Robots

Not that robots with emotions are anything new, but a project going on in Europe could perfect the art of crafting mechanical people that can “learn when a person is sad, happy or angry.” The Feelix Growing project is getting even more advanced with software that gives robots the power to understand how a person is feeling based on feedback from cameras and sensors. The bots look at a human’s facial expression and key in on their voice and proximity to determine what kind of mood they’re in. As with the recently announced UMass Mobile Manipulator, this creature too learns from experience, and there’s a video explaining just what we mean waiting for you in the read link.

[Via Physorg]

Remember that one time when you went fishing with your dad, and you got a bite and lugged the fish onto the dock, only to watch it thrash around on the dock for a little bit like the most pitiful thing alive, so then you felt bad and threw it back, but even then you still knew he would hate you forever for putting him through that? Yeah, well Flapper is that in robot form. It’s Crab Fu’s latest RC robot project, featuring that trademark uncanny valley look and motion of Crab Fu, in a convenient fish form factor. Video is after the break.

Remember that GEF robot Nuvation showed off late last month? Yeah, apparently that thing is bad ass. Designed by General Electric Fanuc (GEF) and programmed by Nuvation Research, this thing has been able to crush any human opponent that dared step up to its 32-bit automated ways. In fact, it can typically score around three times as many goals as even the mightiest Earthling, and while folks have been smart enough to find loopholes in the 8-bit software, this guy is pretty much invincible when running the real deal. Need more video? You’re just one click away.

[Via Slashdot]

Tmsuk is back with even more crazy humanoid antics, this time demonstrating a shopping robot that can be controlled from far, far away. The modified TMSUK-4 humanoid showcased in Kitakyushu, Japan was actually being controlled by an elderly lady in her home via an NTT DoCoMo video-capable cellphone. Essentially, the technology enabled her to see through the eyes of the robot and presumably control its movements via the keypad. We are told that she was able to successfully browse the hat section and finally make a purchase, but who knows how many innocent bystanders were unknowingly mauled in the process.

[Via Pink Tentacle]

Because we didn’t want you to sleep well tonight, we would like you to meet Stelarc’s Walking Head Robot. Sitting atop six piston-powered legs, an LCD screen displays a creepy animated face to lull you into submission once the robot sees you with its ultrasound sensors. It then makes faces as if to trick you into believing it’s really not here to destroy you and yours like some monster from The Thing. It would be one thing if the Walking Head Robot was small, but its 4-meter footprint (13-foot) is big enough to make even the largest of men turn white. To be fair, however, this robot looks to be well-constructed out of aluminum, stainless steel, acrylic, and pneumatic actuators because, after all, it’s here to kill us (oops). We’re begging for some video of this thing in action, so stay tuned.

[Via TechDigest]