We love robots

Robotic rat scavenges for victims

2009-07-01T12:58:00.001+10:00

The busy brains at the Bristol Robotics Lab have released their latest rodent-inspired robot - the SCRATCHbot rat designed to help us examine the secret workings of the human brain. Able to find objects using it's tiny mechanical whiskers, the SCRATCHbot utilises a superior sense of touch to navigate its way around, presumably without heading straight for your Christmas macadamias. Potential uses for this innovative technology include remote rescue operations in dusty or smoky environments, deep sea exploration and fetching things from the icky space underneath the bed.

This raises all sorts of philosophical quandraries for me, such as now that we've designed a better rat, who's gonna design a better rat-trap?

Via Science Daily

Humans tell robot to bite it

2009-06-30T16:10:00.001+10:00

Dento-Munch is the kind of moniker I like to hear when referring to robotic naming standards. It's retro, it's descriptive and it's ever so Tim Burton-esque.

Uk instruments developer Vicon have developed The Dento-Munch as one of the most accurate human chomping simulators. With 6 degrees of chomping freedom, it is designed to help us discover just how bad our bite can be on our delicate choppers & dentures. I want one to do all my teeth grinding so I don't have to.

Robot girlfriend teaches nerds the true value of women. They're for handing out business cards.

2009-06-29T09:57:00.005+10:00

Lonely gamer nerds who are working their way up to bringing home a Real Doll can now afford to shell out for an EMA (Eternal Maiden Actualisation), Sega's shiny new robotic girlfriend. 18,000 yen will get you a busty bot who can do "real girlfriend" activities such as kiss on demand, "walk like a lady" and hand out business cards. Clearly I have a lot to learn from EMA, as my current bag of girlfriend activities don't run to being a reinforcement tool for misogynistic behaviour. Maybe I have the wrong chip.

Birthday bots

2009-06-28T13:56:00.007+10:00

Robots are programmed to do whatever we tell them to. Why then, did someone program these little critters to sing Happy Birthday as though they were a Casio keyboard with stomach cramp?

Warbling robots. We're one step closer to the future, people.

Furntiure develops appetite for flesh

2009-06-26T15:20:00.003+10:00

Science, art and pure evil collide in the form of artist James Auger's terrifying new carnivourous robotic furniture.

Currently built to sustain themselves by digesting wayward flies and insects into their internal microbial fuel cells, it's only a small step to imagine what kind of energy boost this 'furniture' will get from their natural prey; imagine a loungeroom full of ravenous, hungry sofas and a pack of obese games nerds amped up on Red Bull and pop tarts. It's enough to make you buy a Wii Fit and never sit down again!

Via New Scientist (thanks John!)

Barista-bot is the crema of the crop

2009-06-26T10:47:00.003+10:00

Forget trendy hipster cafes down refuse-infested alleyways - the next craze in coffee will surely be constructing your own anime barista, like this one by Mujaki.

Someone let me know when they make the bartender version, so I can buy shares.

Boost your memory with robotic minions

2009-06-25T16:14:00.010+10:00

Have I mentioned lately that I love robots?

I especially love these little fellas, who will guard all your secret documents whilst making you squeal with electronic joy.

And Mr Removeable head USB Bot from gadget4all

If you've got a thing for Optimus Prime, meet your flash drive of choice.

And my faaaavourite, the very retro T-Bot R50 (one of whom I know personally).

Because you can never have enough robots.

Robot develops self awareness, lapses into deep sulk.

2009-06-25T13:03:00.001+10:00

Developments in the field of robotics have produced the world's first emo robot, able to cry and express a range of human emotions in order to better assimilate into our illogical world of quivering flesh. With a face resembling Imelda Marcos after a big night out, KOBIAN adopts a slew of kabuki-esque poses, such as slouching dejectedly towards the floor with a hand clamped theatrically to her forehead, in order to adequately express the shock, horror and ennui the comes from being designed to look like a fridge in drag.

Via the awesome Pink Tentacle blog.

