Future Technology Trends

In the brain, biological neural networks are constantly firing away and performing advanced calculations. People are completely oblivious to these operations. Our awareness of different emotional states seems so natural. It can be hard to believe that it is all just the result of complex computational processes. The skull encapsulates one of the most complicated machines imaginable. The Moneta version 2.0 project is developing an artificial mind that can carry out some of the tasks a small animal is capable of doing. Many mammals have an amazing ability to navigate their surroundings without the need to use GPS. For these creatures, it is almost instinctive to be able to maneuver around swiftly. Next generation robots may be more like the Von Neumann probes found in the film *batteries not included. They might scavenge for their energy source and explore new territories by themselves without any human intervention.  Read More »

A novel technique can further automate the process of making cell cultures. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute have built a new robotic device that performs all the necessary steps, without the need for human intervention. These sorts of techniques can help introduce an exponential pace to more biotechnology trends. Trying to unravel all of the intricate details of gene expression is a daunting undertaking. The apparatus makes it easier than ever to accomplish this. High-throughput science will happen in a more effective manner. Supercomputers can analyze the information.  Read More »

Airplanes consist of enormous parts and require precision construction. Now Fraunhofer Institute researchers are developing a flexible robotic assembly that could quickly construct these behemoths. A fuselage alone can be ten meters in length or more. This has made it difficult to introduce robots on a wider scale in this arena. Normally, workers take advantage of giant gantries to move the individual parts together. The future vision is to have robots machine the parts and bond them together into a single unit. A complete assembly line will function in a manner similar to the construction of automobiles. One can easily imagine a scenario where robots construct large unmanned aerial vehicles or passenger jets without the need for people in most of the process.   Read More »

MABEL is a two-legged robot that can move at a swift pace of up to 6.8 miles an hour.  The researchers believe that it is the world’s quickest bipedal robot that has knees.  This is not quite as impressive when you realize the fact that it is anchored down with a rotating apparatus or that the fastest human runners can move at over 20 MPH (short distances).  However, it is still quite a feat to accomplish and builds on a previous incarnation that was much slower.  The prospect of robots outmaneuvering people is still probably quite a ways off.  Breakthroughs such as these could eventually lead to very agile machines with amazing capabilities. Read More »

The Swarmanoid project is part of the Future and Emerging Technologies initiative and was funded by the European Commission.  It lasted four years from 2006 to 2010.  The major goal of this research was to design and implement distributed systems that could work together as a team.  The general idea was to create a variety of autonomous robots that each have a specific role to fulfill.  They built around 5 dozen of these bots.  There are 3 different types which include eye-bots, hand-bots and foot-bots.  The eye-bots have the capability of surveying the environment around them and can easily fly from one place to another.  The hand-bots are able to climb surfaces that are located in their proximity.  The foot-bots are best suited for crossing ground terrain.  The swarmanoid hardware page has more information on each kind of device.  Ultimately the researchers wanted better machines that would be able to perform increasingly complex tasks in unstructured environments.  Speculatively they might even be used to replace human labor.  An intricate mass of this specialized hardware may be able to build things on its own.  Recently “Swarmanoid: The Movie” received a best video award at the AAAI-2011 annual event in San Francisco.  You can watch it below. Read More »