Robot Living

Thanks to artist Jaime Martin, we now know what happens when crab like police robots malfunction or go rogue.

Be sure to check out C.R.A.B and all of Jaime’s art at his website JaimeMartinDesign.co.uk.

Link via (Gizmodo)

SADbot (The Seasonally Affected Drawing Robot) is a solar powered drawing robot currently on display in New York city at the Eyebeam gallery.  SADbot was created by Dustyn Roberts and Ben Leduc-Mills, who were able to get funding by making a presentation on Kickstarter.

Basically, the robot has overtaken the window of the Eyebeam gallery, where it draws on a large piece of paper.  Powered by an Arduino and four solar cells, the robot draws when it is sunny and is sad and does not draw when it is dark.  Visitors to the gallery window can affect the robot by placing there hands over the four solar cells.

When no one is affecting the robot, it continues to doodle on it’s own and goes through one large paper per day.

See more about the project on Kickstarter or click through for a video.

Link via (IEEE Spectrum)

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Tags: arduino, NYC

Using a crashed 2005 BMW 645CI convertible, sculptor Bruce Gray has turned the car parts into a robotic sculpture.  We think it looks a little like the original Terminator with no skin on.

The robot features a movable head and an energy pulse gun and pose-able arms.  The sculpture weighs 240 pounds and belongs to a private collector.

Bruce had fun making this sculpture and anticipates making more robots in the future.

Click on the photo for a larger version.

Link via (techchee)

Tags: bmw, sculpture

Using a Javelin Stamp as the micro controller brain and an ultrasonic range sensor for eyes, Steffen Schütte from Germany created this cute six legged robot called RoboSpider.

Based on readings from the sensors, the robot then executes one of the following four actions: forward, escape, feign death, dodge.

Steffen has gone on to create RoboSpider II and a Hexapod.

Click through for a video.

Link via (Wired)
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Tags: spider

Dunne and Raby are a design team based in London that create designs using emerging technology to encourage social and cultural debates.  Welcome to your future folks and it doesn’t look at all like the 1950′s version.

For their Technological Dreams Series from 2007, Dunne and Raby created 4 very different robots.  Yes, the 4 objects next to the girl in the photo are the robots.  Unfortunately the girl is not a robot.

It’s probably best if we let them describe the robots.

Robot 1: This one is very independent. It lives in its own world getting on with its work. We don’t really need to know what it does as long as it does it well. It could, for instance, be running the computers that manage our home. It has one quirk; it needs to avoid strong electromagnetic fields as these might cause it to malfunction. Every time a TV or radio is switched on, or a mobile phone is activated it moves itself to the electromagnetically quietest part of the room. As it is ring shaped, the owner could, if they liked, place their chair in its centre, or stand there and enjoy the fact that this is a good space to be in.

Robot 2: In the future products/robots might not be designed for specific tasks or jobs. Instead they might be given jobs based on behaviours and qualities that emerge over time. This robot is very nervous, so nervous in fact, that as soon as someone enters a room it turns to face them and analyses them with its many eyes. If the person approaches too close it becomes extremely agitated and even hysterical. Home security makes good use of this robot’s neurosis.

Robot 3: More and more of our data, even our most personal and secret information, will be stored on digital databases. How do we ensure that only we can access it? This robot is a sentinel, it uses retinal scanning technology to decide who accesses our data. In films iris scanning is always based on a quick glance. This robot demands that you stare into its eyes for a long time, it needs to be sure it is you. On another level, it asks what new forms of furniture might evolve in response to future technological developments.

Robot 4: This one is very needy. Although extremely smart it is trapped in an underdeveloped body and depends on its owner to move it about. Neediness is designed into very smart products to maintain a feeling of control. Originally, manufacturers would have made robots speak human languages, but over time they will evolve their own language. You can still hear human traces in its voice.

The Robots are in the permanent collections of MoMA, New York, and Fnac — Fond national d’art contemporain, Paris. I don’t think even ASIMO is in the MOMA.

Click through for a video.

Link via (MOMA)
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