The video we took at Maker Faire of a rather graphic encounter between a Ugobe Pleo and a ComBot has made its rounds of the internet, and as you might expect, the response has been somewhat mixed. I have to admit, I can’t really watch it myself, it’s pretty disturbing, especially since it goes on for a long, long time. Pleo is just too cute and friendly for that sort of thing, and I don’t even own one. People who DO own Pleos have been getting seriously upset, and Ugobe has taken notice. I’d like to restate unambiguously for the record that the Pleo in the video was an unsolicited donation by the Ugobe people at Maker Faire, but it now looks like that despite the wave of publicity it provided, Ugobe at large wasn’t particularly pleased with what happened… ugobeSarah posted this response on the PleoWorld Forum:

Hey all,

The folks that were behind this stunt did it without authorization or approval. It seems the prankster spirit overcame them, and FYI, there was quite a ruckus here in the office about it today. Many people were shocked and appalled, including the UGOBE reps at our Maker Faire booth!

We ourselves make emotional bonds with Pleo too!

Thanks for your concern! It is perhaps a small consolation to know that the Pleo destroyed was a factory prototype?

It won’t happen again under our watch!

I’m finding this whole situation pretty fascinating. When it comes right down to it, what’s the difference between the Pleo in the video and the ComBot that destroyed it? They’re both robots that can’t think or feel in the broader sense; they just execute commands based on external stimuli. Sure, Pleo looks cute and all. But more importantly, Pleo is sophisticated enough to get humans to suspend (to some extent) their disbelief in the fact that Pleo is made of servos, circuit boards, and lines and lines of code. We (yes, I’m one of those people) can get emotionally attached to this completely artificial life form and get upset on principle when one of them is needlessly and violently destroyed. It’s not just the emotional attachment, either: it’s the subsequent reminder that underneath Pleo’s cute exterior and adorable personality lie something incomprehensible and alien.

So, keep your skin on, Pleo. Maintain the illusion, because I want to believe that you’re alive.

[ PleoWorld ]

Yes, RoboSapien can sometimes be pretty badass. But does that mean that it’s a good idea to make him the lead character in a feature film? I’m skeptical. Apparently, WowWee has signed over the rights to produce a “feature-length motion picture inspired by WowWee’s Robosapien robot.” This movie will be called Robosapien: Rebooted (!), and will “combine a compelling live action story with the most advanced computer-generated imagery.” Needless to say, “under the agreement, WowWee will have the exclusive worldwide right to market toy merchandise associated with the film and its characters, and would receive a share of the income from all other merchandising associated with the film.” The movie will be produced by Avi Arad, who has worked on the X-Men series, the Spider-Man series, and Bratz: The Movie.

I don’t mean to sound jaded, but this sounds more like a way for WowWee to market toys than a serious movie effort, and if it ends up being lame (and how many movies inspired by products have actually turned out well?), it’s going to reflect badly on the robots and a company that makes some totally cool stuff. I hope I’ve got it all wrong, I really do… But, the production company (Crystal Sky Pictures) is currently working on the next Rob Schneider movie. ‘Nuff said.

[ CNN Press Release ] VIA [ RSN ]

The Bow Shooting Mechanized Boy Robot is a fully functional archer, who never misses his target. Well, as long as the target remains stationary. He pulls an arrow from the his quiver beside him, then loads the bow, aims and fires. Sure, it’s not maniacal robot carnage or anything, but the clockwork art of this mechanical device is to be appreciated. It’s made in the traditional style of traditional Japanese Karakuri puppets, which are mechanized dolls that date back to at least the 17th century.

Simple and elegant, it consists of the pedestal, the boy, and a hanging target. The craftsmanship outside is matched within, by the complexity of the gear assemblies. The English instructions make for quite a read, with over 50 pages, detailing everything. You get almost everything you need in the kit: tools, gears and parts. It also comes completely assembled for $300. Check out the video after the jump.
(Read more…)

When you hear about a robot that makes food or drink of any kind, your first thought is that the end result must be good, right? Otherwise, why bother using a robot at all? Surely a robot must be capable of making a great cup of joe. I’m sure that’s the case. However, this robot from the DEXMART project, known as Justine, while being agile enough and precise enough to make coffee, only makes the instant variety. I guess they figure it’s a start, and maybe the bot will go on to better things one day, but I think I’ll pass.

