I can’t decide if it is super adorable or super creepy. Osaka University is developing a lifelike baby sized robot called Affetto. The little robot’s key goal is to study the effects that humans have toward a robot that looks just like a human as opposed to one does not. Soft silicone and actuators combine […]
This adorable little robot can make a very complex cup of coffee. I can just see these popping up at coffeehouse across America, putting Liberal Arts College kids out of work. Just think how much more Starbucks could charge if they had robots making their coffee.
Festo, a German engineering company, have developed a robot that can fly just like a bird. We’ve reported on other such flying robots (Robot Juggle & Robot Heli-Bi-Wheel), but none that actually mimic the exact flight abilities of a real bird. SmartBird is built from a superlight material, which gives it a weight of less […]
Using the sensor from the Microsoft Kinect students fromStandfordUniversityhave built what they call the JediBot. The sensor allows JediBot to detect a human opponent’s sword and then adapt to counter.
The 2011 RoboCup was played this year in Instanbul,Turkey. The event matches up autonomous robots playing soccer against one another. Some of the humanoid robots are actually quite dexterous and can recover from falls quite quickly. Amazingly all the robosquads are programmed with instructions and then let loose to play the match on their own. […]
Hair stylist have been practicing their skills on wigs for years, but they are part of a small group of professionals who can practice on something so like the real thing. Now dentist and dental hygienist can be added to this list. The Hanako 2 Dental Robot is a humanoid robot that can simulate a […]
I’m a firm believer in perfectly timed exact cooking. If the package says to microwave the contents for three minutes, I do not do it for two minutes or four minutes I do it for three. So the idea of a precision chef with perfect timing is quite appealing to me. If you prefer a […]
A few weeks ago, RoboDynamics announced there would be a robot in every household by 2021. However, they are not the first ones to offer us robot slaves personal assistants. Meet Newton, he’s a personal and “practical” robot that was produced by a SynPet in the 80s and 90s. He has some impressive specs, […]
Do you think anyone would notice if you brought him out to the bar and introduce him as your mute cousin who knows nothing about pool? This bot was built as a thesis project by Thomas Nierhoff, Omiros Kourankos and Sandra Hirche at Technische Universität München. With an accuracy rate of 80 percent the billiard […]
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are working on robots that can climb using a dynamic design. Unlike other robots, which climb in increments, this design would allow for fluid vertical motion that could even compensate for gaps or uneven surfaces. They have dubbed their most recent version ParkourBot because it is based on similar techniques […]