There are two kinds of robots: Ones that do work for you, and ones that deliver nothing but fun. The Sphero 2 from Orbotix, launched here at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, falls firmly in the latter category while offering a slew of upgrades that improve on the original Sphero models.
Unlike Sphero and Sphero 2.0, the 2B comes in a totally tubular shape that helps give it the ability to race around at up to 14 miles per hour (though the company plays down the top speed to around 10 mph) while still maintaining one hour of battery life. The 2B, which can also tumble rather than simply roll, is also completely programmable, like its rounder older brothers, and it supports multiplayer modes for whatever games developers ultimately make for this rugged little robot.
Other features for the Sphero 2B include Bluetooth LE connectivity that allows users to control the device via their Android and iOS devices from up to 30 feet away. It’s made with a polycarbonate construction, comes in either black or white, and can be outfitted with a variety of skins and wheel types suited for different surfaces (like wood floors, carpet, etc). The 2B is even waterproof, which means you won’t have to stop your robot racing just because of a few pesky puddles.
The Orbotix Sphero 2B is set to launch this fall for $100, and you can preorder one here.
Check out a teaser video for the 2B below:
San Francisco startup Dimensional advertised for people to walk robot dogs through city streets. The New York Times reported that the job could include carrying a roughly 33-pound robot back to the office if it overheated. A lift home is an awkward requirement for a labor-saving machine.
Keeping the hardware running is only one challenge. Anthropic's robotics tests found that language models mostly failed when controlling joints directly, but did better when directing trained controllers. Giving an AI agent a body doesn't teach it to handle ordinary household objects.
Soon, a mattress protector may be more than a bed cover. Australian medtech company Sleeptite and researchers at RMIT University have received a US patent for FlexiSense, a smart bedding technology that tracks body position and posture to help caregivers identify when older residents may be at risk of falling.
The technology is being developed for Sleeptite’s in-bed monitoring system, REMi, and was recently on display at The MedTech Conference in Boston. A peer-reviewed study in Flexible and Printed Electronics says the sensors can also be made at scale without sacrificing performance or durability.
AI companies spend enormous amounts of time convincing us their technology is safe and secure. But what happens when those same companies become targets of increasingly sophisticated AI-powered attacks? Anthropic, the company behind Claude, is now facing that question. According to a Washington Post report, cybersecurity startup Cathedral discovered vulnerabilities that let its researchers access sensitive information in Anthropic's internal systems.
The researchers used AI agents to identify potential entry points in less than 12 hours. Interestingly, they didn't need to crack Claude itself. Instead, they exploited weaknesses in third-party business applications that Anthropic uses for everyday operations. Anthropic's security testing program disclosed the findings, which allows outside researchers to identify and report vulnerabilities.