Why would you get your kids a real live pet for Xmas when you could get them a robotic one called Pleo that doesn’t require feeding, won’t chew up your clothes, and has an off switch. Plus, it’s cuter. I swear. This thing is just horrifically adorable. And it’s now only $249 (that’s 100 off), from Amazon. Did I mention it communes with dolphins and fights Combots (sort of)? I’d like to see any actual pets try that.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ RSN ]

Well, I don’t know, what would YOU call it? It’s a walking driving rideable motorcycle robo dog thing that also happens to breathe fire. And its name is Lrry. It was constructed by the Mutoid Waste Company in London because, as far as I can tell, they wanted to and they could. And it’s 100% recycled, yay! Have a look:

[ Mutoid Waste Company (winner of the horribly retro website award) ] VIA [ Gizmowatch ]

Roombas never listen to you. No matter how many times you tell them to stop trying to vacuum up your foot or terrorizing the cats, they just don’t get it. Figura Inc., a Japanese company, has put together a prototype of a cleaning robot that will do what you tell it to, or so they say. The I Figura robot has a powerful vacuum (as well as an optional floor waxing unit) and, like the Roomba, can navigate autonomously to clean rooms and avoid obstacles. It has some interesting features, like automated charging and a fairly complicated wireless computer control system, but it also responds to verbal commands, like “clean up,” or “get out of the way:”

Well, I’m sure that would have made a lot more sense if I understood high-pitched Japanese robot-speak. The I Figura cleaning robot is scheduled to be available in April of 2009 for an undisclosed but probably really damn expensive price.

VIA [ Robot-Watch (Translated) ]

WowWee’s Rovio is one of the first potentially practical, sort of low cost, slightly flexible telepresence robots that you can go to the store and buy, and if you’ve been thinking about getting one, WowWee is giving you the opportunity to try it out first. You can sign up for 5 minutes to try remotely driving a Rovio around a swanky apartment that’s not yours. It’s only available from 9am to 9pm, so my guess is that there’s somebody hiding in the bedroom in case you drive the Rovio through a window or something. If you manage to do this (or anything else destructive or otherwise hilarious), for heaven’s sake get a screenshot and send it to me.

In the meantime, Register Hardware has a nice review of the Rovio up, which might help you decide whether or not it’s worth $300.

[ Meet Rovio ] VIA [ Mr. Future ]

First let me say that the thing you’re about to see is designed to keep you safe, even though it totally doesn’t look like it. Lockheed Martin’s Multiple Kill Vehicle is a system designed to intercept and destroy incoming ballistic missiles, the more advanced of which now come with a whole fleet of decoy warheads. The MKV-L autonomously maneuvers through the decoys and releases smaller destroyer vehicles to deal with whatever it decides is dangerous. The impressive part is the autonomous tracking and maneuvering, which you can see in the video below:

It doesn’t seem like this thing should be able achieve a rock solid hover under just rocket power. Like, it’s creepily stable. My guess is that it’s got some kind of super sensitive inertial measurement unit (one that works in zero g) that is uses to compensate for any unwanted motion, including (in this case) the downward one caused by gravity.

See it hovering from a few different angles in another video, after the jump. (Read more…)

On the spectrum of innovative ways of controlling robots, I’d put vocal control near the top, followed perhaps by step control. Neither are especially practical, though. An innovative method of robot control that I could totally get used to is vision control, where hey presto, the robot just goes wherever you look.

The robot in the above video is based on nothing more than a Lego NXT system. A webcam streams data back to a computer, where a second webcam watches you watching the webcam image on the computer. Got it? Cool. Software on the computer analyzes the video to find your pupils, and it extrapolates where you’re looking, and sends the robot in that direction. In principle, the tracking software doesn’t have to rely on just your eyes… Blinking or moving your head or making any other distinctive facial motions (a Spock-style eyebrow raise, for example) could be used to control other features on the bot. Furthermore, eye control leaves both of your hands entirely free to work things like manipulator arms and hands.

If I were these guys, I’d go straight to DARPA for some additional funding, since the ability to control a robot without having to put down your gun seems like a nice feature. Oh wait, they’re Danish… Damn. We’d better just surrender now.

[ Gaze Interaction ] VIA [ Engadget ]

Looking to get that certain special someone a present that screams “get off your ass and clean the gutters?” Look no further: the iRobot Looj (you know, like “luge”) now costs only $70 shipped direct from iRobot. It takes a potentially dirty and dangerous job and passes it off to a little green robot with a handle and some adorable tank treads. Which is good, I guess… Seriously, though, how many people have gutters that need cleaning often enough to justify buying a purpose-built robot that you still need to climb a ladder to deploy? Give us a robotic lawnmower, already.

[ iRobot Looj ] VIA [ RSN ]

While looking up the ABB Capoeira Challenge on YouTube, I ran across this video of a dance piece choreographed for an ABB robot and a human dancer. Called Actuator, the piece premiered in Finland last May, and was choreographed by Thomas Freundlich. It’s interesting, but like the Capoeira thing, there appears to be a very limited amount of actual human robot interaction, and a lot more human and robot doing their own thing on opposite ends of the stage. I’m still waiting for someone to take full advantage of the strength robot arms have to offer, and use them to chuck people around. In an artsy way, of course.

See how Freundlich made it happen, after the jump. (Read more…)

I guess someone over at ABB though it might be a good idea to show off how flexible and powerful their new line of IRB 4600 industrial robots by putting one up against a professional Brazilian capoeira fighter named Edison. Good in concept, but I’m not sure how well it works out as a piece of robot promotional material… Have a look for yourself:

The IRB 4600 certainly is quick, with a 25% faster cycle time than other robots in its class. It can lift up to 60 kg, and has position repeatability as good as 0.03 millimeters. If the video almost sold you, you can check out the other two in the series here.

[ ABB IRB 4600 ]

There are bad ideas, and there are great ideas. I’m not sure which one this is, but I like it… Some enterprising guys from Flightography.com rigged up a Magpie AP R/C airplane with some water balloon bombs and unleashed mild naughtiness on their suburban neighborhood.

The Magpie AP is designed specifically for aerial photography (hence the “AP”), and comes with a tilting camera mount built into the body. Slap a cheap digicam in there, and maybe a servo to control the shutter (or just leave it on video mode), and you’re good to go.

[ Flightography ] VIA [ Hacked Gadgets ]