This incredible battle set features twin-channel cyber-warriors capable of shooting each other out of the sky with well-placed infra-red blasts. Score a direct hit and your rival’s rotors will cut out, causing it to plummet to earth. Or Mars, or Tharg, or whatever other planet you’re pretending to fight for. Think miniature Transformers with heli-packs and phasers and you’re halfway there. Robot wars? Not half! You control your rechargeable robot with a nifty transmitter that doubles up as a charger. Simply plug in for around 20 minutes and your Skybot will fly forwards, backwards, left and right, buzzing about for around five minutes – more than enough time to conduct a full on laser ding dong above the conference table.

The PicoZ SkyBot Attack set will cost you £49.95, and unless you want to get the sack by the boss, we’d recommend playing this only during the lunch break instead of trying to lighten up the mood at the office meeting by letting them rip.

The Darth Vader Robotic Arm kit shows you how to build a robotic arm and lets you grip and move real objects with interactive controls. The arm assembles quickly with snap-together parts, and includes a stand with built-in controls. Authentic Darth Vader styling means that, once built, the Darth Vader Robotic Arm becomes a totally cool piece of room decoration for any Star Wars fan, young or old.

It will cost you £28.99 to bring home this Darth Vader Robotic Arm that features gripping, turning, and extending ability, alongside the added bonus of holding lightweight objects – like say, a replica lightsaber?

This is essentially the role of AIDA (Affective Intelligent Driving Assistant). This robot head not only serves as a GPS Navigation system, but it actually has expressions. It’s eyes will look happy when you’re going the right way, and become a warning sign when you are not. There is a video of this intriguing concept after the jump if you aren’t already sold on it yet.

AIDA is more than a navigation system, though. It is intelligent enough to remember where you have been, and from this information determines your driving habits. It uses a lot of sensors to gather intel, and will even let you know when you’re low on gas, and where is the best place to stop for gasoline on your way.

AIDA is still concept for now, and is under development by MIT SENSElab, MIT’s Media Lab’s Personal Robots Group, as well as the Volkswagen Group of America’s Electronics Research Lab.

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Ropid is the creation of a Kyoto based group known as Robo Garage, and it has the ability to run and jump. By the way, the robot is programmed to jump with a vocal command. In other words, if you say “jump”, then the robot may not say “how high”, but it will jump as high as it can, which is 8 centimeters high.

That’s not bad considering Ropid measures 38 centimeters tall, and weighs 16 kilograms. The robot has 29 joints and four gyro-sensors, and is powered by a lithium-ion battery. By the way, the vocal commands will also run when you tell it to run, and stop when you say stop. Now if it could run and jump, perhaps it could beat the Olympic long jump record.

So far, there is no plans to market this guy, but I think that Wowwee would be all over this thing. Ropid’s movements aren’t as fluid as say, a human, but it is enough to beat the snot out of any toy robot out in the market right now. Now, if only it could fold up into a car or something.

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A smart, fully programmable and highly agile two-wheeled robot, Roboni-i is the first entertainment robot to offer unlimited play patterns. The state-of-the-art robot features 16 sensors and four processors, RF (ZigBee) remote control and peer-to-peer protocol allowing for competitive gameplay with real-world robots. It also comes packaged with game accessories and six action games enabling players to lay out a playing field and use the gaming controller to select a game as they enter a new dimension of interactive, real-world robotic gameplay. Whether alone or with friends, they will need to beat the odds, race against time, manage resources, neutralize threats, execute special effects and collect bonus points to improve score.

The Roboni-i’s online universe is tipped to roll out this November in its beta version. Are you looking forward to this new method of gaming?

Press Release

The Hoya is a rolling robot that resembles the Sony Rolly, and travels at one foot per second. It has a range of 54 yards, and can transmit images of what is inside. It also has onboard lights to illuminate its path, and it can check a burning building for temperature, smoke, and gas.

The Hoya can withstand temperatures of up to 320 degrees Fahrenheit, is water resistant, and can withstand drops of six feet. It can operate up to 30 minutes without charging.

The Hoya robot took two years to develop with help from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, and 50 fire stations in Korea are planned to receive 100 units for testing.

If this works, I would like to know how many lives this robot saves per year. I would also like to know how to get the Hoya up a flight of stairs.

Too bad we can’t just make Hoyas with arms and hoses, right? Then no firefighter would ever have to run into a burning building ever again. Something tells me they are working on that.

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I remember reading a screenwriting book that talked about how awkward that scene would have been if that Power Loader not been given proper introduction in an earlier scene. In fact, when that movie first introduces the Power Loader, I knew it was going to work its way into the film much later.

After all, it was too cool not to. It appears that a company called Activelink, a Panasonic subsidiary based in Kyoto, Japan, has created one in real life. There is a video of it after the jump.

This Power Loader (named after the once-imaginary construction equipment/armor from James Cameron’s classic) has 18 electromagnetic motors that allow its user to lift 220 pounds. Unfortunately, it actually weighs 500 pounds, and moves slowly on its hydraulic feet.

