Posts Tagged: prototype

Korg Berlin shows off a prototype ‘acoustic synthesizer’

The idea of an acoustic synthesizer might sound like an oxymoron, but it's exactly the sort of unexpected concepts that Korg Berlin was created to pursue. This independent, R&D-focused division was cofounded in 2020 by Maximilian Rest and Tatsuya Takahashi, the man behind the Volcas, Minilogue and countless other modern classics. But it has remained pretty quiet since its inception. That changed this week at Superbooth where the team showed off its first prototype the Acoustic Synthesis_phase5. 

Unlike a traditional synth that uses oscillators, the phase5 uses tuned metal forks. Those forks are specially designed to produce specific fundamental notes and overtones. And since the core sound generation here is an acoustic resonator, it has certain qualities a normal synth does not. For instance it will feedback like a guitar when held near an amp and ring when struck on its side. Takahashi told Fess Grandiose of Reverb, "we're trying to kind of capture this rawness of instruments, while being at the same time, controllable like a synthesizer."

So that's the "acoustic" part: metal tines that ring, resonate and decay, almost like a Fender Rhodes. The synth part comes from the magnets inside the phase5 that allow it to sustain just the fundamental note, or the fundamental and the overtones, or just the overtones. The overtones can also be modulated with an LFO creating a sound that can only be described as a sea sick bell. 

In general the sound it generates in the short demo video above is quite unique. It does have a ringing, vaguely Rhodes-like quality to it. But it also kind of sounds like what you might expect of a singing bowl patch on a '90s sample-based synth. It's a touch otherworldly. 

Right now the phase5 is just a prototype and it's likely to stay that way. Right now Korg Berlin is simply gauging interest in the technology. And if it seems like there's a market for this sort of strange hybrid acoustic synth, then it will explore ways to develop it further into a finished product. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/korg-berlin-shows-off-a-prototype-acoustic-synthesizer-223023911.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Tesla debuts an actual, mechanical prototype of its Optimus robot

It seems like just yesterday that Elon Musk ushered a gig worker in a spandex suit onto the Tesla AI Day 2021 stage and told us it was an robot — or at least probably would be one eventually. In the intervening 13 months, the company has apparently been hard at work, replacing the squishy bits from what crowd saw on stage with proper electronics and mechanizations. At this year's AI Day on Friday, Tesla unveiled the next iteration of its Optimus robotics platform and, well, at least there isn't still a person on the inside? 

tesla bot
Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk debuted the "first" Optimus (again, skinny guy in a leotard, not an actual machine) in August of last year and, true to his nature, proceeded to set out a series of increasingly incredible claims about the platform's future capabilities — just like how the Cybertruck will have unbreakable windows. As Musk explained at the time, the Optimus will operate an AI similar to the company's Autopilot system (the one that keeps chasing stationary ambulances) and be capable of working safely around humans without extensive prior training. 

Additionally, the Tesla Bot would understand complex verbal commands, Musk assured the assembled crowd, it would have "human-level hands," be able to both move at 5 MPH and carry up to 45 pounds despite standing under 6-feet tall and weighing 125 pounds. And, most incredibly, Tesla would have a working prototype for all of that by 2022, which brings us to today.

production  tesla bot
Tesla

Kicking off the event, CEO Elon Musk was joined almost immediately on stage by an early development platform prototype of the robot — the very first time one of the test units had walked unassisted by an umbilical tether. Lacking any exterior panelling to reveal the Tesla-designed actuators inside, the robot moved at a halting and ponderous pace, not unlike early Asimos and certainly a far cry from the deft acrobatics that Boston Robotics' Atlas exhibits.

Tesla Bot
Tesla

The Tesla team also rolled out a further developed, but still tethered iteration as well, pictured above. "it wasn't quite ready to walk," Musk said, "but I think we'll walk in a few weeks. We wanted to show you the robot that's actually really close to what is going to production." 

Tesla Bot
Tesla

"Our goal is to make a useful humanoid robot as quickly as possible," Musk said. "And we've also designed it using the same discipline that we use in designing the car, which is to say… to make the robot at an high volume at low cost with higher reliability." He estimates that they could cost under $ 20,000 when built at volume. 

The Optimus will be equipped with a 2.3 kWh battery pack which integrates the various power control systems into a single PCB. That should be sufficient to get the robot through a full day of work, per Tesla's engineering team which joined Musk on stage during the event. 

Tesla Bot
Tesla

"Humans are also pretty efficient at somethings but not so efficient at other times," Lizzie Miskovetz, a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer at Tesla, and a member of the engineering team explained. While humans can sustain themselves on small amounts of food, we cannot halt our metabolisms when not working. 

"On the robot platform, what we're going to do is we're going to minimize that. Idle power consumption, drop it as low as possible," she continued. The team also plans to strip as much complexity and mass as possible from the robot's arms and legs. "We're going to reduce our part count and our power consumption of every element possible. We're going to do things like reduce the sensing and the wiring at our extremities," Miskovetz said. 

