Cylonis a Life-size figure, manufactured exclusively by Fred Barton Productions, Inc. of Los Angeles, California, and licensed through Universal Studios.
Hasbro Tiger Electronics has announced the A.M.P (Automated Musical Personality) robot. The A.M.P. is a two wheeled robot designed for teens and adults, A.M.P follows owners and plays digital music.
The University of Michigan College of Engineering has been awarded a five-year Army contract to develop a six-inch robotic spy plane modeled after a bat that would gather data from sights, sounds and smells in urban combat zones and transmit information back to a soldier in real time.
Researchers at the University of Plymouth are working on a 1m-high (3ft) humanoid baby robot called iCub.
Over the next four years robotics experts will work with language development specialists who research how parents teach children to speak, BBC reports.
Pal Technology Roboticsplans on creating a humanoid service robot using Humanoid Robot - REEM-B . REEM-B is able to walk dynamically, grasp objects and navigate within buildings. The 1.47 meter tall robot also accepts voice command and recognizes faces.
Spykee, is a new line of the Skype robot. Available are the Spykee Cell, Spykee Vox and Spykee Miss, all of which have a video camera, MP3 player, VoIP phone, microphone, louspeaker, motors, and the ability to dock an iPod .
The Bluetooth controlled robot, Plen is available now in Japan. Plen is powered by a 32 bit ARM7 CPU at 33MHz and has 18 movable joints. It connects to the PC via USB and can also be controlled by a cell phone via Bluetooth.
Plen is available now in limited numbers of 50 in Japan for 262,500 Yen ($ 2200)
Samsung has launched upgrades to their autonomous vacuum cleaner offering with the VC-RS60 and VC-RS60H.
The robots designed by Zairo, recharge themselves once the remaining battery capacity drops below 20% and you can also give the robot a call with instructiosn to vacuum.
At the RoboBusiness Conference and Exposition 2006, Microsoft Corp. showcased the community technology preview (CTP) of a new Windows-based environment for academic, hobbyist and commercial developers to easily create robotic applications for a wide variety of computing platforms.
The community technology preview of the Microsoft Robotics Studio is available for download at http://msdn.microsoft.com/robotics.
A team of Japanese scientists have developed a bipedal robot that could one day assist the handicapped and elderly up stairs, inclines and other difficult terrains. The robotic assist, called the "WL-16III Walkbot", is but one of many bipedal bots, exoskeletons and assists designed to aid the less able.
A robotic hand controlled by the power of thought alone has been demonstrated by researchers in Japan.
The robotic hand mimics the movements of a person's real hand, based on real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of their brain activity. It marks another landmark in the advance towards prosthetics and computers that can be operating by thought alone.
Robot hand controlled by thought alone @ NewScientist
Honda Research Institute Japan showed a video in Tokyo demonstrating new mind control technology for robots reports RobotGossip
Their research, along with ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories, uses MRI images of a brain to move the fingers on a robotic hand.
A person in the MRI machine made a fist, spread his fingers and then made a V-sign and the robot hand under his control made precisely the same movements.
VStone Japan has announced the "Robovie i" a two feet tall walking robot.
The robot is powered by a VS-RC003A processor and has onboard gyro sensors to keep it balanced. The Robovie measures 165 × 104 × 145mm and weighs around 600 grams. It will be available for preorder from mid July for 29,400 Yen ($ 270) in Japan. The Robovie will come in a choice of 4 colors White, Red, Blue and Gold.
Visionaire has teamed up with Kidrobot to produce Issue 45 of their already highly collectible magazine. Kidrobot x Visionaire 45 is 10 original toys customized by 10 fashion designers.
Contributing designers for the Blue Set include: Giorgio Armani, John Galliano, Stefano Pilati for Yves Saint Laurent, Helmut Lang, and Jean Paul Gaultier.
An ultralight autonomous aircraft that mimics the navigational abilities of a fly could one day become a real fly on the wall reports discovery channel.
The 10-gram microflyer, being developed by a team of researchers lead by Dario Floreano at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, has a 36-centimeter (14-inch) wingspan.