Activelink expects to have this Power Loader out helping relief crews soon, but not until 2015. Hopefully they will have a less bulky model by then, but I don’t think it will be in construction yard yellow like Ripley’s. I’m liking the silver color on this Power Loader.

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Stop right there. Is this serious? Apparently so. Inventor Taku Ichikawa of the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo is creating this robot for the Robo-One contest in Toyama, Japan.

The Robo-One is sort of a battlebots style competition, and I suppose that thoughts really are the best interface for that. Unfortunately, this is about all the information my sources have about this.

In other words, I have no idea if the user has to “think real hard” in order to get this robot to move, or if thinking about other things will distract the robot as well as the user.

A thought based interface is probably the best choice for any type of robot manipulation. It’s a lot better than that keyboard that the bad guy used to control Deadpool in at the end of that Wolverine movie. I mean, he has to type in “DECAPITATE” for crying out loud.

However, robots that are controlled by our thoughts? That seems a little too science fiction for me. And if there is one thing that science fiction has taught us is that mind and robots don’t mix.

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The six included games are interactive environments composed of pieces that include a base station, energy port, special effects hub, and three universal gaming pads; each accessory may be individually programmed using a simple, drag-and-drop interface with the included software (requires a PC running Windows XP or Vista). Depending upon the game you select (or modify using the software) each accessory serves a unique purpose: the base station can act as a depot, timer, or target; the energy port ejects a ball (which is corralled by the robot’s built-in scoop) and recharges the robot; and the special effects hub provides robots with advanced maneuvers and abilities. The robot has infrared sensors and radio frequency identification chips that allow the robot to react to the game’s accessories and other competing robots, helping it to avoid obstacles, navigate autonomously, and participate in any of the six included games. You can also participate in interactive online gaming using any of the robot’s programmed routines–you can identify other robots online as “friend” or “foe” and the robot will interact with them accordingly. The games involve the robot picking up different colors by driving over encoded pads and delivering them to the hub before time expires, collecting a ball while avoiding “bullets”, dropping electronic “land mines” to obstruct competing robots, and more. The robot’s dual monowheel design provides nimble 360º movement as it moves between accessories–you can control it from up to 30′ away.

We would strongly recommend you get a healthy dose of AA batteries, as the entire set will take up to a dozen of those puppies before it is able to get up and running. The Programmable Gaming Robot will retail for $299.95.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was some machine like this Bloodbot that could draw your blood, without a human ever being present?

Some of you might faint at the very idea of that, but haven’t you ever had a doctor who had a hard time finding the vein while you were donating blood? Apparently, this bloodbot has an accuracy rate of seventy-eight percent. Normally, I would say that is good, but I would like to see the average accuracy rate for a doctor.

When I first saw this Bloodbot, I thought of that line from The Matrix when Morpheus is telling Neo he saw the evil machines “liquefy the dead so they could be fed intravenously to the living”.

Yes, I suppose that we will create the Bloodbots for good, like blood drives, but what happens when the bloodbots decide they don’t have enough? Then comes one of the worst premises for a science-fiction film I ever heard entitled: Attack of the Bloodbots.

That’s right, vampire robots. Now you know that Hollywood is officially out of ideas.

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Source: Pink Tentacle

A smart, fully programmable and highly agile two-wheeled robot, Roboni-i is the first entertainment robot to offer unlimited play patterns. The state-of-the-art robot features 16 sensors and four processors, RF remote control and Zigbee peer-to-peer RF protocol allowing for competitive gameplay with real-world robots. It also comes packaged with game accessories and six action games enabling players to form a playing field and use the gaming controller to select a game as they enter a new dimension of interactive, real-world robotic gameplay. Whether alone or with friends, they will need to beat the odds, race against time, manage resources, neutralize threats, execute special effects and collect bonus points to improve score. The Roboni-i’s online gameplay is out of this world. By plugging Roboni-i into the PC, players enter a virtual world where they can create profiles, participate in virtual missions, play online games and interact with friends who are online at the same time. Its Advanced PC-based Command Center Software allows users to program every facet of the robot’s behavior, edit games and upload performance data.

The following online sources – ToysRUs.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and more will be the first to get hold of Robonica’s offering, followed by retailers Hammacher Schlemmer, Edmund Scientific and other specialty shops.

Press Release

The fact that the attached YouTube video that you can watch after the jump is called “Human Body Shredding Machine” doesn’t help. Clearly, I need to get over my robot issues and see that this robot rescuer, or Robocue, could truly save a life.

The basic concept behind this is that the Robocue can get to places that would be too dangerous for a human to get to. It is equipped with many sensors and cameras for remote operation up to 100 meters away, and the conveyor belt feature is equipped to put the injured human in a safe place for transport.

Of course, I can’t help but wonder what situation the Robocue could get into that a human could not do better. Sure, it may be able to enter a burning building without getting singed, but could it do it at a running speed? In other words, I’m not certain whether this Robocue would be up to the job in a real emergency.

