A research team from National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) has invented a robot that can carry out automated nighttime surveillance, climb stairs and move freely around buildings, the team announced yesterday.
The team was comprised of researchers from the school’s Computational Intelligence and Robotics Lab and led by Wang Wei-yen (王偉彥), a chair professor in the Department of Applied Electronics Technology.
It took the team three years to develop the robot, named “NTNU-CIR-I,” which is capable of carrying out surveillance patrols in complicated landscapes during the day and at night.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The team said the robot was meant to fill the gap in the security of school campuses that are open to the public after class hours. The robot can patrol areas that are not patrolled so often by campus security and that the scope of mounted surveillance cameras cannot reach.
Many other robots rely on four wheels to move and are thereby limited to flat surfaces, but the NTNU-CIR-I was designed to overcome this limitation by employing highly sensitive sensors to detect and navigate past obstacles, even in the dark, Wang said, adding that it can also calculate the angles of slopes or stairs to adjust its movements as it climbs.
The team said they think the robot could be a useful addition to security systems in factories, buildings and campuses because it can transmit real-time footage through the Internet.
It could also be used for educational purposes, such as though the application of its sensors, motor control, image processing and intelligence algorithm design, the team added.
Wang was awarded the titles of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow and Institution of Engineering and Technology Fellow this year for his contribution to the field of robotics, the school said, adding that the team is applying for a patent for the robot.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese