Robots

In this week's Always On (Episode 7), host Molly Wood visits robotics research lab Willow Garage in Menlo Park, Calif., to see how its crafty $400,000 PR2 robot fares as a sushi waiter.

PR2 looks like a juiced-up version of Rosie the robotic maid from "The Jetsons." But even with its buff arms, this humanoid robot can set a table with surprising grace. It shows poise on camera too -- impressive considering that the footage below represents robot sushi waiter's first video appearance.

For those unfamiliar with the open-source robot, the PR2's array of … Read more

I have to put our Always On supervising producer, Eileen Rivera, on front street a little bit this week: that woman hates the Samsung Galaxy Beam. More accurately, she hates the cheeseball YouTube videos that promote the Beam's signature feature: its built-in pico projector. And I agree ... those ads are bad. Like, bad, bad.

But after spending some time playing with the Beam, I have to confess, I was kind of taken with its little parlor trick! I can't imagine using it often, unless it was for work, but it would certainly thrill the grandparents as a better … Read more

Mecha-heads rejoice: A Gundam-style giant robot has come to life in Japan, promising joyrides aplenty in this 13-foot humanoid machine on wheels.

Suidobashi Heavy Industry showed off its Kuratas mecha bot over the weekend in Makuhari just outside Tokyo.

Kuratas is a four-wheeled, 30-joint exoskeleton that can be piloted from its cockpit or remotely with a 3G touch-screen phone. It was demoed at the Wonder Festival, where legions of robot fans gathered.

Kuratas can move its massive torso, arms, and hands, and has a few "weapons" like a "LOHAS launcher," but it actually shoots BB pellets and fireworks. It can also grab things (like humans) with its claw-like fingers. … Read more

YEOSU, South Korea--I'm a sucker for world fairs. They sell dreams and I'm ready to buy.

In 2005, the Aichi Expo in Japan sucked me in like a giant Roomba and I became hooked on its fantasy of a greener, robot-filled future.

That dream hasn't come true, but I still couldn't keep away from this year's small-scale expo here in Yeosu, South Korea, where robots are also reeling in the masses. … Read more

With each passing year, it seems robots evolve faster than humans do. Last week, a group of students at the University of Freiburg's humanoid robots lab in Germany detailed how they gave robots the ability to maneuver extremely difficult obstacles, such as stairs and ramps, without assistance.

To achieve this relatively new level of robotic maneuverability, the researchers implemented a "2D laser scanner, a monocular camera, an inertial measurement unit, and joint encoders" into a Nao robot, according to a research document (PDF). … Read more

Kids, meet Kate the robot. She wants to play with you, help you do your homework, or just give you a big metallic hug while Mom or Dad are deployed overseas. She can't replace your parent, but with her smiling ET-ish visage and gift for gab, she might be able to ease the distance a bit.

Dan Mathias of the Florida-based one-man FutureBots Lab thought up the humanoid telepresence robot specifically as a companion and communication device for kids of remote military service members.

He also thinks Kate (Kids Avatar Teacher and Entertainer) could, like Kaspar the friendly robot, help autistic children improve their social and communication skills or maybe be used in nursing homes to assist Alzheimer's patients. … Read more

A Japanese inventor appears to have put an awful lot of effort into enabling laziness. A modder going by the handle of "FRP" looks to have designed a mobile wastebasket that can ambulate around to catch any falling (preferably with a high arc) trash you toss in its general direction.

FRP replaced the bottom of the can with some wheels attached to something similar to an Arduino board. On the other end of the system is a wall-mounted Kinect that watches for flying debris, calculates the landing spot, and then sends the can to catch the garbage like an outfielder going after some rookie's pop-up.… Read more

Almost a year ago to the day, we wrote about a water-walking microrobot inspired by insects. Now the Jesus bug has ascended over the waves, as it were, at speeds up to 3.6 mph.

Qinmin Pan and colleagues from the Harbin Institute of Technology in China have redesigned their critter so that it jumps up and down like a real water strider, according to research published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

The team wanted to improve the Jesus bug-bot so that its legs would not break the surface of the water when leaping. … Read more

A new robot arm extends its manipulator in a gesture of friendship. Will you shake it?

Philadelphia-based robotics firm Robai hopes so. The latest of its Cyton robot arms is the Cyton Gamma, and it's designed to work with us meatsacks.

The Gamma's seven joints are "kinematically redundant," Robai says in a release, meaning it can move various ways to position itself. This gives it more dexterity. … Read more