TAG RESULTS FOR: robots

Micromouse competitions are an attribute to the growing popularity of robotic entertainment. This particular competition in Chubu, Japan appears to be going normally until you hit the 4:30 mark, at which point the EggTorte bot solves the maze in less than five seconds. Its owner probably threatened it with a robotic mousetrap. According to Wikipedia, the world-record for solving a 16×16 maze is around 6 or 7 seconds. If this counts, EggTorte might have a record on its hands. Though... Continue reading

AIST (Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) recently opened up their doors to the public for a few days, allowing an inside look at just how ridiculously realistic robots have become. The Actroid-F, developed by Kokoro Co. Ltd and ATR, can mimic the operators facial movements and tics with unbelievable realism. Would I be fooled into thinking Actroid-F was actually a human? Probably not. It all depends on the day and how many beers I’ve chugged down... Continue reading

Coffee has all sorts of untapped potential, as we saw with the Nespresso-powered clocks and radio. DARPA takes a handful of sweet caffeine-assisted glory with this mechanical coffee grounds-filled balloon. I know, it sounds like the leftovers of a futuristic Starbucks office party, but the resulting product is actually a helpful gripper which sucks objects into its crushed coffee grounds grip. DARPA uses a system called “jamming,” which means that to mold around an object, air is pushed into the... Continue reading

After hearing that one of his friends had been stung upwards of 90 times while trying to exterminate wasps from his property, Professor Sekine of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, who was undoubtedly dealing with a wasp problem of his own, decided to come up with an easier way to conquer the problem of painful and potentially dangerous insect stings. Mohican, named for its native-styled faux-hawk, is a robot designed for the sole purpose of slaughtering wasps. Sure, there’s always the... Continue reading

NASA has a little treat for all of us robot and/or space junkies out there. From 8 a.m. PT (11 a.m. ET) every morning, Monday-Friday, work begins at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif, as engineers carefully assemble the Curiosity Mars Rover. And you can watch them do it live with NASA’s Curiosity Cam. Other than occasional “maintenance periods” (obviously just the points of the assembly where the engineers attach the technology given to us by aliens), you can... Continue reading