October 5, 2006 10:51 AM PDT
Always a good sport, Sony's Aibo quickly established itself as a member of many Japanese households--and of a fair number of robot soccer teams, too. This one is competing as a member of a team from Japan at the Robocup 2006 competition earlier this year in Bremen, Germany, several months after Sony had discontinued production of Aibo and its other entertainment robots in a cost-cutting move. But Aibo's place in history had already been assured: In April, it was named to the Robot Hall of Fame at Carnegie Mellon University, joining countrymen Asimo and Astro Boy.
Photo by Ingo Wagner/Deutsch Presse Agentur
