Tag: ROBOT

Zurich-based roboticists have developed a type of flying robot that plays hacky sack with other robots demonstrates an unprecedented level of communication and control. The quadrocepters may not look like much (as a sawed-off badminton racket makes up its playing surface), but they do sport cutting-edge guts that allow them to sense and react to changes in their environments. In the above ...

A Japanese researcher has created a robot that is designed to treat depression in seniors with dementia. Masayoshi Kano's Babyloid, which was inspired by the looks of a baby beluga whale, measuers 17 inches long and weighs about five pounds. It can move its stubby arms, round head, thin mouth and beady eyes while making baby noises. The bot's faces features LEDs that help to mimic human ...

Studies have indicated that if a robot appears and acts like a human, then babies will actually believe the robot is a human. But, what if the baby is a robot? Will it grow up thinking it, too, is human? Robot researchers at Osaka University don't have to worry about that realism uncertainty, for now, because their new AFFETTO baby 'bot may just be the creepiest creation to ever roll off a robot ...

Lyndon Baty's weakened immune system won't allow him to attend classes at his local high school in Knox City, Texas. Fortunately, though, there's a robot capable of doing that for him. Baty, who suffers from Polycystic Kidney Disease, is now remotely attending his freshman classes via a VGO robot, which allows him to interact with his teachers and fellow students from the comfort of his own ...

Here are a couple factoids for you to munch on this Friday. Last February, the world's most expensive camel sold for £1.6 million, or about $2.5 million. This camel was an international racing camel, and, yes, that exists. If the fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled world of camel racing doesn't excite you, the absurd wealth of the socialite Arab participants (or at least the brightly colored nose ...

While surgical robots are much more precise than clunky human hands, the surgeons who use these devices aren't able to guide the 'bots with their natural sense of touch, and this can make it easier to bump into a delicate organ or artery. In response to this problem, some graduate engineering students at the University of Washington recently developed an Xbox 360 Kinect hack, which uses the ...

Researchers at Northwestern University have created a robot that mimics the movements of a knifefish, a creature that deftly swishes its lone fin in a ribbon-like motion to swim vertically. According to Fast Company, professor Malcolm MacIver noticed the curious way in which a knifefish he had in his aquarium tank would shoot upward. After studying the fish, MacIver and his colleagues discovered ...

Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. Read: A Simpler Page Presently there's a clear rift in iPad editorial design. There are those applications -- iBooks, Kindle, New York Times, Wired, The New Yorker -- that attempt to transpose a type of print design built around physical cues to a screen lacking those same cues. ...

iRobot just unveiled an updated model of its autonomous, floor-washing robot, Scooba, which, at just 6.5-inches across, is half the width of its predecessor. The 3.5-inch-tall Scooba 230 will launch this spring and cost $299. The pint-sized bot comes with all the bells and whistles of most other smart mops -- sensors that make sure it doesn't roll down stairs and bumpers that protect your walls. ...

The T-1000 shape-shifter robot in 'Terminator 2' serves as a terrifying upgrade over its Arnold predecessor. But, that intimidation doesn't arise from its morphing capabilities, because the robot truly horrifies us when it breaks into -- with those disturbing swinging arms -- an emotionless, unflinching sprint. Well, finally, an engineer has decided real robots should possess those same ...

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never progress from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over them, nevertheless. As the ...

Despite all of our carping and kvetching about the coming robot apocalypse, some robots simply need to be given knives -- like this Japanese ham boning robot. Listen: 'tis the season for pernil, pulled pork never goes out of style, and we've lately been craving some salty country ham. (None of that pressed pink "ham product" for us, thanks.) But should we run the risk of slicing off a digit? Have ...

The Web is teeming with the unrealized ideas of both students and established designers who set out to produce astonishing renderings and prototypes for unusual products. Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, money, or technology, many of those products never progress from the planning stages to the mass market. But that doesn't mean we can't salivate over them, nevertheless. This week, we ...

China might not openly celebrate certain forms of technological freedom, but the nation certainly knows how to throw a free-wheeling, frivolous tech fiesta. This week, China's Zhejiang Province hosted a monumental robot contest, which pitted 115 different teams and their diverse crews of 'bots against one another. The teams represented 50 different schools, and the budding engineers reportedly ...

Robot caregivers provide numerous benefits for the elderly. But, what happens when the robots themselves grow old, approach obsolescence and fade from memory? Some forlorn 'bots are, perhaps, left to aimlessly wander the streets, while others retire in dusty, forgotten warehouses. One 50-year-old British 'bot, though, is actually experiencing a comeback of epic proportions. Tech maestro Tony ...