Tag: robot
Sanyo Yuka Shita robot will inspect your foundations (while you laugh at its name)
Yuka Shita? Sanyo clearly had one eye on titillating juvenile Western tech bloggers when it named its new robot. If only it was a cookingbot, I could spend the next few paragraphs being rude about it. Ah well.
Japan invents C-3PO
Technically speaking this in an NICT non-verbal communications robot. But cover it in tin foil, paint it gold and you’ve got everyone’s favourite camp-as-a-daisy fictional protocol droid from the Star Wars universe.
The thing also has communication skills just like 3PO. The developers say it can recognise body language and respond with body language of its own…
Japanese gamblers encouraged to feed losing tickets to ROBO-GOAT!
A robotic goat? Wow. Just wow. I thought that’d be the last animal I’d see roboticised, but it appears gamblers in Tokyo can even interact with one, after losing insane amounts of yen at the Edogawa Kyotei boat race course.
Punters are encouraged to mourn their losses by feeding their losing tickets to the robo-goat, to minimise littering…
Delicate robot fingers to caress your scalp
It looks quite terrifying, but don’t let the fact that it has enough power to rip your head off put you off having a relaxing head rub.
The WAO-1 robot, developed by Japan’s Waseda University, was initially designed to help massage people with jaw problems back to health. Then someone stuck their head in it for a laugh/drunken bet…
Opinion: Why are robots still so rubbish!
So there I was on Friday, snowed under with work and wanting the weekend to arrive but take a bit longer than usual to get here so I could finish off everything I needed to do. And then it struck me, what I actually needed was some help around the house. No, I don’t mean an eastern European cleaner, or a girlfriend – the first is too expensive and the second a lot of hassle, or should that be the other way around?
And then I read on Tech Digest about the iRobot Looj: the robot that cleans your gutter. Now that’s more like it! A robot for cleaning my gutter, I WANT ONE! The fact my gutting doesn’t need cleaning and is currently free of leaves, is of no consequence…
Martin Buehler's prototype jockey-ridden hopping robot will guarantee you look like a moron
Remember those insane little hopping-machines in playgrounds, shaped like little animals attached to springs, and you sit on it and can jump up and down by about 5 inches? This is the adult, Jackass-esque version. Hours of fun! Hours spent in A&E!
According to the designer, Martin Buehler, it’s a ”prototype jockey ridden hopping robot that controlled forward speed, hopping height, and pitch balance, the jockey did sideways balance and steering.” I had to read that sentence over about five times before it made sense, you too?
Check out the video of it…
Photos reveal life with an iRobot ConnectR robot
I’ve written about the launch of iRobot’s ConnectR robot already, but the company has released several photos showing just how the bot fits into your lives. Here goes…
The “Daddy might be holed up in another late night meeting with his secretary, but he can still log in to read you a bedtime story, kids” shot.
iRobot launches ConnectR remote-controlled VoIP video robot
Having unveiled the Looj gutter-cleaning robot earlier today, iRobot has now shown off another new bot, the ConnectR. It’s a ‘virtual communication and interaction’ robot designed for families.
Basically, it hooks up to your home Wi-Fi network, and lets you dial in remotely to have videochats and VoIP calls with people in the house (or pets, weirdly – if your dog doesn’t mind woofing into a communication robot).
iRobot Looj: the robot that cleans your gutter
Still think robots aren’t useful? Check this one out. It’s called the iRobot Looj, and it cleans your gutter so you don’t have to spend half a day shinning up and down a ladder doing the job yourself.
It stands 2.25-inches high, and sweeps out dirt, leaves and other debris while you settle down for a nice cup of tea. Or, if you’re like us, gather all your neighbours round to boast about your new gutter-cleaning robot.
Robot watch becomes desk clock: cool metallic time-telling gadgetry
If you're hooked on the Transformers idea, and you'd like a watch and a desk clock in one gadget, then these Japanese metal robot watches are just the thing. They can be worn on the wrist as a standard watch,…
