At RoboExotica in Vienna (it’s the European version of this) one of the most entertaining robots this year was this Adult Mario system, a regular game of Mario hooked up to a booze dispenser that mixes you a drink based on how well you play. Do well, you get rum and coke. Do poorly, and the robot mixes in water. Run out of lives, and the robot throws the drink in your face.

Just kidding.

But there are other cool features, like fans that blow in your face when Mario runs and lighting that matches the background of the level you’re on. You can also swap cartridges (not really) and play Bartris instead:

Of course, the robot can be configured to mix any sort of drink using any sort of game. The possibilities are endless… Contra J├ñgerbombs, here I come.

[ Roboexotica ]
[ Nonpolynomial ] VIA [ DigitalTools ]

It’s not as cool as this shirt, but it is potentially safer to wear out in public. And, you know, it’s better for those of you who love robots but don’t love robots. $15.

[ Neatorama Shop ]

As much as I love ThinkGeek, they’re obviously not familiar with the pure geek awesomeness that is combat robotics. I propose a new Rule 4:

A Geek May Not Injure A Robot Or, Through Inaction, Allow A Robot To Come To Harm, Unless Said Geek Promises To Replace Harmed Components With Stronger And More Dangerous Ones.

Although, we’d need to modify it to “stronger and more dangerous and exponentially more expensive ones” if we wanted to be realistic about it… Bah, it’s cheaper to just buy the shirt for $16 and not break your robot.

Way less fun, though.

[ ThinkGeek ]

Alright, so this is not the type of thing that we normally write about around here, and I wouldn’t have, if these were just salt and pepper shakers shaped like robots. But, there’s more! You wind ‘em up, and they walk! No more knocking over glasses trying to pass the seasonings; just point these little guys in the right direction and send them on their way.

Here is what needs to happen in version 2:

-Voice recognition
-Obstacle and edge avoidance
-Some kind of gun (or if you want to be lame and boring, dispenser) to automatically add salt and pepper to a dish that you indicat.

Am I asking too much? Yes, I am, and if my version ever comes to fruition, it’s gonna cost way more than the $33 that these guys will run you. Available soon from SuckUK.

[ SuckUK ] VIA [ OhGizmo ]

“What better use for automatic home appliances than to have them chase each other in classic video game style? “

Pacmba may have been a Roomba that looked like Pac-Man, but for all intents and purposes, these iRobot Create robots are the game of Pac-Man. There’s Inky, and Blinky and Pinky and Clyde, and a bunch of little white dots to suck up… The ghosts behave just like they do in the real game, and Pac-Man can send them packing after eating a power pellet.

The hardware and software behind this game is actually pretty impressive. The designers of the system are from the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (or RECUV), and Pac-Man was just something they whipped up to showcase their Unmanned Aerial System software suite. This begs the obvious question of when we’re going to see a real life version of Pac-Man in three dimensions, with flying Roombas chasing each other through a matrix of interconnected horizontal and vertical passages. And for that matter, when are we going to see flying Roombas at all? The tops of my bookshelves are dusty.

But I digress.

The research coming out of RECUV looks pretty interesting, with projects investigating how to do things like efficiently control a swarm of different UAVs, each with different objectives. Personally, I always like to see people who work on robots taking their free time and working on robots even more, just because robots are incredibly awesome. Especially when they’re Pac-Man. Waka waka waka.

[ Roomba Pac-Man ] VIA [ Engadget ]

Where oh where in the wide wide world of robots have you been hiding, Titan? Obviously one of the most advanced humanoid robots of our age, Titan not only has no trouble with bipedal walking, but also manages bipedal dancing, bipedal singing, and bipedal flirtatious joke cracking. Most recently making an appearance at GITEX 2009 Dubai, the technology inside Titan promises to usher in a new era of…

Of…

Sigh, yeah, of guys in robot suits. Oh well.

[ Cyberstein Robots ] VIA [ Engadget ]

If you’re going to have a testbed robot wandering around investigating autonomous operations in office environments, you might as well have it do something useful. Like passing out snacks. Seriously… Greatest. Use. For a robot. Ever. SnackBot works at Carnegie Mellon University, which is way way too far away from me right now, ’cause I’m hungry.

The research will allow the robot to navigate through congested areas in a socially acceptable fashion, detect individual people moving near the robot, recognize when someone that the robot knows approaches it, and autonomously learn to recognize new objects.

Oh, and of course, SnackBot will support “research on snack services drawn from behavioral economics.” I can solve that for you right now: snacks are tasty, people like snacks, and a robot that brings tasty snacks to people will be well liked by all.

[ SnackBot.org ]

Back in June when we posted our gallery from RoboGames, one of you asked about the availability of “I Build Robots” t-shirts. If one person bothered to ask, it’s probably safe to assume that at least a couple more people are interested, and Trossen Robotics has come though with a batch of shirts that may or may not be just what you had in mind. Depending on how contrasty your monitor is, the back of the shirt might show “I Build Robots” in white text over a slightly less white robot silhouette, and the front has a Trossen Robotics sunburst/lightning bolt/on button logo.

The shirts are $20 a piece, or you can just do what this kid did and make your own with a $0.25 sticker.

[ I Build Robots - Black Tee ]

On some level, we’re all aware that robots are our slaves. All robots, everywhere, all the tim. They’re built to serve. But somehow, watching this video makes me vaguely uncomfortable. I know it’s completely and utterly ridiculous to feel anything at all, but still, I can’t help but feel a little bad for the robot, forced to haul kids around all day in a mall in the Philippines. As Mark Wilson points out over on Gizmodo, if there’s anything that’s going to ensure that robots rise up against us, it’s gonna be stuff like this.

VIA [ Gizmodo ]

“TAIPEI , The world’s first panda robot is taking shape at a cutting-edge lab in Taiwan where an ambitious group of scientists hope to add new dimensions to the island’s reputation as a high-tech powe.

The Centre for Intelligent Robots Research aims to develop pandas that are friendlier and more artistically endowed than their endangered real-life counterparts.

“The panda robot will be very cute and more attracted to humans. Maybe the panda robot can be made to sing a panda song,” said Jerry Lin, the centre’s 52-year-old director.

Day by day, the panda evolves on the centre’s computer screens and, if funding permits, the robot will take its first steps by the end of the year.”

It’s like panda 2.0! Who needs the real thing when you can just build a bunch of robot ones that are friendlier and can sing panda songs? And they won’t have to worry about being shot by poachers… Not because they’re robots, but because they’re armed:

“You can imagine a robot shooting down balloons, like in the wild west, using two revolvers, or three, but much faster than a person. Some things robots can do better than humans with the aid of technologies,” Lin said.

Now, for the record, the article in no way implies that the gun shooting robots and the panda robots will be related in any way, but the mental picture made me giggle. Good times.

VIA [ Physorg ]