Robot Steals the Show

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 9, 2009 -- At the National Instruments booth at Photonics West, convention-goers could play against a robot in the game of Guitar Hero on the Nintendo Wii. The robot was made with the company's Compact Vision System, which includes a camera and a compact image processor.

As the video game is running, the camera captures the notes that are displayed on-screen. The image processor, running a program in LabView, subsequently directs robotic fingers to play the notes on a toy guitar that is connected to the Wii system.

This setup was assembled by Cyth Systems of San Diego, a group of engineers that assembles components for factories. The company calls it the CythBot. The idea is to show what the company can do, such as rigging a system to move cans of Coca-Cola.

David L. Shenkenberg
[email protected]

Bristol Instruments, Inc. - 872 Series LWM 10/24 MR

Published: February 2009

Glossary

machine vision: Machine vision, also known as computer vision or computer sight, refers to the technology that enables machines, typically computers, to interpret and understand visual information from the world, much like the human visual system. It involves the development and application of algorithms and systems that allow machines to acquire, process, analyze, and make decisions based on visual data. Key aspects of machine vision include: Image acquisition: Machine vision systems use various...
photonics: The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and...