SlashGear

If you’re in the market for a shovel-handed robotics kit, then I think you could do worse than check out the Robovie-M V3, who also goes by the far-cuter name of “Big Max”.  With a sexy drilled-metal body available in blue or Paris-Hilton-gold, 22 joint angular sensors and 70 pre-programmed movements, Max stands almost 30cm tall and can, among other things, throw, punch, somersault, do handstands, side-step and play soccer (against other V3s, of course).  Should he fall over in a clearly theatrical false-injury penalty grab, he can later right himself back to a standing position. 

Apparently suitable for both research projects and – far more interesting – battlebot duties, the V3 sells for $2,699.  There are movies of him in action on the AudioCubes site linked below, and more V3 specifications after the cut.

Specifications

Degrees of freedom:
-Leg: 6 degrees of freedom (left and right 12 degrees of freedom)
-Arm: 4 degrees of freedom (left and right 8 degrees of freedom)
-Chest: 1 degree of freedom
-Waist: 1 degree of freedom
Sensor constitution:
-22 joint angular sensors
-1 2 axial accelerating sensor
Built-in PC: CPU: H8/3687 20MHz
External I/F: Serial communication (RS232C)
Size: W240 x D65 x H290 mm
Weight: 1.9 kg
Robovie-M V3 (Big-Max) Humanoid Robot Kit [AudioCubes]