Here is a story that is sure to make robots everywhere itch.

This bot has the ability to leap like a flea in it’s quest to cover vast areas of ground as it sniffs for pollution. Developed to detect mercury poisoning in the ground, it leaps about the way a flea would.(But looks much cooler. And doesn’t bite.)

The little palm sized creature measures about 10cm long and weighs in at 80g. Researchers at the University of Lucca debuted it in Switzerland during a symposium.

It’s creators believe that tiny robots like this are far more efficient than the larger variety at searching huge areas of land in a shorter time. This is just the latest in a long line of robots that mimic real life, animal behavior. Efficiency is just one way in which it is paying off.

Many of the nature documentaries that we watch are filmed with the help of small robots like this, enabling them to get up close and personal.

Try to watch your step while out and about. These bots are expensive!

[Axcess News]

The folks at Wilesco toy steam engines have been hard at work on a new steam powered bot that harkens back to the old days. Their steam engines are built just like they were a hundred years ago, to power vehicles, workshops, and generators. In short, this bot is powered by fire and water.

This model is being made in Germany and should be headed our way sometime around mid September of this year. Available colors will be red, blue, green and black.

While he may not be the fastest bot in the world, the fact that he runs on steam power, combined with his great retro look is enough to make me want one yesterday! Proof that Old Skool is still cool. It’s not always about batteries and electric.

[ Product Page ]

Not new by any means, but worth a mention. See, now you can have your own tiny robot circus, thanks to Acrobots. Have these hand-sized figurines perform feats of daring on your desktop or any magnetic surface. You can even put them in your pocket and take them on tour. (Never mind the looks from your co-workers)

Not only are they elegant in form, but they also have a sleek modern design that is sure to please the art lover.

Your choice of:

Regular Acrobots - About 4″ tall. Includes 1 Acrobot containing 6 pivot points.
Stack Pack - A set of 3 smaller Acrobots. Each Stack Pack Acrobot contains 2 pivot points.

[ Product Page ]

By Evan Ackerman

DARPA has completed a program of testing automated docking software to show that unmanned aircraft are capable of autonomous in-flight refueling. The tests were run in a NASA F/A-18 (I know, that’s a B-2 above, but I liked the picture) with a safety pilot in the back seat. What’s really remarkable isn’t the fact that this sort of automated precision flying is possible, it’s that (during this trial, anyway) it was spectacularly successful. The system was capable of autonomous approach and docking with a tanker from up to 2 miles behind, 1000 feet below, and 30 degrees off heading. The best technique tested was 100% (that’s 100%) effective, and the system proved itself to be able to make contact in turns, something human pilots generally don’t try to do. Additionally, the system was able to follow the refueling drogue in turbulence, not deviating more than 4 inches from center even during 3 feet of movement of the drogue. In the words of one NASA test pilot: it’s “better than a skilled pilot.”

[ DARPA Program Completion Announcement (PDF) ] VIA [ The Register ]

By Evan Ackerman

Maybe it’s not technically a robot arm, but this mechanical prosthetic (bionic, almost) arm in development by Vanderbilt University is scary looking enough to fit most of my personal criteria. Especially when it’s packin’ heat. And even when it’s not holding a gun it’s packin’ heat, since it’s powered by a hydrogen peroxide fueled rocket motor. When a cartridge of hydrogen peroxide is mixed with a catalyst, it transforms into high temperature steam, which drives computer controlled pistons to move the arm. One cartridge provides enough power for about 18 hours of normal use, and excess steam is vented through the surface of the arm as artificial sweat.

This prototype arm offers a number of advantages over current models, including substantially increased speed and strength and a far greater range of flexibility, allowing the arm to pour water our of a bottle and even throw a ball. Click here for a video of the arm doing just that. The designers are hoping to get a piece of DARPA funding to continue development as part of the Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 program.

