Robot Living

Japan’s Ministry of Economy,  Trade  and Industry (METI) has proclaimed  i-Sobot the Robot of the year for 2008.

Over at Make, they are claiming that the manufacturer TOMY is discontinuing making them!  Oh noes!    Can anyone confirm this?

While we were hoping to get one for Christmas, we may pick one up after they holidays, before they are gone forever.

i-Sobot can be programmed to dance, play drums and air guitar among other things.  It iscurrently in the Guinness as the world’s smallest mass produced robot.

You can currently by one from the Maker Shed for $149.95.

Link via (MAKE)

The iMo concept car by  Anthony Jannarelly is clearly influenced by Apple.

The iMo features Shape Memory Alloy, an artificial intelligence system, Segway gyroscopic technology, safety and communication sensors and is completely autonomous.

I’m not sure if I would trust this car.  What if it had DRM built into it or suddenly had a mind of it’s own?  At least Johnny Cabs come with a human  torso driving them.

Check out the video here.

The buy now feature humorously says the car will be ready in 2024.

Link via (Edmunds)

Photo gallery after the break.

Read the remainder of this entry »

This is probably the most expensive teddy bear ever built.

The folks at MIT’s Personal Rbotics group have created a huggable robot with over 1500 sensors, mostly under it’s skin.  It also has web cameras for eyes, microphones for ears and a speaker for a mouth.

The Hugggable was originally based on the idea of companian animals, but has taken the idea much further, including a web component that allows one to interact with others through the bear via the internet.
Video after the break.

Read the remainder of this entry »

A trio of pole climbing robots have been developed by the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

Unlike inchworm type gaits often being developed for serpentine robot locomotion, this novel climbing gait requires the serpentine robot to wrap around the structure in a helical shape and twist its whole body to climb or descend by rolling up or down the structure,

Dennis Hong, Director of the Robotics and Mechanisms Lab said.

The robots are designed to use cameras and sensors to inspect a building or structure, thus avoiding the need for a live person.  These robots could be used for inspecting high rise buildings or underwater piers.

The three robots are called the HyDRAS-Ascent (Hyper-redundant Discrete Robotic Articulated Serpentine for climbing), the HyDRAS-Ascent II and the CIRCA (Climbing Inspection Robot with Compressed Air).

Link via (The Engineer)

Larry from London has created the amazing Robo Dog.

Built by hand and created entirely from recycled parts this robot is certainly not street legal. It sports two hind wheels and two front walking legs.

This flame throwing beast is made from  Citroën parts, part of an airplane’s radar detector, lots of metal and coffee filters among other things.

Read the remainder of this entry »