It becomes more and more obvious that robots outperform humans in tasks that require speed, precision and complex computations. The video below featuring Rollin' Justin, a mobile version of the well known Justin humanoid robot from DLR, catching two balls that are thrown at it. http://www.yout
Usually robots are intended to help us out by accomplishing unwanted or dangerous chores, but the Punching Pro is designed to punch you in the face over and over again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FedXZvRK4-M The robot throws punches following certain patterns in order to simulate different figh
Geminoid F, Geminoid HI-1, and Geminoid DK met their original humans, an anonymous young lady, Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University, and Prof. Henrik Scharfe of Aalborg University, in Denmark. Geminoid-Human Reunion This is the first (and probably the last) time that the Geminoid robotic fa
Hanson Robotics released their Robokind platform to the market. There robots are exclusively available at RobotShop for immediate worldwide distribution. Robokind Zeno Humanoid Robot What is a Robokind? The Robokind platform consists of a humanoid robotic body combined with an expressive head.…
As you might remember, Robonaut 2 was sent to the ISS a few weeks ago. As shown in the video below, the human astronauts had a big surprise when they finally opened the storage crate that contains the humanoid robot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkagxtiy1-M It seems the naughty robot got o
There have been two noteworthy developments in the last week for Aldebaran and Nao, their humanoid platform. Let's have a look at this exciting news. Nao Charging Station As announced in Tokyo last weekend, Nao get's a charging station that allows the robot to autonomously recharge itself when ne
Hiroshi Ishiguro hits us again with a new creepy robot. The Japanese roboticist has been populating the Uncanny Valley with his creations for some time now. This time, he brings us a smaller version of the very scary robot Telenoid R1. Although this new version is much smaller than the ori
One small step for a robot... We'll let you figure out the rest. Robonaut 2 by Nasa an GM Robonaut 2, a.k.a. R2 for short, was developed by NASA and GM in order to help humans perform their job, whether it is on the ISS or down on earth. This robot became the first, but certainly not the
Hanson Robotics Zeno Human-like Robot Usually, human-like robots come from Japan or Korea, but Lately, Hanson Robotics (from the USA) has been working hard on producing remarkably accurate human-like heads for robots. These heads can express emotions through facial expressions, can talk and
Since the Kinect was released, lots of robotic applications have been developed around it. One of them is the teleoperation of humanoid robots using skeletal tracking. The pioneer in humanoid robot control using the Kinect is Taylor Veltrop, who controlled his Veltrobot (based on the KHR family) u…
Some time ago, Aldebaran Robotics launched their developer program for their popular Nao humanoid platform. The idea is to prepare the little robot for mass commercialization by releasing it to a select group of developers who will create applications for it. The robot is sold to the devel
From RobotShop we wish you all a happy new year. May 2011 be filled with all the robots you always wished to have. If you are looking for creative and original ways of celebrating the new year, the THKR-4 is a very good choice to have at your New Year's party. This robot is one of the competito
So far Robots have been programmed to avoid things when navigating in their environment. Sébastien Lengagne of Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan developed a method for robots to use objects (which would otherwise be seen as "obstacles")
Nao, by Aldebaran Robotics, has been busy this holiday season and prepared some cool presentations for us all to enjoy! Below, its official holiday greeting. Robots can have the jitters too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqZHkxbiXWA After conquering its stage fear, Nao was able read A Chri
Aldebaran announced recently an update to the very popular Nao. The little robot has now a more robust body, longer curved arms that allow for further reach, an improved motion engine that allows for smoother movements, a cooler head with better heat management, improved speech recognition
Many new things happened at Willow Garage recently. So let's go ahead and have a look at all the awesome news. ROS Turns Three The Robot Operating System celebrated its third anniversary. It has come a long way since its beginning and should go even further in the future. See the video below for
