iRobot has unveiled a new and improved military Warrior robot. When you think iRobot, cutesy harmless home cleaning robots come to mind. That’s about to change. Meet the X700 bot, demented killing machine cousin to those cute lovable house bots. He’s the one they don’t talk about. The love child of iRobot and the Army. He’s large, fast and capable of killing a whole bunch of fleshy humans.

Weighing in at 250 pounds, it’s no wonder roombas everywhere are hiding under couches. It’s capable of moving 500 pound payloads and carrying 150 pounds with it’s arm. So this bot is flexing some serious muscles. The X700 could be urban warfare’s new best friend. Whether bringing water and supplies to troops who are pinned down, deploying weapons systems, or taking part in resupply operations, the robot has the potential to be a real life saver for our guys. And a nightmare to the enemy, since it can fire a machine gun or 40mm explosive rounds, at 16 rounds a second.

X700 can presently go 10 mph. But by the time they are finished, it will be able to do a four minute mile. It won’t be entirely remote controlled either, like other armed killer robots. This model is being engineered with an emphasis on advanced software in order to perform some battlefield functions completely autonomously. It’s not quite ready for prime-time just yet, but you can expect early versions of X700 to be ready by the second half of 2008.

[Danger Room] VIA [EnGadget]

For the next two days I’ll be covering the RoboDevelopment Conference and Expo, taking place in semi-exotic San Jose, California. According to the PR, RoboDevelopment is “the first robotics industry event focused on the design and development of commercially viable personal, service and intelligent mobile robotics products - products that are to be used outside of laboratory environments and sold at a profit.” What I hope that means is that the technologies that are going to be discussed and demoed here are all going to be available for you (yes, you) to buy in the not so distant future.

I’m actually sorta liveblogging (oh, how I’ve yearned to use that word), in that as we speak I’m sitting in one of the conference halls enjoying a tasty and more or less nutritious breakfast courtesy of CoroWare and Evolution Robotics before the first keynote begins at 8am. I’ll do my level best to post a tidbit or two throughout the day, so check back for updates.

[ RoboDevelopment ]

This industrial robot, called Kuka, is busily writing out the full version of the Martin Luther bible by hand. Or I guess you’d say by robot arm, but it’s actually doing very precise calligraphy with a pen, putting my chicken scratch to shame. I think it’s pretty cool to see an industrial robot doing something so delicate and (okay, okay) beautiful. There are a few more photos available on here on flikr.

[ robotlab ] VIA [ Gearfuse ]

Created by Chonnam National University, this crablike micro-bot is designed to scurry along your arteries and unblock them. It not only looks like a crab, it walks in the same manner. Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that the robot can travel 55 yards in three weeks time. Once it gets to it’s designated location, it releases drugs that disintegrate the blockage.

Even more impressive is the robot’s energy source. It doesn’t have one. It’s three hind legs are longer than the front three, so it attaches to the heart muscle and the legs bend at the time of cardiac contraction, which propels the machine forward. Should an alternate energy source be needed, the sugar in the blood takes care of that. Testing hasn’t started yet, but I’m betting they act fast with this one. Here’s hoping they test it in tiny clogged pipes before humans… (Image not the actual bot. Courtesy of The Raw Feed)

[Telegraph] VIA [The Raw Feed]

Making robots spatially adaptive can be a complex and time consuming process. Really, it’s a lot easier (albeit less flexible) to just give a robot a detailed map of its environment to help it navigate. The only problem is that making high resolution spatial maps of large areas is a huge chore, demanding precise and repetitive measurements. Geez, if only there was some sort of system that was good at completing repetitive tasks with precision…

This (unnamed) survey robot developed by Spatial Robotics Solutions (of course) is able to autonomously wander around any area, using high resolution cameras and LIDAR to map interior spaces with millimeter accuracy. The data it produces can be integrated with a GIS or CAD system, and it’s damn fast, able to map anywhere between 70,000 and 240,000 square feet per day. Additional capabilities include live video, two-way audio, change detection, and support for sensor packages. The robot is being promoted as a facility maintenance device, but there’s a lot of inherent versatility in an automated mapping robot. It’s worth mentioning, I suppose, that the base unit for this robot is from Mobile Robots, who are responsible for these outrageous platforms.

[ Spatial Robotics ] VIA [ Spatial Robots ]

Although we’ve kinda seen this before, I was still impressed with how dainty this robot arm was as it placed each ball bearing, and then replaced them in their piles when the time changed. Even more impressive would be some faster servos that somehow let it operate on a 1hz as opposed to 1/60hz update speed (just imagine it!). I would be proud to have a clock like this in my home, especially if it could be hacked to play Chinese checkers.

