You may not have heard of the company iRobot, but you’ve probably heard of their two robot products, the Roomba, a vacuum cleaner, and the Scooba, a mop. Both of these products have gained a significant following in the hacking community, most notably the Roomba. People have gone so far as to have their MacBook Pro’s accelerometer control their Roomba (skip ahead 45 seconds for the good stuff) via Bluetooth. If that’s not a sweet hack, I don’t know what is. Thanks to all those crazy hacks, iRobot has figured out that there’s a market for a very customizable little robot, which is the basis of their new product: Create.
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This was just bizarre, a talking and singing robotic Elvis. As I had the camera shakes (I’m blaming it on sleep depravation rather than the DT’s) here’s a video courtesy of Gizmodo:

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The Redmond house recently launched the first commercial version of its operating system dedicated to people that program robots. The software development kit is called “Microsoft Robotics Studio” and according to the company it is suitable both to people playing with robot toys and to people using industrial robots professionally.

Tandy Trower, general manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group, commented that personal computers and robots are closer that what most people think: “I believe that robots represent the next era of PC technology. Today, is your PC a robot? You probably would say no. But PCs are starting to include cameras and microphones, primarily for person-to-person communication. Once they are on board, there’s no reason they can’t be used by other pieces of technology. If cameras can do visual recognition – so your PC knows when someone walks in the room whether it’s you or not and changes its behavior accordingly – is it a robot, then? Maybe. Read the rest of this entry »

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Scientists from the University of Washington are experimenting with a robot that is controlled through brain signals. The signals are captured using electrodes on the head of the user, and despite the fact that such technique is very complex they reported to have achieved 94% of accuracy when giving simple commands to the robot.

The coordinator of the project, Rajesh Rao, said that the commands being used are still as simple as moving forward or backward or picking up objects, but in the near future the technology should mature and allow the researchers to execute more complex routines. Read the rest of this entry »

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Remember the R/C Battling Sumo Wrestlers? Those were cute, with eternal grins plastered all over their mugs. Apparently, robots want in on some sumo fun as well with these R2-D2 lookalikes that go head-to-head (or wheel-to-wheel, depending on how you look at it) in a circular ring. Whoever knocks over his opponent first is a winner, and you are guaranteed to have tons of fun with this great party game (especially more so when you have incorporated some drinking elements inside). Each set is known as the DNA Robot Wars, and a pair will retail for £49.95, making it a budget Christmas gift that will definitely bring a smile on the face of its intended recipient.

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Most robotic kits that we see in the market these days are pretty simple as they come pre-fitted from the factory, ready to be played with out of the box. All you need to do is insert some batteries, and perhaps run a program off a CD for the more complex offerings and you’re good to go. Not the Bioloid Multi-Bot Robot Kit though - this bad boy ships in it’s most basic format and arrives naked in this world just like us, but it does have a cool array of limbs that can be fitted in any way you like ala Lego bricks in order to create more than just a bi-pedal humanoid Transformer-like robot.

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Using robots as guards to create a reliable security system is an old idea for science fiction books, but apparently the concept is about to become a reality. The Japanese company Sohgo Security Services (ALSOK) announced that it will be creating a semi-autonomous security system based on the interaction between robots and humans.

The robot to be used in the system is an upgraded version of the Guardrobo D1, produced by the same company. It weights 200 pounds and stands fifty inches tall. Each robot costs $3000 and a the complete security system is estimated from $10000 to $20000. Read the rest of this entry »

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Alright, if your company is having a hard time to find a reliable secretary or assistant why not just hire a robot instead? That is exactly what Ubiquitous Exchange, an organization based in Tokyo, is offering. For an hourly wage you can hire Ubiko, a robot that is able to welcome visitors, answer questions and carry objects around.

What is the hourly wage, though? Grab your seat, because the little robot goes for $445 an hour. I mean, for that price I would at least expect the gizmo to do the coffee and clean the floor… I don’t know about your country but here in Brazil you can hire two complete footbal teams for that price, supporters included. Read the rest of this entry »

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