But it could one day be shrunk to insect size and used for search and rescue.
"A lot of groups are taking inspiration from insects but none of them have been able to reach that with an indoor flying system," said research scientist and project leader, Jean-Christophe Zufferey.
Autonomous indoor flight presents scientists with particular technological challenges that nature has already overcome.
"Indoor environments are really tough," said Erik Steltz, a PhD candidate in electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. "There are so many things to bang off of I believe this is the best approach out there to do indoor guidance for aircraft."
A Japanese quadriplegic plans to ascend the peak of a Swiss mountain by riding piggyback on a mountaineer who will get some extra muscle from a robot suit, called HAL.
HAL, which stands for “hybrid assistive limb,” is a kind of wearable robot or motorised exoskeleton. Tsukuba University engineering professor Yoshiyuki Sankai developed HAL to help its operator perform tasks a normal human would not be strong enough to perform otherwise, according to the web page of Sankai’s venture company Cyberdyne.
Seiji Uchida, 43, will take a cable car to get within striking distance of the Breithorn mountain’s summit before attempting the day-long trek this August, said Shinichiro Saigo, business manager of the With Dreams organisation that Uchida founded to support the expedition.
If all goes as planned, the humanoid robot HRP-2 — currently under development by a Japanese national technology institute — could be a little domestic helper.
The robots — named Promet — are being developed by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and can run errands. They are designed to respond to verbal instructions and are capable of capturing three-dimensional images of objects and locating them through an infrared sensor.
We are hoping to make them something comparable to service dogs," Isao Hara, senior researcher at the institute in Japan's technology hub of Tsukuba, just northeast of Tokyo, said of the pair of robots painted in silver and blue. "I think it's quite possible for them to interact with humans. We are now studying how robots can join the human society."
As part of its ongoing cost-cutting and reorganization effort, Sony Corp. has cut its line of robotic Aibo dogs, along with another, more-expensive, humanoid robot called the Qrio, which was never sold as a product reports ZDNet
According to a company representative, more than 150,000 Aibos have been sold since they went on the market in 1999. But the overall company is in the midst of an historic belt-tightening, and the robotics unit didn't make the cut.
In other Sony Cost cutting news, the company, said Wednesday that by the end of March it will close a factory that began producing the Walkman music players in 1979 when it first debuted, according to Atsuo Omagari, a Sony spokesman reports S pi
According to sources spilling to ThinkSecret, Apple is planning to unveil a new content distribution system in January at Macworld Expo to accompany its revamped media-savvy Mac mini. The new content system and related media deals, which will include feature-length content, expanded television offerings, and more, will further cement Apple's increasing lead in digital media delivery.
Apple's new technology will deliver content such that it never actually resides on the user's hard drive. Content purchased will be automatically made available on a user's iDisk, which Front Row 2.0 will tap into. When the user wishes to play the content, robust caching technology -- for which Apple previously received a patent -- will serve it to the user's computer as fast as their Internet connection can handle. The system will also likely support downloading the video content to supported iPods but at no time will it ever actually be stored on a computer's hard drive
At IREX 2005, Bandai showed off the steamy BN-17 aka the Swiffer Robot. This companion robot makes sure your place is clean, it handles your emails, it acts as a security systen and it can even recognize you.
Hammacher is offering a motorized replica of the headstrong little droid from the Star Wars films for $119. The Voice-Activated R2-D2 responds to voice commands, navigates rooms and hallways, and makes any home feel like it has been transported to a galaxy far, far away.
R2 obeys more than 40 voice commands (Turn around! Move forward two units!) and he plays games like tag, using an infra-red sensor to search for people in a room. His sensor helps him follow behind you, or it can be set to detect motion, turning R2 into a room sentry that sounds an alarm when a secured area is invaded. R2s lights, swiveling dome top, and distinctive happy and sad sounds faithfully mimic the real thing, right down to his occasional bad mood. (A simple command of, R2, behave yourself! snaps him out of it.) R2 can also replay sounds and dialog from Star Wars movies, answer yes-or-no questions, and dance while playing the famed cantina music. Requires four AA batteries and four D batteries (not included). Minor assembly required. Ages 8 and up. 15" H x 7 1/2" W x 10 1/2" L. (6 lbs.)