Uncanny advances in clone technology

2009-06-15T14:37:00.005+10:00

The Willow Garage Robot can plug itself into wall socket with the same level of accuracy I attain before noon whilst hungover. If they built it to swear in frustration too I'd buy one to replace myself at work.

Snakes on a disputed territory...

2009-06-14T22:52:00.006+10:00

If you are scared of the future, and terrified by snakes, I have very, very bad news for you. Especially if you are borderline incontinent.

Bring on the robotic camera snake. Let's make it even scarier by revealing that it shall be manned by enraged soldiers with access to explosives and dodgy Israeli pop music.

Be very, very afraid.

[ Via engadget ]

The changing face (and nose and ears and eyes) of robotics...

2009-05-05T22:51:00.001+10:00

Squishbot stands for Soft QUIet Shape-shifting robot (try that on for an acronym)... and the name's on the box. These little critters developed by the Robotic Mobility Group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Boston Dynamics have 'viscoelastic skeletons' that can literally change from squishy to hard at the mercy of programming. Modelled seemingly on weirdarse deep-sea citizens, they can morph shape and rigidity, giving them extreme creep power and ultimate nightmare appeal.

Via Gizmodo and Shannon

CareBot: Outsourcing your responsibility

2009-05-01T18:54:00.005+10:00

It's seems only fitting right now, while you're sandwiched between towers of tinned Aldi peaches waiting for the Swine Flu pandemic to subside, to introduce GeckoSystems' hilarious new addition to the robot family, CareBot.

CareBot is an automated nursemaid designed to follow you incredibly slowly around the house and provide the kind of medical advice you would ordinarily get from your mum. CareBot will nag you to feed kitty, tell you what's on tellie, and deliver surly passive aggressive retorts if you tell him to bugger off. Presumably further generations of CareBot with get judgy on who you bring home and wander off to sulk if you don't buy them flowers on Mothers' Day.

Via gearlog

Automate your emotions

2009-04-28T23:49:00.003+10:00

PaCo is the kind of robot you want to take out on your first date to impress that guapa chica you've been keeping your ojos on. Feed him some spare change, and he'll generate a poem for you, recite it, then spit it out in print. PaCo is a native Spanish speaker, so he's sure to impress, but don't let him boot into Antonio Banderas mode or he'll cut a "Z" into your chest faster than you can say "Mis Cojones!"

Via BotJunkie

Also, if you're bummed that robots have a handle on your emo, why not enlist one to beg for you too?

Stick it to me

2009-04-28T23:32:00.001+10:00

I had no idea what made geckos stick to the roof, and now the magic of the internet reveals that they are harnessing the power of van der Waals forces. Lizards are pretty smart, right? Well, humans are catching up.

Metin Sitti and Ozgur Unver has created a sticky, wall-climbing bot destined for such ignominious household uses as removing cobwebs and/or "surveillance". Seriously, is there a nerd alive who has not at some stage dreamed of inventing a better machine for spying on hot chicks taking showers?

(PS: There is a much more highbrow and sciency article on the sticky-bots at New Scientist...)

Robot-a-day

2009-04-28T23:12:00.003+10:00

Robot a day. Yea verily, the name is on the tin. Prepare yourselves for mechanically impossible amounts of cute:

Robotaday.com is a must-see blog for all lovers of robotic goodness. Once you have made the impossible task of choosing which robot reflects your programming best (I am dying of want for the Elvis Impersonator Bot), hie thee to etsy and see if you can't find one of these crafty cretins for your very own.

Bug in the system

2009-04-28T22:40:00.004+10:00

My latest discovery in the world of robots has me literally squealing with joy. Firstly, the fact that parent company Vex Robotics exists solely for you to begin compiling your mechanical army from the finest start kits is a wonderous thing. Why didn't anyone tell me there were robot supply stores? You could have saved countless of household appliances from untimely (and in most cases quite violent) deaths.

Secondly, Hexbugs!

These critters fit in the palm of your hand, react to light and sound, and do awesome buggy things like scuttling under sofas until you shoo them out. They come in four awesome flavours of Crab, Original, Inchworm and Ant. I am allergic to real ants but I am planning on installing my own hexbug ant army in the kitchen to defend my precious food scraps.

