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!]

Update 2/16/07! Naked fugitive robot pursuit LIVE AND IN COLOR!:

Say you’re a fugitive.

Say you are a naked fugitive in North Korea during winter.

Say you are a naked fugitive in North Korea during winter, and you decide it’s a good idea to nakedly fugit down a sewer pipe.

Well, this is how we deal with YOU, Lil’ Mister:

From Pink Tentacle

[Thanks Joanne!]

As you all probably realize by now, our secret, burning desire is to become The Cute Overload(tm!) of robot websites.

Of course everything we do here is morally obligated to have some kind of mechanistic bent, and machines are very rarely cute (except for in Japan, but that is a whole ‘nother story). When the two come together effortlesslyish, it is pure unadulterated magic.

In this vein, we submit for your approval:

[Thankyewverrymuch Kristoph for gettingk thees from the snorglelicious JWZ, who een turn got eet from Thees Arteest, who is only a few syllables away from being Mr. Purry McPurrersons]

Not exactly clear why it’s doing the Gene Kelley bit, but it’s cool that it’s waterproof.

We predict that future robots will be clever enough to bring an umbrella.

If you want to make a creepy-ass robot, boy have these folks got eyes for you. Looks like they come in sizes all the way up to nearly an inch across.

Apparently for some kind of kinky Asian doll fetish thing, they come in all kinds of anime-Japanese-schoolgirl variations including iridescent, purple, and cat. Betcha you could fit one of the big silicone ones around a camera. Here’s looking at you!

I love this caution:

When you leave Takumi Silicon eyes out of your doll’s head for a long period, please store them in a sealed container away from direct sunlight, high temperature and humidity.

“Honey, what’s in the jar?”

Pedant alert: Remember kids, silicon is the semi-metallic crystalline element, silicone is the polymer family that includes lubricants and squooshy rubbery things. Repeat after me: silicon wafers, silicone implants. Silicon wafers, silicone implants. …

Techfest’s tenth annual festival of technology and robotics kicks off tomorrow in Mumbai (tonight if you are there, and not here in the US).

Mumbai Newsline has a small article on what participants can expect:

The festival in its tenth edition is based on the ideology of bringing the latest in science and technology from around the globe,” said Techfest coordinator and second year IITB civil engineering student Siddhartha Gondal.

The festival which was formally inaugurated on Thursday at IITB saw a brief preview of “Future Living: Vision 2020”, jointly commissioned by the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the British Council. This six part TV series will be aired on Discovery Channel in March 2007.

Keeping its theme in mind, the biggest draw of the festival this year is “Technoholix” or “Techfest at Dark”. “The events of each day will culminate into Technoholix where the latest technology is coupled with entertainment. The basic idea is to show that even technology can be fun,” said Technoholix manager and third year IITB civil engineering student Rajat Sharma.

Our own Mr. Robotics gets a mention as well:

It kick starts with “Robowars” being staged for the first time in India by the Robotic Fighting League, US, which conducts the International Robo Olympics. Robots weighing 30-60 pounds will literally tear each other apart, in a specially built steel cage, to be controlled by remotes.

Super groovy in person, my friends.

Here’s “Barry Frutti,” from Berlin-based Frank Barnes. (Unfortunately his site Robocross is one of those unlinkable Flash hairballs so you just got to go there and poke around. Try the “Gallery” section.)

Equally awesome, “you are new Destroyer!” at Destroyed Robot
from Japan (hence the predominately Japanese website, unless of course “�¡‰ñ‚à‚¾‚¢‚Ô” means something in robot code.) That’s “GEEGAA” pictured above. Poke around in the “Battle” section for more gnarly pictures. The Rotor’s Japanese is a little weak, but he thinks this is the work of Kanami Nozu-san.

Wouldn’t it be cool to see robocross, Destroyed Robot, and SRL battle it out for world domination!

WTF is Maywa Denki? Among other things, it’s a Japanese performance group, an art collective, and an educational organization. Not only are they top-notch engineers, but they have a delightfully goofy and hands-on approach.

If you think your system can handle a little J-Pop, check out the cool robotic instruments in this video collection (there are two videos here, with better bot shots in the second.) Warning: Western listeners may have trouble with the psychedelic sugar-bomb sensibility of Japanese pop music. Note the mute button if you feel the need to pull the ripcord.

(And no, the Rotor has NO FREAKING IDEA what is going on with the cheerleader in the giant-mask-pullchain-headdress getup.)

But that’s not all. They make whimsically kawaii toys like the percussion-headed Knockman:

(is there a better metaphor for the modern condition?) and Knockman’s musical cousin Koron.

The Rotor’s favorite–and he actually parted with a reasonable wad of yen for one–is the deceptively useless Bitman

which is controlled through tilt sensors that, among other things, make the Bitman Man dance.

Hey campers, it’s the Waseda Eye No.4 Refined II robot. Yes, expressive robots have been done before, but this one is more advanced than anything we’ve seen on this side of the pond. Do watch the amazing video; in particular, don’t miss the happy robot-slapping action (about 40 seconds in) that evokes a spookily human reaction. (Except that the robot doesn’t start slapping back. But maybe that’s Refined III).

Though we are NOT down with any kind of non-robot violence here at the SB bunker, after watching this the Rotor here is faced with the uncomfortable realization that there was something about old Kismet — possibly the unshielded cute ray exposure — that kinda made me want to give it one upside the head (even despite the barely superficial resemblance to Britney).

Hey waitaminute, now that I think about it….

(Sorry but the cheap shot was irresistible [[ducks thrown cotter pins and robot parts]])

Well, we’ve covered drink-delivering robots on two continents now; here’s a third. This Japanese contribution is from the Asahi brewing company and it kinda kicks our battery cover all sideways. My Japanese is a little weak so I’m not sure whether this is an actual product or just a promotion, but in any case I want one. I’m particularly taken by the way it stores beers Bender-style in its torso.

Here’s a slightly less kawaii version that I was pleased to run into at Narita airport:

OK, so you can’t chat it up (well, OK, maybe YOU can), but hey, perfect pours every time. Ahhhh.

Dear Santa:

-Mister Robotics

Dear Mr. Robotics:

Love,
Santa

SB pal Quinn Norton reports from a leading Korean robotics lab: software bots, genetic programming, and robotic personality are all on the menu.

“Someone said that men make robots because they can’t have babies,” says Naveen Kuppuswamy, gesturing across his cluttered lab to where an 20-inch high mechanical biped stands inert on a center table. “That’s our baby.”

Wired News: The Seoul of a New Machine

Robot wait staff at the Robot Kitchen in Hong Kong.

Betcha they don’t do flaming spanish coffee, though!

. . .and the new crop of Beaujolais Nouveau (it’s almost the third Thursday in November kids!), we have this little tidbit from Yahoo News:

In Japan Even Robots Await Taste Of New Beaujolais

We here at the Suicide Bunker really enjoy Beaujolais Noveau with the traditional San Francisco Thanksgiving Crab and Turkey Assimilation Feast (Crab Season! w00t!), and thusly are envious of the Japanese, who, because of their time zone, get first crack at each year’s crop of BN.

Yes, this has very little to do with robots EXCEPT that the article above features the Robot Sommelier who has been making the round of blog and news sites as of late, and whom we have regrettably, failed to cover.

We will be taking our beating with our tea.

[Photo Courtesy Robot Gossip, who should drop us a line because we want to be its friend.]