Robotics - SlashGear

‘Robotics’ Stories

TEROOS shoulder robot sneers at your taste in clothes [Video]

Chris Davies, Mar 23rd 2011 Discuss [0]

Life-streaming cameras aren't new, but seldom do they have eyelids. Keio University's TEROOS prototype does, however; the shoulder-mounted webcam is in fact a telecommunication avatar, controlled by a remote viewer with not only six axis of movement to play with but a set of eyes that can show different expressions. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Eye Robot: Teeny Robot Swims Through Eyes, Delivers Treatments

Samia Perkins, Mar 15th 2011 Discuss [0]

Recently, we reported on a millimeter-scale computer that can be implanted in the eye to treat glaucoma. Now, there is more technology that can help patients suffering from macular degeneration. The Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) has developed a new tiny robot that can be steered through your eye. Read The Full Story

Samsung Turbo View robo-vacuum packs live video streaming

Chris Davies, Mar 15th 2011 Discuss [0]

Samsung has bred a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner with a WowWee Rovio and come up with the Tango View VC-FL87W, an autonomous cleaner which can beam live video back from its onboard webcam. If you're the paranoid type and you're not going to give up your mistrust of the home help even if you've replaced them with robots, then you can log in remotely via your smartphone or tablet and see what the Samsung Tango View is up to. Read The Full Story

Qbo open-source robot no longer naked

Chris Davies, Mar 9th 2011 Discuss [0]

It's been a while since we've seen movement from the Qbo open-source robot project; last we heard, the tubby little 'bot had been fully spec'd up and the company was hard at work on speech recognition and a custom Ubuntu OS. Now the company has taken delivery of a whole heap of final chassis molds, ready to clad the naked Qbo you can see waiting patiently for its new outfit. Read The Full Story

Kaspar The “Friendly” Robot For Autistic Children

Rue Liu, Mar 8th 2011 Discuss [6]

Over the years, we've seen all sorts of humanoid robots ranging from the very life-like to the ghostly that were all created to serve mankind from telepresence to assisting the elderly. Although the robot population seems concentrated in Japan, today we happen upon Kaspar, a robot from London that researchers have developed to help autistic children. Read The Full Story

Geminoid-DK human-realistic robot both creepy and incredible [Video]

Chris Davies, Mar 7th 2011 Discuss [3]

Robots with beards; truly, we are wading through the future. Geminoid-DK is the handiwork of Japanese firm Kokoro and robotics professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, designed to look exactly like similarly-bearded Associate Professor Henrik Scharfe of Aalborg University in Denmark. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Navy Proposal: Build “Coordinated Micro Robot Swarm”

Samia Perkins, Mar 3rd 2011 Discuss [0]

The Navy has issued a proposal asking for someone out there to build it “a coordinated and distributed swarm of micro-robots” that can manufacture “novel materials and structures.” So these would be robots that can work together to build things, presumably even other robots. The Navy intends for the robot swarm (and yes, that is an actual quote from the proposal) to use desktop manufacturing, which allows you to "print" 3-D objects with equipment you can fit on your desk and program with your laptop. Read The Full Story

NAO: A Robot with a Heart Powered by Intel

Samia Perkins, Mar 1st 2011 Discuss [0]

Intel and Aldebaran have collaborated to created NAO, a robot with a heart powered by Intel Atom. He's teeny, the size of a large newborn baby: only 53cm in height, and weighs 4kg (Ok, about 21 inches and 9lbs). Nao can be customized with a wide range of accessories, and can be used for many different purposes. He can even dance flamenco. See the video after the break. Read The Full Story

World’s First Robot Marathon in Osaka, Japan

Rue Liu, Feb 25th 2011 Discuss [3]

The world's first robot marathon is being held in Osaka, Japan. The contest is expected to take up to four days to complete with toy-sized robots traversing over 26 miles (42km) to complete 423 laps of an indoor track. Video of the competitive race after the jump. Read The Full Story

NEC PaPeRo robot coaxes out the elderly, researchers discover

Chris Davies, Feb 8th 2011 Discuss [0]

We may have a soft spot for NEC's PaPeRo robot because of his endearingly huge eyes and squat little body, but the Japanese company's latest research suggests that the companion 'bot does in fact have a tangible impact on elderly people it accompanies. NEC ran a month-long trial in late 2010, pairing up the autonomous PaPeRo with elderly testers, and found that when the robot fed them with up to date activity information, local events and news, over 80-percent reported more life satisfaction, and 25-percent actually began doing more activities outside of the home. Read The Full Story

My Keepon borrows dancing robot’s moves with a toy price tag

Chris Davies, Feb 2nd 2011 Discuss [0]

Tiny dancing Keepon, the endearing yellow spongeball robot, is spawning a toy version. My Keepon will lack the original's research functionality - it was designed to be appealing to special needs patients - but will still be able to dance in time to music and react to touch. Read The Full Story

Anybots telepresence robot now shipping

Chris Davies, Feb 1st 2011 Discuss [0]

Anybots' telepresence business robots have now begun shipping, offering remote control of a balancing robot with two-way audio and video. Billed as a challenge to business travel, Anybots went up for pre-order back in July 2010; those customers will start to get their 'bots this week, while new orders will ship in March. Read The Full Story