Robotic Blogs

What do you get when you combine speakers from Kenwood with robot technology from ZMP - the makers of Nuvo - and give it an iPod to carry around?You get miuro, 'music innovation based on utility robot technology' (shouldn't that be mibourot?)This is your basic robot ovaloid that...

Robot cat from SEGA called 'Near Me'The marketing genius seller on ebay describes it as "Creepy cat robot"It is only available retail in Japan for $300-$400 US. This guy is selling it for US $200 plus $98 shipping from Hong Kong.The robot moves like a lazy cat, makes cat noises...

Japan Design Foundation has announced that the theme of their 2006 International Design Competition will be 'Robots.'They explain that robots include any "tool created to solve present-day social challenges" by reducing "people's loads and burdens in their daily lives and that help...

Professor Oh Jun-ho of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology announced that his walking robot Hubo will be getting a Segway to scoot around on. Hubo will be the first robot to get on Segway and control the scooter. This is just the latest innovation from the Hubo...

The start-up company D2E Robotics formed by Daeduk College in Taejon, Korea, has announced their first foray into commercial toy robots for the home.They say their robot, the D2V-ZN, will be, "arguably be the smartest robot in the market."The 2-foot tall robot will be fully programmable...

Japanese company Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co. Ltd. are expected to bring on underwater robots to help with the salvage of the M/T Solar I in Guimaras province Philippines.The M/T Solar I sank August 11 spilling millions of liters of oil into the sea. It is not clear if oil...

From the amazing robot god Tomotaka Takahashi at Robo Garage:Tachikoma is from the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.The creatures are inspired by jumping spiders but, in the series, are as large as cars and very intelligent. They can run, roll at high speed with...

Matt Trossen has opened a new website, TrossenRobotic.com to supply all the needs of robot builders and hackers.The store includes pretty much everything you need to build robots from complete kits to all the sensors, components, brackets, nuts and bolts you might need.He promises...

The US Air Force has four MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft on standby at their home at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, waiting to assist when the need arises.An agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) earlier this year cleared the way for unmanned planes to help out...

The folks at NASA JPL Evolvable Hardware Laboratory have been working on robot companions for the next round of travel to the moon.They have reasoned that the best mechanical helpers would be humanoid robots. They feel that robots shaped like humans - with arms, legs and stereo vision...

Defense mega-corporations are showing off the Unmanned Surface Vehicle, USV, "Protector" to US military and security services in hopes of drumming up new orders.BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Rafael Armament Development Authority, Ltd., announced that they will be demonstrating...

Smiths Detection, part of the global engineering business Smiths Group, has been selected by the US Army’s Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center to supply the Lightweight Chemical Detector (LCD)for use with a new advanced reconnaissance robot.The LCD is fitted to an iRobot PackBot...

RobotWorx has teamed up with McGill Motorspots to sponsor their #36 car for a Nascar Busch Series team.Nascar driver Jeff Green will be driving the blue and gray Robots.com car in its debut this weekend at the Michigan International Speedway.RobotWorx is an Ohio based integrator...

Engineers from Örebro University in Sweden have trained robots to cooperate with each other by sharing their sensors.The robots are being developed by PhD student Robert Lundh working in the Mobile Robotics Lab. The robots can cooperate with each other by deciding that one of the...

A new lab robot called CrystalMation promises to speed up the discovery of new vaccines for HIV and other diseases.The robot was developed by the RoboDesign division of privately held Rigaku.Located at Scripps Research Institute, the $2.2 million Crystalmation, can complete in days...

Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry has announced that they will present awards to the best robots of the year in a ceremony in December.The purpose of the award is to recognize promising achievements in robot development and to encourage private industry interest in robot design.Recognition - no monetary prize - will be given in four categories:...

Another ingenious invention from the robot pioneers at Carnegie Mellon University.Ballbot moves and balances on a single spherical wheel.The design of the robot is as tall as a person and slender enough to negotiate a crowded room. The center of gravity is high but it will not tip...

Created by students for the Machine Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Florida, Koolio brings cold drinks and snacks directly to you.You can log on to Koolio's request page and tell him which room you are in. Koolio can navigate down the halls, read the room numbers and...

Scientists have figured out how to remotely control the direction and balance of a walking person.Just as the REM song says: If you are confused check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundResearchers from Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute and the University...

They are a long way from the original Inuit technology of skins stretched over wooden frame but the SCOUT kayaks serve the same purpose - of using available resources to get the job done.SCOUT stands for Surface Crafts for Oceanographic and Undersea Testing and is used by MIT students...

In a dramatic demonstration of the super-human feats that can be accomplished with HAL, the robot exoskeleton, mountain climbers will carry disabled men to the 4164 meter (13,741 feet) Alpine summit of Breithorn in Switzerland.HAL stands for 'Hybrid Assistive Limb'. It is marketed...

China is joining the life-size female robot race with their version of the beautiful receptionist.(check out Korean and Japanese creations)From Li Chengrong and others at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Automation comes a Chinese "beauty."Li said the cost for...

According to statistics released by Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the robot trade group, new orders received by North American based robotics companies fell 38% in the first half of 2006.According to the article, a 52% reduction in automotive factory robot sales is due to a cyclical turn for auto factories. Record high investments in robots...

Data collection this August in Monterey Bay, California will cap a three year cooperative effort involving a team of research scientists and underwater robots.The program called Adaptive Sampling and Prediction (ASAP), was led by Naomi Ehrich Leonard of Princeton University and Steven...

Researchers at Georgia Tech are experimenting with home grown rat brains connected to remote robots.A group led by Dr. Steve Potter at the Laboratory for Neuroengineering has succesfully connected lumps of living brain tissue to virtual and mechanical robots. The cells are from mammal...

The Brazilian company ARMTEC has released the latest version of its firefighting robot.The SACI (Incidents Support Combat System) robot brings the firehose directly into the fire or sprays water or foam from 60 meters. The robot can work for 3 hours before it needs a recharge.ARMTEC...