Submitted with minimal comment:

We <3 Robot Japan so flippin’ hard, we are eager for their presence at RoboGames 2012!

Thanks Robots Dreams!

Love robots? Now they can love you back!

Welcome to Hooman Samani’s Lovotics – an area of research dealing with human-to-robot relations.

Across 11 research papers, Samani has outlined — and begun to develop — an extremely complex artificial intelligence that simulates psychological and biological systems behind human love. To do this, Samani’s robots are equipped with artificial versions of the human “love” hormones — Oxytocin, Dopamine, Seratonin, and Endorphin — that can increase or decrease, depending on their state of love. On a psychological level, by using MRI scans of human brains to mirror the psychology of love, the robots are also equipped with an artificial intelligence that tracks their “affective state”; their level of affection for their human lover.

Observe as this lovely combination of R2D2 and Roomba strives for your affection:

After reading this article I immediately visited this tv-tropes piece, knowing all-well that I could suffer a similar fate as this fellow.

I came to the conclusion that one of my favorite responses to “What is this thing you call love?” was from a jolly assassin droid by the name of HK-47:

“Definition: ‘Love’ is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometers away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope. Statement: This definition, I am told, is subject to interpretation. Obviously, love is a matter of odds. Not many meatbags could make such a shot, and fewer would derive love from it. Yet for me, love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticle, and together, achieving a singular purpose, against statistically long odds.“

Now please, stop asking us about pleasure bots.

I blame the Svedka robot.

Too lazy to learn how to play an instrument? Then let the good ol’ folks at the University of Tokyo and Sony Computer Science Labs do it for you!

The project’s name is PossessedHand and it allows control over someone’s hand via electrical muscle stimuli!

As well as helping would-be musicians, PossessedHand could be used to rehabilitate people who have suffered a stroke or other injury that impairs muscle control. Therapists already use electrical muscle stimulation to help these people, but existing non-invasive devices can only achieve crude movements such as contracting the entire arm.

From the always superlative Robots-Dreams comes a great English-language summary of this month’s RoboCon Magazine, for we pathetic non-Japanese speaking English speakers.

Among the juicy delights afforded us by the always well-done RoboCon robotics journal is a fab, huge article covering RoboGames 2011, at which we were very honored to have an enthusiastic contingent of competitors from Robot Japan.

Robot Japan is a collection of robotics enthusiasts that holds meetings, maintain a blog, and serves as a relatively informal organizing body for robotics events around Japan.

We were excited that several members were planning on attending RoboGames 2011, and that was even before a little thing like one of the biggest earthquakes in recorded history, and a horrendous, devastating tsunami occurred right in their back yard.

To recap: DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI, and they made it to the competition anyway.

We’ve had competitors from other countries (including the USA) whinge about having to get up before ten and how the hotel sheets weren’t the right thread count, so needless to say, we were impressed.

After everything they had been through and after overcoming some technical glitches, we were extremely pleased to see this:

It’s obvious that the Japan contingent had a wonderful time, made lots of new friends, and is committed to participating in strength next Spring at RoboGames 2012.

Along with articles on Taylor Veltrop‘s awesome Kinect/ROS/Wii Frankensteinian humanoid action, there’s loads more about Robot Japan 1st and all the other great things which makes RoboCon reason enough in itself for us over her to run out and learn Japanese posthaste.

[Thanks a millions, Lem!]

All new and shiny in time for ICRA comes the Robotad all-volunteer blog for the discussion of the use of robots during disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima crisis.

Do you read and speak Japanese well? They need volunteers to translate articles! Hone your anime-watching skills and put them to good use:

The Robotics Task Force for Anti-Disaster (ROBOTAD) is a community of volunteers in Japan who gather to exchange and discuss the issues of technology, application, and management to utilize robotics toward
recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster. The ROBOTAD is a hyper-academic organization and tightly liaises with academic societies, the Science Council of Japan, and the industry. The ROBOTAD is chaired by Professor Hajime Asama, the University of Tokyo.

The Robotics Task Force

So mumble mumble behind in posting blah blah catch-up blarg overbooked blah excuses excuses blah blah Robot Round-Up yeehaw. Blah blah blah:

Robot Marathon blah blah Osaka prattle blab Vstone Japan blah Robovie blah blah Robot-Dreams blah blah ACTUAL INTERVIEW IN RUNNER’S WORLD (kinda) whoo robot athletes blah. [Pithy comment blah RoboGames blah blah]

Blah Cheetahbot blahblah vroom.