Perhaps I got a little robo-bigotry like Will Smith’s character in I, Robot. I know that I’ve got a little irrational fear of this Human Body Shredding Machine video, but maybe it is because it reminds me of the people bulldozers from Soylent Green.

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I’ve never run across someone that didn’t adore the movie WALL-E.  So it’s no surprise that there would be small random WALL-E inspired items.  Here’s a tiny whimsical flash drive that has a keychain attached to it.  Which means you get to store files on it and show it off on your keys when it’s not plugged into the computer.  Not only is it WALL-E, but it’s WALL-E clinging tightly to a fire extinguisher.

The flash drive stores 8GB of data, which is definitely not too shabby.  This was a posting on Etsy and when it was it would have cost you $65.  However, being Etsy, they only had one in stock and it’s managed to disappear already, which I’m not really surprised about.  The great thing with Etsy though, is that you can easily contact the seller and see if they’ll create a duplicate for you.  Sometimes it’s a one time deal and they can’t create another one, but it’s worth a shot.

Source: Technabob

Yes, that network of tunnels designed to move human waste from our homes could be used to bring packages to our homes. All of this is possible with the proper application of robots.

Some researchers are working on inventing the Urban Mole. Instead of digging through the dirt, the Urban Mole is designed to carry packages such as signed documents, groceries, and Amazon.com orders. Of course, there are limits, and my source has said it can probably deliver nothing bigger than a shoebox.

Of course, I don’t know how good of a condition your packaged materials would be if they have just been swimming through sewage. Perhaps it will be required from every Urban Mole to take a shower before it knocks on the door.

Another problem that I forsee is what do you do when there is some sort of breakdown in the system? Do you send someone in the sewers to fix it? That’s one of those “dirty job, but someone has to do it” thing.

This is one concept gadget that I don’t think will ever be made, but you never know. I have seen I, Robot, and I believe that robot delivery people will be walking, not swimming.

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Even tiny robots can be extremely useful and this is one of them, not to mention he’s incredibly cute too.  Not so cute that no man would be ashamed of carrying him around though, which is a difficult balance to walk.  However, robots can usually get away with looking just a little on the cute side, while still being considered awesome.  The tiny white robot doesn’t do a whole lot, but he will help you share your music with one other person.  That is, instead of carrying portable speakers and forcing everyone around you to listen in.

To work the little guy you just plug in your MP3 player into the robot.  Then you can plug in two different sets of headphones into him as well.  It’s pretty basic stuff.  Plus he has a small keychain attached to him, so if you wanted to you could keep him on your keys.  That way when he’s needed he’s already easily within reach.  You can purchase him for about A$19.60, which converts into about $16, plus whatever it would cost to get it shipped to the US or UK.

Source: NerdApproved

The good news is that this is not some artistic vision, or concept gadget, but Flossie the robot has been built, and is in use right now. Yes, I realize that Flossie is the worst name for a robot since “Robbie”, but you have to admit, it is as skinny as dental floss.

Anyway, Flossie was developed by technicians at Castrol, and is designed to test out throttle response, gear shifting, and clutch drag. She (should I call it a she?) does this on a stationary bike, mind you, so she doesn’t ever go on the open road. Catch a video of it after the jump.

So you can relax, because you won’t be seeing any robot motorcycle gangs, yet. Besides, everyone knows that robots use rider-less motorcycles, like the type seen in Terminator Salvation.

Of course, this does raise the question of is it possible to teach a robot the balance necessary to ride a bike. Well, if you’re going to do that, then you’d better give Flossie a head with some cameras, or something.

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Not everyone is allowed to have a dog in their home, which is disappointing at times.  For those that miss having an over excited pooch, this bank might help you out.  I know, it’s just a bank, but it’s the cutest bank I’ve ever seen.  It has an adorable robotic dog on top that will never fail to make you chuckle at least a little.  Especially the way he gobbles up the coins you drop in his bowl.

If you’d like to see him in action, you can check out the video on the seller’s website.  When you toss some coins into his bowl, he immediately goes to work.  Instead of swallowing them up himself though, he knocks them down a hole that is at the very back of his dog bowl.  This is a Japan product, but thankfully the Japan Trend Shop will ship this worldwide and for one very flat rate.  You can purchase him for $50 and then the shipping will cost you an extra $18.  You’ll have to preorder him though, because he’s not available until the 30th of November.

Source: ChipChick

Other building kits use motors, so what makes OLLO unique? you may be wondering. The difference is how OLLO pieces attach to one another. They attach with an innovative two-part rivet (one goes into the other and presses down to lock the pieces in place). And of course you can always undo the rivets (tool included) to build new and wilder things. The OLLO Action Kit is perfect for getting young minds interested in mechanics and building. OLLO is so much fun to work with, you might just have to buy two: one for the kids…and one for you!

Interested? They’ll set you back by $29.99 per set.