Dealing with IEDs is never an easy task, even for a robot. Foster Miller has upgraded their Talon Gen IV Engineering bot to better be able to perform surveillance of vehicles and, if necessary, handle IEDs and other objects. Most of the improvements come from a significantly stronger and more agile manipulator arm, which can now rotate at the shoulder to cover 360 degrees, can extend out to 7 feet (a 2 foot improvement), and lifts up to 65 pounds, a strength increase of 225% over the previous version of the robot. Also new are touchscreens and gamepads for control. It looks like all this is designed to make safe disposal of large IEDs (like those based off of 105mm artillery shells) easier, faster, and safer.

[ Foster Miller Talon ] VIA [ Robot Living ]

Pocket Lint has been checking out the 2009 Toy Fair in NYC, and they’ve spotted some of LEGO’s new Mindstorms NXT kits. The 2.0 version has a new sensor that can differentiate between colors, it can store and display images on its LCD, and it can also play back sounds. The kit will cost about $280 when it becomes available later this year… Watch some of the new models shoot stuff and try to bite you, after the jump. (Read more…)

Yeah baby, just look at those horns… You won’t want to mess with either of these robots, especially since they’re six and a half feet tall and weigh 165 pounds. Not that they’ll actually do anything if you mess with them, since they’re made of resin and don’t move or transform or blow stuff up or anything. Shame. Price available on request.

[ Yab Design ] VIA [ Nerd Approved ]

Skynet Research has had robots operating in undisclosed locations for a while now, and it’s only recently that we’ve gotten some more information about what this clandestine robotics and artificial intelligence company has been working on recently. Obviously, Skynet has been focusing primarily on military assets, such as the MAGS (Mobile Aerial Ground Support) urban warfare quadraped in the above picture, which features a squadron of autonomous surveillance microdrones. However, they also have a fabrication assembly bot and a search and rescue robot, among other non-classified products.

Trossen Robotics talked to one of the Skynet researchers, and learned about some of the new hardware and software under development: “The Model 101 Enhancement Module that is being provided for evaluation is some sort of Neural Networking microprocessor with built in wifi capability, used for relaying sensory data back to a central AI hub that is scheduled to go online in the near future.” AWESOME! I can’t WAIT for that to happen. It’ll be the beginning of a bright new future for the human race, full of happy robots doing whatever we want them to and protecting us from weapons of mass destruction and stuff. Yay!!!

Skynet Research is also interested in your robotics ideas, and if they like your concept, they might give you some of their hardware to play around with. Read the Skynet community development press release, after the jump. (Read more…)

This is the story of Dave, the solar powered zombie Furby:

When furbies first came out i wanted one so very much. i thought my cat could snuggle up with it and it would chat and keep her company while i was at work… hmm well she saw the beast and ran away so that didn’t work.

but i loved my furby… for oh at least a month… then one night at around 4.00am he woke me up screaming, his eyes jammed shut his mouth open just screaming this horrible noise.

now i think he was trying to tell me his batteries had died but it was the crunch as he hit the wall after i threw him that finished him off.

poor dave, rip.

then recently i came across his still corpse and decided to bring him to life in true frankenstein stylie.

he was skinned and gutted and had a small solar motor joined to his motor. he was then mounted on a plinth.

when he has stored enough energy from the sun his eyes, mouth and ears move in a frankly eerie fashion. zombie furby gonna get ya :)

Dave is for sale for $95 on Etsy.

[ tinyminds ] VIA [ 7Gadgets ]

This robotic head of Michael Jackson is from the movie Moonwalker, which you can watch in its entirety on YouTube if you can’t find any worse ways of spending an hour. Pieces of the head expand outward at the push of a button, the whole thing lights up, and then the pieces slide back into place. Here’s the scene… Don’t worry, I’ve set up the YouTube vid so that it skips directly to MJ going roboto, minimizing the amount of time you have to see Joe Pesci with a ponytail erection:

Estimated selling price: $2000 – $3000.

[ The Guardian ] VIA [ RGS ]

Hitec has just released a couple upgrades for the RoboNova, including some powered gripper hands (using HSR-8498HB servos), a radio control module and 4 channel FM controller to replace the IR controller, and an acceleration sensor that outputs analog tilt values and connects directly to the microcontroller board. The grippers will cost about $160, the FM controller and receiver should be about $150 (or about $50 for just the receiver if you’ve got your own controller), and you can get the accelerometer for around $45.

If you don’t yet have a RoboNova, you can get one (and support RoboGames!) by clicking here. If want one but aren’t sure if you’ll be able to handle it, check out this video from System that shows just how easy it is.

[ Hitec RoboNova ] VIA [ Robot Watch (Translated) ]

This is an interesting concept… Entrepreneur/artist Michael Marcovicia envisions a system called UNITX (united networks international transport exchange) that, at some point in the future, will deliver goods within large urban areas. The system depends on logibots, which will zip around in a network of electrified underground tunnels:

The logibots are able to transport up to 4 boxes with dimensions of up to 60x60x45 cm. They can travel with a top speed of 50 km/h, not only able to move forward and backward, but also up and down in the corridors. This way, sending and receiving merchandise or items in general becomes much easier. Deliveries will only take 20 minutes on average, no packaging is required, special logibots could offer cooling or freezing services, X-Ray or bomb detection.

The little knobbly things on the corners are called Vclimbs. When traveling through the tunnels horizontally, the Vclimbs keep the logibot suspended while it’s propelled along by wheels. To move vertically, the Vclimbs rotate and the logibot climbs or descends.

Marcovicia says that “the implementation of UNITX could change the economy dramatically, the repairing and borrowing of goods will be much easier, and logistics and warehousing would undergo fundamental changes as well; also, the relation between producer and customer could be enhanced radically, with UNITX holding potential for a completely new dimension of service on a much more personal and individual level.” That all might be true, but it’s going to take a heck of a lot of infrastructure to get something like this up and running… And I mean, when you think about the effort involved, sending packages through the mail is already pretty damn cheap and convenient.

[ UNITX ] VIA [ Core77 ]

It’s so obvious that the US of A is just not the best place to be if you have a robot addiction to feed. There are a few notable exceptions, of course, but we don’t get $559 million to built a robot theme park. South Korea, on the other hand, does. Scheduled to begin construction in 2010 and open to the public by 2012, the park will feature robot entertainment and exhibitions, but also research and development centers, education buildings and industrial support facilities… It’s not just designed to boost the economy in the Incheon region, but also to actively advance the Korean robotics industry.

And it’s got a monorail and a GIANT ROBOT STATUE that looks to be about 50 stories tall. I wonder how much of a discount I can get if I buy my tickets three years in advance…

[ Korea Herald ] VIA (appropriately enough) [ Robotland ]

Along with standard events like robot soccer, the 2009 Singapore Robot Games had some competitions I’ve never seen before, like this one, for wall climbing robots (thanks to Society of Robots for the footage):

I can think of one or two (or three or four) other robots that it would be fun to see in an event like that.

And as always, the big reason to watch the micromouse competition is for the lightning fast final runs that take place after the micromouse learns the maze:

[ SRG ] VIA [ Society of Robots ]