elements : robust hardware and lightweight software.








5. Bowlers
Affiliate	Purdue University	Country	USA
*Link*	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyHTnh4xdlw
Description	Our main idea is to build an application which empowers our humanoid DARwIn to play bowling game. Robot should knock over the pins with bowling ball. The main difficulties of our goal is vision processing, decision making and precise motion control of the robot, this will demand from our team high technical skills. We believe that this project will help build better human-robot interaction and will be a significant contribution for a humanoid research area.





6. Angry DARWIn
Affiliate	Georgia Tech	Country	USA
*Link*	http://youtu.be/eCKInnYDB2E
Description	Our team, Angry DARwIn, presents a case-based reasoning (CBR) approach to robot learning from human demonstration. The application domain of the proposed algorithm is a turn-based interaction between human and robot on a shared tablet workspace. We find that a CBR approach to this problem, retrieving what has been observed in the past and reusing existing behaviors to respond to the current problem, generates reliable interaction behaviors. The process is composed of task demonstration to task-case conversion, task-policy derivation, and embodiment mapping. At ICRA 2013, Angry DARwIn intend to demonstrate the proposed algorithm through learning to play a popular tablet game: Angry Birds.

[ICRA 2013] DARwIn-OP Humanoid Application Challenge

ROBOTIS — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 18:40:05 +0900

Objectives:

DARwin-OP is an open platform humanoid project supported by NSF. Being a vision-capable humanoid with full functionality and scalability, researchers are strongly required to join an open source community for cooperative research. (www.robotsource.org) To encourage creative applications from around the globe and maximize contribution for humanoid research.

Registration:

Teams consisting of 1-4 members who use the DARwIn-OP robot to develop their own application are eligible. For registration, a 2 minute online video demonstration should be posted on YouTube and a link must be submitted with the registration form. [Registration form attached to this post.]

For Finalists selected to make presentation at ICRA:

10 minutes free-style demonstration and presentation

(Must explain the robot’s application and its functions)

(Projector, tables, MIC will be available on-site)

All other necessary equipment for demo must be prepared by each participating team.

Important Dates:

Online Video Registration - February 28, 2013

Notification of Finalist - March 08, 2013

Final Presentation – May 08, 2013 (Wednesday)

Judging Criteria:

Creative Idea - 40%

Technical Skills - 30%

Overall Completion - 30%

Judging Committee:

New Judge to be added.

Professor Daniel Lee (University of Pennsylvania)
Professor Sven Behnke (University of Bonn)

Peer review among finalists

Awards

1st Place Winner

· DARwIn-OP

· LabVIEW Robotics Software

· Webots Pro

We will be holding an online vote again. The winner will be awarded a $1,000 gift certificate apart from the actual competition.

Finalist (by draw)

· Bioloid Premium Kit

· $500 Gift Certificate

For more information or questions, please contact Kayla Kim at kayla@robotis.com / contactus2@robotis.com.

This event is sponsored by IEEE ICRA, National Instruments, and Cyberbotics.

For up-to-date information, please check. ROBOT SOURCE. <== Click!

Please click on the links below to see videos and results for

2012 ICRA - DARwIn-OP Humanoid Application Challenge.

Results : http://www.robotsource.org/xe/Circle_Darwin/7899

Presentations #1 : http://www.robotis.com/xe/gallery_en/137185

Presentations #2 : http://www.robotis.com/xe/gallery_en/141626

[DARPA] ROBOTIS - Proud member of Team THOR for DRC

ROBOTIS — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:09:17 +0900

ROBOTIS, a proud member of Team THOR [Tactical Hazardous Operations Robot], is participating for the DARPA ROBOTICS CHALLENGE (DRC) Track A in collaboration with Virgina Tech, UPenn, and Harris Corp.

“The Robotics Challenge is a direct answer to the Fukushima Nuclear Plant disaster that befell Japan following a massive earthquake in March 2011. Japan, despite being known as a leader in the field of humanoid robotics, had no readily available robots that could enter the plant site – besieged by water from a tsunami after-effect of the earthquake, lacking power, and under meltdown conditions – to take stock of damage and begin work to stave off disaster and/or repair damage to the nuclear facility.”