Japanese robot maker Tmsuk recently unveiled "RIDC-01," a new guide and floor cleaning robot which can recognize human voice and speaks to guests. The robot, 1.3-meter tall and weighing 100-kg, is also equipped with a projector on its head and can show DVD movies or information. Tmsuk will start order with a price of 10 million yen (USD 85,000).
A robotic Volkswagen called "Stanley", developed by a team from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California won a $2 million prize on Sunday for sending a modified Volkswagen across 132 miles of rugged desert, guided only by sensors and computers in a race the Pentagon hopes will lead to a technological breakthrough in warfare reports Reuters.
Stanley, a converted VW Touareg SUV, finished the race in 6 hours and 54 minutes - well under the 10-hour limit - driving at an average speed of 30.7 kilometres per hour reports New Scientist
Coming in just after Stanley were a pair of modified Humvees built by a Carnegie Mellon University team. A modified sports utility vehicle called GrayBot also finished just after sunset on Saturday.
"These vehicles haven't just achieved world records, they have made history," says US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) director Tony Tether.
In June 2006, Japanese company KYOSHO will launch the MANOI, a new robot based on the robot kit KHR-1 from Kondo. The 40cm tall Manoi will be priced with the $1,500 USD range
A team from Carnegie-Mellon will show off Pearl, a sexy Nursebot at Denmark's INDEX. The goal of the NurseBot project is to develop mobile, personal service robots that assist elderly people suffering from chronic disorders in their everyday life. "Pearl," the NurseBot is an autonomous mobile robot that "lives" in a private home of a chronically ill elderly person. The robot provides a research platform to test out a range of ideas for assisting elderly people, such as: What would you like to have a robot help out with around the house?
In November, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) will show off its network-based robot, named "MARU," at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Pusan.
KIST will demonstrate MARU many functions, such as delivering beverages.
The network-enabled robot refers to a humanoid to which software is provided via the wireless Internet instead of embedded programs, such as in conventional models.
The robot itself is only capable of mobility and its other functions, like sensing and processing, come from the Web, thus enabling production of the sophisticated robots at an affordable price.
AIST has announced the HRP-3P, a brother of sorts to the HRP-3. The all-weather robot HRP-3P has put on some weight compared to its predecessor and even grew a little: +6cm to reach 160cm in height and +7kg to weigh in at 60kg. This robot is scheduled to be on sale in 2006. via
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology plan to use Sony's Aibo to help people fighting to loose weight.
The dog would be connected by radio to the bathroom scales, a pedometer and a personal organiser in which the owner would note his daily food intake.
Asked "How am I?" the robot would tell you, just how fat you are - I Kid. The robot would either jump excitedly, play funky music and flash coloured lights, or flop down and play a dirge, according to whether its owner has followed his or her diet reports Reuters
Mitsubishi Heavy is taking pre-orders for their wakamaru humanoid robot writes i4u
The 1m tall Wakamaru Robot weighs 30kg, recognizes 10 faces, understands 10,000 words and moves around on wheels. He can manage your calendar, and watch the house. The wakamaru robot is expected to sell for about $14,300.
PC Mag reviews the Robopet from WowWee. The $99 Robopet was created using fluid biomechanical motion technology, giving his actions and movement an incredibly lifelike quality.
RoboCup is an international research and education initiative. Its goal is to foster artificial intelligence and robotics research by providing a standard problem where a wide range of technologies can be examined and integrated. Thats all great but the really cool thing about Robocup is watching Robots play Soccer.
The Speecys-FC robot is the first fuel cell powered walking robot. Speecys-FC is 50cm tall and weighs 4.2kg. The robot sports a 16l hydrogen absorption cylinder - uses 1l of hydrogen every 2 minutes. Price $24,000.
