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‘robots’ Stories

Kinect robot control hack gives you an aerobics buddy [Video]

Chris Davies, Jan 17th 2011 Discuss [1]

With all the Kinect hacks we're seeing, it probably doesn't matter whether gamers are leaving their motion-control sensors to gather dust or otherwise; there are enough DIY-addicts buying it to make the peripheral a success. Latest is Asura's V-Sido remote app for the G-Robots GR-001 'bot, which can follow your movements for some aerobics-style mimicry. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

iRobot unveils new compact floor washing robot and more

Shane McGlaun, Jan 3rd 2011 Discuss [4]

I have a lot of tile floors in my house and kids with lots of friends that traipse through all the time. That means keeping the floors clean is nearly impossible and I loathe any sort of cleaning that doesn't involve a car. Robots are really cool and if you combine a robot with cleaning my floors I am interested for sure. iRobot has a new addition to its home robot line for cleaning that claims to be the world's most compact floor washing robot. Read The Full Story

Cellbots Android app wants to be your robot’s brain [Video]

Chris Davies, Dec 28th 2010 Discuss [0]

We first wrote about the Cellbots project back in March, when Android tinkerers were first looking at the potential to use a Googlephone as the brain for simple Arduino-based robots. Now that project has spawned a full - and comprehensive - Android app, allowing you to use your handset as a remote control for a robot (with various platforms supported), as a brain directly mounted on the robot itself, or even pairing two handsets to delivery both roles. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Willow Garage Announces Expansion of PR2 Robot Community

Evan Selleck, Dec 15th 2010 Discuss [0]

With all of the ridiculously advanced robots out there, it probably won't be the PR2 robots that start, or finish the war between man and machines. Their duties, which border on the strictly mundane, include that of folding laundry. But that doesn't mean even the smallest robots out there shouldn't have plenty of people making them do those mundane things in the best possible way. Willow Garage has announced that the community focused on these small robots has expanded, and now includes 16 leading research laboratories around the world. Read The Full Story

DARwIn-OP open-source DIY robot gets premature reveal

Chris Davies, Nov 26th 2010 Discuss [1]

A new version of the NSF-sponsored DARwIn-OP open-source robot has been spotted, the latest handiwork from Virginia Tech in collaboration with Purdue University, University of Pennsylvania, and Robotis Co. The images were discovered in among the DARwIn-OP support site photos by the RoboSavvy forum, though right now it's unclear exactly what changes have been made. Read The Full Story

Android LEGO MINDroid app: make your phone a robot remote

Chris Davies, Oct 12th 2010 Discuss [0]

LEGO has released an official app for Android smartphones that allows users to remotely control their Mindstorm NXT robots by moving the handset. LEGO MINDroid is a free download for Android 2.1 phones or above, and creates a Bluetooth link between the handset and the NXT controller block. Read The Full Story

ChumbyBot bipedal robot: when widgets take over the world [Video]

Chris Davies, Oct 12th 2010 Discuss [0]

Chumby was made for hacking, and so we probably shouldn't be too surprised to see one sprout legs and start its gradual path to world domination. Eric Gregori of EMG Robotics has developed a bipedal walking ChumbyBot by pairing the touchscreen Chumby One with a Freescale MMA7455l controller board. That board is soon going to be commercially launched as part of the Tower Robot/Sensor board from EMG, working with the company's RobotSee and Robot Vision Toolkit to make for easy vision-based navigation and control. It's also apparently easy to code for, using the same sort of language as BASIC. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Desk Pets outs cool Trekbot RC robot

Shane McGlaun, Oct 8th 2010 Discuss [0]

Back at the end of August, we talked a bit about the cool bug styled Skitterbot from Desk Pets. The little bugs skittered around the house and could be had in several colors. The company that makes those Skitterbots has unveiled a new RC robot toy called the Trekbot that is similar to the Skitterbot in how it charges and operates. Read The Full Story

iPod, iPhone, and iPad turned into walking robots

Shane McGlaun, Sep 24th 2010 Discuss [0]

Today is officially the day of freakin' awesome DIY stuff. I really like this one considering it wraps three things I really like - gadgets, robots, and awesome - into one package. PachimonDotCom has taken the iPad, iPod nano, and the iPhone 4 and turned them into walking robots. Read The Full Story

Carnegie Mellon’s Modular Snake Robot Can Climb Trees, Pipes, and Your Body

Evan Selleck, Sep 3rd 2010 Discuss [1]

When robots take over the world, it's always because a certain robot was created to help mankind, or at least a facet of mankind's life. That's what it seems like, anyway, in those Sci-Fi movies that seem more like future told than fictional creation. In the case of Carnegie Mellon's modular snake robots, which are being create to be helpful to the human race, we're wondering if creating a(n) (evil) snake robot that can climb up our torso and peer into our soul is a good idea. Read The Full Story

Microsoft Surface Used to Control Swarm of Robots [Video]

Evan Selleck, Aug 26th 2010 Discuss [3]

Using a remote control, in the sense of some old-fashioned RC car, may be a great way to control the robots of today, but what about tomorrow? Sure, the military's got some pretty impressive computer equipment out there to make sure their UAVs aren't flown into a mountain or something, but what about the general public? When robots become like pets in just a few years (it's going to happen...), we're going to need a brand new way to control them that's far easier than today's methods. That's right where Microsoft's Surface and Robot Developer Studio come in. Read The Full Story

Robot Sentry Peppers Targets with Paintball Gun [Video]

Evan Selleck, Aug 11th 2010 Discuss [0]

We've all heard (and seen) the Doomsday scenarios: we make advanced robots, they become self-aware, and then the end of all humanity happens. Science-fiction to most, but a real worry for others out there in the world. In the case of this little robot sentry, which doesn't actually walk around in the video, we can see where some paranoid folks would get the wrong idea, especially if it were to get some kind of glowing red eye, and start referring to itself in the first person. Read The Full Story