Kobian was created by folks at Waseda University in Japan. Professor Atsuo Takanashi led the project and worked with robot manufacturer Tmsuk to create the humanoid robot Kobian.
The white face and red lips make Kobian look like a replicant from Blade Runner.
It can show a range of emotion including happiness, fear and sadness.
Here it just looks bored. Click on through for a video.
Link via (Pink Tentacle)
Tags: japan
First we had the unused $13,000 sushi robot from a California high school. Now we have a robotic hand that makes sushi.
The FANUC M-430iA has been on exhibit at the International Food Machinery and Technology Exhibition in Tokyo.
What you see is really a combination of the FANUC M-430iA food and pharmaceutical handling robot and a type H hand from a company called Scuse.
See a video after the break of the FANUC M-4301A without the hand.
A group of Italian folks have created a robot that takes away garbage on demand.
Dustbot is summoned via text message. The robot can hold up to 40kg of garbage, sweep the street and is able to navigate by using maps and GPS. What it actually does with the garbage or where it goes when it takes it away we don’t know, but we really like this idea.
The Dustbot website states:
The DustBot project is aimed at designing, developing, testing and demonstrating a system for improving the management of urban hygiene based on a network of autonomous and cooperating robots, embedded in an Ambient Intelligence infrastructure.
Check out a video in Italian showing off Dustbot here.
Tags: cleaning, garbage, text message
In order to build a better relationship with a robot, the robot must interact more and share more experiences with humans.
To that end, the Interactive Robots and Media Lab at the United Arab Emirates University have created a Facebook page for a robot.
The reasoning is that they can then have interactions with the robot and have shared memories, thus building a better more lasting relationship.
So far, the robot is based on code, but the Media Lab is planning on implementing the program in the humanoid robot pictured here, called IbnSina. This is the worlds first Arabic speaking humanoid robot.
Can you say uncanny valley?
Link via (Technology Review)
Check out this cool Robby the Robot alarm clock.
It comes with a gun to shoot it with. One blast for snooze mode and two blasts to turn off the alarm. It also has a time speaking mode.
Available now for $59 from Neatstuff.net.