NEC System Technologies, Japan in cooperation with Mie University have developed a personal robot capable of "tasting" foods. The composition of foods is analyzed with an infrared sensor, and the robot will give advice about health and eating habits.
The robot takes advantage of a property called "spectrum reflection ratio" (the reflection ratio of light per wavelength) of water, protein, and molecule type. The food is exposed to infrared light of varying wavelengths, which will bounce back; the robot then analyzes the spectrum of the infrared light that returns...and can thus understand what molecules are inside of the food. Read More
Taiwanese based, Micro Star International showed off the 'E2R-H3' robot during the opening day of the Computex show, Tuesday, May 31, 2005, in Taipei, Taiwan. The 2.1 kilogram (4.6 pounds) robot is touted as the smallest humanoid robot in the world with intelligence of digital image and speech processing and is controlled with Bluetooth through a personal computer.
Toyota Motor Corp. aims to start selling robots that can help look after elderly people or serve tea to guests by 2010, the Asahi daily reported on Tuesday. Read More
iRobot's Scooba is a household, robotic floor cleaner designed for hard floors made of materials such as tile and linoleum reports Cnet. It vacuums up loose particles and applies cleaner to soak up dirt, then dries the floor, which also makes it safe for wood.
"It is like an industrial floor cleaner, but for your home," said iRobot CEO Colin Angle. "Even if it wasn't a robot, this (makes mopping obsolete). With mopping, most of the time you are spreading dirty water around. But because it's a robot you push a button and it cleans your floor."
Toshiba, Japan has unveiled new robots to help out the elderly and children from the home to the shopping mall by following them and responding to their voices.
The "ApriAttanda" identifies an individual with its visual sensor and high-speed image processing system and follows the person.
When the person moves forward, the robot moves forward. When the person stops, the robot stops -- while maintaining a certain distance.
If the robot loses contact with its companion, it calls to the person and responds to their reply, Toshiba said.
The other type of robot, nicknamed "sharp ear," detects the directions of voices from multiple speakers with six built-in microphones and recognizes what they have said.
It can "respond to a person offering greetings and then go on to respond to a question from another person," Toshiba said in a statement.
The company plans to develop the robots further so that they "can accompany people to shopping complexes and carry things, look after young children and elderly people."
It also aims to make the robots capable of sending images to family members outside showing what is going on at home. More
During the presentation of Episode III in Livorno, a prototype of R2D2 was shown off. The 1.5 mt tall R2D2 prototype built by researchers at the university of Pisa walks, beeps like the original, and flees from people holding light sabres reports codewitch! Other features include bluetooth and usb.
Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are working to develop robots with human characteristics. Researchers at the Ames Research Center, a NASA laboratory in Silicon Valley, California, are envisioning "futuristic robots that 'act' like people, enabling these mechanical helpers to work more efficiently with astronauts," said a press release from the center.
Scientists have created a robot that can replicate itself in minutes. The team behind the machine says the experiment shows that self- reproduction is not unique to living organisms. Developed by researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, the machine was constructed from cube-shaped robotic unitsthat functioned independently. A four-module robot could assemble an exact replica of itself in just two and a half minutes. The researchers add that the ability could be harnessed to drive major advances in nanotechnology, and may even lead to space colonization by robots. More
Domo is a new upper-torso humanoid robot at the MIT CSAIL Humanoid Robotics Lab. It is the doctoral work of Aaron Edsinger-Gonzales. The goal of Domo is to contribute a novel approach to robot manipulation in unstructured environments. The approach is centered on integrating compliant and force sensitive manipulators into a behavior based architecture that learns anticipatory sensorimotor models.
Luxpro, has announced POLUBO, a new robot aiming to go up against Sony's QRIO in its dreams
Features of POLUBO
*Interactive language learning player, ideal for parent and child shared use.
*Adorable character design with realistic body movements.
*Packed full of educational enrichment, including 400 words and sentences in 8 categories.
*Lively picture cards, high quality professional voice recording, and energetic and thematic.
*User friendly interface, designed for use by young children, with
worry-free" and "childproof" materials, damage resistant durable design, completely safe for unsupervised play.
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