Robots

We've seen the robots that mow your lawn, save your life, hit on your girlfriend, make you an omelet, dispense Kleenex, even make abstract artwork--but where are the robots that help make you filthy rich? We found two robot contenders today that should at least pay for themselves over time.

First off, John Corney from Wiltshire, UK, has spent the past seven years perfecting a remote controlled metal detector. Inspired by robotic land-mine sweepers, John adapted a wonderfully selfless and humanitarian idea into something far more personally rewarding. Although he spent approximately $3,800 to develop and build … Read more

There's certainly no shortage of hype surrounding this summer's Transformers movie, but one of its stars has hinted that it may end up having an unlikely main attraction: an iPod-like character.

Citing an MTV News interview with actor Josh Duhamel, iLounge says an iPod-resembling bot could steal the show. "It's pretty cool. It's like this crazy little 12-inch iPod that turns into this little killing machine," he's quoted as saying.

It's apparently possible that he was talking about a villain that changes from a robot into a tape deck. If it's … Read more

If you haven't noticed by now, we had a blast at this past weekend's Maker Faire. The above photo links to yet another gallery of some choice projects we found Crave-worthy.

BOSTON, MASS.--She wouldn't say what, but she did say when.

At an info session on iRobot at the JPMorgan Technology Conference here Monday, co-founder and chairman of iRobot, Helen Greiner, said the company plans to launch two new consumer robots.

"I'm not going to play 20 questions with you...We want to have a real launch of any product we put out," said Greiner in response to several analysts' questions, which included things like "Will it have an arm?"

"We are going to launch them from our Web space, and they are … Read more

I've just returned from an amazing weekend at the second annual Maker Faire held in San Mateo, CA. The event is packed with booths featuring hundreds of inventors and crafters showing off their latest and greatest projects. We're still collecting our notes and getting our photos together, but here are a few projects we really enjoyed.

Jeremy Boyle constructed an amazing MIDI-controlled music kit called the Trio1 that used dozens of pneumatic pistons to play a drum kit and electric guitar.

Roboticist Crabfu had his steam-powered R2S2 robot on display. I've seen his robots on video before, … Read more

Just because there are robots that clean pools, dispense tissues and make omelettes (badly), you may have thought that they've come up with one for pretty much everything. But we're willing to bet you hadn't thought of this: a bot that's an expert on vinegar.

That's right, in Japan--land of the future human-free society--the Tamanoi Vinegar Corporation has just hired a robot made by Buildup to make presentations about its namesake product. The inspiringly named Tamanoi Vinegar Robot "has a mouth that moves in sync with its voice, as well as a fiber-reinforced … Read more

Who says all the good gadgets are in the big cities?

The sick bay in one small California town just got a lot more interesting. Healdsburg District Hospital, in Sonoma County, Calif., recently showed off a new addition to its staff, a remote-presence robot called RP-7.

RP-7 cruises around the hospital's hallways and, with its flat-screen TV for a head and two panning cameras for eyes, allows patients and doctors in one town to consult with other doctors or specialists hundreds of miles away. Sitting at a computer, a doctor can move the robot around a hospital in a … Read more

It could almost be the set-up for a vaudeville-style joke: How does a one-legged robot get to the hall of fame?

Two decades ago, a gadget called the 3D One-Leg Hopper marked a breakthrough in robotic locomotion. It looked a lot like a birdcage frame that landed on a pogo stick, but its agility--relatively speaking--set the stage for two- and four-legged robots that followed.

This week, Carnegie Mellon University paid homage to that peg-legged machine and a pair of its nimbler successors, inducting them into the school's Robot Hall of Fame. Also among this year's honorees is Lego'… Read more

If you've decided that you actually like creepy gadgets like eyeball-shaped speakers, you might find the following item a perfect accompaniment for you Addams Family household: a speakerphone with mechanical moving lips.

Going by the deceptively innocuous name of the "Hands-Free Desk Lips," this nightmare-inducing device clips onto any mobile handset and reacts accordingly when the caller begins to talk, according to Uber-Review. What makes it weirder still is its flat, eyeless head, which makes it look something like a miniature monster from Alien. Maybe that's why it goes so well with the eyeball speakers. If … Read more