Check Out How Google's New $1 Million Robot Sees The World [PHOTOS]

EXCLUSIVE NEWS|

A team of roboticists at MIT is preparing Atlas, a 6-foot-2-inch-tall, 330-pound humanoid robot that can climb stairs, open doors, and even drive a car, for competition in the DARPA Robotics Challenge at the end of 2014.

Atlas is built by Boston Dynamics, the robotics company bought by Google last December, and there are only eight of them in the world.

The DARPA Challenge is a "robot Olympics" — robots are asked to do things like climb a ladder, or connect a firehose to a standpipe and turn on the valve. These tasks are designed to test a robotic system's "mobility, manipulation, dexterity, perception, and operator control mechanisms."

A robot that can't make sense of its world in real time would never be able to do these things. Here's how Atlas' sensor systems rise to the challenge.

In the demo, Atlas was given instructions to find the piece of wood and pick it up.

This is the operator's view, where you give the robot its instructions. A number of monitors provide feedback on what Atlas can see and detect.

Here's what Atlas sees from the spinning "lidar" unit in its head. Lidar (that's light detection and ranging) is an imaging system that makes sense of an environment by bouncing lasers off it and analyzing how they reflect back. It's essentially a very precise rangefinder that operates in three dimensions.

Note the yellow and green "footprints" on the screen — this is Atlas determining where to place its feet in order to approach that steel beam:

Atlas has two stereo proximity cameras ("for situational awareness") and a third camera in its head angled slightly downward. This is a composite image of what the robot "sees" by way of its three cameras.

These systems come together to make it possible for the robot to perform environment-dependent tasks, like identifying the piece of wood it was told to pick up and stooping down to grab it.

Success!

Via Business Insider

EXCLUSIVE NEWS| Wrestling Legend 'Ultimate Warrior' Dead At 54

It is a sad day for all wrestling fans, wrestling legend Ultimate Warrior has passed away. Ultimate Warrior whose real name was James Brian Hellwig was 54 years old.

The cause of his death is still unclear. Find out more below..



SOURCE: TMZ

Dwayne Johnson,’The Rock’ Did Not Die During Movie Stunt For FAST & FURIOUS 7

Dwayne Johnson, known as The Rock, has not died, but Facebook scammers are saying otherwise, claiming he died during a movie stunt.
The post says, “R.I.P. Dwayne Johnson (1972 – 2014) … Watch how Dwayne Johnson died filming a stunt for FAST & FURIOUS 7.”
It shows a photo of Johnson and purports to have video footage. However, there is no video and it’s just a scam.
Johnson has made several tweets since the hoax went viral. He wrote on Monday afternoon: “Real men get roses.. & bottles of tequila;) Just landed & got to my suite. Thank U, London! Who wants a drink?”
When one clicks on the death hoax post, they’re taken to a website designed to look like Facebook. It then asks users to share the post, which ensures that the scam spreads further.
Such scams can prompt the downloading of malware, rogue Facebook apps, or offer bogus surveys that users shouldn’t fill out. Some are just designed to get traffic to a webpage.
Facebook says users should be wary of sharing posts to prevent the spreading of scams.
“Think before you click. Never click suspicious links, even if they come from a friend or a company you know. This includes links sent on Facebook (ex: in a chat or post) or in emails. If one of your friends clicks on spam they could accidentally send you that spam or tag you in a spammy post. You also shouldn’t download things (ex: a .exe file) if you aren’t sure what they are,” Facebook has said about scams.
Regarding “Fast & Furious 7,” production for the film started filming again about a week ago–about four months after the death of star Paul Walker.
Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges will be brought back to the latest installment of the film

Afrocandy Is Begging For Money To Pay Her Daughter’s Tuition?

Is this some sort of publicity or this is actually happening?

I thought with all the hype of her soft P0*n movie, Destructive Instincts Afrocandy will be swimming in millions by now. I guess P0*n doesn’t pay as well as we thought.

So I told y’all recently that one of her daughters is set to get into college; Judith Mazagwu aka Afrocandy has opened a site she titles “Help a single Mother” to raise $9000 to enable her pay her daughter’s tuition. Says she is yet to make a dime from her soft P0*n movie.

Read what she says: -

 

“I am a single mother of 2 well behaved, inteligent, smart girls. Moved from Africa in 2005 to join their father who abandoned us after one year of living together. Since then I’ve been struggling on my own without support from any particular person exept some friends that help out sometimes. I am not on wlefare, dont get child support and not on unemployment. I highly talented, I write songs and scripts, edit, produce and even direct. All I need is an opprtunity to be discovered

 

I’ve done so many different jobs to sustain us but no matter what I do, it seems like I haven’t even started. So I went back into showbiz which is what I was doing b4 I migrated, acted and produced my own movie, after investing all my money with the hope I could get a turn over before my frist daughter’s time for college, I was messed up by the partners I trusted, Movie was released since January, up until now, not even a dime from the Distributors I handed over in Africa. Now my Daughter has been Accepted into college, I am going crazy trying to fit the bills, rent, tuition and all other expenses. Please help me now that I am still alive before I lose it.
 Thank you and God bless.”

This Woman Was Caught With Cocaine Concealed In Her Vagina At Muritala Mohammed International Airport

A food vendor, Chinelo Okorom Lynnette has excreted 685 grammes of cocaine concealed in her vagina at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport after she was arrested by members of NDLEA. Chinelo was suspected and questioned during the inward screening of passengers on an Ethiopian airline flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Nigeria.
While pleading for mercy, the  36-year old mother of four said hardship pushed her into the dastardly act as needed to cater  for her children as a single mum.She also said she had been forcefully ejected from the house she lived and had to make ends meet. Read what she said after the cut:

‘I had nowhere to turn to for solace. I was crying like a baby when a man came to console me. I have never met him in my life. He asked me to wipe my tears and promised to introduce me to importation business. I felt he was God sent until he sponsored my trip to Addis Ababa. When I got to Ethiopia, he told me to take cocaine to Nigeria. Initially I disagreed but he threatened to recover his investment at all cost,” she was quoted as saying. I have never met him in my life. He asked me to wipe my tears and promised to introduce me to importation business. I felt he was God sent until he sponsored my trip to Addis Ababa. When I got to Ethiopia, he told me to take cocaine to Nigeria. Initially I disagreed but he threatened to recover his investment at all cost.’

The chairman of NDLEA Ahmadu Giade has confirmed the incident, appealing to members of the public to be wise and careful about the deceptive ways of drug dealers.
She will soon be arraigned in court.

Photos From Comedian Julius Agwu’s Birthday

Ace Nigerian comedian Julius Agwu turned 41 yesterday April 7.
Being the humble father and gentleman, the famous comedian had a quiet celebration with his family, wife and 2 lovely kids Zahra and Zadok.
More photos below: -

Maryam Abacha speaks: “My husband’s death was like a coup”

Maryam Abacha is the widow of Nigeria’s late military president Sani Abacha.

In a rare interview with PM News, Maryam talked about her husband’s death, politics and recent centenary award to her late husband.

About her husband’s death Maryam says: -

“My husband’s death was like a coup. It was sudden and shrouded in confusion. General Abdulasalami [Abubakar] just called me, telling me to come and collect the dead body. We buried him like any other ordinary Nigerian. It was quite unfortunate the way he died. Allah knows best and unto Him we shall all return. May his soul rest in peace. I’m yet to fully recover from the shock of his death.”