Join Attack of the RoboRoach
Do you remember when we did that report on the the Hexbug? Now some people have taken this robot bug toy and somehow grafted the technology onto an actual bug.
Welcome to the age of the RoboRoach, where some circuitry can be put into an insect’s nervous system so it can be steered around the room. You can watch the video of it after the jump if you want to see the roach in action.
Continue reading » Attack of the RoboRoach
Someone taught a Robot Seal to shoot a basketball with a 99 percent success rate
Say hello to Paro, the Japanese robotic seal. It is the creation of some roboticists at National Chiao-Tung University in Taiwan.
Even though a robot seal would be pretty interesting, this is just a robot arm dressed up to look like a seal. For some reason, they made it so the arm/seal can shoot baskets.
After all, who wouldn’t want to train a real seal to shoot a basket? I mean, we teach them to balance balls on their noses, but stray away from the idea of seals playing professional sports. This seal can shoot a basket with a 99 percent success rate. Yes, that is quite good. You can watch more in the video after the jump.
Continue reading » Someone taught a Robot Seal to shoot a basketball with a 99 percent success rate
Babyloid is just plain creepy
There are a few things that you need to know about Japan – it has been in recession for the longest time, banks don’t pay interest, it has been the 2nd largest economy in the world for eons before China took over that mantle, and “boasts” of the world’s oldest society since 20% of the population is at least 65 years old. Well, apart from that, how about something more cheerful, like it is the top robot nation in the world?
The Babyloid is a new type of welfare robots which was designed to look like that of an infant, tipping the scales at 2.2kg while measuring 44cm in length. Nice to know it doesn’t poop and you need not change diapers on this little fellow, but it does come with a movable mouth, arms and eyelids for an added touch of reality. This robot can also simulate certain human emotions such as crying in order to trigger an emotional responses in users. Prototypes are currently being built for use in trials at nursing homes, so they are still some ways off from a commercial release.
Source: Crunchgear
DARPA and Boston Dynamics unite for a “cheetah robot”
I have seen DARPA’s ideas for defense before, and they always seem to see far-out, right out of science fiction.
Take this particular robot cheetah. It clearly looks like the character Ravage from the Transformers. I think he had a cameo in the last live-action movie.
DARPA and Boston Dynamics are teaming up to create this particular and peculiar robot cheetah. They are shooting for a speed of 20 to 30 miles per hour. Just to put that into perspective, a real cheetah travels 60 to 70 miles per hour. Yeah, that is slower than a cheetah, but it is faster than a human.
Continue reading » DARPA and Boston Dynamics unite for a “cheetah robot”
Fijit Friends – Robots for Girls
It’s no surprise that kids flock towards interactive toys. I remember when the closest thing I had to interactive toy was a my Rock Flowers doll, she would attach to the top of a little yellow record that every doll came with, and she would spin on top of your record player for as long as you left the darn thing on. I would dance with “Lilac” for hours. Forget interactive toys, my kid doesn’t even know what a record player is.
My how times have changed, Check out Fijit Friends, made of soft, squishable skin that enables life-like movements, girls can poke and squeeze a Fijit Friend for fun surprises. With chirp technology (special audio coding usually embedded in media platforms like commercials or webisodes) Fijit Friends can actually react to something that you’re watching, and with their word recognition capability, Fijit Friends can understand and respond to more than 30 verbal commands, with more than 150 built-in phrases and jokes. Continue reading » Fijit Friends – Robots for Girls
ReCon 6.0 Programmable Rover
If you want to introduce your little ones to the world of robots and robotics, then you might be interested to check out what the ReCon 6.0 Programmable Rover is capable of doing. Retailing for a pretty decent $69.99 to get your child off the right footing, the Programmable Rover largely depends on your imagination – it can be a toy, a robot, and a tool for learning.
Your little one will program the ReCon 6.0 in order to have it navigate through specified courses, where among them include delivering a treat to a pet, or perhaps even surprise a family member with a personalized message? How about keeping watch over the entrace of the kitchen so that no one will dare dip their hands into the cookie jar without prior permission? Best of all is, no computer is required to have this puppy get its programming.
Each purchase will come with an owner’s manual to keep the Programmable Rover company, helping kids get off on the right footing. Just make sure you have enough C batteries to keep this puppy going up and about.
batteries to keep this puppy going up and about.
AeroVironment Nano-Hummingbird has a video camera
A while ago, we covered a Robot Hummingbird created by a Japanese researcher named Hiroshi Liu, and it was intended to have a camera.
That article was written a year ago, and I don’t have any idea if this Nano Hummingbird is related to that aforementioned Robot Hummingbird, but it does have a video camera.
This tiny aircraft has a wingspan of 6.5 inches and weighs in at 19 grams. I have no idea what powers it, but it carries its own energy source and has flapping wings for propulsion and control.
Continue reading » AeroVironment Nano-Hummingbird has a video camera
RoboEarth is a “World Wide Web” for robots
You know how the Internet has become a place where billions of people are coming together and learning all sorts of things they never heard of before?
Now, imagine that system of interconnected computers, but for Robots. This is the basic concept from RoboEarth, which its creators are saying is a “Wikipedia that’s just for robots”.
So, if a robot is having trouble doing a certain task, it can essentially download how to do it from another robot. As far as I know, that is what RoboEarth is all about.
Continue reading » RoboEarth is a “World Wide Web” for robots
