robots

We may only be heading into September, but I'm calling it: you're looking at Sphero's R2-D2, and it's going to be the must-have toy of the 2017 holidays. Revealed today as part of the Star Wars "Force Friday" event, the remote-control R2-D2 - and its cousin from the Dark Side, Sphero's new BB-9E droid - looks set to be a must-have for fans of the movie, whether they're kids or otherwise. Indeed, it could well end up being Sphero's most popular robot to-date.

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Of all the visions of the home of the future, the most alluring is generally handing over cleaning chores to a robot. In practice, though, it can be the most frustrating, too, as anybody who has returned home expecting vacuumed floors but instead found a robo-vac chewing through their phone charger can attest to. Neato thinks it has the answer, with a smarter, more flexible model launching at IFA 2017, the Botvac D7 Connected.

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Today the robot-creators at MegaBots revealed their fully-built and painted battle robot: EAGLE PRIME! This Giant Robot Duel (the first of its kind) was scheduled earlier this year between the United States and China (AND JAPAN!), and MegaBots will represent with the most patriotic mecha-robot ever built. Today you get to see it, the first MK3-class MegaBot ever created.

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Home robot Kuri is aping David Bailey, with Mayfield Robotics' cutesy creation adding the ability to snap videos of your family and then filter out the best footage. Dubbed Kuri Vision, the feature - which will be included when the Bosch-backed robot launches by the 2017 holidays - takes advantage of an upgraded eye camera added by the Mayfield team. However, it's more than just a GoPro on a wheeled tripod.

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The average consumer can buy a robot that vacuums their carpet, cleans their grill, but how about one that exists solely to educate? Thus enters Professor Einstein, a personal robot measuring more than a foot tall with an appearance like the man after whom it is named. Professor Einstein offers various facial expressions, understands what you're saying to it, and responds to your queries. The team behind it claims their product is one of the 'most advanced' personal-tier robots currently available.

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iRobot had a great idea to automatically map the smart home, but may have permanently damned it by fudging its announcement. The domestic robot-maker is best known for its Roomba robot vacuum cleaners, which over progressive generations have gone from navigating by trial-and-error - effectively bumping their way around rooms - to generating increasingly detailed maps of each owner's home. It's that mapping data that iRobot wanted to leverage, through deals with third-parties.

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Researchers have developed a proof-of-concept robot that is able to grow, a functionality that may have big implications for the medical field in coming years, though there are other potential uses for such a creation. The robot doesn't grow how you're likely imaging -- it's not like a human, that is. Instead, the growing robot can be imagined as something like a climbing vine, being equipped with the ability to extend its reach via a growing tip. That tip itself can accommodate many types of environments.

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A new type of consumer-tier robot has launched, and it is called Q.bo One. This model, unlike ones before it, is open source and designed for anyone to build. The robot utilizes a simple programming language called Scratch, while the hardware itself is based around Raspberry Pi and Arduino. Multiple cameras, microphones, lights and speakers, among other things, makes Q.bo One suitable for a variety of tasks.

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University of California San Diego mechanical engineering professor Michael Tolley and a team of researchers have created what is said to be the first 'soft' robot that is able to handle traveling on rough terrain. The robot features a total of four legs that were made using 3D-printing, and with them the robot is able to walk across rough surfaces like sand, as well as crawling over larger objects. The company demonstrated the robot's walking capabilities in a video.

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Hardware and home improvement store Lowe's is no stranger to innovative tech -- the company began testing robotic workers at some of its stores late last year, for example. Now the company is back with another development, this one made in conjunction with Virginia Tech -- robotic exosuits (eg, exoskeletons) for warehouse workers. The suits are designed to help workers lift and move heavy items without getting tired as quickly.

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Intel recently took to the stage to introduce Loomo Go, an autonomous delivery robot created by Segway Robotics. The robot can be operated like an actual Segway, at least per the demonstration by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, but it is much more than that. Using various technologies, Loomo is able to perceive the world around it and operate through it, doing so as part of an overall delivery process to bring humans objects.

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Honda has teamed up with Japan's Kyoto University to help spur the development of artificial intelligence. This effort will see the two entities researching and developing such technologies, and doing so with particular goals in mind. Honda envisions a future were AI can collaborate with humans, being integrated into everyday life in a way that is beneficial and able to grow with humans. The company notes that humans would have the 'leading role' in this reality.

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