Read robotic news about Robotshop and the robotics industry.
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…
The LEGO Mindstorms NXT "gag order" is finally up! Now all the privileged few that gained access to the holy grail, Mindstorms Developer Program (MDP), can share the glories of their lifestyle. We're written previously about our favorite NXT site, The NXT Step blog, run by Jim. Jim has ag…
There's been lots of rumors swarming around that Radio Shack was killing the VEX Robotics line of toys. I got some news a month or so ago, but hesitated to post about it since it was totally unconfirmed. However, most of the VEX stock in my area was placed on deep discount and sold within a weekend…
A while back we posted about an interview with Colin Angle, the co-founder and CEO of iRobot. Next up is an interview with Helen Greiner, co-founder and chairman of iRobot. Greiner discusses founding iRobot, her interest in robots (started with R2D2), and iRobot's biggest setback (late night robot…
The NY Times has an excellent article on NASA's foray into the Grand Challenge model of research and development. Instead of paying millions to contractors to develop new technologies, why not sponsor contests and only pay the winners? Folks have fun and NASA gets tons of cheap R&D. [T]he ag…
Thing have been pretty stressful at the GoRobotics.net World Headquarters as of late. First I got engaged in early March, and then my father passed away in late March. Due to that I've taken a bit of a hiatus from blogging, but I think I'll get back into it now. And so this post isn't completely…
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…
