I have just seen Terminator Salvation, and I was somewhat impressed by what I saw. It certainly wasn’t the same quality as T3: The Rise of the Machines, but that is a very, very good thing.

I am not revealing any spoilers by saying that there is a scene where a gigantic robot scoops up humans, and then puts them in one of those flying ships that are seen in previous Terminator films. Of course, it isn’t explained why the heck these humans are being rounded up, nor why they are being stored at their main headquarters.

It cannot be denied that this new ROBOTOPS from Japanese company Tadano Ltd. bears a strong resemblance to the aforementioned people-snatching robots from the well-known Warner Brothers science fiction franchise, but this robot is designed for construction, to pick up very heavy objects such as girders and the like.

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Since I am male, I have this thing about not wanting to ask for directions. It would appear that a German research group known as the Institute of Automatic Control Engineering has created a robot that asks directions for them.

In fact, the Autonomous City Explorer, or ACE, is completely dependent on directions to get to where it needed to go. This robot was recently let loose off campus from a University in Munich, and it was programmed to get to a landmark 1.5 kilometers away. Check out the video after this jump.

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Most artists will say that that hardest part of drawing a human being is the hands. I would imagine that making the hands of a robot are an equally daunting task, but some new developments by the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech could make it easier.

Their project, called the Raphael (Robotic Air-Powered Hand with Elastic Ligaments) is a hand made of transparent plastic fingers, equipped with rubber knuckles. These knuckles are like accordions, and compressed air causes them to “flex”.

Microcomputers in this robotic hand allow each finger to figure out how strong to flex. If you want a demonstration of Raphael’s selective strength, watch this YouTube video after the jump. You can see that Raphael can hold a light bulb and an egg as easy as delicately as a human can.

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I’m sure we have all heard stereotypical comment by those viewing modern art paintings: “My kid can paint that”. Well, we might be entering a new age where people will be saying: “my robot can paint that”.

In fact, graduate student Oscar G. Torres is trying to figure out a way to make a robot paint with Jackoon. Jackoon is a robot that is connected to a camera that allows it to “see” what it is painting.

In other words, the Jackoon isn’t just randomly splattering paint, it “knows” what it is doing, in theory. Now, does this make paint better than abstract expressionist artists like Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning (who serve as namesake of the Jackoon)? Well, take a look at the picture here and judge for yourself. While you are at it, you might want to see the robo-artist at work in this video after the jump.

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Worms are taking over technology! The first is a cleaning robot that you see in this picture here. It is developed by Panasonic, and it is known as the Fukitorimushi. I don’t speak Japanese, but it should translate into “cleaning worm”. Like a Roomba, it can somehow sense dirty spots on the floor and clean them up.

It does it in an odd way, as it moves across the floor like an inchworm. I am assuming that it does this to imitate the human motion of scrubbing the floor, and captures the dust and grit in its nanocloth sleeve.

You can see a video of the Fukitorimushi after the jump, and I’ve also included a video of the other worm. This worm is not designed for cleaning per se, but some roboticists at Tokyo’s Waseda University have created some gel that also moves like an inchworm. Apparently, it is capable of independent motion, changing colors, and even performing calculations. Who knows what it could do in the future?

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Every once in a while, somebody envisions a robot that feels plucked from a science-fiction movie or novel. Take this undersea robot concept from the Fraunhofer Institute, for example.

Believe it or not, this robot is designed to work independently and underwater. As you can see, the apparatus has four propellers for stabilization, and some arms too.I’m not certain what sort of projects that they have in mind for them, but deep sea exploration would be a good job, if it wasn’t for the pressures of deep water.

Many other blogs have compared its look to a certain robot that Neo wakes up to in The Matrix. Considering that these robots are programmed to act independently, how long will it be before they build more of themselves, and invade like the machines in The Matrix? The movie of that would be a combination of I, Robot and the 1977 William Shatner classic Kingdom of the Spiders.

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All of this has happened before and all of it will happen again. Man created the Cylons to serve them. And the Shadow Caddy does that in a very automatic and eerie fashion … if automatically follows you on the fairway. Course, it probably won’t tell you you’re better off with the five iron over the 1 Wood …

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When the word ‘robot’ is mentioned, most people would think of huge, warring machines that are able to level a city in no time with its array of missiles and lasers. Well, here’s some news – not all robots are marauding technological monsters who love nothing better than wipe out an entire city for no good reason. There are some small and cute ones like the Robo-Q Tiny R/C Robot which are fully walking models, they are also equipped with fully autonomous modes in order to prevent bumping into obstacles as well as chase after the included soccer ball. For folks who are control freaks, you’ll be pleased to know these $39.99 robots will come with a remote. Bear in mind this imported toy comes with an all-Japanese manual, but you ought to figure out how to insert the AA batteries, don’t you?