“The four team members each will have its own task to perform. Virginia Tech will develop the humanoid robot platform including new actuators that mimic biological muscles. University of Pennsylvania will work on 3-D perception and navigation, in addition to the robot’s ability to “plan.” Harris will develop seamless manipulation systems, while ROBOTIS will create an open-platform system and arms with high-end, dexterous hands.”

http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2012/10/102412-engineering-thorrobotannouncement.html

“The DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) will attempt to address this capability gap by promoting innovation in robotic technology for disaster-response operations.”

Click to read more on DRC.

DARPA ROBOTICS CHALLENGE (DRC)

IEEE SPECTRUM - Meet the Amazing Robots That Will Compete in the DARPA Robotics Challenge

DARPA - Images & Videos

[Update] ROBOPLUS v1.0.30.0.

ROBOTIS — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:08:19 +0900

[NOTICE]

The RoboPlus software has been updated from 1.0.29.0 to 1.0.30.0.

Please refer to the link below for detailed information :

Go to Download Page

For those who already have RoboPlus installed, simply turn on the RoboPlus software (with internet connection), and a pop-up note will appear to help you with the update.

Thank you.

ROBOTIS

[ROBOCUP 2013] Special Offer

ROBOTIS — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:34:13 +0900

Call for Participation

http://www.tzi.de/humanoid/bin/view/Website/Call2013

RoboCup 2013 Humanoid League

June 24-30, 2013 (Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

http://www.robocup2012.org/

The RoboCup humanoid league is inviting interested teams to apply for participation at the RoboCup 2013 competition in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The humanoid league will host competitions in three classes: kid, teen, and adult sized robots. For more information about the humanoid league, please refer to the humanoid league home page at http://www.tzi.de/humanoid.

Due to restrictions on the number of teams able to participate at RoboCup 2013, all teams must provide the qualification material described below. The technical committee will evaluate the qualification material and select the best teams.

Team Data
- Team name
- URL of the team's home page
- Name of team leader or team contact person
- E-mail address of team leader or contact person
- Postal address of the team, team leader or contact person
- Competition class: kid or teen or adult size
Please note that teams applying for participation in several classes must submit individual application material for each class and pay the appropriate registration fee for each class. Furthermore, teams in different classes must be able to compete independently and at the same time.
Robot Video
The first part of the qualification material is a video of your robot demonstrating your team's autonomous soccer playing skills.
The minimum standard for qualification is:
- localization of unknown ball position,
- walking ability towards the ball,
- robot positioning at the ball for kicking,
- kicking the ball towards the goal,
- ability of getting up autonomously from a fall (Kid Size)
However, more complex and intelligent behavior of teams of robots demonstrating localization and team play are preferred, particularly recordings from actual soccer matches.
The qualification video must be supplied as a link to it via www.youtube.com. The maximum duration of the video is 5 minutes. The qualifying team is responsible to ensure that the video adheres to YouTube's TOS (especially in regards to music copyright) to prevent the video from being blocked for the reviewers. Videos not viewable by the reviewers may lead to a team not being qualified.
No video means no qualification!
Team Description Paper
A team description paper (TDP) must be submitted which
- includes a statement committing to participate in the RoboCup 2013 Humanoid League competition,
- includes a statement committing to making a person with sufficient knowledge of the rules available as referee during the competition,
- fully describes the scientific aspects of your humanoid robot system and your research interests,
- includes a summary of previous relevant achievements in research and development as well as publications,
- mentions prior performance in RoboCup competitions
- points out enhancements of the robots' hardware or software compared to the previous year
- states explicitly whether software from other teams is used and if yes, which parts are used and what the team's own contributions are
The TDP is limited to 8 pages maximum and must be submitted in PDF format. Resubmitting of last year's TDP will prevent qualification.
The TDP must follow the LNCS format which can be downloaded from http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0
The quality of the TDP and the robot video will be decisive for qualification.
Other evaluation criteria include contributions to the RoboCup community by release of significant papers or software.
New teams and teams from countries that have not previously taken part in RoboCup competitions may be given priority.
The TC may include the fulfillment of the statement of commitment of participation as well as the performance of the team's referee in previous RoboCup competitions into consideration for qualification.
Robot Specification
A one-page specification (PDF) for each different type of humanoid robot used by the team that includes the followings:
- Robot picture
- Robot name
- Height of the robot
- Weight of the robot
- Walking speed
- Number of degrees of freedom
- Type of motors
- Type of sensors used (incl. type of camera(s))
- Computing unit(s)
- Other specs
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, loosely the unattributed use of other peoples' words, code, and ideas (see http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/plagiarism_FAQ.html for a more detailed description) is not tolerated in the RoboCup community. The teams and team members that plagiarize other peoples' work and present it as their own will be disqualified. For a first offense, the team and team members will be banned from RoboCup competition for two years (usually the current and next year). Harsher penalties will be applied to repeat offenders or extremely serious cases of plagiarism. A team may be disqualified at any time for plagiarism, even after the competition has started. RoboCup will not reimburse teams for any expenses related to their disqualification.
Online Submission
All qualification material must be submitted online at http://application.germanteam.org/entries/new (the application page will open before January 2013.)
Deadline
Deadline for submission: *January 28, 2013*
Announcement of qualified teams: February 18, 2013
Publication
Please note that after the announcement of the qualified teams the qualification material of the qualified teams will be made publicly available. Teams applying for participation therefore grant the right of publication of their qualification material to the humanoid league.
Rules
The rules of the RoboCup 2013 Humanoid League are discussed at https://lists.cc.gatech.edu/mailman/listinfo/robocup-humanoid and will be published at http://www.tzi.de/humanoid
Special Offer: DARwIn OP
ROBOTIS (http://www.robotis.com) is offering a special promotion to all teams participating in the 2013 RoboCup Humanoid Kidsize league.
ROBOTIS will be offering a DARwIn-OP Academic Edition with a complimentary Pelican case for $9,600/USD (EXWORK Korea only). In addition to this offer, only those who qualify and attend 2013 RoboCup in Eindhoven, Netherlands will be offered a 20% special gift card good for use at their online shop. Offer may vary based on the different cases.
1-year basic warranty is included (teams should be technically ready for self-maintenance.)
Please note that the quoted prices do not include shipping, any local customs or tax and handling charges.
Teams interested in this offer should contact ROBOTIS at contactus2@robotis.com with the promo code (RTS2013NL). This special offer valid for order made until February 28, 2013.
Special Offer: NimbRo-OP
University of Bonn provides an offer for TeenSize teams to purchase a set of NimbRo-OP robots (http://www.nimbro.net/OP) for a reduced price. University of Bonn offers teams that intend to participate in RoboCup 2013 to purchase two robots for 36,000 Euros or three robots for 50,000 Euros.
Please note that the quoted price does not include taxes and shipping. Teams that are interested in this offer need to place their order at sales@ais.uni-bonn.de by December 31st, 2012.

