We essentially can’t get enough of advanced robots doing things that look human — probably in the same way we can’t get enough of pretending our dog understands English. Anthropomorphism aside, Toyota’s humanoid running robot is really impressive. It’s got a super impressive sense of balance, and he’s quite fast on his feet — running [...]
Who’s this little guy? Oh, that’s just Robochan — the Kondo KHR-2HV bot with a fully-functioning iPhone 3GS fused to his head. Not interested? Well, hear us out — because we, too, have seen many an iPhone mod project in our day, leaving us jaded, easily susceptible to waking in the middle of the night [...]
Unmanned autonomous vehicles come in all shapes and sizes, but we still haven’t lost the sense of wonderment of watching the things go about their business while hapless humans watch from afar. AESIR’s Embler is the latest we’ve seen, sporting a UFO-like design and a top-mounted fan that’s completely protected should the thing bump into [...]
Leave it to the military to dream big. In its recently released “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047″ report, the US Air Force details a drone that could fly over a target and then make the decision whether or not to launch an attack, all without human intervention. The Air Force says that increasingly, humans [...]
Robots can travel in time, ride (stationary) motorcycles, and teach your children to disrespect you — but rarely do they have any sense of ceremony. That’s not the case with Iowa State University’s still-nameless creation, who recently served as MC to open the school’s new Electrical and Computer Engineering building. Said robot is comprised of [...]
Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa at the University of Tokyo has developed two baseball-playing robots — one that pitches, and one that hits. The three-fingered pitching bot throws a plastic foam ball at about twenty-five miles per hour, and lands ninety percent of its pitches in the strike zone, while the batting bot has a sensor which [...]
Ok, ok, “she” isn’t really getting married, that would be illegal outside of Massachusetts. Besides, HRP-4C is already hitched, apparently, to her creator Kazuhito Yokoi who appeared at the Osaka fashion show dressed in a tuxedo. Looking wobbly, perplexed, and creepy as hell, HRP-4C bravely slipped on a helmet of taffeta and lace in what’s [...]
After risking life and limb to show off Panasonic’s double-As in a harrowing climb up the Grand Canyon, EVOLTA is back for more record setting hijinks. This time, however, he’s been tasked to pedal his adorable little heart out on a miniature tricycle. The plan is to take this year’s Le Mans race by [...]
Usually when we freak out about the coming of killer robots, nobody bothers to disagree with our histrionics, which is in itself a comforting sign that we’re overreacting. On the other hand, if the makers of a chainsaw-wielding robot take the time to point out that it is not a flesh-eating harbinger of the apocalypse, [...]
If you’re one of those nerds, you’re probably quite stoked at the prospect of a real, honest-to-goodness Doraemon in your living room. And even if not, surely we can all agree that this guy is pretty damn cute, right? This ear-less, time travelin’ cat features motion, light, heat, and sound sensors that let it [...]
