Robot Living

Up next this week is military bots. The US Army is testing an autonomous 6 wheeled robot with 1,900 pounds of gear including a machine gun. This MULE(Multifunction Utility Logistics and Equipment) vehicle sounds similar to iRobots R-Gator, except the R-Gator isn’t packing a machine gun. The future envisioned in The Terminator will soon be here. Sounds like we have an autonomous killing machine about to be loosed in the wild. Link via Wired

Up third is the M&M line following robot. M&M was giving away car shaped tins containing the yummy candies a while ago. David Cook thought this would make a great case for a robot. Link Via (Make)

In underwater robot news, the folks at the Field Robotics Center at Carnegie Mellon have been working hard developing DEPTHX. This robot will be used to create three dimensional maps of underwater caves and mines. See photos and more here.

Kawada Industries of Japan has developed the HRP-2 robot seen here to the right. This robot has a compact electrical system, allowing it to forgo the backpack that other humanoid robots have. Two of these robots recently demonstrated their ability to pour tea at Tokyo University. They are also being developed to walk on uneven surfaces and to get up if they fall.

Meanwhile, Domo at MIT, is being taught to place objects onto shelves. Domo is humanoid robot that focuses on faces and facial stimuli to better react with humans. Aaron Edsinger has been working on Domo for the last 3 years. When Domo is handed an object by Aaron , he wiggles each object as it is placed in his hand. This helps Domo get a sense of the object, allowing him to place it correctly on the shelf. The idea here is to make robots that can react appropriately in a household enviroment. Hopefully someday Domo could assist people with unloading groceries or putting away dishes.

Also, a humanoid robot called Actroid is being used in Japan to promote voting. Will this robot eventually put actors out of work? I doubt it, but get the scoop here.

IRobot this week also unveiled its new pool vacuuming line. Too bad I spent all my money on my robot army instead of a pool. They are offering 2 models, the Verro 300 going for $799.99 and the Verro 600 offered at $1199.99.I also read a rumor somewhere that iRobot will unveil more new items in the 4th quarter of this year. The speculation was that it may be a robot lawn mower similar to Robomow.

Or maybe you prefer to wear your robots.Robot jewelry anyone? Check out this necklace from Uncrate. Or maybe you would prefer their red robot keyring.