With best regards,

Technical and Organization Committees of RoboCup Humanoid League 2013

P.S. Special thanks go to Thomas Roefer and Tim Laurinat from DFKI Bremen for their support of the HL submission and web page.

2012 Robot Grand Challenge Robotics-Presidential Award

ROBOTIS — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:18:28 +0900

ROBOTIS awarded Presidential Award at 2012 Robot Grand Challenge Robotics Award in Korea

2012 Robot Grand Challenge Award, which was hosted by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and supervised by Korea Institute of Robot and Convergence, was held on October 28th, 2012 at the Kintex Convention Center in Korea.

This year's award is to recognize the robot and robot technology that had contributed to the development of Korean robot industry as well as its popularization and commercialization.

New technology or product developed in Korea related to the service robot can be qualified for this award.

ROBOTIS presented DARwIn-OP, the open platform humanoid for research, and was awarded for the prestigious Presidential Award after the intense competition.

[Update] ROBOPLUS v1.0.29.0.

ROBOTIS — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:10:45 +0900

[NOTICE]

The RoboPlus software has been updated from 1.0.28.0 to 1.0.29.0.
Please refer to the link below for detailed information :

Go to Download Page

For those who already have RoboPlus installed, simply turn on the RoboPlus software (with internet connection), and a pop-up note will appear to help you with the update.

Thank you.

ROBOTIS

DYNAMIXELS DOMINATE 2012 ROBOCUP

ROBOTIS — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:57:43 +0900

2012 RoboCup was held in Mexico City on June 18th~24th.

All three winners of the humanoid league have either used the DYNAMIXEL in their robotrs or the DARwIn-OP.

