Over the weekend, I stopped by RoboExoticUS, a cocktail robotics festival with Austrian origins and a thriving and mostly functional contingent here in San Francisco. Why cocktail robotics? Besides the obvious (robots + booze = awesome), RoboExotica is billed as “an index for the integration of technological achievements in everyday life, and as a means of documenting the creation of new interfaces for man-machine interaction, a priori dedicated to hedonism.” So, yeah, how about let’s just stick with the robots + booze = awesome, shall we?
The robot in the pic above is Chapek, designed by David Calkins. Chapek is generally proficient at mixing drinks (choose one of four) and insulting humans, although he has an unfortunate tendency to damage himself with (appropriately enough) screwdrivers… Needless to say, orange juice and circuit boards don’t mix.
One bot that worked all too well was El Borracho Espanol, designed by Simone Davalos. It mixed Spanish Coffee, which apparently is best served on fire, so the robot incorporates a giant flamethrower that manages to make the cup blisteringly hot without in fact raising the temperature of the beverage. Oh, and it lights people and furniture on fire too, since the flamethrower doesn’t always shut itself off.
My two favorite bots, after the jump.
This is Chassis, by Jon Foote and Al Honig. He’s a fully mobile remote beverage dispensing unit, who had the temerity to flirt with my date while pouring her a beer. I wouldn’t be mad, except he’s much better looking than I am.
This robot uses a brainwave sensor to figure out how dry to make your martini. The more alpha waves it detects, the drier your drink gets. Does it actually work? I can’t say for sure, but according to the girl who gave it a try, it makes one heck of a martini… This is the future, people.
If you’re a robot designer or builder, there’s still time to submit ideas for RoboExotica 2008, which takes place in Vienna this December. There’s also time to submit things to Arse Elektronika 2008, if you’re in to that sort of thing. Either way, email Johannes over at monochrom if you’re interested.
[ RoboExotica ]
(Thanks to Scott Beale over at Laughing Squid for the pic)