UBTECH has launched one of the most adorable home robots to date: the Star Wars First Order Stormtrooper robot. The robot works with a companion app, which includes a pair of augmented reality modes for fighting against the Resistance. In addition to that, the First Order Stormtrooper bot boasts facial recognition capabilities, plus support for many voice commands, a sentry patrolling feature, and more.
Get ready to fork up a few dollars to register that hefty but totally innocent drone of yours. The FAA’s requirement to have drones of certain weights registered is now back and this time it has some staying power. More than just an FAA rule, it has become part of the US law. That is partly due to the fact that the registration requirement is just a very small part of a larger, and more expensive, National Defense Authorization Act that US President Trump just signed into law.
San Francisco has banned sidewalk delivery robots, squashing a delivery method that is still in its infancy. Not many of these robots exist, but some companies, such as Domino's, are testing them in various regions. The decision to ban these bots from operating on public sidewalks was made unanimously by the city's Board of Supervisors.
Honda isn't bringing cars to CES 2018, it's got a small army of cheerful robots instead. Dubbed the Honda 3E Robotics Concept, the quartet of bots built around "Empower, Experience, Empathy" aren't so much focused on traditional practicality, but instead want to give physical embodiment to a more helpful artificial intelligence (AI).
Back in 2015 we talked about a company called Youbionic that had created a bizarre set of bionic arms that you could wear to give yourself literal helping hands. In what appears to be an attempt to create Doctor Octopus, Youbionic is back with a bizarre set of double robotic hands. This odd prosthetic device is going up for sale to give you a couple helping hands on each arm.
Apple research into how self-driving cars could better and more affordably identify pedestrians and other potential hazards has been spotted online, giving a new glimpse into the Cupertino firm's secretive project. The company has long been rumored to be working on autonomous driving technology, with the most recent belief being that it hopes to develop, not an Apple-branded car, but software that it can license out to automakers.
The recent demonstration of the Atlas humanoid robot’s jumps and backflip might have left you impressed at how far such robots have come. It might have also left you terrified at its appearance. Boston Dynamics has never really been known for creating visually appealing robots. Coincidentally, Toyota has just announced its own humanoid robot, the T-HR3, which boasts of some smooth and precise movements. In contrast to Atlas, however, it is also designed to attract humans and not scare them off.
Company UBTECH Robotics has announced the launch of Lynx, the first ever humanoid robot with Amazon Alexa baked in. The robot utilizes Amazon's personal assistant along with UBTECH's robotics tech to offer a variety of services and abilities, such as a surveillance mode for keeping an eye on your home while you're away and playing music via voice commands.
Remember Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot, the robot that just a few years ago was toddling around with a physical cable tethering it to its controller? Robots grow up quickly, it seems, as Boston Dynamics has just shown off the Atlas robot performing a variety of complex movements, doing so entirely wire-free.
Given that augmented reality is still very much a wild west technology, we don't have a ton of different AR applications that really bring that "Wow" factor. A new robot named MekaMon is looking to change all of that today with its promise of AR combat. The MekaMon is a battle bot that can fight against other bots or participate in AI battles that provide "real-time tactical warfare."
Boston Dynamics has just posted an online video of its New SpotMini, the new version of the SpotMini robo-hound it unveiled last year. This new version is equal parts adorable and frightening, able to run with a canine-like gait that is nearly lifelike. At the same time, it is clearly a robot, one that strikes a pose by crouching and staring into your soul...with its square, soulless mechanical face.
I knew Jibo was onto something when I he managed to coax a laugh from my tech-skeptic partner in the other room. I'd been in the middle of setting up the companion robot's voice recognition system, repeating his trigger phrase six times in a row so that he could learn who was talking to him. "Now say "Hey Jibo" 400 more times," the robot told me, before quickly adding "I'm only kidding" and pirouetting giddily. It got a chuckle from next door, and gave me my first glimpse of how home robotics might well wriggle and wise-crack their way into our hearts.