First off, I want to apologize for my lack of updates this week… BotJunkie doesn’t exactly put all that many amps in my Roomba, if you take my meaning, and my ::cough:: “real” job is sucking up most of my sanity at the moment. If only I had, I dunno, some sort of artificial intelligent mechanical system to do all of my grunt work for me so that I could blog about robots all day and night. Hmm, someone should get on that. Anyhow, enough about me, let’s talk about fish:

This is a bream. A sea bream. A robotic sea bream. Robotic fish are not at all uncommon, but they tend to be either very pretty or unapologetically functional. This fish, named “Tai-robot-kun” (meaning something “robot” something”), has a nice, balanced combination of both prettiness and functionality blended into an entirely realistic body. The prettiness comes from being anatomically correct (on the outside, at least) and sporting hand painted (!) scales. As for functionality, it’s got a bunch of different cameras and sensors and is designed to be dropped in the ocean to do autonomous research without disturbing the residents. Since it looks like a fish, and swims like a fish, I imagine it will be quite successful, until it gets eaten.

The fishbot isn’t supposed to be too expensive and is designed to be mass produced. The designers, from the University of Kitakyushu in Japan, are also reportedly working on a robotic manta ray that should operate on a similar (but way more awesome) principle.

VIA [ Pink Tentacle ]

Playing soccer with humanoid robots is one thing; getting them to play soccer by themselves is something else entirely. The following video may not impress you much, but just remember, these robots are built and programmed by (for lack of a better word) amateurs, and they’re playing soccer without human intervention. The only bit of realism this game is missing are robots falling over left and right, grabbing their servos and screaming in agony:

And for all you soccer (football/futbol) fans out there, don’t get your shinguards in a twist, I’m just kidding… I’m a soccer player myself. Here, watch this (if you haven’t already), be amazed. Yeah, soccer robots have a little ways to go yet.

VIA [ Gizmodo ]

Edit- This is totally off the topic of robots, but I just watched that soccer video again, and my god, soccer is SO AWESOME. It’s the BEST SPORT EVER… besides badminton and curling.

Back in January when I saw previews of WowWee’s TriBot and FemiSapien at CES, I thought they were pretty cool, but I wasn’t exactly sure what they could be used for. Well, now I know:

Poor little FemiSapiens. So sexy, so dismembered.

VIA [ SlipperyBrick ]

I have some bad news: the Perfect Woman that we were promised a month ago won’t be showing up at your house. Ever. Not unless the love of your life is likely to be a set of personal grooming accessories, anyway. Have a look for yourself, if you like, but all you’re going to get is an all too brief robot pole dance followed by some sort of electronic seizure.

For those of you who (like me) don’t speak French, the site goes on to tell you something about how women are already perfect (of course they are), and then tries to sell you a Philips electric razor and Nivea for men shaving conditioner. I’m more than a little bit confused… Was this supposed to be some sort of viral marketing thing? ‘Cause if it was, it sucked. They could have done so much more, especially considering how many people bought into the video.

[ Perfect Woman ] VIA [ Robot Living ]

When we wrote about the super tiny 16 gram DelFly MAV (micro air vehicle) last November, we promised that there were even smaller versions in the works, including the DelFly Micro at 5 grams. Looks like that was an overestimation, as the DelFly micro has had its maiden flight and it tips the scales at an incredibly tiny 3.07 grams. What do you get for 3.07 grams? Everything you could ask for, pretty much… The ornithopter has a 10 centimeter wingspan, is fully remote controllable, and includes an onboard camera that streams video to a base station:

The video isn’t much to write home about, but it’s easily sufficient to distinguish people and objects. It’s also apparently enough for some image recognition software to tell the DelFly where to go, but that’s a work in progress. At the size of a largeish dragonfly, this thing isn’t exactly invisible, but I imagine it’s fairly easy to mistake for something natural, if for no other reason than something the size of your palm flapping around doesn’t scream “spy robot” to most people. But don’t worry, according to the website, it’s just for science. ::cough:: Just in case the DelFly Micro isn’t quite subtle enough, Delft University of Technology is working on a bite size ‘nano’ version, which should operate at half the size of this one.