- Kid-Size League : Team DARwIn( USA) / 2 consecutive years

- Teen-Size League : Nimbro (Germany) / Awarded Best Humanoid

- Adult-Size League : Team CHARLI (USA) / 2 consecutive years

DARwIn-OP's appearance at a Mexican Broadcasting Station

ROBOTIS BOOTH

[NOTICE] FAQ

ROBOTIS — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:11:53 +0900

FAQ

Common

1. What is RoboPlus?

2. What is the difference between RoboPlus Task and RoboPlus Motion?

3. I want to know the meaning of the error code occurs during the program execution.

4. What shall I do if the rule check error shows up while I am writing RoboPlus Task code?

5. My robots' joints get loose while I make the motions.

6. How can I develop a firmware for the controller by myself using C Language?

7. I want to develop a software to communicate with RoboPlus Task code.

8. I want to control Dynamixel with PC development environment such as Visual Studio.

9. I want to communicate with multiple Zigbees simultaneously.

10. I want to check the controller and dynamixel.

OLLO

1. I want to know how to download the program.

2. How can I set the IR channel for wireless control?

3. How can I do the Zigbee wireless control?

4. I want to learn the programming.

Bioloid Beginner/Comprehensive

1. I want to know how to use RoboPlus.

2. I want to know how to download the program.

3. How can I do the Zigbee Wireless Control?

4. I want to learn the programming.

5. I want to know how to charge the battery.

6. How can I replace the fuse?

7. Is there any easier way to make the robot's motions?

Bioloid Premium

1. I want to know more about how to operate the robot.

2. I want to know how to download the program.

3. How can I set the IR channel for wireless control?

4. How can I do the Zigbee Wireless Control?

5. I want to learn the programming.

6. I want to know how to charge the battery.

7. How can I replace the fuse?

8. I want to control the robot by myself using C Language.

9. I want to control the robot remotely using my PC.

10. I want to develop a software to communicate with RoboPlus Task code.

11. Is there any easier way to make the robot's motions?

Download

OLLO Bug Kit Example

OLLO Explorer Example

OLLO Inventor Example

Bioloid Beginner Example

Bioloid Intermediate Example

Bioloid Advanced Example

Bioloid STEM Standard Example

Bioloid STEM Expansion Example

Bioloid Premium Default Example

Bioloid Premium Beginner Example

Bioloid Premium Intermediate Example

Bioloid Premium Advanced Example

Bioloid GP Default Example

RoboPlus

Embedded C (For CM-510/700)

Embedded C (For CM-530)

Dynamixel SDK (For Windows)

Dynamixel SDK (For Linux)

Zigbee SDK (For Windows)

Zigbee SDK (For Linux)

· Common

· OLLO

· Bioloid

· Premium Kit

· Download

[Winner] 2012 DARwIn-OP Humanoid Challenge

ROBOTIS — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:05:03 +0900

Teams from Canada, Spain and the United States competed in the ICRA 2012 DARwIn-OP Humanoid Application Challenge.

St. Paul, Minnesota, May 16, 2012 - Nine teams from across the US, Canada and Spain gathered at the River Centre to compete in the ICRA 2012 DARwIn-OP Humanoid Application Challenge. *Two teams from Virginia Tech's RoMeLa and University of Pennsylvania's GRASP attended the challenge for demonstrate purposes only, not to compete in the challenge. The winner of the humanoid challenge was a team from the University of Manitoba, Canada (Prof. Jacky Baltes, Chris, and Diana. The winner was awarded one DARwIn-OP humanoid robot, LabVIEW Robotics Software, and Webots Pro. The finalists were rewarded either a Bioloid Premium Kit, LabVIEW Robotics Module, or Webots Edu.

Each team's presentation was twenty (20) minutes in length which included a live demonstration of the team's DARwIn-OP application and Q&A session, open to judges, participants and audience members. The challenge was based on creativity, technical skills and overall completeness. The winner was determined by our judges, Professor Dennis Hong (Virginia Tech) and Professor Daniel Lee (University of Pennsylvania) as well as peer reviews from the competing teams. The winner of our online vote for the best DARwIn-OP application was Tic Tac Toe Purdue from Purdue University, where the team demonstrated two robots playing tic-tac-toe with each other.

[Update] ROBOPLUS v1.0.28.0.

ROBOTIS — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:31:00 +0900

[NOTICE]

The RoboPlus software has been updated from 1.0.27.0 to 1.0.28.0.
Please refer to the link below for detailed information :

Go to Download Page

For those who already have RoboPlus installed, simply turn on the RoboPlus software (with internet connection), and a pop-up note will appear to help you with the update.

Thank you.

ROBOTIS