Happy Birthday, Transistor!

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Sunday, December 16th, 2007

Here’s to the transistor turning a big ol’ 60 today. I hope they eat lots of cake… or not.
Link.

Posted in: News, Tech News.

Robot Withstands a KICK!

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Saturday, December 8th, 2007

Ha! A self balancing robot, pretty neat. Except, I thought the kicks would be super ninja style, except they were just shoves. But even still, not many people are going to super ninja kick their robot. This is what the article says:

If robots are going to work alongside humans, then they will need to stand up to accidental bumps and shoves, not to mention the occasional deliberate kick.

That is why researchers in Japan have developed software that allows a life-size humanoid robot to stay on its feet no matter where on its body it is pushed. Theirs is the first full-size humanoid to show such steadiness – others of similar size inevitably topple over when nudged in the right spot. In experiments, the robot was subjected to repeated pushes. A virtual robot received much harder shoves.

Rebalancing should allow humans to interact more naturally with robots, letting them act as a physical guide, for example. If a controller tries to show other full-size humanoids how to perform a task by moving its limbs, there is a strong chance the thing will fall over.

It is interesting nonetheless!

Read the article and watch the movie. ^^

Posted in: News, Robot News.

RoboPhilo vs i-SOBOT maybe …?

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Saturday, December 8th, 2007

We have seen two pretty cool and inexpensive humanoids released in the past few months, but which one will be more popular for the holidays?

RoboPhilo comes in two configurations, a fully assembled version ready to walk for under $500, and a kit version for under $400.

(Store is here)

Relatively affordable at $300, i-Sobot has 17 motors, can recognize spoken words and be controlled remotely, making the walking, somersaulting, karate-chopping robot as close to a humanoid as toys get.

It seems that the i-SOBOT is cooler, yet the RoboPhilo might be less of a toy and more advanced. I still <3 my MANOI though
Link and Link ^^.

Posted in: News, Robot News.

Robotics platforms and development tools

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Saturday, December 8th, 2007

A great guide for the right dev kit for you or someone you know Link!

Posted in: News, Robot News.

IREX - International Robot Exhibition 2007

Posted by Erin, the RobotGrrl on Saturday, December 1st, 2007

Check out this photoset on flickr about the International Robot Exhibition 2007!

This one is really cute -> Click
Pretty neat how it runs windows -> Click
PINK i-Sobot!!!! -> Click

Link!

Posted in: News, Robot News.