RobotShop has a promotional offer for its readers on domestic robots. This is not an everyday sale, there's so much to benefit from: -Save 120 dollars by buying the RobotShop standard domestic package. It includes an iRobot Roomba 530 vacuum, a Lawnbott Spyder Robot lawn mower, and an Aquaprodu…
Japan plans to set out to conquer the moon using robots before 2020. The Japanese space agency, JAXA, intends to put 2.2 billion US dollars on the table to develop a family of robots that will go to explore the moon by 2020. The first Japanese robots should also land on the moon in 2015. They …
RobotShop has received a Roboblock Zigbee remote control in stock. This controller is actually made from a Sony PS2 controller. The Roboblock Zigbee remote control is ideal for controlling robots on wheels or legs remotely thanks to its wireless connection. It works with AAA batteries sold sep…
The humanoid robot, Asimo, by Honda has stopped by the federal polytechnic school of Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. A member of the audience has reported videos of the Objectif Sciences event (open day at EPFL) which took place on May 29 and 30. You can also see Asimo there center stage walking …
Here's a prototype of an autonomous helicopter with four engines (quadrotor) capable of carrying out extreme movements in confined areas. Daniel Mellinger, Nathan Michael and Vijay Kumar from Grasp Lab at the University of Pennsylvania have designed this ultra easy to use UAV (Unmanned Aerial Ve…
If the trend continues, RobotShop predicts that the future winner of the Google Lunar X-Prize will be Astrobotic Technology. The Pittsburgh company is competing with 20 other private companies. The aim of the Google competition is to be able to develop a robot which can go alone on the moon, cros…
Vgo, a start-up in Nashua near Boston is in the process of developing a telepresence and video-conference robot which can be remote-controlled and attend conferences. Vgo has already raised 8 million dollars and will introduce its robot at the start of June in Las Vegas at an exhibition. The pr…
Here's Octavia the android, presented at Fleet Week 2010 in New York, an annual meeting of Navy and American coast guard professionals. It was designed by the US Naval Research Lab to interact with humans (with its camera and sensors) and particularly with naval staff. The robot can express joy…
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…
Here's a 1.83 m (6 feet) tall robot based on the Terminator film. We don't have much more information on this ultra rare specimen except that the replica with the T-800 is almost perfect. This animated prototype has been built mainly out of steel and aluminum. It uses servos and is controlled …
Steve Norris of Norris Labs has developed a friendly beer serving robot. In fact, there are two separate robots. The first one, Baxter or ButlerBot goes to pick up the beer and brings it to the one who drinks it. When it arrives near the robotic refrigerator, Robofridge opens all by itself and…
Pleo, new smarts for its owners. The new PM 2 firmware is available by download for those who own the small friendly animal. And for those who don't, we recommend you purchase it from RobotShop: Pleo Ugobe Autonomous Robot Life Form Among the new updates we found: -the active Scripts increase…
KumoTek Robotics launches an exhibition of prehistoric robots in Chicago: Sue Escapes. The robots come from Kokoro, Japan. The main attraction is RoboSue, a Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur always ready to entertain the kids! The realism of the animals and their interaction with visitors certainly p…
Here is Iron Man Baby, a video produced by two Quebeckers. The baby from Patrick Boivin appears in Iron Baby and Strob is the uncle of the baby who starts in this remarkable production with special effects worthy of a big Hollywood studio. These two men are not beginners and their portfolio is …
Willow Garage celebrated its PR2 launch event in style. Not one but a good dozen PR2s were there to dance to the rhythm of the music. What's more, the robots paraded holding the hand of their partner...human partner: -) A great moment for Open Source robotics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGv…
Researchers at the University of Michigan in the US have developed a biped robot called MABEL, capable of walking without falling even when faced with improvised obstacles. Most surprisingly, this 57 kg robot has no vision (no video camera) but only sensors (encoders) which measure the angles of…
