All Entries Tagged With: "cool robots"
Roboscooper Can Pick Up Litter, Whack Everything In Its Way
Robots really need to start doing more of our stuff. I mean, they’re going to be our overlords soon enough, so we might as well enjoy their servitude while we can. Beef up your roster of robot slaves with the Roboscooper, an autonomous robot that can collect stuff strewn around your floors and stow them on his back.
Created by WowWee, the wheeled automaton delivers both playful robot looks and excellent utility, scooping up scattered objects that are too big for your Roomba to haul. Unfortunately, it’s got limited strength and is only able to take on objects weighing one ounce or less. Not bad, since that means it can pick up light objects, such as plastic toys, dirty socks and dropped food, all while taking laps around your joint without supervision.
The Roboscooper is a 13 x 8.5 x 8 inch (l x w x h) autonomous collector robot, equipped with [...]
EMILY, The Robot Lifeguard To The Rescue
Those Baywatch babes were awesome. In reality, though, you can drown every summer all you want, you will never find a lifeguard that looks half as banging as Pam Anderson, Erika Eleniak or Carmen Electra. So, a robot guarding that lifeguard station won’t make a hell of a difference in your enjoyment of efforts to save your submerged ass.
That’s a good thing, because the robots will probably be taking over. And it all starts with EMILY, an autonomous robot lifeguard that can streak towards a drowning swimmer faster than any beach attendant.
Created by Hydronalix, the robot’s final version is intended to be an autonomously-working machine that scans for signs of trouble using sonar, then swims directly to the party in danger. From there, the drowning person can hang on to it as a flotation device, until human help comes or it can take the person directly to shore.
In its current [...]
Miguelin, A 21-Foot Tall Robot Baby
It’s easy to want to shoot down giant enemy robots when they look like Voltron or Gundam. But when they’re designed to look like babies, you can’t help but think twice. That’s why we’re betting that Miguelin, a giant robot baby, is more likely to be the future of robot warfare than those we frequently see in the movies.
Created by Isabel Coixet in collaboration with the special effects team behind Alien vs. Predator, the baby was designed for the Expo Shanghai 2010 “Better City, Better Life,” where it will greet (or drool) on visitors at the Spanish Agency for International Exhibitions’ (SEEI) room. He’s supposed to represent Spain’s proposals for improving our cities. They mention such things as recycling, clean energies and new means of transport, which, honestly, have no relationship with a giant baby robot. Not that we care, since any excuse to [...]
Meet Dustbot, Your Future On-Demand Garbage Collector
Forgot to take out the garbage and missed the collection schedule? Had a party and want to send all those beer cans to a recycling center? In the future, taking care of both will be a phone call away with Dustbot, a fully-autonomous trash-collecting robot.
Created by researchers from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna CRIM Lab in Pisa, Italy, the rubbish-packin’ golem travels from place to place, picking up all the refuse from homes that requested its service. Once you’ve got trash to take out, simply notify the robot using your mobile phone. It will then make its way to your exact address using your phone’s GPS location. You will need to tell it what kind of trash you’re putting in (whether it’s for the landfill, for the bottle recycling plant or for a different reuse facility). It will then take it to the nearest [...]
Dancing Samurai Robot Waiters Bring You Sushi, Dance Moves
Dancing and singing waiters? Been there, done that. How about Dancing Samurai Robot Waiters with goofy eyes and a toothy grin? Bring it on, right?
While Japanese food may be the fare at Thailand’s Hajime Robot Restaurant, these raw-fish serving robot attendants are the real attractions. A fully-automated sushi bar, clients can pick their orders from a touchscreen menu, take their seats and wait for the rolling bundles of steel to show up with their food. Dressed in traditional (okay, slightly traditional) Samurai garb, the robots not only serve the dishes, but also clean up after customers are done, all while entertaining patrons with a bevy of dance moves.
Imported from Japan, the Dancing Samurai Robot Waiters have two multi-jointed arms, along with claws that help them clamp on to a tray in each hand. According to restaurant owner Lapassarad Thanaphan, they currently have four working full-time [...]
Autotec’s Gentlemanly Wearable Robot Opens Doors For You
It’s official. You can’t lock robots inside the house anymore. A new robot arm from Japanese manufacturer BL Autotec should be able to reach out for the doorknob and open the door when attached to an emergency droid, clearing the way for the rest of their robot cavalry to escape.
