Get the heartbeat of the robotic industry by learning about events, new developments in private companies, government projects and more.
We've talked about robotic blimps before, but not for this kind of application. This time a Californian entrepreneur, Bob Jones, is floating the idea of having large fleets of autonomous blimps provide wireless communication coverage for large areas. The blimps could take the place of both te…
Ugobe seems to be facing a bit of controvery over its new Pleo toy. Hot off the heels of a big story on Digg about Pleo, came another, even bigger story, about how the dino wasn't all that smart after all. Somone took the two released videos of Pleo and compared then, noting that they were almost i…
Kyosho has announced the release of the Manoi AT01 robot. He's set for a full release in September for around $1,300 USD. He has more abilities and a longer battery life than the original Manoi. Lem, over at Robots Dreams, has a whole list of information and videos of Manoi AT01 in action.There's …
Here's the final standings for the 9th Autonomous Underwater Vehicle competition:University of Florida Duke University Ecole de technologie superieure University of Rhode Island University of Texas at Dallas Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cornell Uni…
Carnegie Mellon has announced this year's inductees for the Robot Hall of Fame. The real-life droids include Aibo and Scara. From the fiction category, there is David from AI, Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Maria from Metropolis. "The five robots were formally inducted at a June …
Will Microsoft Go Robotic? The answer: yes. Microsoft is moving several of its pieces into play. Microsoft Research is working with Carnegie Mellon to launch the Center for Innovative Robotics. "Microsoft also has several academic and commercial partners that plan to support its software. Those inc…
Well, we knew something was going to happen, but we weren't sure what. I'm not sure I would have guessed Microsoft would be releasing a software package though. Yes, as of Today, Microsoft is now an official player in the robotics market with the release of its Robotics Studio. The software can…
PleoBot.com has posted a new vide of Pleo the robot dinosaur from Ugobe. You may remember Pleo from our story earlier this year. Pleo was first announced at DEMO2006 and generated a bit of buzz. Since then the news-waves have been relatively quiet.In the video you'll see how Pleo responds to touch…
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is testing the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to patrol the sky over LA. The vehicle, called SkySeer, is built by Octatron Inc., and apparently obscure company from St. Petersburg FL.The vehicle can autonomously navigate using GPS waypoints or be wirele…
Phillip Torrone over at the MakeZine Blog has just posted pictures and video from his trip to iRobot. If you've never gotten a closeup look at the PackBot and its controlls the video is well woth a look-see. The video shows the 'bot in the EOD configuration ( the giant 7" arm ). You also get a…
The European Union has decided it wants to fly fleets of unmanned robotic drones over its borders to cut down on illegal immagration, smuggling, human-trafficking, and terrorism. The vehicles will fly at a height of 2,500 ft and patrol the English Channel and Mediterranean coasts. Belgian already u…
Ever wondered what all is going on inside of ASIMO's head? Honda has a great page listing some of the technology that ASIMO is using and the many cool tricks he can perform.Some examples include ASIMO's ability to recognize where a person is pointing and move there. Looking at the accompanying imag…
Using telepresence robots a hospitalized child can now participate in the classroom. The system, developed by Telbotics Inc., Ryerson U., and the University of Toronto, use two robots, one in the hospital room and one in the classroom, to allow the child to be involved in his class. The child can v…
This year marks the 20th birthday of our favorite corporate walking robot, the Honda ASIMO. Honda has a great site detailing the development and growth of the project over the years. I, for one, didn't even know they'd been working on it for so long. Honda has taken up a new challenge in mobilit…
My favorite online shopping experience just got a whole lot better. Amazon recently released its " Industrial and Scientific " store beta. Need some sheet metal, plastic rod, compression springs, or set screws? Amazon has them now. While I can't vouch for the prices, I do know t…
Via CanadianDriver.com Wipe away those tears robot lovers! The DARPA Grand Challenge is back (pdf), and in case you've grown tired of dangerous mountain passes and arid deserts, this year's race is in da 'hood ... of sorts. The DARPA Urban Challenge will feature autonomous ground vehicles executing…
