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You know the little Power Wheels-style ATV your kid uses to drive across the lawn? it turns out that it makes a great machine gun drone in the hands of Libyan rebel, and structural engineer, Mohammad Bin Saud. More »
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Robot, or Enthiran, is the most expensive Bollywood science fiction film ever created. It manages to combine features of the Matrix, Transformers, I, Robot and basically every other robot film you've ever seen into an explosive orgy of androids. More »
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Computer-controlled, multi-axis assembly robots are the Carpocalypse's forgotten unemployed. Once, they built our cars; now, they sit dormant. What else are they good for? Here are ten jobs that might be a good fit. More »
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Astronauts, America's beloved cowboys, are pissed about the Obama Administration killing manned spaceflight programs. Sounds like the right time for GM to brag about its astronaut-replacing R2 space robot NASA's sending into space this year. Launching tone-deaf PR in five... More »
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The third of Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics" states a robot must protect itself as long as such protection does not involve harming a human or disobeying orders. Therefore, the disturbing man-bot can't kill Wert for taunting him. More »
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A traffic stop led to a car chase and now a police standoff between the Secret Service, LAPD, a laser-shooting robot and the President-threatening passengers of this red VW Beetle. The health care debate has officially gone wacky. [FoxNews] More »
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The Honda Walking Assist Devices attempt to augment human mobility with robotic power. Earlier today I took the futuristic prototypes for an exclusive "first outdoors spin" in Times Square. More »
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Honda plans to take over the world, starting with the Rose Bowl parade. Their tool of destruction? A five story tall ASIMO robot. We for one, welcome our new robotic vanilla overlords. More »
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Leaked photos of a clay mold for a cheap Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy of the Corvette Centennial Concept may be showing us the robot mode for a character we're told will be called either "Hot Rod" or "Stinger." So cheap in fact, it doesn’t actually transform, instead relying on a carved depiction on the underside to please the robot-loving kiddies. The interesting thing is the 2D robot’s design is nearly identical to the supposedly fan-made Stinger renderings that leaked last week, clearly showing large double-edge blades in place of hands. More »
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We keep telling you the robot wars are going to happen any day now, and you just don't listen. While this is more like some version of a robot dog nipping at your heels, we still don't know what the mechanical marvel is going to do with that ball when he catches his prey. Okay, we kid, we're pretty sure this is another one of those TARDEC toys (where do they get those marvelous gadgets?) paid for with your tax dollars, but it looks like it could throw down if properly equipped for robot war. More »
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DARPA and Carnegie Mellon have been dumping money in the Crusher UGV and rightly so. This beast of a machine is fully autonomous, meaning it needs no driver. It will navigate between two GPS waypoints and uses advanced sensors to detect the best route to get there. The video suggests that the sensors are also capable of finding the nearest run down cars to plow through and crush. Now that is what I'm talking about! A fully autonomous monster-car rally. [BotJunkie] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=360933&view=rss&microfeed=true Our techtastic siblings over at Gizmodo posted this video of the new, improved and non-faceplanting version of Honda's Asimo robot trying out for a spot on the LA Galaxy squad, auditioning for an O-Town backup-dancer position and proving that he really can climb stairs. No word on whether jogging helps him keep his those unsightly robo-love-handles at bay. Meanwhile, we're still holding out hope for the Asimo Type R. – Davey G. Johnson More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=228531&view=rss&microfeed=true Okay, so it's not really a car per se, but neither was the Concept 2096, and that didn't even have a drivetrain. Semantics aside, how could you go wrong with an open top, hydro-mechanically driven, eight-legged roadster? Sure, the performance may not be quite as tight as a car's, but let's see an Accord climb up the wall. Rollout of the spiderbot occurred at this year's Burning Man festival, where it appeared to make a long, strange trip toward a crowd of besotted flower children, apparently as a flautist blew the theme to "Shaft" in waltz time. Groovy. – Ben Wojdyla More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=223099&view=rss&microfeed=true After a mishap during a product demonstration in Japan, Honda reps spring into action, shielding their fallen robot comrade from view as they assess his injuries. Just prior, as Asimo hit the floor, smashing his space-helmet faceplate, he (he?) says something that sounds like "sleeping" and "accident." We distinctly heard, SUPER CONCUSSION POTENTIAL! – Mike Spinelli More »
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Number-one among Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics is "first do no harm." Or is that the doctors' oath? (shut up, Google). Nonetheless, the robots at one automated parking lot in Hoboken, New Jersey went all kerfluffle last week, trapping hundreds of cars inside the facility. Apparently it was the matter of a bureaucratic showdown. The city-owned lot had been in a contract dispute with operator Robotic Parking, during which the company's employees were asked to leave and the software license voided — reducing the all-important hardware to really expensive crap and leaving the cars trapped in their cubbies. Of course, the story gets even more complicated — pitting bureaucrat against software monkey, in what could be described as a really boring Ultimate Fighting special — but we'll let Wired handle the geeky lifting. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=192843&view=rss&microfeed=true One of us now knows what he wants for Chanukah, and it's even a bargain at only $345,000. And then we'll make them pay...we'll make them all pay! More »
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If you'd been to the European Land Robot Trials (ELROB) in Germany, you'd probably not have seen Ebeneezer Von Clutch looking for his Black Power Gem. You may, however, have seen the Spybot 4WD from MacroSwiss. It weighs just 13 lbs, but it can cross a potato field faster than you can say "Pol Pot, hot or not?" It can also navigate waterways, descend stairs, climb 45-degree slopes, and be tossed (by cyborg mutants, natch) up to around 30 feet. With two high-res, low-light video cameras on board, the robot's typical use is reconnisance, but its friends call it, "shorty." More »
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The newest ESP technology from Honda has not a thing to do with traction control. The company recently demonstrated a system through which brain signals can guide a robotic hand. Holy crap, you say? Yes, exactly. Developed with Japan's Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, the system uses magnetic resonance imaging — like in a medical MRI — to translate brain function into mechanical movement. Researchers said users will one day be able to control a robot, or a bionic prosthesis, by thinking the action. More »
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Just in time for the holidays, Honda debuted a new version of its ASIMO humanoid robot than can play the role of office lackey. The new version, the company says, can "pursue key tasks in a real-life environment, such as an office" and has a broader range of physical capabilities. It can sync up with people — walking while holding hands with someone, for example, or... (oh, c'mon) — and can carry objects by wheeling a cart. Additional system development enables the new ASIMO to perform the tasks of a receptionist or information guide, by giving him visual and surface sensors to recognize the surrounding environment. It also has a new top speed of almost 4mph, compared to the previous 2 mph, and can operate in a circular pattern. Honda says the next focus for the ASIMO development team is intelligence capabilities, or getting ASIMO to make comprehensive judgments based on various situations — like, say, determining who ordered the grande half-caf latte with a shot of vanilla and shaved chocolate by the kind of sweater he's wearing. More »
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What happens when you put together a crew of hot-roddin', Linux-geekin' guys in search of a cool two mil from Uncle Sam? You get the A.I. Motorvators' creation for the DARPA Grand Challenge. Featuring a Chevy motor, independent front suspension, and bodywork that lies somewhere beyond Thunderdome, the Motorvators' machine uses inertial and DGPS guiding systems with a battery of sensors (including curb feelers!) to wind its way through the desert. Plus, they put a big Rat Fink on the front. Red Team doesn't have a Rat Fink. More »
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