Robots

You're sweating in your bulky radiation suit, your dosimeter is freaking you out, and you're trying to close a valve that might just save a large portion of the population from some very nasty fallout.

Wouldn't it be nice to have some robotic help?

Japan's robot start-up Cyberdyne is modifying its Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) power suit for use by first responders in nuclear accidents.

The exoskeleton is being improved to help workers who have to wear heavy radiation protection clothing. Japan is still struggling with radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was severely damaged last year during one of the country's most powerful earthquakes. … Read more

Last time I stayed at an Ibis hotel, I had a good experience. Quick service, decent decor, and a great location in central Busan, South Korea. Sadly, it lacked a robot.

The international chain is making up for this shortcoming by offering something no guest can do without: a robot that paints your sleep patterns.

In a decidedly wacky PR stunt being held in Paris, Berlin, and London, Ibis commissioned a robot arm to turn select guests' sleep data into painted canvases.

The Sleep Art project involves an ABB industrial robot and a special mattress equipped with 80 sensors. … Read more

The X1 Robotic Exoskeleton looks like a cross between the legs of a Stormtrooper and a Transformer. The suit is a spinoff from NASA's Robonaut 2 humanoid robot project.

The X1 is focused on either helping or hindering a person's legs, depending on its job description. When it's set to inhibit, the X1 resists movement and could be used to help astronauts exercise in space. When it's set to help, it could be used to assist paraplegics and others with lower body injuries with walking.

Four motorized joints and six passive joints give the 57-pound suit a good range of motion. It also gives it some nice Iron Man flavor, minus the propulsion feet.… Read more

Tal Avitzur is obsessed with collecting what he calls "retro junk." The California artist spends hours sifting through scrapyards to find parts for the whimsical robots he dreams up.

At his Talbotics studio in Santa Barbara, Avitzur has created dozens of bots that are creepy, cute, alien, or just plain bizarre. Many are more than just ornamental -- they work as night lights, illuminating dark rooms with their otherworldly LED eyes.

Some of his "Talbots" feature unexpected parts like vacuum cleaner motor housings, dolls, winches, clutches, floor polishers, meat grinder blades, taxidermy animal eyes, and old boat fittings. … Read more

Many people would probably say their handwriting has suffered the more they use computers to communicate. But imagine trying to exercise your rusty penmanship on letters that have not 1 or 2 strokes but 5, 10, 15, or more.

The Japanese often complain that sending e-mails and texts erodes their skills in writing the thousands of kanji, or Chinese characters, they learn in school. Some are maddeningly complex and, if rarely used, easy to forget.

But brush-painting kanji calligraphy is also a centuries-old art form. Keio University engineering professor Seiichiro Katsura has a way to help preserve it with his Motion Copy System robot. … Read more

Take a Sony Aibo and cross it with a Samsonite. Congratulations, you have the world's most loyal piece of luggage, the Hop. Hop is a suitcase that automatically follows you around.

The suitcase is stocked with three receivers that triangulate the user's phone's position over Bluetooth. A microcontroller does the calculations and keeps it at a close distance. The suitcase is security-minded. If it gets lost, the user's phone will vibrate and Hop will lock itself up tight. … Read more

If MacGyver were trapped behind a jammed door in a burning room, he would use his shirt to filter the smoke, then craft an explosive from a paperclip and strand of hair to blow that baby open.

If today's most sophisticated robot found itself in the same conundrum, it would likely be unable to follow the famed secret agent's resourceful example. A team of Georgia Institute of Technology researchers hopes to change that.

They're working to equip machines to use objects in their path for high-level tasks, particularly those involved in tedious military operations. Robots are forging an increasing presence in military and civilian missions, with the U.S. military actively challenging roboticists to design robots for disaster relief.

"This project is challenging because there is a critical difference between moving objects out of the way and using objects to make a way," Mike Stilman, a Georgia Tech professor of robotics who's leading the research team, said in a statement. "Researchers in the robot motion planning field have traditionally used computerized vision systems to locate objects in a cluttered environment to plan collision-free paths, but these systems have not provided any information about the objects' functions." … Read more

I'm fascinated by old animatronics, especially ones that purport to tell your fortune. Zoltar, made famous by a cameo in the Tom Hanks movie "Big," isn't some musty old machine from the back of a forgotten arcade. He's real and he can be yours for $9,000 from Hammacher Schlemmer.

The fortune-telling machine revels in the details, from Zoltar's paisley vest to the black-and-gold-painted trim on the oak and birch cabinet.

Zoltar will shake you down for a quarter before spilling his secrets. He'll move, pass his hand over an illuminated crystal ball, and speak one of 16 audio fortunes. He then dispenses one of 23 different printed fortunes on a paper card.… Read more

In 2011, more than 80 firefighters in the U.S. died while on duty, and more than 60 have lost their lives so far this year. Engineering companies have been trying to reduce the harm they face and Maine-based Howe and Howe Technologies is offering this robot firefighter as a solution.

The firm is known for building high-speed tracked vehicles that can tear through rugged terrain. Thermite, billed as the world's first production firebot, also rolls on treads so it can get over obstacles lying between it and a dangerous fire. … Read more