Some time ago, we announced the nomination for the Top Ten Coolest Robots of 2010. You voted and now the results are in. Let's have a closer look at the ten lucky robots and find out which one is the big winner. #10 Google Car and Bae Systems Taranis Tied These two robots are tied in the number
Little Bird Unmanned Full-sized Chopper The Little Bird, a full-sized autonomous helicopter made its first flight last June. For the first time, a full sized autonomous robot performed an entire flight (including take-off, obstacle avoidance, and landing) by itself. The helicopter is a modified
BAE Taranis UCAV The Taranis is an Unmanned Combat Aircraft System (UCAS) developed by BAE Systems for the UK military. This stealth "swept delta" aircraft is intended to be fully autonomous and look utterly awesome. Although test flights are programmed to start in 2011, it is important to note th…
BEAR by Vecna Robotics The Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR) is a new robot for the US military intended to rescue wounded soldiers in an active battlefields. It has been developed by Vecna Robotics form in Cambridge, MA. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMIU-5fJd6A This robot is much
As reported by The Economist some time ago, the US military has partnered with Robotic Technology of Washington, DC in order to produce the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (a.k.a. EATR). The robot is expected to achieve energetic autonomy by eating plants. Although this might seem as
CTC (Concurrent Technologies Corporation) has won a contract worth 46 million dollars from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane (NSWC Crane) (United States). The project aims to develop land robotics systems which will eventually be able to save the lives of American soldiers in combat. The m…
Here's a video demonstration of the Warrior 710 by iRobot, with an APOBS (Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System). It's a robot for destroying anti-personnel mines used in the military which is capable of destroying bombs stuck in the sand at a distance without damaging the robot. The idea is…
The Lockheed Martin Samarai is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The project had to be abandoned but a new video has just appeared on YouTube. The SAMARAI is a 30 cm single rotating wing which can fly vertically, land, take off again, and go in any direction. It's inspired by the maple seed, whic…
Have you heard of Little Dog by Boston Dynamics? It's the miniature version of the famous Big Dog for military use. This robotic mule is able to transport material autonomously in hostile terrain. It's fascinating just how much this little quadruped robot looks like a real animal. The little …
Drones come in various sizes and with various functions (transport, surveillance, combat) but often the existing planes and helicopters are still rather on the large side. Fortunately at RobotShop we've already taken a step further in surveillance with our Skybotix helicopter drone. In terms of…
The US Navy's Fire Scout helicopter robot detected a drug deal (cocaine) at sea during a test flight. The Fire Scout has conducted tests since being based in the high seas aboard the American warship, the USS McInerney. It had completed testing when it saw that a suspicious boat was speeding du…
Marathon Robotics has developed some special Segway robots for training snipers in the Department of Defence in Australia. The Segways are especially adapted for military exercises, moving and responding virtually like humans. They move autonomously, can avoid obstacles at the last minute, go i…
The robotics community welcomes a new player: Contineo Robotics. The company will develop robotic hands adept at delicate manipulations, robotic platforms and control systems. The hands will be primarily designed for first responders as well as for military use for handling bombs or explosives.…
The Boeing A160T Robocopter is a pilotless helicopter that can lift loads up to 1135 kg. The video of the A160 (2007): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gndveJE24bg This robocopter model can also reach an unbelievable height of 12 000 feet (3657 meters above sea level) with 567 kg, this is ideal …
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) hopes to develop an Underground Robotic Munition (RUM) to be used for single use. This robot would be able to go underground and dig a hole towards a potential underground target; once it reaches its destination it would explode, thus destroying its ene…
DARPA is currently developing a robot interpreter that would support the troops at war. Right now, troops use human translators who speak in military radios. The Pentagon and DARPA seek to build a robot interpreter with 98% accuracy in 20 different languages. The project is called RATS for Rob…
