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Of course he can still do all of the things that he used to as well, which includes running and stealing the show at whatever events he attends as well as open a thermos and pour a drink. That last should come in handy on Jabba’s Sail Barge, should he ever decide to infiltrate and rescue his friends.

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[via TechCrunch via Geeky Gadgets]

Dr. Kormushev, working with a team from the Italian Institute of Technology and Tokyo City University used a technique called “upper-body kinesthetic teaching,” to help this Fujitsu HOAP-2 humanoid robot learn the approppriate maneuvers to clean the marker-covered whiteboard surface.

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On the surface (pun intended), the idea of a whiteboard-cleaning robot seems a bit silly. However, the process could someday be used to instruct robots to deal with tasks better left to ‘bots than humans – like window washing, painting walls or hanging wallpaper.

Osaka University’s AFFETTO was created to model a baby’s facial expressions. This was done in order to endear it to human caregivers. Ultimately, I think that the opposite was achieved. Yes, it’s creepy, very creepy.

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This might have something to do with the uncanny valley phenomenon in robotics, where humans are actually repulsed by robots exhibiting near or human-like behavior. You have to admit that this does look like a prop from a horror movie.

[via Ubergizmo]

By taking Kinect’s skeletal detection algorithms and sending that data to V-Sido [JP], a real-time control system for humanoid robots, they manage to use the Kinect as a robotic puppet control. Here’s a video clip showing the hack in action:

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From the looks of the clip, they really should have turned the robot around so the movements weren’t mirrored, but I guess they didn’t want us just staring at his shiny metal ass. Now I just need 100 robots, all piloted by this software, and I could get my robot army going in no time. Heck, I’d just take one big robot connected to this system, and that’d make me happy too.

[via Robots Dreams]

This ghost-faced killer (ok, we don’t know if he’ll kill anyone) is named the REEM-H2 and it reminds me of the strange faces of the ghosts in Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. REEM is made by PAL Robotics – yes guys, he’s your friend, not your enemy, and is a service/maid robot. It will come with a autonomous navigation system, voice and face recognition, a chest-mounted touchscreen menu, and the power to carry big objects, such as boxes or luggage.

REEM will be used in museums, hotels, shopping malls, airports, and hospitals, where he will be ready to scare all the customers and visitors away.

[PAL Robotics via Plastic Pals]

To celebrate, Honda has some new apps for the iPhone and Android called Run with ASIMO with the robot and other Honda characters that the user can interact with. That app sounds boring to me, but you can check it out for yourself.

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Honda also took the time to talk up its goals with ASIMO and the research around it that the company says goes with develop of robotics and human mobility. The robot may someday develop into something that people can buy to provide assistance in the home. This will happen shortly after Honda adds a red dot for an eye that moved Pong-style across a mono brow. Frakin’ A it will.

Here she is, entertaining the crowd at HRP-4C:

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I’m not too sold on the efficacy of VocaWatcher yet, but I guess it’s really the material and make of her face that’s at fault. No software can make that face less creepy. Watch her performance last year so you can have a better idea of how much HRP-4C has improved. All she needs is a better face and a cover of The Humans Are Dead and she’ll be a hit for sure.

[via DigInfo via Gearfuse]

SURALP has been in the making for eight years and about $1 million has been spent to construct and design it. The humanoid robot first appeared in a press conference in Turkey, where he was kind enough to perform a little jig and answer a few questions. SURALP is actually an acronym,  Sabancı University Robot Research Laboratory Platform, and it stands 5’5″ tall and weighs 250 lbs.

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As you can see from the video, he’s actually a little bit on the pokey side, but at least he can answer simple questions with a yes or a no, which is pretty cool in my book. However, there are currently no plans to turn his metal grippy hands into weapons.

[via Plastic Pals]

Robonaut 2 is heading to the International Space Station and he is the first humanoid robot that will be in space. You can even follow his tweets @ twitter.com/astrorobonaut.

I’m wondering what kind of tweets he’ll send. Probably something along the lines of: “Five humans assimilated today, moving on to more for tomorrow!”

[via Presurfer]

The Myon robot is about 50 inches tall and weighs 33lbs. Myon is an interesting robot because of a few different things. He’s got 48 joints and 192 sensors. His skin is made out of Bayer makrolon and a layer of glass fiber-stabilized polycarbonate to protect him.

What I find most interesting is that this bot is also modular. Any part of him that’s damaged can be easily swapped out – sorta like the robots in Woody Allen’s Sleeper. Here’s some footage of an early incarnation of Myon getting test-driven:

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He was designed by the studio Frackenpohl Poulheim from Cologne and developed at Berlin’s Humboldt University as part of the European ALEAR (Artificial Language Evolution on Autonomous Robots) research project.

[Designboom via Plastic Pals]

This ‘bot is actually kind of amazing since it can scoot around on uneven ground, including bumps up to ½ an inch. It can also distinguish different human voices and speak with people. Its top speed is around 4mph and it’s about 3 feet tall. The little guy weighs 30 lbs, so you should be able to take him in a fight.

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It looks so cute right now, but we all know that in the coming robot apocalypse, these things will take over and become our masters.

