TBot Maintains a Dedicate Balance Satursday, April 18, 2009 (Courtesy of Robots.net)
A Bucknell University news release describes a recent demonstration of the school's robots for a visiting Congressman who helped secure federal funding for the universities unmanned ground vehicle program. Among the robots demonstrated was the very cool tBot, a robot which can roll on the ground using all four of its wheels. continue reading...
Humanoid Robots to explore the moon Sunday, April 05, 2009 (Courtesy of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Blog)
Japan announced the other day that they are creating a roadmap for sending humanoid robots to the Moon a a first step towards human-robot space exploration. The current roadmap as announced by Japan's Strategic Headquarters for Space Development includes sending the first humanoids to explore the Earth's natural satellite by 2020. continue reading...
Rescue Robot that can clear debris and lift heavy weights Sunday, March 29, 2009 (Courtesy of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Blog)
Rescue robots are one application for which there has been much excitement during the last decade. These robots are designed to be small and versatile carrying a comprehensive sensor payload in order to detect victims under heavy debris in disaster areas. continue reading...
Robots, go work today in my Vinyard Wednesday, March 18, 2009 (Courtesy of Robots.net)
Wines & Vines reports on a prototype grapevine pruning robot that could save vinyards time and money. The artist's rendering above shows the robot with a tractor drive unit that would propel it as it prunes the vines using a 3D vision system and multiple hydraulic pruning shears. continue reading...
Using Astrobotics to Prepare a Lunar Outpost
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 (Courtesy of Robots.net)
According to a CMU news release, the CMU Robotics Institute has partnered with Astrobotic Technology, Inc. to prepare a NASA-sponsored study describing a lunar outpost constructed by robots. Small moon robots, described as the size of riding lawnmowers, continue reading...
Another breakthrough in Rock, Paper and Scissor Friday, February 20, 2009 (Courtesy of Robots.net)
BERTI is a robot developed by British researchers at the Bristol Robotics Lab working on human gesturing. BERTI is a torso with 36 degrees of freedom including 9 DoF in each hand. continue reading...
Honda Unveils Experimental Walking Assist Device With Bodyweight Support System Thursday, February 12, 2009 (Courtesy of Roboticstrends.com)
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. unveiled its second experimental walking assist device that helps support bodyweight to reduce the load on an individual’s legs while walking, going up and down stairs, and in a semi-crouching position. The device is designed for people who are capable of walking and maneuvering on their own, but who can benefit from additional leg and body support while performing tasks. continue reading...
Autonomous People-moving Bots coming to Rome Wednesday, January 28, 2009 (Courtesy of Robots.net)
French robotics company, robosoft, has unveiled a new prototype of their fully autonomous passenger transportation system called robuRIDE. The robuRIDE prototype was demonstrated at a recent technical meeting on autonomous transportation. continue reading...
Japan's Stupidest Robot Friday, January 16, 2009 (Courtesy of Robots.net)
The winner of the 2008 title for Stupidest Robot in Japan is in. The University of Tokyo's YKRN robot has won the BakaRobo (Stupid Robot) competition in Japan, making it officially the stupidest, most useless robot in Japan and perhaps the world. YKRN is a robot with face recognition. It likes some face and dislikes others for reasons that are not entirely clear. continue reading...
iRobot Looj 2, ConnectR and iTube Tuesday, January 13, 2009 (Courtesy of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Blog)
The past few days have been busy for the number one manufacturer of consumer robots, the very well known Roomba maker iRobot. Taking advantage of the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas, iRobot announced the second generation Looj gutter cleaning remote-controlled robot. The new Looj is a small upgrade continue reading...The iRobot Looj Gutter is available now at RobotBuy.
WowWee Shows JoeBot, Roborover, Spyball and more at CES 2009 Thursday, January 08, 2009 (Courtesy of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Blog)
WowWee is showing off 3 very nice, capable, and affordable robots. These are the JoeBot, Roborover, and Spyball.
The first two can be seen in the photo to the top while the last can be seen in the photo at the end of this post. JoeBot looks like an upgraded version of Robosapien with some new sleek looks reminiscent of last year's Femisapien and continue reading...
Spyball is the last of WowWee's 3 new robots for 2009. This is a remote-controlled, Wi-FI-enabled, spy robot similar to last year's Rovio. The biggest difference compared to Rovio is its spherical shape that makes for an interesting locomotion method continue reading...