Get the heartbeat of the robotic industry by learning about events, new developments in private companies, government projects and more.
There is such a wide variety of resources on the 'net that sometimes good ones go unchecked. One example of this is MIT's OpenCourseWare. If you have not seen it, now is a good time. Five years ago today, in an unprecedented step toward making knowledge accessible worldwide, MIT announce…
There comes a time in every mini-sumo match when you know it’s over. Your robot has went head-to-head with their robot, and your robot is slowly slipping backwards. Right about this time, you’ll get a sinking feeling in your stomach. This is because you know that -- in no more than a se…
Can you code a mean Java hack? Are you into Robosapien V2? Will you be in Johannesburg in May?If so, then consider joining in the Robosapien programming contest at Sun Tech Days. Using Starship System's Java SDK, participants will compete on getting their robots to do, well, cool things. And what i…
This morning I awoke to find an email in my inbox from LEGO. The email says: To thank you for your interest in the Developer Program, LEGO Shop at Home is giving you the exclusive opportunity to reserve your LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT ste today - before pre-orders are available to the public! And by …
A partnership between WowWee Toys and Evolution Robotics was just announced today. You can read the official press release here. The release says that WowWee will be incorporating some of Evolution's technologies, specifically their Visual Pattern Recognition (ViPR) software and their localization …
Next time your in the mood for Sicilian archaeology, and you're in the vicinity of the Agrigento's Regional Archaeological Museum, ask Cicerobot for a tour. This 1.5m tall (5ft) robot gives guided tours of the museum. On board sensors allow him to autonomously navigate and avoid obstacles and peop…
Via the LEGO Mindstorms NXT press room: Place your orders! Beginning Saturday, April 1, you can place an advance order to guarantee receipt of one of the highly anticipated new LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT sets when they release in August. A limited quantity of NXT toolsets will be available for pre-order …
Now you can put large robotic koi in your fish pond instead of the real things. The folks at Ryomei Engineering have created a robotic carp that can swim like the real thing, along with going backwards, and turning in place. Here's some video of the fish in action. It has a camera in its head for g…
Well folks, I'm getting behind. Apologies. So, here's some yummy links to get your weekend started right.Here's Phillip Torrone and Co using a Roomba to play frogger, with unhappy results.Lots of great robot menace goodness at BoingBoing. (translation: kids in robot costumes and other goodies).Thou…
Check out this amazing video of an amphibious snake-like robot, the ACM-R5. Unfortunately, the video is in Japanese, but there's lots of great camera shots. Powered by a lithium-ion battery, the ACM-R5 is a radio-controlled amphibious robot designed to move like its real world counterpart. It can s…
Earlier this week, Hitachi captured the attention of the Blogosphere with its 'new' security robot. Not so fast, says MobileRobots. Apparently, Hitachi's robot is simply a repackaged Pioneer DX. "The wheel rims are the giveaway. The Pioneer DX systems sold a few years ago had unique gold wheel…
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan has an aquarium cleaning robot with a twist. The robot not only cleans, it also monitors the fish and provides live video feed for visitors."Most large institutions have cleaning problems, and most of them keep the ‘dirty work’ hidden from sight. They prefe…
Jason Striegel over at BlogCadre, has given us a the first news in a while about LEGO's Mindstorms Developer Program According to Striegel, LEGO sent out a email that reads: Thank you very much for your interest in participating in the LEGO(r) MINDSTORMS(tm) Developer Program. We are very sorry bu…
Ticks are a health hazard to humans and pets alike. Yet few spray pesticides indiscriminately in tick-infested areas, primarily out of concerns over environment and cost. Justin Woulfe and his fellow students at the Virginia Military Institute came up with a novel solution. They hacked an RC truck,…
Populations in developing nations are aging, putting increased demands on healthcare systems. This has been said so much as to almost become cliché. The fact is that healthcare is in need of automation technology, and robotics companies are answering the call.One such company is InTouch Tech…
For some time now, the robotics community has been anticipating the release of White Box's robot. They are not yet shipping, though there is some news. VIA Arena has posted an article, "A visit with Tom Burick of White Box Robotics". We learn from the article and the links that the 914: …