Hexbugs also come in mega packs for fundraising, and quite frankly I can't see how that girl scout with the cookie has anything on these fistfuls of awesomeness.

And continuing on with the ant theme...

Japanese karaoke gameshow drives robot to hara kiri

2009-04-27T07:25:00.001+10:00

More proof that the Japanese are so insane, even their robots can't handle the truth.

ispy

2009-04-26T20:04:00.001+10:00

Fat, lazy trendies of the world, celebrate! Your irobot has arrived... and just like you, it does nothing useful, but boy does it look cool.

The new Beetle.

2009-04-22T21:10:00.004+10:00

Reason #7584 why I love the Japanese. Giant Robot Beetle.

When my Barina dies, I am comissioning one of these babies, and I will call it Gregor.

Robot penguins!

2009-04-22T20:23:00.005+10:00

Robot penguin. Plus Air penguin. So awesome I can't talk. Read all about it at New Scientist.

From German engineering firm Festo, the same genius minds that brought us the realstic robotic swimming jellyfish plus bionic octopus.

I gleefully await the imminent unveiling of the robotic tourist-eating megalodon. Pretty please?

Pinch me, is this for real?

2009-04-14T20:50:00.004+10:00

Magnets. You knew they were cool, but you didn't know how cool. Until now.

The clever monkeys at the University of Waterloo (Ontario) have created a flying micro-robot, complete with moveable pincers and built-in soft focus imaging (hey, even micro-robots are afraid of wrinkles these days).

Professor Mir Behrad Khamesee & team mojo around with magnetic fields on three axes to levitate and move the robot, who weighs in at around three-hundredths of an ounce (Dear Hollywood, please stop the body image madness!!!).

In the words of Prof MBK hisself:

"We develop a focal point of a magnetic field in space, which the micro-robot hangs on," Khamesee said. "By changing the location of the focal point (through current control in several coils), the micro-robot is consequently moved."

That kind of talk recharges my batteries. Get the full microbot goss at Cnet.

You'll love the crap out if this little guy

2009-04-13T19:49:00.004+10:00

Behold, defacating humans: The robot toilet paper holder... for a cleaner future!

Robot can do anything you put your mind to

2009-04-13T10:35:00.011+10:00

Asimo is sooo the rock star of robots right now. In fact, if like me you think about him more times per day than food or sex, this news will make your brains explode.

Honda have developed a way to control Asimo with your MIND!

Brain Machine Interface (BMI) technology allows a meat-based human wearing a silly hat to negotiate the movements of the ridiculously cute Asimo robot purely through thought. I am already saving up for the day when they implement this technology into robots that can fill up ice cube trays for you and shake a mean martini. If they let me at him now I'd probably just get him to do the Nutbush.

Source: Honda
[ Don't you think the car in this video illustration looks suspiciously like the Delorian? ]

Fancy an arm wrestle?

2009-04-13T08:16:00.006+10:00

"Robot Suit HAL" is a cyborg-type robot that can expand and improve physical capability.
When a person attempts to move, nerve signals are sent from the brain to the muscles via motoneuron, moving the musculoskeletal system as a consequence.

Nothing gets my diodes hot faster than when 50 cent words are being dropped in the first two sentences of describing your new robot suit. The guys who invented HAL - or Hybrid Assistive Limb can have my firstborn (and then augment his tiny body with super human robotic powers!). Whilst the suit is more Mork from Ork than Ripley's forklifty outfit from Aliens 2, it does the job.

Unfortunately you can't wear it outside yet, but that tricksy pickle jar is a goner. It can be yours for the grand sum of $4,200 US clams.

Everybody loves robots

2009-04-12T19:55:00.001+10:00

If you don't love this, you probably hate kittens and baby seals too.

» visit tweenbots.com

NY student Kacie Kinzer lets her tiny cardboard robot minions loose on New York's parks and footpaths, only to elicit the kindness of strangers. If only Cybermen were this cute!