[ Rocket Powered Prosthetic Arm ] VIA [ Physorg ]

By Evan Ackerman

Do you know someone who is scared of insects? How about giant robotic insects? If so, don’t get them one of these, because they are guaranteed to totally freak out and destroy it with the nearest large caliber weapon and it’s just too cool to get destroyed. The Gakken Mechamo centipede robot comes in a kit you can build yourself. It’s battery powered, fully controllable with an IR remote, a foot long when assembled, and scuttles around on 32 legs that move in an alarmingly organic manner:

Click here for a very thorough review (with more videos) of the centipede; you can buy your own for $99. Some assembly (but no soldering) required.

[ Gakkan Mechamo Centipede Robot Kit ] VIA [ technabob ]

By Evan Ackerman

We here at BotJunkie are pretty serious about robot coverage, but we’ve got nothing on these guys, who dressed themselves up in cardboard robot suits and beat the nuts and bolts out of each other on the streets of San Francisco. Why? Because they could. Robot awesome points +10.

[ Cardboard Robot Rumble Coverage ] VIA [ Neatorama ]

By Evan Ackerman

Every other month there seems to be some sort of harder/better/faster/stronger robot competition going on, but this might be a first… The Baka RoboCup (”baka” means “foolish” or “stupid” in Japanese) aims to pit funny robots against each other in a mechanical comedy gigglematch. The rules are simple: each robot will have two minutes to impress a (human) audience and panel of judges and may the best (or worst) robot win. The robots themselves must be mechanical, they must make people laugh without the use of explosives (yes, that’s in the rules), and they must be totally impractical and worthless in any capacity besides humor. The contest is set for November 4 in Tokyo, and the winning robot gets 500,000 yen (about $4200) to spend on whatever it is the world’s stupidest robot spends money on.

[ BakaRobo (In Japanese) ] VIA [ Pink Tentacle ]

By Evan Ackerman

Walking, as robots like Honda’s ASIMO have discovered, is tougher than it looks. Rather than rely on pre-programmed sequences of movements with constantly adapting feedback, RunBot relies on a much more organic approach. First of all, RunBot is able to teach itself how to walk, and it learns from its mistakes at a rate that makes us wonder what we spent all that time crawling around for:

RunBot also functions biologically in that animals (like humans) don’t really think about walking. We decide to walk somewhere, and our legs (or subconscious brains, if you prefer) take care of the details to keep us from falling over. Our brains only have to kick in if something interesting happens, like the changes. RunBot works exactly the same way, with local circuits dealing with normal walking, and the “brain” only stepping in when changes are necessary (such as a change in slope, in the above video). Robots may be 100% inorganic, but modeling their behavior after us living breathing sacks of meat seems to be the best way to help them get themselves off the ground.

[ RunBot ] VIA [ New Scientist ]

By Evan Ackerman

At some point, we’re going to have to start seriously asking ourselves whether robots will soon become capable of thought. Maybe we’re not quite there yet, but the Starfish robot arguably has an active imagination, in that it has the ability to picture itself in different situations and configurations, and then alter its actions based on what it thinks (see, there we go) will work best. This behavior is illustrated as Starfish teaches himself how to walk! Just watch the video below:

Starfish does what humans and animals do every day in innumerable situations: before making a decision, we consciously or subconsciously think through the different scenarios implied by the choices we make. This inherent flexibility helps us to adapt, and it helps Starfish too, which is capable of independently altering its method of movement if damaged.

In simpler terms, Starfish will flail its limbs around and take note of which movements alter its position in space. It’ll then learn to keep nothing but those arm movements that propel it in the direction it wants to go. Starfish was developed by Josh Bongard, Victor Zykov, and Hod Lipson, all part of the Computational Synthesis Lab at Cornell University. By the way, is anybody else reminded of a headcrab when they see this thing moving around…? Creepy. Awesome, but creepy.

[ Cornell CCSL ] VIA [ Technology Review ]