Naples University Professor Bruno Siciliano heads the project. He believes that useful, two-armed robots are only now being realized. After all, one-armed robots work a variety of jobs, like assembling cars. He thinks that the era of the two-armed robot is at hand and that they will revolutionize our lives in less that 15 years.

[DEXMART] VIA [Dvice]

Remember Wall-E? He showed up again during the Superbowl, I’m told… Not being a fan of American pansy-ball, I didn’t bother to watch. If you didn’t either, here’s the clip, which is very cute and SFW as long as you’re not a horny robot:

What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off?

After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL•E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

Joining WALL•E on his fantastic journey across a universe of never-before-imagined visions of the future, is a hilarious cast of characters including a pet cockroach, and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots.

WALL•E comes to theaters on June 27, 2008!

End of June? Bah! Not soon enough!

[ Wall-E ]

The blind have been using seeing eye dogs for a long time. In fact, the relationship between man and dog has worked out very well for those with handicaps. Some dogs even help paralyzed humans do all kinds of things around the house. So it was only a matter of time before robot dogs start showing up to help ease the workload of their flesh and blood counterparts. After all, no matter how useful a dog is to a handicapped owner, there are some things it just can’t do.

When was the last time a seeing eye dog read a book to it’s blind owner, for instance? RED the robotic dog, an acronym for Reading Eye Dog, does just that for the blind and reading impaired. Just hold a book up for RED to see and it’ll read the words on the page out loud so the person or persons can hear. Plus, the screen on the back of the dog allows viewers to follow along as RED reads, visually matching the highlighted words with RED’s voice.

It’s a concept for the moment, but is a great replacement for the audiobook, and would be a great addition to the classroom.

[Onomy] VIA [Red Ferret]

The Tokyo fire department has a well rounded robot helper, saving lives and keeping fire fighters safe. It moves using caterpiller tracks, so can roam over just about any terrain. Equipped with a camera and various other sensors, it is capable of measuring the level of carbon dioxide and combustible gases in the air.

If it encounters obstacles, they are not obstacles for long, thanks to two arms which can be controlled to clear obstructions in it’s path. The arms can be fitted with water or foam dispensers to aid in battling the fires themselves. Should fire fighters need to get an unconscious victim out of harm’s way, the robot has a special area where the patient can be secured and then taken away quickly.

I can easily imagine this robot coming in very handy for fire fighters in many areas, but somehow I don’t think they get much use out of it’s special features in the streets of Tokyo.

[New Launches]

WowWee has introduced Rovio, a new “telepresence” robot with the latest in micro-GPS technology from Evolution Robotics. Rovio has a Wi-Fi-enabled Web-cam that allows you to patrol your home while you’re away, from an Internet-enabled PC, console or mobile phone.

With the new GPS system you can drive the robot with shortcut “go-to” commands, like “go to the kitchen”, to make it easy to control the robot remotely over the Web or from your mobile phone. It also has a “patrol mode” where it will automatically send you pictures of specific locations you want to check.

Another cool feature is it’s ability to autonomously guide itself back on course if, say your kids pick it up and move it. When it gets thirsty for energy, it can navigate to its charging station from anywhere in the house, and dock with pinpoint accuracy.

It’s expected to launch in the second half of the year.

[Wowwee]

“Mr. Personality” is one of WowWee’s new fun companion-robots. He sure looks like he has a sense of humor, but whether he actually does remains to be seen. He displays his personality on an LCD screen that features animated and synced facial features. He will tell jokes, read your daily fortune and even answer any questions about the future. The user can download new personalities from the Internet via USB or an SD card.

Mr. Personality has a fully animated upper body, color LCD screen, several play modes like Bits, Crystal Ball, Fortune Cookies, as well as demo modes. He is also supposedly capable of detecting and avoiding obstacles with great success. He will tell you when he falls or when the batteries are running low. Other features include: a three-wheeled omni-directional motion base, 7 motors, 4 IR sensors, a built-in microphone for taking voice memos, 64 MByte of built-in memory, audio input connector and he requires 6 “C” batteries. The remote controller requires 3 AAA batteries. All in all, a pretty interesting fairly different robot.

[Wowwee]

Aside from looking like he is having his way with your iPhone from behind, this robot with the blender-looking head is pretty nifty. The Spykee Cell is another build-it-yourself robot from Meccano. It’s remote controlled via Bluetooth from a cellphone and can move and snap pictures, then transmit them back to the cellphone for permanent storage. The loudspeaker module gives it the capability of becoming a hands-free set, if you want to speak and hear through the robot.

[Spykeeworld]