[ DelFly ] VIA [ IEEE Automaton ]

If you have more than a passing interest in robotics, specifically humanoid robotics, you should take a look at this episode of Revision3’s Systm. The guest is David Calkins, purveyor of robot violence, robot drunkenness, and occasionally robot wisdom. He talks about the basic design and features of android hobby bots, and if you can get the video to work (I had to use ::gag:: IE), it’s worth watching. All 40 minutes of it. Seriously, I promise.

[ Direct link to video, may require a lame browser ]

The great thing about getting a humanoid robotic kit (as opposed to trying to build one yourself) is that all of the hardest and most tedious work is done for you. You get a robust and reliable platform upon which to add, tweak, mod, hack, whatever… All without having to deal with misshapen servo brackets and toxic combinations of duct tape and super glue.

As far as the software goes, as long as you don’t let it intimidate you, writing code is actually pretty easy. People have a tendency to look at computer code and just freak out and run away, but once you get used to the appearance and general structure of it, it’s far easier to understand (IMO) than a second (non-English) language. ‘Course, that’s just my opinion as a 100% self-taught code geek, but I’ve taught some bona-fide technological luddites how to program simple things in Excel VBA. Once they agreed to look at what was going on, they found it readily comprehensible. Trust me, just give it a try, it’s not so bad.

If you’ve got the stamina to make it to the end of the video (not the very end, where things dissolve into manly giggling), David comments that “next year’s RoboGames, we’re doing full-on Mechwarrior.” Robots. Shooting each other with airsoft. And using flamethrowers. FLAMETHROWERS. Is it next year yet?

If you like the RoboNova RN1 (the one in the video), you can buy it directly from RoboGames fully assembled and ready to walk for $950, which is over $200 (!) cheaper than other online retailers. With 16 digital servos and motion-capture software, it’s pretty much ready for RoboGames competition right out of the box. Click here to pick one up, and we’ll see you next year at RoboGames.

[ Systm ]

Crab Fu’s YouTube channel just keeps on serving up silicone nuggets of homebuilt roboty goodness. Seriously, does this guy ever sleep?

Cute, no? All it needs to do to replace a real golfer is to wear plaid pants (just picture that) and take 5 bazillion little tiny steps with its tracks before it putts the ball. Of course, I was way more impressed when I thought (at first) that the bot was golfing on its own… I should have known better, though, based on Crab Fu’s previous creations. And hey, if you like his stuff, you should totally give him a job.

[ Crab Fu ]

If there’s one complaint I have about humanoid robots, it’s how unapologetically servo-y they are. A slick black bodyshell goes a long way, as the Black Ox by Vstone robotics sexily demonstrates. He’s only 44 centimeters (under a foot and a half) tall, but he has a respectable 22 joints, gyro sensors, and an accelerometer, as well as glowy LED eyes and pointy horns. All in all, he’s pretty wicked looking, and as such, he’ll set you back a not entirely unexpected (but still fairly ludicrous) $7450 for one of the 15 remaining of the set of 30. He won’t be available until September, giving you plenty of time to win the lottery.

Full body pic and a video, after the jump. (Read more…)

If you aren’t one of the 92,640,260 people who have watched the Evolution Of Dance on YouTube, it’s Friday, and you have nothing better to spend six minutes on (trust me). Well, except maybe for this video, which will be a lot funnier if you’ve watched the original:

My favorite part? The transition from Sir Mix-a-Lot’s Baby Got Back to Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping. Hilaaaarious.

VIA [ Gizmodo ]

We’re all familiar with Asimov’s Three (or four) Laws of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

But did you know there are 27 more? Some of them are eminently practical:

10. A robot, when given contradictory orders by two human beings, and assuming those orders do not violate the First Law, must decide which order to follow based on which human being has a deeper voice.

20. A robot should not jump in the swimming pool to save a drowning boy, because it will just electrocute everyone and then we are worse off than when we started.

Some of them are, well, a bit less so…

13. A robot ought to spend some time outdoors, because it is such a nice day.

But hey, who am I to criticize? Robots need fresh air and exercise too. Check out the rest of the list over at Somethingawful.

[ Somethingawful ] Thanks Andrew!