Kawada’s HRP-2 (aka Promet) has been programmed to reproduce dance steps with the practiced grace of an electronic geisha.

So far the 128-pound (58-kilogram) dancebot has been taught the fluid motions of the Aizu-Bandaisan—a traditional Japanese folk dance—as well as more mundane tasks such as serving tea, carrying a table, and standing up from a prone position.

OK - now it should be noted, that I am the most jaded American roboticist I know. Been there, done that, flown half way ’round the world to see it, too.

The following video is the single coolest thing I’ve seen in robotic movement. Ever.

Better than Asimo.
Way better than Qrio.
And yes, even better than the micro-electronic hand that could grab the tobiko egg.

Watch this video and be awed.

I think Promet ought to call out Asimo to some seedy back alley in Shinjuku (filled with indigent tour-bots and broken down vacuums) and bitch slap him.

Of course, Lem knew about it ten months ago.

the arm bone’s connected to the, shoulder bone…

Mr. Robotics’ favorite game in the whole world is winning at “oh, you can too get toys from a claw machine.” The RoboBunker proves this with hundreds of plushies won from claws. But now, nirvana has reared it’s pretty head:

The robots come from MechaTrax, a Japanese android company.

Could these be the funkiest geeks since Kraftwerk?

God I love these guys.

Here’s a nifty-looking pan-asian robot competition, to take place in Vietnam:

This competition’s goal is fostering joyous cooperation between students for the eventual domination of their creations:
From BruneiDirect.com:

The ABU Robocon competition requires participants to use their creativity and knowledge on technology to invent robots. The event also aims to allow for the strengthening of relations between Asia Pacific youths who have shared interests.

The mission for this competition is quite lyrical. This year’s is based on the legend of Ha Long, a story about the creation of Ha Long and Bai Tu Long islands:

The legend of Ha Long has it that, ‘Once upon a time, soon after the Viet people established their country, invaders came. The Jade Emperor sent Mother Dragon and her Child Dragons down to earth to help the Viet people fight against their enemy. Right at the time invaders’ boats were rushing to the shore, the dragons landed down on earth. The dragons immediately sent out from their mouths a lot of pearls, which then turned into thousands of stone islands emerging in the sea like great walls challenging the invaders’ boats. The fast boats couldn’t manage to stop and crashed into the islands and into each other and broke into pieces.

After the victory, Mother Dragon and Child Dragons didn’t return Heaven but stayed on earth at the place where the battle had occurred. The location Mother Dragon landed is nowadays Ha long Bay and where Child Dragons descended is now Bai Tu Long.

Ha Long is the wonderful and skilful masterpiece of the Creation and of nature that only Vietnam was bestowed. Ha Long has become the pride of not only the locals but also of all Vietnamese people when it was twice recognized as the World Natural Heritage by UNESCO for its geographical and geomorphologic values. With its unique beauty, Ha Long is one of the most ideal destinations in Vietnam.

The rules of Robocon 2007 are built basing on this legend of Ha Long. A team of robots (symbolizing dragons) will carry the blocks having the shape of cylinder (symbolizing pearls) to build various kinds of islands symbolizing ‘Ha Long’; and ‘Bai Tu Long’ . The first team to complete the building of ‘Victory islands’ (in the shape of letter V in the centre of the Game Field) will be the winner. Duration of the game is three minutes.

Oh to be in Hanoi is August. . .hmm, okay perhaps not. They have that whole tropical summer things there. Bad for the diodes.

Mr. Woo makes robots out of junk. Mr. Woo can make walkers and rickshaw pullers. Mr. Woo can solder better than your mom. Mr. Woo’s tears can cure cancer, which is too bad, ’cause he NEVER CRIES.*

Thank you Honorable Street Tech, and also Honorable O’Reilly Radar.

* Mr. Woo is secretly Chuck Norris.

Panasonic has come up with a prototype that will cause every Burning Man aficionado to drool helplessly in their playa-coated fun fur.

From Pink Tentacle:

The carpet’s luxurious coat of faux fur (available in white, brown, or skunk-like black and white) houses a set of smart heating elements that deliver warmth only to the areas you touch when you cuddle it. Squishy, flesh-like control switches modeled after the paw pads of your favorite furry friend enhance the carpet’s overall zoomorphic feel.

What a great pickup line: “Could you cuddle my long, warm, furry love cushion? It’s lonely. . .”

So we’re sure you’re wondering to yourself “Self? I have a hankering to enter *something* into that RoboGames thingydoo, but I Just. Don’t Know. What!”

Say you want a nice simple humanoid in which to compete in Kung Fu or the Agility or all those other exciting humanoid competitions.

You poke around for a bit and discover the ugly truth about building one from scratch:

“Oh Noo! Humanoids, they are so very complex!
They are hard to build and break if you look at them funny! I do not own a mill nor do I have a big giant brain with which I may re-invent the Humanoid Wheel! Whatever shall I do?”

Well, fear no more Faithful Reader. We have an outlet for all your robot-building needs. Trossen Robotics has just consented to partner with us for RoboGames 2007!

We love Trossen for their huge assortment of robots, kits and everything else, plus they have a spiffy blog from which we steal from which we gain inspiration!

There’s a kit here for every taste, from the hyperreal anime cosplay goodness of the Manoi series, to Robonova and everything above, below, betwixt and between. We all know you’ve secretly been wanting an AT-ST for your very own, now you can have one all for a reasonable price and a few hours dealing with tiny, tiny screws.

