robotics

You've probably seen or heard of the industrial robots that build cars, and the various humanoid robots like Honda's Asimo. Most of these are made in Japan. But let's face it, there's only so much these can do. An industrial robot is bolted down, and only knows one or two simple tasks. Asimo is small and weak, and famously collapsed once while trying to climb stairs.

As we know from sci-fi movies, real robots are the size of a man and can do things--dangerous things. Real robots are suitable for building robot armies. For that, we … Read more

Carnegie Mellon University on Wednesday announced a $300 robot designed to easily enable people to create super-high-resolution panoramic pictures--and a Web site to let anyone in the world dive into them.

The GigaPan robot, built by Charmed Labs, can accommodate most compact cameras and is designed to be relatively inexpensive, said Illah Nourbakhsh, a Carnegie Mellon associate professor of robotics. Images then are uploaded to the new GigaPan Web site. They also can be viewed through the Google Earth software.

The researchers' project aspirations extend well beyond just flipping through snapshots of foreign lands. "What if you could do … Read more

If you've been following Robo-One 12 vicariously on the Internet, welcome to the motherlode.

Robot Watch recently posted a smorgasbord of videos showcasing the best demos and battles from the recent bipedal robot competition in Japan, and they're all available right here, about a third of the way down the page.

If you don't want to do all that clicking and deciphering, here are some of the best clips of the lot. Mind you, I can't read Japanese, so I've offered my own personal interpretations of what the hell is going on in each video, … Read more

CNET News.com reports on and posts photos of Caltech's entrant for the DARPA Urban Challenge. This Ford E-350 van, named Alice, is rigged with GPS, LIDAR, and other sensors, the data from which is processed by Caltech's custom programming. The goal for Alice is to negotiate an urban course designated by DARPA without a driver. This Urban Challenge is a new twist on DARPA 2005 Grand Challenge, which ran through the desert. In the Urban Challenge, cars will have to follow basic street rules, like staying in their lanes and obeying traffic signs and signals. The race … Read more

More video is rolling in from last week's Robo-One 12 competition, courtesy of Robots Dreams. One of the challenges of the recent bipedal robot competition in Japan was to have a robot play catch.

As this video shows, robot King Kizer took that challenge to another level altogether, also fisting an inside changeup to the opposite field, diving back to first base on a pickoff attempt, and stealing second with no throw. Let's watch.

This isn't the first time we've seen a robot with baseball skills, although King Kizer may have the most well-rounded game. This … Read more

Now this is more like it. Forget about those Lego iPod docks. Toys should be toys--and armed vehicles, of course. The new "Motorized Walking AT-AT" just listed in the Lego catalog fills both requirements, as seen on Boing Boing. (That's "All-Terrain Armored Transport," for the Star Wars-challenged among you.)

This is no ordinary remote-controlled toy, but a multi-jointed beast with a moving head and rotating laser cannons that stands a foot tall. We're particularly fond of the dangling Luke Skywalker that's included, because his precarious position is something we can easily relate to.… Read more

Voting is now closed for this round. See the results of these battles here and vote on the championship battle here!

Get it now! Your updated, printer-friendly tournament bracket.

This is why they play the games have online robot polls.

The Final Four is set, and only one No. 1 seed is still in contention. Not only that, but fan darlings The Beer-Launching Fridge, Bender, Marvin the Paranoid Android, and Nintendo R.O.B. have been sent packing due to heart-wrenching losses in the Elite Eight. They are still champions in the hearts of many, but when it comes to … Read more

Lest you think the Tamagotchi has suffered an untimely demise (or a timely one, depending on your view), witness the Japanese icon's latest incarnation--as a robot.

Well, sort of. The "Roboco" actually looks more like a wind-up toy with a Tamagotchi's guts. Takara Tomy's new brainchild, as it were, virtually eats, sleeps, gets sick and generally follows the same path as its needy predecessors, according to GeekSugar.

And why not? We've already seen the little Mr. T go enter its teens, go virtual and even get its own Wii game. Besides, morphing into a … Read more

I wasn't able to finagle my way to Japan to cover it, but the 12th Robo-One bipedal robot competition recently wrapped up on the island of Shikoku.

In addition to the regularly scheduled robot festivities, Robots Dreams captured this footage of a pick-up robot fight breaking out in the cafeteria. In it, a Hawaiian-shirt-clad chicken robot lays the smackdown on a more traditional robot. Enjoy. It's hard not to.

Nothing of this ilk would happen during lunchtime of our ongoing battle of the nonviolent robots. The robots would just sit there, trade snacks, and talk about stuff.