Here is the world first humanoid buttock. Developed by Nobuhiro Takahashi from University of Electro-Communications in Japan. Possible application ? may be this. Japanese scientists have turned to one area of research that has, so far, gone ignored: the robotic ass. Built by Nobuhiro Takahashi and a team at the Tokyo University of Electro-Communications, this [...]
Here ‘s a fun R2D2 directly from Star Wars, that will make your coffee every morning. “Here we took a record-able greeting card and hacked it to work with our home made R2D2 coffee maker. In my world, Darth Vader doesn’t go all soft in the end. Instead of taking off Luke Skywalkers hand he [...]
Finally! Here is a real transformer toy. “The work of Kenji Ishida at JS Robotics in Japan, it uses 22 servo motors in all, and is apparently the eighth attempt to build a credible Sideswipe equivalent.” Robot designed and built by Kenji Ishida and JS Robotics. [via]
Robopocalypse is an American scifi novel written by Daniel H. Wilson and published last year. It tells the story of a super intelligent robot named Archos, which will attempt to eradicate the human race from the Earth’s surface. Then, in case of a robot or zombie attack in real life, you need to be prepared. [...]
In an effort at mitigating the problems faced by the sex industry for decades, a paper authored by Ian Yeoman and Michelle Mars in New Zealand points to the possibility of employing robot prostitutes in the future to cater to the carnal demands of the sex industry, and perhaps even boost sexual tourism. The two [...]
Noisy Jelly is a project made by Raphaël pluvinage and Marianne Cauvard with Arduino and Max/Msp. The jelly is actually producing some music and there is no sound editing in this video. “With this noisy chemistry lab, the gamer will create his own jelly with water and a few grams of agar agar powder. After added different color, [...]
Would you like him to cut your hair ? Here is the robot hairdresser. “Performing this procedure is a “Multi-Arm Unmanned Ground Vehicle” from Intelligent Automation Inc. (IAI), a Rockville, Md.-based R&D firm focused on AI applications. Its three arms provide more degrees of freedom than can be safely used by a human remote operating [...]
Norwegian engineer Kare Halvorsen created an hexapod robot called MorpHex capable of transforming itself into a ball and rolling (transformer robot). Currently not perfectly round shape of the robot (asymmetrical sphere, flat at the poles like the Earth) does not allow it to roll like a ball, but it’s planned for the next update. Kare [...]
Boston Dynamics always comes with impressive robot concepts (remember Big Dog, Alpha Dog, Petman or Cheetah). This time, here comes Sand Flea, a robot on 4 wheels that can jump 30 feet into the air (9 meters) on the roof of a building. Actually Sand Flea is not a new concept but rather an enhanced version of Precision Urban Hopper, introduced in 2009. But Urban Hopper was only able [...]
Amazon just announced they are buying Kiva Systems (robots) for $775 million in cash. If you don’t know yet Kiva, I suggest you watch the videos below to see how this technology is advanced in terms of logistics. Kiva robots are all controlled by a central computer, the brain (now Jeff Bezos ^^). They (almost) don’t need need humans, do not collide and of course always take the shortest path from A to B… It means a lot of time and [...]
I want this to play Golf this summer !! ^^ : CaddyTrek the robotic golf caddy can follow you like a dog or a R2D2. ““It’s the golfer’s new best friend,” said Dean Torgersen, vice president of Golf Bag Place in Tyngsboro, one of four retailers in the U.S. and Canada currently selling CaddyTreks. “We’re [...]
This Industrial Robot is able to draw a portrait under 3 minutes just with a black and white picture. This robot arm seen at CeBit 2012 in Hanover and designed by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute costs 53,000 dollars. An extraordinary artist is born. via
Japanese Group Softbank (Telecom/Internet company) is buying 80% of french robot maker Aldebaran Robotics for 100 million dollars. First companies that invested in the startup are now out : Intel Capital (Mr. Maisonnier’s own fund), iSource, Credit Agricole Private Equity and CDC Innovation. Aldebaran was created in 2005 by Bruno Maisonnier and has a staff team [...]
Boston Dynamics new Robot Cheetah is officially the world fastest robot with legs on earth. He is able to run at a speed of 18 miles per hour. “The Pentagon’s far-out research agency, Darpa, has just released a new video of its Cheetah ‘bot — designed to mimic the rapid movements of cheetahs, the speediest [...]
An army of robot quadrotors from GRASP Laboratory played the James Bond Theme and this video was presented at TED 2012 in Longbeach California yesterday. Very impressive… looks like Skynet is controlling them. “Flying robot quadrotors perform the James Bond Theme by playing various instruments including the keyboard, drums and maracas, a cymbal, and the [...]
Are you dreaming of Grocery Shopping Robot Cart ? If yes, then Microsoft made it real. “The motorized cart identifies a shopper with a loyalty card, follows the shopper around the store, scans items as they’re placed inside, marks them off the shopping list, and even checks the shopper out in the end. Microsoft showed [...]
DARwIn-OP for “Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence–Open Platform” is an aopen-source humanoid robot developed by korean robot manufacturer Robotis. Researchers at Canadian University of Manitoba just customized him as a Hockey Player. This humanoid robot is actually a girl called “Jennifer”. “While there are many improvements on the horizon for the robotic player, its progress [...]
Here is the new version of Big Dog by Boston Dynamics : Alpha Dog Ls3 for Legged Squad Support System. This 4-legs robot is able to carry 400 lbs on a distance of 20 miles in 24 hours and without the need to be refueled. “Features to be tested and validated include the ability to carry [...]
There is no doubting that technology has a major impact on our lives. We live and breathe our computers, smartphones and tablets on a daily basis. However, technology within the next few years is promising to take us to new levels – social interaction with robots that may just lead to love, marriage, and yes, [...]
“Robot Readable World” is a fantastic experience through the eyes of robots (security/surveillance robots, video cameras and domestic robots). “How do robots see the world? How do they gather meaning from our streets, cities, media and from us? This is an experiment in found machine-vision footage, exploring the aesthetics of the robot eye.” Smile :-) … [...]