Trossen is going to have all kinds of good schwag at Robogames, like sticker and fliers, along with some really spiffy deals for RoboGames attendees!

Make sure you stick the stickers somewhere really inappropriate, like your mom, or the girl’s bathroom at the Uptown, because nothing says Awesome like random robot schwag in unexpected places.

Thank you for providing us with this opportunity, Trossen Robotics, We thank you.

It’s the usual story. . .robot has job, robot is chased by giant mechanoid terror, robot escapes with the help of a plucky helicopter-rotor wearing friend, robot continues to do job, all done in a lovely neomodernist Flash animation.

It’s Walk Smash Walk



[For the art and the idea, we thank you, Techyum!]

Here’s a “Female Type” robot designed by, um, a guy:

Maybe it’s the neotenically enormous anime eyes and schoolgirl-warrior stance, or that the inventor

consulted with professional fashion models to make FT’s movements even more lifelike

but something about FT strikes the Rotor, as, well, just a teensy bit creepy. But hey, we just report these things. Maybe all she needs is a flamethrower or something.

Turns out you may be able to buy one for yourself should you happen to swing that way. Flamethrower installation instructions here.

What else can I possibly say, except that the ACTICON NEOPSHPINCTER takes us closer to our predestined bionic future by being, according to the website, “the only implantable sphincter available for the treatment of severe fecal incontinence”.

As we sit here applauding their advances in such technology and desperately trying not to snicker, we discover that saying the mere phrase ACTICON NEOSPHINCTER immediately inspires us to shout something noble sounding in Japanese and magically change into a lot of spandex.

This affliction also causes us to continually refer to the ACTICON NEO- SPHINCTER in all caps.

While we fight this urge and the urge to knock down large building with every step, roaring with triumphant rage, please indulge in some more links about the NeoSphincter.

Things that SB is doing this weekend In The Name Of Science:

Science! Science I say! We have NO INTEREST in drinking this thing known as “beer” in order to get a robot! We have skills far beyond this mere consumer Chicanery! Hey Rotor and Mr. R, you have that case order in right?

The Beer Robot In Action!:

More about this particular beer robot here here and here!

This cute little thing reminds me of another adorable little bot, one named Beer Bash. Beer Bash was built by The Robot Fight Club of SF State University, who are returning to RoboGames this year because they are junkies because they are consummate robotics enthusiasts.

Come see them in action won’t you? Remember, the first rule about Robot Fight Club is. . .

[Thanks Geeksugar for posting, and Violet Blue for the link!]

Yes, I said Robot Chicken.

No, not THAT Robot Chicken, THESE ones:

From Mobilemag.com:

Fitting somewhere between Tamagotchi virtual pets and a real puppy is the next-generation robot chicken from Sega. The little robots are fuzzy, cuddly, and unbearably cute, especially when paired with a bunch of children gently petting them.

There is nothing SB likes better than things that are made strictly for the fact that they are cute.

Thank you, Sega Japan. . .

[Apologies for the lack of posting. SB will be taking her beating with her tea.]

UPDATE: Robot Chicken Available For Purchase OMGWTFASAPLOL!!111!1!!111

So lovely. So well put together. So damp.

via Neatorama

UPDATE: Wow. I just listened to this with the sound up and SomaFM’s Groove Salad playing in the background. I highly recommend it.

South Korea To Detail Robot Etiquette

[snnnrrrrkkkkk]

S.Korea Works On Ethical Code For Righteous Robots

HahahahahahaAaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahaaahaha
hahhoohooWHOOPPHEEHEEEHEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEEHEEEHAAAAHHAAAA
AHAAAAHHAAAAAAAHHAAAAAAAAAHAHAAHAAAAHAAAHAAAHAAHA. . .

This article in New Scientist is actually somewhat sensible.

Over to you, Mr. Robotics. . .

-SB, abandoning, for the moment, all pretenses of journalistic objectivity, just this once.

No, it’s not a hamster, but it’s close. . .

Artistic Rendering of Future Yuki-Taro innovation

Those wacky kids down at the Niigata Industrial Creation Organization (NICO), Research and Development, Inc. (RDI), Niigata Institute of Technology, Yamagata University and the Industrial Research Institute of Niigata Prefecture (IRI) have created a nifty critter that addresses the problem of necessary heavy labor for the elderly.

Niigata gets a ton of snow during the winter, and we”ll bet that it’s not just the elderly that are getting a kick out of this thing.

It’s gone and won a spiffy design award, even!

The friendly-looking Yuki-taro measures 160 x 95 x 75 cm (63 x 37 x 30 in.) and weighs 400 kg (880 lbs). Armed with GPS and a pair of video cameras embedded in its eyes, the self-guided robot seeks out snow and gobbles it up into its large mouth.

Yuki-taro’s insides consist of a system that compresses the snow into hard blocks measuring 60 x 30 x 15 cm (24 x 12 x 6 in.), which Yuki-taro expels from its rear end.

The blocks can then be stacked and stored until summer, when they can be used as an alternative source of refrigeration or cooling.

So it’s not just a snow collector, it’s a fabulous way to make sure you can keep the sake cold during those blisteringly humid Japanese summers too!

GAWD that’s efficient.

It’s also waaaay more kawaii than any snowblower:

Yuki-taro
in recognition of your unfailing dedication to human quality of life
(summer and winter)
Suicidebots declares you

COOL ROBOT OF THE WEEK

May rock salt never corrode your suspension.

[From Pink Tentacle. Thank you Alexander Rose and Amybean!]