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It’s been a long day at the office and all you want to do is grab a cold one and plop down in front of the TV. But just as you’re getting comfy, you notice something odd on the floor in front of you. It’s a message spelled out in your son’s Legos, only he’s not quite old enough to spell. And if he were, he certainly wouldn’t write “DIE!” on the living room floor in colorful plastic bricks.
Look out Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka. A pair of baseball-playing robots that can pitch and hit with incredible results have been developed in Japan.
Robots wag their tail fins and bob along like bathtub toys in a pool at a Vassar College lab. Their actions are dictated by microprocessors housed in round plastic containers, the sort you'd store soup in.
Let’s pretend it’s the not-so-distant future. There you are, standing in the pile of rubble that used to be your home, minding your own business, when suddenly you’re confronted by a hulking humanoid robot with glowing red eyes.
Snake-like robots that can climb scaffolding to inspect high-rise construction sites, bend at will to defuse roadside bombs or roll down your esophagus to peer at your digestive tract may soon be lending construction workers, soldiers and doctors a flexible hand.
Four of Japan's leading robot startups joined forces Wednesday, brought together by a common concern that neighboring South Korea could pull ahead in the race to transform robots from science fiction fantasy to commercial success.
Robotic rovers have patrolled deep space and the deepest seas, but scientists are still struggling to create drones that can overcome the multiple challenges of exploring Antarctica.
It’s never too late to learn about the birds and the bees. Particularly when they can help enhance surveillance photos, quickly sort through military reports and even enable individual robots to navigate within an army of fellow automatons.
A robot with a cowardly streak took top honors at a conference on human-robot interaction in Amsterdam with antic displays intended to mimic human phobia.
Compared to a virtuoso, its rendition was a trifle stilted and, well, robotic. But Toyota's new robot plays a pretty solid "Pomp and Circumstance" on the violin.
A robot math whiz breezes through a Rubik's Cube, using metal hands to twist and turn the colorful toy. A panda robot uses sensors to detect when people are laughing, and joins in. A dentistry student peers into the mouth of a new patient — a humanoid practice robot with a complete set of pearly white teeth.
Tiny robots programmed to act like roaches were able to blend into cockroach society, according to researchers studying the collective behavior of insects. Cockroaches tend to self-organize into leaderless groups, seeming to reach consensus on where to rest together.
They give them nicknames, worry when they signal for help and sometimes even treat them like a trusted pet.
RoboCops and robot soldiers got a little closer to reality Thursday as a maker of floor-cleaning automatons teamed up with a stun-gun manufacturer to arm track-wheeled 'bots for the police and the Pentagon.
South Korea is drawing up a code of ethics to stop humans misusing robots – or vice versa – officials announced on Wednesday.
Researchers at Case Western University in Ohio, US, are using robots equipped with a cross between wheels and legs – called "whegs" – to test a new material that mimics the gravity-defying feet of geckos and insects.
In future, robots could explore dangerous places by mimicking the distant movements of an operator (Image: Angelika Peer)
When people hurt a leg they can often make do by limping or using a crutch until they feel better. Now, there's a robot that can also cope with injury.
This robot's leg movements have a crucial effect on the information received by its eyes (Image: Olaf Sporns/Max Lungarella)
A "swarm" of simple-minded robots that teams up to move an object too heavy for them to manage individually has been demonstrated by robotics researchers.
It looks almost like any other shopping cart, except sensors allow it to follow the shopper around the supermarket and slow down when needed so items can be placed in it, and it never crashes into anyone's heels.
Robots are being used to patrol a stadium at the World Cup for the first time, although they've hardly had a chance to show off what they can do.
Virtual NewscastScientists at Northwestern's Intelligent Information Laboratory are working on a project that creates customized newscasts, read by online avatars based on individual preferences. The program automatically generates a virtual news show. Credit: NSF
China plans for humanoid OlympicsRobots will be able to compete in familiar Olympic sports such as athletics as well as those more suited to machines such as cleaning. How long before performance enhancing drugs overwhelm the beauty of this activity? - H2
Robots that Care: Advances in technological therapyImagine R2D2 in a second career as a physical rehabilitation therapist. He encourages you as you perform repetitive therapy motions with your weakened limb. He never tires of beeping to confirm a success, and he even adapts to the extroversion/introversion level of the patient.