Tesla Bot
Tesla

What's more, expensive and heavy materials will be swapped out with plastics that trade slight losses in stiffness with larger savings in weight. "We are carrying over most of our designing experience from the car to the robot,” Milan Kovac, Tesla's Director of Autopilot Software Engineering said. 

To enable the Optimus to move about in real world situations, "We want to leverage both the autopilot hardware and the software for the humanoid platform, but because it's different in requirements and inform factor," Miskovetz said. "It's going to do everything that a human brain does: processing vision data , making split-second decisions based on multiple sensory inputs and also communications," thanks to integrated Wi-Fi and cellular radios.

"The human hand has the ability to move at 300 degrees per second, as tens of thousands of tactile sensors. It has the ability to grasp and manipulate almost every object in our daily lives," Kovac said. "We were inspired by biology. [Optimus hands] have five fingers and opposable thumb. Our fingers are driven by metallic tendons that are both flexible and strong because the ability to complete wide aperture power grasps while also being optimized for precision, gripping of small, thin and delicate objects." 

Tesla Bot
Tesla

Each hand will offer 11 degrees of freedom derived from its six dedicated actuators, as well as "complex mechanisms that allow the hand to adapt to the objects being grasped." Kovac said. "We [also] have a non-backdrivable finger drive. This clutching mechanism allows us to hold and transport objects without having to turn on the hand motors."

"We're starting out having something that's usable," Kovac concluded, "but it's far from being useful. It's still a long and exciting road ahead of us." Tesla engineering plans to get the enclosed, production iteration up and walking around without a tether in the next few weeks, then begin exploring more real-world applications and tangible use cases the Optimus might wind up in. 

"After seeing what we've shown tonight," Kovac said. "I'm pretty sure we can get this done within the next few months or years and maybe make this product a reality and change the entire economy."

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

SpaceX prepares Starship SN8 prototype for high-altitude test flight

In September 2019 Elon Musk said he hoped SpaceX would be able to perform an orbital test of its Starship vehicle within six months, and while that didn’t happen the company is apparently ready to perform a high-altitude flight test. In a tweet, the…
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Vivo’s electrochromic glass prototype is a color-shifting genius

After being the first brand to show off an under-display selfie camera, Vivo has taken to social media to reveal a phone sporting a rear panel with color-changing technology. This isn’t one of those finishes that changes color when you change the angle you are looking at it, it actually changes color right in front […]

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Segway’s latest EV prototype looks like Professor X’s wheelchair

Once you get past oddities like bread-making machines, CES is really wouldn't be what it is without some forward-looking mobility concepts. Case and point: next week Segway and owner Ninebot will show off a prototype electric vehicle called the S-Pod…
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The legendary Nintendo PlayStation prototype is up for auction

For years it was the stuff of legend — a games console that incorporated both a CD drive and SNES cartridge slot made with the official backing of PlayStation and Nintendo? Unlikely. But back in 2015 we saw the magical prototype for ourselves and ev…
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OnePlus will show a 5G prototype at Mobile World Congress

OnePlus is finally ready to show off 5G hardware after months of talking about it. The phone maker will have a presence at Qualcomm's booth during Mobile World Congress (February 25th through February 28th), and it plans to feature a 5G "prototype."…
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Samsung’s 5G prototype phone packs a very peculiar screen

Verizon and AT&T have set up small-scale 5G networks at Qualcomm's Tech Summit in Hawaii, but what good are wireless networks without devices? Motorola is on the ground with an apparently live version of its 5G Moto Mod, but Samsung showed up wit…
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A plastic Google Pixel 3 Lite prototype with a headphone jack leaks

There’s been speculation that a budget version of the Google Pixel 3 could emerge before the end of the year, but no announcement was made in October when the regular Pixel 3 phones launched. However, pictures and specs of what appears to be a Pixel 3 Lite prototype have just emerged, featuring a standard 3.5mm […]

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Japan axes its ‘fast’ nuclear reactor prototype

Japan's Monju reactor was supposed to be a more efficient alternative to conventional nuclear power. The "fast," sodium-cooled prototype plant would produce more plutonium than it ate up, making it relatively easy to recycle fuel. However, that's n…
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Prototype ‘omnifocal’ lenses can auto-focus on whatever you’re looking at

The new technology, which Israel-based Deep Optics calls “omnifocals,” could forever change how lens makers deal with farsightedness, and dramatically improve clarity for lens wearers.

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GoPro shows off video from its prototype drone, and it looks awesome

We still have no idea what GoPro’s upcoming quadcopter will look like but its flying stability and gimbal look to be sorted. The company has just posted a video shot using its prototype machine, and the captured silky-smooth footage looks awesome.

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