Bandit here is a sort of friendly, sort of scary robot designed to help you exercise. And I mean, that’s what you want in a personal trainer, right? Somebody nice, but somebody who you’ll perform for ’cause you’re worried that if you don’t they’ll suck your soul out.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.20 at 05:34
GetRobo has the scoop on a presentation made by Toyota executives entitled “Realization of Moon Exploration Using Advanced Robots by 2020. ” Sending robots to the moon is certainly not a new idea, but slick looking humanoid robots? Building rock gardens and doing calligraphy? I guess the robots can do whatever they want once they get there, and Toyota has some fairly specific ideas on hardware and capabilities:
-joints are protected from regolith
-small capacity solar battery onboard
-internal status shows on screen on chest
-arms exchangeable for different tasks
-able to jump with springs in legs
-keeps warm during night covered in metal cloak
There isn’t a lot of detail beyond the info here, but I’d say it’s certainly possible to have bots like this in 2020 based on the current capabilities of Toyota’s partner robots.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.20 at 02:23
I have no problem with industrial robots. They may be inhuman, but at least they look inhuman enough that they don’t scare me. The scary robots are robots that have enough human features that you can imagine them having some kind of evil intent, kinda like these Nextage industrial robots from Japan’s Kawada Industries.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.19 at 03:38
Among other interesting trends, these graphs (from PHD Comics’ Jorge Cham) show how robotics has been taking off in academia in the last 20 or 30 years.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.19 at 03:38
Boeing’s drone-zappin’ laser cannon we posted about back in January has gone live in tests, and has had no problem shooting down not one, not two, but five hapless unmanned drones using a “relatively low laser power” weapon outputting about 2.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.19 at 02:57
4:08- “Noooo! I don’t wanna be a robot!”
I hear ya, kid. Right now, I don’t wanna be a robot either. This is a remixed version of an actual show called “Colby’s Clubhouse” that ran for 42 episodes in the 90s on Trinity Broadcasting Network.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.18 at 06:29
That sweet looking Mantis UAV from BAE that we spotted at AUVSI earlier this year has taken its first flight out in Australia. The Mantis has a wingspan of 20 meters and is designed to be modular and easy to transport, with capabilities for long range surveillance as well as weapon delivery.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.18 at 06:07
For some reason, the idea of iRobot’s (and UW’s) little Seaglider robot wandering around the oceans, listening for whale songs, completely captures my imagination.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.17 at 03:13
At CES last year, BotJunkie was among the first to introduce you to Anybots’ QA telepresence robot. We were a little bit skeptical, though, about how much of a market there was for a $30,000 robot that performs a similar function to some guy walking around holding a netbook running Skype, especially in this economy.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.17 at 03:10
Could someone please explain to me why, exactly, roboticists seem to think that it’s such a good idea to give their creations swords? Like, I get that it’s a way to demonstrate grasping and dexterous movements, but if you start with robots demonstrating swords, you move on to robots fighting each other with swords, and this will be our terrifying future.
Via BotJunkie | Posted on 2009.11.16 at 05:33