UCSF Medical Center has opened an automated hospital pharmacy, with 3 robotic pill-dispensing machines that prepare and track medication that’s dangerous to the common human.

After a doctor prescribes medicine, the hospital clerk will send it over to the pharmacist who will enter it into the computer for the robot to do the dirty work of preparing medication.

Rather than fearing for their jobs, the UCSF staff are happy to have the robots, cause they can now spend more time with patients while medication process becomes more efficient. So far the goal of improving patient safety seems on track. Not a single error has occurred (yet) in the 350,000 medication doses prepared during the trial run.

I am ready for robots to rule the world once they become the mainstay at pharmacies. But next time a robot dispenses medication for you, let’s hope they get the right instructions because machines aren’t really programmed to think..

[Engadget]

We humans better buck up to improve productivity, else we could be replaced by robots and Quadrocopters.

GRASP Lab has unveiled Quadrocopters which not only sail through the air with unerring precision, but are also inbuilt with artificial intelligence to work in groups AND construct things!

The tasks may be basic, but the days of technology making humans dispensable is near.

[Engadget]

Transformers (robots changing into cars and vice versa) is a cartoon which I grow up watching and I believe have fascinated many kids too.

There are 13 transformers here which can switch from robot mode to vehicle mode at the push of a button. Some of the robots can navigate as the “vision” comes from a camera and can even dance.

Hopefully, this compilation can satiate your passion for these gadgets.

[Gizmowatch]

British criminals could soon be shot at by unmanned airborne police robots. These military aircraft drones will carry out surveillance on British protesters and antisocial motorists to fly-tippers.

And these robots mean business, given their arsenal of tasers, non-lethal projectiles and ultra-powerful disorienting strobe lighting apparatus.

The flying robot fleet will range from miniature tactical craft such as the miniature AirRobot being tested by one police force, to BAE System’s new 12m-wide armed HERTI drone as flown in Afghanistan.

It is amazing how robots have gone from learning how to walk, to doing housework, providing sex and now keeping law and order.

Currently, robots already serve an important role in bomb disposals, without putting human lives at risk. It is very likely police forces will be using robots the same way when dealing with dangerous suspects. The police can tackle them remotely and use a taser, if necessary.

But I do urge caution on the Home Office. Robots function on artificial intelligence and are not particulary adept at thinking and handling unknown situations. It is easy for criminals to mislead the armed drones and they end up tasering innocents or the police instead.

[Wired]

If catching poachers is easy, a lot of species will not have become extinct. However, there is now hope of busting poachers before they do any damage

How about a remote-controlled zombie decoy? Brian Wolslegel of Custom Robotic Wildlife makes such a trap by taking corpses, drying the pelts, and stitching the skins over polyurethane bodies.

The head, tail, and limbs (places which hunters don’t usually aim) of each animal are then wired to servomotors controlled by a remote joystick.

Check out this new technology which could take the fight against poachers to a whole new level.

[Wired]