Mech-enthusiast Carlos Owens is in the process of building another full-sized working exoskeleton, currently 16-foot tall without the head and capable of shooting flames out of its hands. Eventually to be controlled with hydraulics salvaged from Carlos’ previous mech, Big Red (shown below), the chassis is seemingly complete but at the moment it’s immobile.
Video demo of the flame-shooting mech exoskeletons after the cut
Nissan wants to cut the rate of accidents by 50% by the year 2015. And in order to do that, they have developed an accident-avoiding robot called the BR23C, which stands for Biomimetic Car Robot Drive. And the company’s inspiration for the bots? Bees.
Back when WowWee announced their impressive Rovio WiFi mobile webcam, they also showed the creepy Mr Personality robot. Based on the same omni-directional platform as the Rovio and the Tri-Bot, Mr Personality is a gurning, giggling, wise-cracking “robot companion” with an LCD display for a face. I was hoping WowWee had forgotten about Mr Personality – because he scares me – but sadly not; there’s a new video of the monstrous beast in action in preparation for his imminent launch.
The first user videos of the Meccano Spykee WiFi robot are beginning to emerge, demonstrating the open-source ‘bot in action. Courtesy of Sven comes this first clip, a full demo of Spykee in its constituent parts, then assembled and terrorizing some children. He also shows the internet interface, through which you can control Spykee from anywhere with a network connection.
While we wait for the first Rovio reviews, WowWee are drubbing up enthusiasm for the WiFi-enabled remote webcam with some new demo videos. Intended to give an overview of the robot and its functionality, the three clips show everything from using Rovio remotely through the web interface, using the webcam on its adjustable arm, and directing it to return to the charging base.
I’m all for random, seemingly useless gadgets and the Robotic Junkyard Dog fits right in since it has no real purpose than to entertain and possibly annoy. But that’s okay. It’s a robot dog, after all and there’s something to be said about that, right?
This little robot is seemingly made from scrap parts and can perform a bunch of tricks and various moves, when he wants to, of course. It can cock its head, wag its tail, run around, sit and stand. The robot is affixed with infrared sensors that make it easier for it to react to its surroundings such as obstacles, movement and even steps.
WowWee’s Rovio doesn’t officially start shipping until next Friday, but our friend Robert Oschler at RobotsRule has managed somehow to score a pre-release sample. He’s put together an unboxing gallery to keep us sated while he reviews the WiFi-enabled mobile webcam, including the Rovio itself and the NorthStar docking and recharging station that creates a digital map for the robot to follow.
WowWee’s Rovio remote surveillance robot, announced at CES 2008, has finally shown up for pre-order in the US. Previously an exclusive with UK-based retailer Red5, the WiFi-enabled mobile webcam platform is now listed at Hammacher Schlemmer (although, as usual, not by brand name) with a pre-order tag of $299. Ship date is given as September 26th.
While we are years away from the sort of sentient AI depicted in the movies, that isn’t stopping scientists from working on getting some of the mechanics down now. Of particular concern is somehow preventing robots in all their metallic goodness from hurting people.
Scientists at the University of Pisa’s Faculty of Engineering are currently focusing on fool proofing robot arms. What sounds like a straightforward operation is actually quite complicated in that it must account for malfunction, software bugs and glitches, problems with sensors and more. Even human error must be taken into consideration to completely make robot arms safe.
A team at Oregon State University have apparently taken another step toward giving walking robots a more human-like – and energy efficient – gait, by fitting them with artificial tendons. Existing robotic limbs struggle to recover energy through a springy gait, but the Oregon team have introduced steel cable tendons and fibreglass springs made from the same material as archers’ bows that allow far smaller motors to be used.
Check out the demo video of the hopping robot leg in action after the cut
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