Yep, the damn golems don’t have to fire steel-melting lasers or launch obstacle-blasting missiles anymore. All the limbed robot has to do is wield its mechanical arm, give the doorknob a tight grip and turn its claw to loosen the bolt. Even scarier, the mobility robot they designed to take the arm can strap around people’s shoulders like a backpack, allowing it to ride you like its own personal beast of burden. Yikes.
Autotec’s robot arm features four shafts that let it stretch to a full meter long and a specially-shaped claw for managing all that [...]
NASA Builds Humanoid Robonaut 2, Gives It Human-Like Hands
We all love robots. Humanoid automatons, on the other hand, are just freaky to me. I don’t want my robot housekeeper to look like Robocop, thank you very much. That’s not going to stop NASA, though, who just finished introducing the Robonaut 2 (R2), a humanoid robot capable of many precise, human-like actions.
Created in collaboration with General Motors, the automotive assembly line is obviously one of this machine’s more likely destinations. NASA’s interest, however, is in space exploration, where the humanoid’s forceful and accurate limb mobility can take people’s place in hazardous operations.
The R2 builds upon NASA’s Robonaut technology, a decade-old android designed in conjunction with DARPA. This latest version takes on a similar form, with a humanoid upper body and a wheeled platform below the trunk. According to NASA, it has strong limbs too, as each five-fingered hand of the R2 can lift up to 20lbs of weight, four [...]
Willow Garage Giving Away Free Open-Source Robots, Mad Scientists Rejoice
Willow Garage has an idea about how to advance the state of robotics: make the development of robots open source. They’ve already done plenty of work on the hardware side and, now, they’re going to use that to encourage action in programming them.
The company has announced that they will be giving away 10 examples of the PR2, the company’s just-unveiled robot. Currently in beta, it runs off software culled from the best parts of both the ROS (Robot Operating System) and the OpenCV platforms.
Now, how will this accelerate the development of robotics again? Willow Garage is implementing strict rules as to who can get the PR2 Beta. For one, they’re only giving it to labs, instead of garage hobbyists, since the former will allow more people to work on it. Most importantly, anyone who develops for the platform will have to agree to make any software they produce available to [...]
Robo Cafe Puts Robots In Charge Of Waiting Tables
Before robots become our overlords, they’ll have to be our servants first. And serve our hungry fellowmen is what those piles of steel and wires will do in Robo Cafe, a concept restaurant where human waiters have been replaced by an entirely mechanized workforce. Yay, no more service tips!
Korean company ITM Technology (whose expertise lies in military robotics and weapons – makes you queasy, doesn’t it?) designed the system from the ground up, starting with a restaurant interior that makes it easy for their table service robots to navigate. Platforms will be set up around the sides, where the wheeled 70-centimeter tall table servers can make their way to individual guests.
The robots have been rendered intentionally cute, complete with a digital smiling face. Customers can either verbally give their orders or choose them from a touchscreen display on the chest. Once the food is ready, the robots can then be [...]
Robotic Weapon Is A Roving RC Robot That Sees In The Dark, Fires Paintballs And Makes A Quick Escape
Want to have your own weaponized robot on wheels patrolling your home against criminal elements? Me too. Since you aren’t likely able to get a military-spec, battlefield droid firing armor-piercing bullets, Inspector Bots’ non-lethal but potentially painful Robotic Weapon should do.
Nicknamed the “Mega Hurtz,” “The Wireless Weapon,” “Kill Bot,” and “SWAT BOT” (yep, it’s got a whole phonebook full of names), it’s actually less murderous than those scary monikers imply. Armed with a Mil-Sim A5 paintball gun, it’s intended to subdue targets rather than blow them to smithereens.
The Robotic Weapon (hate the name, by the way) is a remote-controlled 4WD vehicle measuring 36 x 20 x 20 inches with a top speed of 50 mph. Controllers can maneuver it within a 700-ft range, seeing through the robot’s eyes using a barrel-mounted camera (IR/low lux with night vision) that can see up to 35 feet in the dark. Complementing the paint-shooting [...]
Japanese Company Now Taking Orders For Actoids, Your Very Own Robotic Doppelganger
Ever wanted to be in two places at one time? Now you can. Sort of. Japanese retail store operator Sogo & Seibu have announced they will be taking pre-orders beginning January for the Actoid, a life-size humanoid robot that will be made to look exactly like its owner.
Unfortunately, the robots will be limited in function, so you can’t have then come to work pretending to be you. However, you should be able to use them for little more than experiencing the joys of having a robotic doppelganger.
