Misty Robotics has unveiled a new personal robot called the Misty II, a model with a fun design and the ability to recognize faces, among other things. Misty II is currently being funded through a crowdfunding campaign where early adopters can get a unit for pledging at least $1,499 USD. The first model was revealed back in January.
You may soon be sharing a campus sidewalk with an autonomous delivery robot, with Starship Technologies launching a fleet of its six-wheeled self-driving 'bots in California. The startup had been operating residential trials in the US and Europe, with the robots delivering take-out food and more.
Amazon's next move in smart assistant domination may be a robot that moves around with its user. It doesn't hover, it doesn't wear an apron, and its name isn't Rosie - but it might as well be. Following along with the fire and flame theme Amazon's rolled with for years, this project's code-name is "Vesta." That's a Roman goddess of hearth, home, and family, most often represented as a sacred fire.
Amazon has already worked its way into homes around the world with Alexa, but now the company might be thinking bigger. New rumors today claim that Amazon is looking to launch something technophiles have dreamed about for decades: a consumer robot for the home. Many companies have tried and failed to create domestic robots before, but if there's one company that might have the resources to pull it off, Amazon definitely tops the list.
This week the folks at Walmart announced the arrival of a whole bunch more "high-tech pickup towers" at a number of stores across the United States. These giant towers appeared at just under 200 Walmart stores in the past year. Now the store is aiming to expand the program to "more than 500" stores by the end of this year. You might see this massive machine at your Walmart soon... very soon.
NASA recently funded a new potential future way to explore the Red Planet: Marsbee, an insect-like flying robot that could operate in swarms with a rover serving as a base station. Marsbees are described as about the size of a bumblebee with wings like you'd find on a cicada; they don't need much energy and can be recharged from a rover that doubles as a communication center.
Electrolux is planning to launch a new robotic vacuum in the US market, one said to trump competing models in multiple ways. Called the Pure i9, this vacuum sports a triangular shape that better enables it to clean corners, for example. As with other robotic vacuums, the Pure i9 is equipped with a variety of sensors and software that enable it to analyze the environment around it. However, this model promises to take things up a notch with the use of 3D Vision.
MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has unveiled SoFi, a soft robotic fish that can swim in the ocean using realistic movements, enabling it to get up close and personal with real sea life. SoFi was tested in the Rainbow Reef, where it was able to swim at depths down to 50ft, taking on ocean currents while capturing videos and photos using a built-in camera.
The Neato Botvac D7 Connected robot vacuum announced last year is now available to purchase in North America and Europe. As with other robotic vacuums, the Botvac D7 Connected takes the work out of vacuuming floors by using smart tech to do it automatically. Unlike many alternatives, though, the new Botvac model is compatible with Google Home and Amazon's Alexa personal assistant.
A new XPRIZE competition promises part of a $10m bounty for developing a real-life avatar, a robotic stand-in for humans that could virtually take us to distant or perilous locations. Announced at SXSW 2018 today, the new XPRIZE is open to participants globally, though the challenge isn't going to be easy to beat.
The folks at AIRBUS and IBM will bring a Crew Interactive MObile CompanioN (CIMON) disembodied robot head to the International Space Station this summer. This robot head was never really attached to a robot body - it was built specifically for the ISS - and a free-floating environment in which it'll function. This robot head will bring artificial intelligence to the ISS - almost like DAVID in Prometheus, or Ash in Alien. Not to worry!
Robots in the workforce is a controversial topic. While machines come with many benefits -- they never get sick and only need breaks for maintenance, for example -- they come with a big downside: the potential to take over "unskilled" jobs, leaving many without work. One of those jobs is burger flipping, the stereotypical example of a position at risk. Here to fill the role is Flippy, a burger-flipping robot that has started work.