A robot fish called WandaIF YOU HAVE a problem to solve, sometimes it can help to look to nature for inspiration.
iRobot gets single biggest order from Army Best known for its Roomba vacuums, iRobot also counts the U.S. Army as a top customer. And the latest Army deal is the company's single biggest.
Swedish Hacker Builds Sudoku-Solving Lego RobotRealizing Sudoku is incredibly boring, Swedish hacker Hans Andersson created a robot from a Lego Mindstorms NXT kit to solve the number puzzles for him.
Schools of Mini Robofish Swim Where Humans Can'tThey look like plastic bath toys, but scientists say these tiny new robotic fish mimic the swimming style of real bass or tuna and can maneuver into crevices too small for traditional underwater autonomous vehicles.
Asimov's robot laws need updating - Humans need to be responsibleISAAC ASIMOV'S Three Laws of Robotics need a makeover, according to a couple of AI boffins.
Evolving Robots Learn To Lie To Each Other With the development of killer drones, it seems like everyone is worrying about killer robots. Now, as if that wasn't bad enough, we need to start worrying about lying, cheating robots as well.
What's Behind Japan's Love Affair with Robots?If Japanese engineers had their way, we might soon be cheering on a robotic World Series.
How robot drones revolutionized the face of warfare - CNN.com(CNN) -- Barely an hour's drive from the casinos of Las Vegas, a group of unassuming buildings have become as important as the trenches were to WWI.
Are Robots Mirroring Human Evolution? -Expert Says "Yes" (at Warp Speed)"I see a strong parallel between the evolution of robot intelligence and the biological intelligence that preceded it. The largest nervous systems doubled in size about every fifteen million years since the Cambrian explosion 550 million years ago.
Flesh-eating robots turn vegetarianIt sounded like something pulled straight from a grisly scene in Terminator: an unstoppable military robot that powered itself by devouring everything in its path – including trees, grass and even, according to reports, dead bodies.
When Robots Invaded the Senate The event brought together more than 50 researchers and students who are conducting CPS research across the country, giving them the opportunity to inform policymakers on Capitol Hill about how that research may impact many of the challenges the federal government is grappling wi …
New Military Robots Could Feed On CorpsesYay! The US military is building robots that could feed on human bodies! What could possibly go wrong?
Military Developing 'Insect Cyborg' SpiesMiniature robots could be good spies, but researchers now are experimenting with insect cyborgs or "cybugs" that could work even better.
Giant alien robots start life as sketchesGiant alien robots don't actually exist. So the dozens featured in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" had to be built from the ground up.
Jive-talking twin Transformers raise race issues"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" introduces some 40 new mechanized characters of all shapes, sizes and even sexes — but it's a pair of jive-talking 'bots that critics are singling out as more than just harmless comic relief.
Best Movie RobotsThis week's release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen marks the return of the famous "robots in disguise" to the big screen.
TEDTalks: Robert Full Tells Us What He Learned from the Gecko's Tail [video] Biologist Robert Full studies the amazing gecko, with its supersticky feet and tenacious climbing skill. But high-speed footage reveals that the gecko's tail harbors perhaps the most surprising talents of all.
Israeli military developing battlefield robot snake According to a Channel 2 report, click herethe spying robot, which is about two meters long and covered in military camouflage, mimics the movements and appearance of real snakes, slithering around through caves, tunnels, cracks and buildings, while at the same time sending image …
Nereus HROV Becomes World's Deepest DiverThe Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has completed the first major mission of the Nereus Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle. What makes it a hybrid is the robot's ability to operate autonomously like an AUV when required.
Real soldiers love their robot brethrenHuman warriors have long spoken of the bonds forged in combat and of becoming a "band of brothers." The fact that some of those fellow soldiers are made of metal has not discouraged human feelings toward them.
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