Robotics on TFTS

Japanese tech company Fujisoft has showed off a new small humanoid shaped robot friend for you. It’s got a rather awesome name, too. They’ve dubbed it “PALRO”, a combination of ‘Pal’ and ‘Robot’. It’s roughly 15-inches tall and features open software for customization.

There’s just something beautifully poetic (from a geeky perspective anyhow) about an android being controlled by Android and that’s exactly what’s occurred thanks to an Android OS app having been developed that will offer control of the Plen robot via your Android powered smartphone.

The MIT Fluid Interfaces Group has teased a new technology that could change the way short order restaurants — and us at home –  prepare our meals.  The MIT Cornucopia Food Printer Concept does precisely what it’s name suggests, it prints food by using ingredients as its ink.

Most sophisticated humanoid robots we see are one-off robots from some giant Japanese conglomerate with completely custom parts and software. Enter the ATOM-7xp robot, built by a man named Dan Mathias with parts supplied by FutureBots. The ATOM-7xp is running Intel Atom processors and Windows operating systems.

The great young minds at the University of Michigan have unveiled the OmniTrack series of robots. The two robots, the OT-4 and OT-8 are snake-like rescue robots are that designed to crawl through rubble and rough terrain to search for injured people. Each of it’s “segments” is covered with treads …

We all know the Japanese love humanoid robots. The newest cyborg creation to come out of that country is the Nippon Institute of Technology’s e-NUVO walk bot. The robot pal stands about four feet tall, and will help education school children.

Neato Robotics has revealed the XV-11 Robot Vacuum, a laser-guided vacuum cleaner designed for independent, obstacle-conscious operation.  The Neato XV-11 Robot Vacuum takes advantage of a small form factor to not only clean a household in a low-profile, but fit under couches and beds to provide a cleaner environment.

Remember that awesome ‘power loader’ from the film Aliens where Sigourney Weaver is able to lift gigantic cargo crates? Well, unfortunately, Honda didn’t reveal the Power Loader 2000, but Tokyo’s University of Science unveiled what could be a step in that direction. The ‘robotic muscle suit’ allows users to lift an extra …

There are certain things that will always creep me out – carnies and public restrooms among them – but I have to admit that robotic animals of any kind might be near the top of the list. I’m not sure if it’s the lifeless, piercing eyes or the rigid mechanical …

Thanks to the boffins at the Bristol Robotics Lab and the University of Sheffield, who have jointly developed the SCRATCHbot (which, incidentally, stands for Spatial Cognition and Representation through Active TouCh), those trapped in burning buildings could soon see themselves rescued by artificially intelligent robots that use sensory whiskers to …

Whether we like it or not (or chose to admit it) we often find ourselves projecting our own interests on our children in the hope that they’ll develop interests in a similar vain to our own and, if you’re a confirmed geek and you’re looking to install that seed of …