Eclectic Perambulations in the Noosphere
By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times
January 26, 2012
"The X-47B drone, above, marks a paradigm shift in warfare, one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences. With the drone’s ability to be flown autonomously by onboard computers, it could usher in an era when death and destruction can be dealt by machines operating semi-independently.
Despite its quaint reputation, agriculture has always been an early adapter of technology. This is evident from the beginning of mechanization with the cotton gin, McCormick's Reaper, tractors, hybrid seed, to genetically engineered plants that protect themselves and grow in arid environments. Yields have grown quickly, but demand from developing countries and population growth are growing faster Prospero is the working prototype of an Autonomous Micro Planter (AMP) that uses a combination of swarm and game theory and is the first of four steps. It is meant to be deployed as a group or "swarm". The other three steps involve autonomous robots that tend the crops, harvest them, and finally one robot that can plant, tend, and harvest--autonomously transitioning from one phase to another.
"While the country bumpkin farmer stereotype might suggest otherwise, driving a tractor is difficult, requiring precision skills. Now Flemish engineers have announced a new self-driving tractor whose precision rivals that of a human driver. This could mean drastically lower operating costs for farmers, and a step towards automated agriculture.
The tractor, built by Flanders’ Mechatronics Technology Centre (FMTC) and the Mechatronics, Biostatistics and Sensors (MeBioS) division of K.U. Leuven’s Biosystems Department can automatically adjust its speed and turning radius during its preprogrammed route over a field."
One of his kind has finally made it to the High Frontier. The voyages of Robo Trek have begun !
”Robonaut is now onboard as the newest member of our crew. We are happy to have him onboard. It’s a real good opportunity to help understand the interface of humans and robotics here in space.” said Coleman. “We want to see what Robonaut can do.
"Manual labor is becoming more and more difficult for Japan's aging farmers, prompting a Tokyo professor to devise a high-tech solution: mechanize the bodies of the farmers themselves." (physorg)
"the Digital Gastronomy machines described here attempt to use the most advanced food technologies and techniques to retain the freshness of ingredients, increase the potential for personal creative expression and develop a new and tighter connection between food production and our digital lives"