[via Crunchgear]

The robot is called Pinocchio and the aim of the project is to kinematically imitate a human walking.

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I know for a fact that walking like a human is really hard to emulate for robots, which is why this LEGO ‘bot is doubly impressive. Pinocchio was created as part of a project in the Department of Biomechanics at FSU Jena.

From the looks of this, it won’t be long before they could build a fully functional Terminator. Combine this with the Makerbot that can make more Makerbots, and we’re in a world of hurt.

[The NXTStep via Make:]

In my defense, Lola does look a lot like Hector, the imposing robot from Saturn 3. LOLA thankfully isn’t a murderous robot, she just likes to leisurely stroll around missing chairs and whatnot as she goes.

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I’m not sure why the German designers pegged it as a girl; it has no jubblies or anything. But it does have a couple of HD webcams for eyes, stands 180cm tall, weighs 60kg, and has 25 joints. The video of the thing walking around does creep me out a little, though. Damn you, Hector!

Isamaro is made by a Tokyo-based firm named Robotma. The humanoid robot itself stands a 17 inches tall and weighs a hefty 37 pounds. It’s powered by a lithium-ion battery and comes with a USB interface. The little guy has got 19 joints in his body, and the makers provide software that lets you program the robot’s every move. Naturally, this robot can be remote controlled too, via Bluetooth.

The first Isamaro robots will be available next month and they sell for about $1,600 (USD). Robotma is currently accepting pre-orders.

[via Crunchgear]

This is actually Honda’s 4th version of the robot. The 3rd version was released in 1997, so it took Honda 13 years to do it. I think by now that pretty much everyone has seen video footage of this little robot walking, dancing and entertaining crowds.

This new version has a flexible waist, allowing for a smoother walking style, redesigned chest and shoulder areas. It’s about 5’3″ tall and weighs about half of what the P3 weighed, at 176 lbs. Hopefully it’s less susceptible to falling on its face.

[via PlasticPals]

The team had help from over 20 different companies to design this robot, which could arguably be able to co-exist with humans. It’s made to help the elderly. What’s really amazing is how dexterous it is. It can even pick up small and flat objects with its four-fingered hand, soft finger tips, and hard fingernails.

The ‘bot can also bend at the waist. This allows it to pick up things lying on the floor. It is also strong enough to support the weight of a midget (77lbs). Actually, they say that it can support a person, but I don’t know many people who weigh 77lbs. Maybe they’ve got more of those in Japan.

Its body is covered in a soft, shock-absorbent silicone rubber, and it’s got tactile sensors, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and a large LED array in its chest. The robot measures 4’9″ tall and weighs 244 lbs. The Twendy-One robot is expected to sell between $110,000 to $210,000 (USD) in 2015.

[via Plastic Pals]

If you check out the video, you can see the walker walking about. It’s an amazing feat. Tyler admits that his goal is to create a fully steerable walking biped, which would be really insane!

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The bipedal mech has a great look, and Tyler clearly put a lot of effort into this mechanical marvel. You can check out more photos of his build over at his Flickr site. He was inspired by this decidedly less slick YouTube video:

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[via Brother's Brick]

These robots are made to assist astronauts with tasks during dangerous space missions. The Robonaut 2 is the latest version and it looks pretty awesome.

The Robonaut 2 will be able to perform quite a few more tricks than the previous version. For now, this marvel only works from the chest up, but it’s still impressive. Check out the video below to see the Robonaut 2 in action:

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Next thing we’ll know is one of these shouting: “Danger, Will Robinson!”

[via Designboom]

Palro gets its ingenious name by combining “pal” and “robot.” I know, what will those crazy Japanese scientists think of next, right?

This little humanoid ‘bot stands about 16 inches tall and weighs 3.5 lbs. It’s got 20 joints, five mics, voice recognition, mono speakers, a 3MP camera, Wi-Fi, a USB port, a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of internal memory, and 4GB flash memory. It runs on a version of Ubuntu Linux, and has a built-in  gyro-sensor, accelerometer, eight pressure points in its feet as well as a distance sensor.

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Fujisoft plans on selling about 1,000 Palros to start out with on March 15 at $3,300 (USD) a pop. These will first be offered to research institutions, but don’t worry, if you’ve got the dough, you’ll be able to get one later in 2010 for yourself.

[via CrunchGear]

The 15 inch-tall, 6 lb. robot is called the Junimotion and it’s a kit that you have to assemble for yourself. That’s kind of cool, yet daunting. The thing is that this ‘bot costs about $4,000 (USD), so you’d better be really careful when putting it together!

This kit has a special sort of servo that requires fewer cables than most, making the whole ‘bot more structurally sound. I guess that means it can be chucked around a bit. It comes with a bunch of different connection options including ones for LEDs, audio, sensors, gyro-sensors. The whole shebang is controllable via Bluetooth, so when someone writes an app for your cell phone, you’ll be able to control it wirelessly.

Battery time isn’t that great, at only 30 minutes. Also, the price doesn’t really work for me. But hey, if you’re in the market for a kit robot  – and have $4,000 bucks to spare, you’ll probably go bonkers for Junimotion.

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[via Plastic Pals via Ubergizmo]