While recent advances in neurosurgery have made it possible to precisely target areas in the brain with minimum invasiveness -- using a small hole to insert a probe, needle or catheter -- there remains a disadvantage. The small size of the openings reduces or eliminates direct site visibility and requires greater dexterity, stability and precision by the surgeon.
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Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a new series of robots that are simple enough for almost anyone to build with off-the-shelf parts, but are sophisticated machines that wirelessly connect to the Internet.
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In the futuristic cartoon series "The Jetsons," a robotic maid named Rosie whizzed around the Jetsons' home doing household chores--cleaning, cooking dinner and washing dishes. Such a vision of robotic housekeeping is likely decades away from becoming reality.
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Agent 007 is a mighty versatile fellow, but he would have to take backseat to agents being trained at Washington University in St. Louis.
Computer scientist engineers here are using wireless sensor networks that employ software agents that so far have been able to navigate a robot safely through a simulated fire and spot a simulated fire by seeking out heat.
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To your left runs a high-voltage power cable that is worn, but still physically sound. To your right runs a cable that looks identical, but damaged insulation means the cable is vulnerable to a short. Can you tell the difference?
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A classic science-fiction scene shows a person wearing a metal skullcap with electrodes sticking out to detect the person's thoughts. Another sci-fi movie standard depicts robots doing humans' bidding.
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Nothing can possibly go wrong ... go wrong ... go wrong ...
The truth behind the old joke is that most robots are programmed with a fairly rigid "model" of what they and the world around them are like. If a robot is damaged or its environment changes unexpectedly, it can't adapt.
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