VIA [ YouTube ]

Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally excited to see service robots designed for the average home consumer who wants some coffee with their onion rings. But the robotic assistants from Mobile Robots seem to offer very little while costing very much. In fact, the disparity between cost and functionality of these “home help” robots makes me think I must be missing something. You can choose from three models: “Jeeves,” “BrewskiBot,” and “Agent 007.” (Sigh.) All of the models feature the same bulky PatrolBot base, with electric drive motors, 12 sonar sensors, 10 bumper panels, and wireless control. It can handle payloads of up to 40kg, or 25kg on an 8:1 ramp. Jeeves “serves food or drink on a cheery tray” and costs $30,995. BrewskiBot “brings up to 2 six-packs in its mobile frig” and costs an extra $1000. What exactly do you get for that amount of money? Um, the bots are able to navigate your home (after you program in your floor plan by hand). They can avoid obstacles, and will say “excuse me” if their path is obstructed. They can either follow you around automatically, or execute scheduled trips. They also… Well… That’s actually it. The third model, Agent 007, costs $34,995 and includes a camera. It can wander around your house at random taking snapshots, and will let you know if you’ve left a door open. Home installation (which I guess would include mapping one floor of your house and plugging in the charging station) costs $5,000, and a 1 year/1000 mile warranty is included.

Why am I ridiculing these poor bots? Easy: they don’t DO anything that can possibly justify their price tag. The Agent 007 sentry robot that costs $35,000? Spyke costs 200 quid and does basically the same thing, arguably with more versatility. Same with WowWee’s RoboQuad. Even if they were advertised as development platforms (which, in these configurations, they aren’t), they’re still nineties robot technology with a nineties robot price tag.

[ Mobile Robots ] VIA [ Gearlog ]

When a company combines helicopters with robots that look suspiciously like Asimo, it makes us happy. Especially with Christmas right around the corner. Kyosho’s Robo Hopper stands about 6″ tall and you can operate him like pretty much any other remote controlled helicopter. In this case, you can scare humans everywhere into thinking that robots are taking over the world with tiny air vehicles. The Playstation like controller that comes with him is 2.4GHz with 2 channels and runs on 4 alkaline batteries. According to the company, it will support up to 25 flying machines at the same time. Robo Hopper will be available in Japan as well as online by December for $90.

Can you see it? Millions of tiny flying Asimos blotting out the sun. And our enslavement begins…

[Product Page] VIA [Gadgets Club]

You might remember Robosaurus, created 17 years ago by Monster Robots in Southern California. The 40-foot-high, 31-ton behemoth quickly became famous for crushing cars and breathing fire all over the country, before dwelling in the land of obscurity. Apparently, it’s current owner or owners are finally sick of burning and crushing all manner of large things. Robosaurus will be auctioned off during the annual Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona between January 12 to 20.

Interestingly, the metal beast is actually controlled by a pilot who occupies a cockpit inside the dinosaur’s head. All I can say is, that Pilot has incredible self control to have not gone all Godzilla on a small town or two. Just pray you don’t see this thing and it’s new owner coming down your street anytime soon.

[Robosaurus] VIA [Cnet]

In South Africa last Friday, an automated anti-aircraft cannon suffered a malfunction and went out of control, killing 9 soldiers and injuring 14. Initial reports suggested that it may have been a software error that caused the Oerlikon 35mm MK5 gun to “open fire uncontrollably,” but according to experts, the incident was more likely a mechanical failure and not due to some sort of robot freak-out.

We should clarify that although the anti-aircraft cannon was “automated,” it’s not technically “robotic.” Specifically, the gun will load itself and automatically track targets, but it will not fire by itself: a human operator has to do that. It’s essentially a remote controlled weapon, and shares that characteristic with many other weapons systems currently in use. The crucial distinction here is that the decision making process is centered around a person and not a computer. Of course, that doesn’t prevent something from going wrong, but according to Jim O’Halloran of defense publication Jane’s Land-Based Air Defense, it’s much more likely that a mechanical failure caused the accident:

“If a shell was jammed in the breech [which is what was observed to happen] and the cordite then fired, it could set off the ammunition in the canisters [which was also observed to happen],” says O’Halloran. The force of that explosion could easily spin the turret around, he notes. “It’s a very tragic accident, but it is not a robot gone out of control.”

It’s probably inevitable that accidents with automated, semi-autonomous, and/or fully robotic weapons systems will happen. But the idea behind all of these systems, and I think it’s a good one, is to remove humans from dangerous areas completely. Imagine if this anti-aircraft gun HAD been robotic instead of automated… Nobody would have been injured, because nobody would have been around.

VIA [ New Scientist ] and [ Danger Room ]