Robots

Working at a restaurant requires doing many repetitious tasks, but perhaps the most tedious and lamented (aside from bathroom cleanup) is wrapping silverware in a napkin.

To solve that age-old annoyance of having to bundle countless utensils, the Capstone Design class at Georgia Tech created an autonomous silverware wrapper capable of perfectly packaging silverware at a respectable speed. … Read more

In the future when we'll all be wearing robotic exoskeletons, we'll laugh when we think back on the days when we were mere meatsacks. German automation firm Festo is helping us upgrade with the ExoHand, a glove controller that can give people a machine handshake.

Known for its elegantly engineered SmartBird robot seagull, Festo says its ExoHand can not only teleoperate a robot hand in a master-slave control relationship, it can reduce strain from repetitive tasks when using your own old-fashioned, flesh-and-blood hands. … Read more

We've found the perfect accessory for your next cell phone rave/love-in.

Introducing "Hugvie," the latest creation from Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro -- the Osaka University professor behind the giant-fetus-like Telenoid R1.

The Hugvie is a colorful cushion shaped a bit like a pudgy stick figure (or the old AOL Instant Messenger logo). When you slip your cell phone into a pocket on the Hugvie, the cushion vibrates in sympathy with your caller's voice, creating a physical sensation of his or her alluring tones.… Read more

Humanity seems hell bent on creating machines that will one day rise up and have no problem whatsoever hunting us all down.

If it's not some researcher conducting experiments in how robots can evolve behaviors such as cooperation and hunting (gulp), it's some misguided engineer developing spiderlike 'bots that will one day surely have no trouble outrunning humble little bipeds like ourselves.

And now we have a robot that can spin a web or a cocoon. … Read more

BROOKLYN, N.Y.--Given that Maker Faire is being held next month at a Northern California fairgrounds, it's appropriate that one of the attractions will be a petting zoo.

But this will be unlike any you've seen before. There won't be "animals" on display, and there won't be any fur.

Welcome to the Robot Petting Zoo.

The brainchild of the geeks at MakerBot Industries, the zoo will feature a collection of 3D printed robots, each of which will do something unique. Take "Button bot," for example, a happy-looking android with a head … Read more

This is dedicated to all those of youthful vigor and adventurous spirit.

I wish to warn you of amusements that will, apparently, exist in 2050. For, by then, all prostitutes will be robots.

I know there will be some who have craved this notion since the first time they failed to charm a girl at high school. However, this prediction -- made by scientists at New Zealand's Victoria University -- offers that one of the greatest benefits of a prostibot is, well, cleanliness. … Read more

Next time you're tempted to flip someone off, these robotic rings might help you get the message across.

The prototype rings consist of motorized eyes and a mouth. Developers from Japan's Keio University showed them off at Interaction 2012 last month in Tokyo, along with a whack of other nutty notions like cyborg houseplants.

The idea is to promote wearable robots and expand the natural expressive abilities of hands. … Read more

Humanoid-robot soldiers may be getting closer to reality with DARPA's next Grand Challenge, which apparently will involve getting a robot to pull off some pretty impressive handyman skills.

According to robotics Web site Hizook, DARPA's Gill Pratt recently outlined the challenge, which calls for humanoids to be used in industrial disasters and rough terrain.

The ultimate object is to build a robot that can work in a human environment and use human tools. The industrial setting is no surprise in the aftermath of Japan's Fukushima nuclear crisis, in which various robots from the U.S. have lent a helping hand (or manipulator). … Read more

You can walk into any toy store and buy a robot these days. No big deal. Back in 1939, a robot was an incredible oddity. That's why crowds flocked to see Elektro, a robot built by Westinghouse Electric for the New York World's Fair.

The talking Elektro described himself as a "smart fellow" with a "fine brain" consisting of 48 electrical relays that worked like a telephone switchboard.

Elektro was a bit of a smarty-pants, making lame jokes, smoking cigarettes, and blowing up balloons. Elektro could walk (slowly), move his mouth, and turn his head. This was pretty advanced stuff for the day. The 7-foot-tall creation took voice commands via a telephone handset.

Elektro lies low Elektro disappeared into obscurity after touring the country and then passing time as a minor attraction at a California amusement park. Elektro's story could have ended there, but the big metal guy is now in line for a revival. Elektro's head turned up in a basement and his body in a barn. … Read more