According to the company, the Actoids will have a silicone body and can speak using pre-programmed recordings of your voice. They can’t walk (so you can’t make them pretend to pace around the office), but they can move their upper bodies (so you can have them sit in your chair, pretending to be busy) and show numerous facial expressions. If no one talks to [...]
CoolerBot Is A Wildlife Papparazi Robot That Looks Like It Wants To Bomb Your Village
Robot hobbyist Steve Norris named this the CoolerBot , but its functions have nothing to do with either lowering the temperature or being cooler than every other robot on the block. Instead, the telepresence droid is like an armored papparazi, taking wildlife photos all on its own (with your help from afar, of course).
Why a robot? Because humans scare animals. And humans can’t keep looking inside a peephole while standing outdoors for extra long periods of time. While this robot looks more scary than humans (not sure how it looks like to animals, though), it should be able to lie in wait without having to stretch its legs or pee or get hungry.
Designed to sit outdoors for extended durations, the photograph-snapping CoolerBot sports rugged build (durable body, waterproof electronics) and can self-recharge its pair of 12-volt SLA batteries via solar power. It uses a tail-dragger configuration that lets it [...]
Anybots’ QA Telepresence Robots Will Substitute For You In The Office, At Meetings, Maybe With Your Spouse Too
Screw telecommuting, the future is all about robotic doubles in the office. At least, that’s what Anybots’ QA telepresence robots seem to suggest, faithfully subbing in for your bedridden and homebound co-workers.
How exactly does it work? Instead of having to come to work feeling dizzy and with bloodshot eyes after a hard night of partying, you can have your humanoid buddy fill in for your presence. You operate it from home, directly from your laptop, maneuvering it into your subordinates’ cubicles to catch them playing Farmville in the middle of the workday or attending your meetings with the corporate bigshots.
Each QA telepresence robot comes with a 7-inch LCD screen, displaying a digital face that smiles at everyone it encounters. It’s equipped with dual 5-megapixel cameras (in the eyes) that stream feeds directly to your computer, so you’ve got spy-vision at work in real-time. You can deck it with numerous variations, [...]
Rex, A Robotic Beast Of Burden
Why carry bags when the robots can do it? That’s the idea behind Rex, a load-bearing robo-mule that will trail you and respond to voice commands like a well-trained mutt.
Created by Israel Aerospace Industries, the baggage-toting machine is currently being marketed to military organizations in an effort to fill an “urgent operational need.” According to the company, the robot will relieve in-field combatants of the encumbrance created by putting heavy loads on their back, allowing them to perform their work in the field unimpeded.
Described as a “robotic beast of burden,” Rex can carry over 400 lbs of cargo while rolling on six small wheels, relieving soldiers of having to carry heavy loads of ammunition and supplies. No need to lead it around on a noose either, as it can be programmed to follow the lead soldier at a safe distance. Even better, it can respond to voice commands, such as [...]
Robovie-PC Is A 15-Inch Robot With An Embedded PC
Why program a robot from a computer when you can put an entire PC on a robot? That’s exactly what they did with the Robovie-PC, an articulated, awesome-looking robot with full-fledged netbook guts.
Created by Vstone and ATR, the humanoid machine merges features from the popular RoboCup Soccer robots (not the putting practice one) and the Robovie-X platform. Even better, you can program it without using any external computer since it comes with one right on its trunk. Just plug in a monitor to the VGA out connector and use it like any nettop you can grab at Best Buy.
The robot itself measures 15 inches tall and weighs 4.8 lbs. It comes pre-assembled, boasting 20 degrees of programmable freedom, with a gear interlock parallel link mechanism on the legs, a three-axis accelerometer, two-axis gyro sensors and plenty of articulated movements. The exterior is padded with polyurethane foam to make sure none [...]
Underwater Grooming Robot Crawls Ships, Cleans Hulls
Still waiting for that promised future when robots will take care of cleaning our homes and properties? Me too. In the meantime, at least one of them machines will be doing a similar job for the US Navy. Called the Hull Bio-Inspired Underwater Grooming (Hull BUG) robot, the amphibious creation scrapes off barnacles, oysters and other marine life that end up sticking to the hulls of ships.
More than turning out a better-looking vessel (as the “grooming ” in the name suggests), the BUG will actually perform a much more crucial service to the fleet. All those sea creatures holding on to a boat’s main body end up slowing it down, forcing the ship to use up more energy to maneuver itself in the water, eventually costing the Navy over $500 million in extra fuel and maintenance. With the robot turning out a clean ship, the seafaring branch of the military [...]
