Robot Gadgets

These Micro Transformers are definitely more than meets the eye, packing in some Japanese candy with each purchase. There are half a dozen to be collected, and best of all is you don’t have to throw away these cool candy cases (let’s call a spade a spade, shall we?) once you’re done with them. Instead, they’d make pretty interesting desktop toys to play with during those long Monday afternoons at the office. These limited edition Japanese imported capsule toys are randomly packed and retail for $5.99 a pop. Your dentist ain’t gonna be too pleased with these though.

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It is no surprise that the Japanese government is concentrating a whole lot of effort when it comes to manufacturing androids as the population continues to age and shrink. It is hoped that these androids will be able to be smart enough to improve productivity and support the entire nation’s lifestyle in due time, which means there is a pressing need for better human-robot interactions. Just like any other relationship, communication is of the utmost importance and the same holds for humans and their less than human counterparts, robots. Researchers based at Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) have successfully developed an autonomous humanoid robot which is claimed to be able to recognize and use body language in order to get the message across to its human masters. A press release showed that NICT drew from research in neuroscience, cognitive science and psychology to create an android that relies on body language such as gestures and touch in order to facilitate natural and effective communication with humans.

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The Japanese are at it again, and this time it is the U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi Virtual Humanoid that ought to pique the interest of many a single person. It is in essence, a “mixed reality” avatar from Yokohama National University. This unique system will map a pretty girl onto the robot’s green cloth surface that is anatomically correct in order to give you the most realistic human-robot interaction possible. The sensor-equipped head-mounted display will be worn by the user, allowing you to touch and “interact” with the 3D character. Researcher Michihiko Shoji has expressed hopes that the system can be commercialized for arcades as well as general use around the home. Older folk will probably find this a great companion whenever they’re lonely, as the young single males would rather hang out at social watering holes in order to, you know, meet real life women.

Source: Engadget

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It may look like a phaser (well, only vaguely), but it’s the coolest stargazing aid to come out this year. The Meade MySky allows you to explore the heavens simply with a point and shoot. It’s database comes with 30,000 objects in the night sky and also can show cool multimedia astronomy presentations. And thanks to its 12-channel GPS receiver, there’s no complicated alignment either. It’s all automatic, which is something previous attempts at a handheld observatories have been woefully lacking at.

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ElmoSapien is the latest free custom personality for WowWee’s Robosapien RS Media robot. In this video, complete with a furry red costume and Elmo’s attitude, watch ElmoSapien interact with other robots and clumsily initiate his plans for world domination. Robosapien RS Media owners can download the ElmoSapien custom personality for free at the URL below the YouTube Embed code. The ElmoSapien custom personality contains over 210 unique voice files.
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Previously we’ve reported on the wall climbing car, r/c cars are so passée, so welcome the window climbing robot.

The Climb@Tron looks like one of those old wind up toys, however it’s a tad more advanced. It has suckers for feet so it is able to walk up smooth vertical surfaces and when it gets to the top it, errr, walks back down, exciting or what! Check out the video. Read the rest of this entry »

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New video from long time Robots.net member “roschler” shows a Roboquad robot being controlled by voice, over the Internet with the help of Robodance and Skype’s video call service. The robot explores the house while beaming back audio and video to a laptop running only Skype. The laptop dials into the home computer which is running Robodance version 4, a free software program for making consumer robots do more then most people thought possible.
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It just seemed a given that with the Roomba, the Scooba, and the Dirt Dog, iRobot would eventually come out with a robotic lawn mower. And they still might, but they won’t be first.

That singular distinction goes to the Husqvarna Automower which can mow in a random patter and is corralled by a perimeter wire to keep it mowing your lawn and not your neighbor’s. Capable of mowing up to half an acre at a stretch, it’s large wheels allow the Automower to run on uneven lawns and handle inclines of up to approximately 35%. Built in bump sensors also allow it to move around trees, rose bushes, and anything else cluttering up the yard. What’s cool is that the clippings are mulched and reintroduced into the lawn to help keep it healthy.

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