Blah Honda U3-X not as spylike as it sounds blah blah Honda Robotics sponsor us blah.

OMG BLAH WOOT PETER WELLER blah ROBOCOP STATUE ZOMGROXXORS VIDEO

Okay now that we are all caught up we over here, we will do our best to actually blog about something other than cocktail robots or RoboGames for a change. I promise.

[Thank you The BBC, Robots-Dreams, Vstone, Technabob, Runner's World, PopSci, Honda, and as always, LaughingSquid.]

So, Anybots has just announced that they are shipping their bouncing baby robots:

We could not be more thrilled over here, one, because OMG MOAR ROBOTS, and also we have been buds and supporters of Anybots for forever, and in fact have the wonderous Trevor Blackwell on his homemade Segway at RoboGames 2005, *and* we were the lucky ones that to have Monty come out and play way back when.

Congrats to everyone and we’ll see you for RoboGames 2011!

[Thanks to Lem Fugitt for the Monty video!]

HOLY MOLY(bdenum), Robo Bat Friends! Let me tell you about this new iPhone iPad iPod app for $2.99 that-
And I quote:

“Description

No 1 Staff Favorite in Japan!
LOVEBOTS by KIT ROBOT has arrived! The NEW Digital Robot Assembly Kit and Robot Avatar Creator, SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES.

Placing creative power in your hands! Join the loveBot
Presented by Award Winning WhiteWall Studios.

Forget the Golden Plastic Age of model kits, limiting the range of parts to one model and WELCOME to the Golden Digital Age.

Now Introducing LOVEBOTS, where you can create over 1.3 MILLION combinations of Robots out of the box!”

Check out the gallery of ideas on boingboing as there are lots of delicious and eye popping pictures to ponder while you get your iTunes on speed dial.

I leave you now with one final quote:
“We are asking LoveBot fans to send us their creations, as we plan to release The Art of LoveBots app book. “

And I must really love Willow Garage because I am sick as a dog and should be in bed, yet I find myself compelled to note that PR2s are OMG totes available for consumer sale. But just to be frustrating I am linking to my friend Noriko Kageki’s fine, fine blog Get Robo, which has ALL the news on this – as long as you read Japanese.

[Thanks everybody on Twitter to contributing to my Lazy Blogger complex. I will take comfort in the fact that we are way more fun and pinker to read.]

Or “Your-Plastic-Pal-that-plumbs-the-very-depths-of-The-Uncanny-Valley-who-might-also-be-fun-to-be-with-once-the-screaming-has-stopped”:

Seriously people, I love Japan. Can anyone give us a quick translation of the conversation?

[Via @thinkgeek]

A cunning little thing from Japan that is a lot cooler than it looks at first blush:

Thanks Ralf Burgert!

More cool stuff at Citadrobo’s YouTube page.

Kazu Terasaki, longtime SB friend colleague and contributor, comes at us with a new variation on a familiar theme:

iPad walking robot!
\

Whee.

[Thank Lem!]

Equals OSM:

“Chinese students built this awesome robot sculpture for their graduation project. Almost all of the parts come from an old truck and the total budget was 300,000 yuan. The final robot is almost 32 feet tall and weighs over 8,800 lbs.”

Via Instructables

I always cry at weddings, but this made me laugh. The full story of the i-Fairy wedding officiate in today’s news. Thanks, Neatorama!

RoboGames 2010 is coming up quickish, and with it we will be featuring in this space some recaps, explanations, and OMGWTFSPARKLEPONIES!!!1!1! moments for your edutainment. First up: Mech Warfare!

Here’s a video, courtesy those prolific bastards over at Botjunkie:

Ah Mech Warfare, developed in part by the kindly loons at our very favorite Trossen Robotics, it consists of several little robots going head-to-head with several other little robots, all on their cute and merry way to totally obliterating each other with airsoft guns. Good Times!

You can find a whole world of options and excitement for mechwarfare and a bunches of other stuff at the Trossen Robotics Community. As for parts, you can pick em up here! And here! And here and here!

To register your masterpiece for RoboGames 2010, go here! Questions and abuse, please direct to knickers at suicidebots.com. Thanks for playing!