The new Ranger was able to walk a total of 40.5-miles on a single battery charge. Ranger started walking at Cornell’s Barton Hall at around 2 p.m. on May 1 and the battery went dead about 9 p.m. on May 2 for a total walk of 30 hours, 49 minutes, and 2 seconds non-stop. Ranger made a total of 307.75 laps around the track at about 1.3 mph.

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Students and faculty had to work in shifts to walk around the track with Ranger to steer it around the corners. One key to making the battery last so much longer was the low power electronics that needed only 4.7W to operate.

[via Physorg]

Robot Tiles were created by Hiroo Iwata, a professor working in the VR lab at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Each robotic vehicle is covered with a layer of Kuralon EC, a touch-sensitive conductive fabric that detects where pressure has been applied by the walker’s feet, predicting where they will take their next step. A set of ultrasonic sensors relay the position and orientation of each tile back to a central computer that tells them where to go next. Here’s a video clip showing off the Robot Tiles in action:

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See – it’s sort of like an infinite walking surface. While you have to walk really slowly for the tiles to have enough time to get into position, I didn’t ever see the pedestrian wipe out and fall on the floor, so they are doing what they’re supposed to do.

While I can’t think of too many real-world uses for this technology, Iwata points out that they could be perfect for providing a realistic walking surface within virtual reality applications, which could be kind of cool. But until they can speed these up, I’m keeping my feet on the ground.

Japan’s CUBE Works decided it would be much more robot-like for their walking ‘bot to bawl its little eyes out if it ever falls over. Just clap your hands and the little Cam-Baby robot will toddle around a bit and blink its light-up LED eyes. But if it happens to trip or get knocked over, it’ll lie there on its side start crying. And it won’t stop complaining until you stand it back up. Great. That’s all I need now.

The tot-bot comes complete with a pair of robot diapers and a tiny little pacifier. Thankfully, it doesn’t wet  or poop itself. At least it’s got that going for it.

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So if you’ve ever wanted to see a robot cry (over and over again), you can get your hands on a Cam-Baby robot over at StrapyaWorld for ¥2,555 (appx. $27 USD).

The Co-Robot keeps it on the cheap by using just a single motor and a wobbly gear-drive system to help it amble along. Now don’t expect the type of smooth walking moves of Honda’s ASIMO here. This little guy hobbles along in a manic frenzy that’s sort of like Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein on crank (or maybe Michael Flatley: Lord of the Dance at normal speed). On the plus side, simple mechanical sensors can detect when Co-Robot falls over, so he can pick himself up from his (all too frequent) falls.

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The robot has three modes of operation: walking, dancing and somersaulting (also known as stumbling, thrashing and falling down). While the instructions for building Co-Robot are in Japanese, it’ looks like it would be simple enough to put together from the visual diagrams in the manual.

Still, if you’re looking for a fun way to introduce your kids (or yourself) to robotics, and don’t want to break the bank, you might want to check out Co-Robot. Originally available only in Japan, the guys over at the MakerSHED have imported a batch, and are selling them for $29.95 (USD) a pop.

[via ROBOTS DREAMS]

The AREXX YT-3000 (aka “YETi Walker”) is a bi-pedal robot which can be programmed using your PC or an remote-controlled via an IR interface. It’s powered by an ATMEGA8 microcontrolller, which can be easily programmed in C to do your bidding.

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In its basic configuration, the YETi is a simple walking machine, but can be expanded with additional sensors and modules such as an ultrasonic obstacle detector and an external LED display.

The basic YETi Walker kit is available from TheRobotShop for £69.99 (appx. $114 USD).

The Crabfu R/C Tortoise ‘bot crawls along the ground like a turtle, with a set of 4 sub-micro servos controlling its pokey little legs.

I just love the clever usage of cable ties to keep the tips secured onto his little legs. Each leg is tied to an independent channel and axis on the remote joysticks, which let it move around by wildly gesticulating your thumbs.

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The way it ambles about, I don’t think this tortoise will be beating any hares in a race anytime soon.

[via MAKE:]

The disappearing staircase is the brainchild of industrial designer Aaron Tang. His wall-mounted stair concept uses a series of hinges and pistons to retract flush to the wall, making way when you need a little extra room. Adding to the dramatic design is the fact that the entire staircase unfurls and retracts in a graceful, step-by-step motion.

Hopefully the design includes some sort of failsafe to prevent them from being shut when someone is walking on them. Of course, if you happen to have a mean streak, I guess you’d want that feature disabled.

[via Treehugger via Inventor Spot]

The bipedal MiniMechadon walker is fully functional, and can hobble around just like the ones in the motion pictures. While it’s not quite as polished as the movie robots, it certainly captures the spirit of the wobbly two-legged critters. What’s really cool about the robot is how its walking movements aren’t pre-programmed. Rather, it gradually figures out how to walk based on its own.

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The robot’s builder, Mike Smyth, built the bot a couple of years back as a one-off for his personal use. That’s too bad, because an army of these marching around my office would be pretty cool.

[via TechEBlog]

Developed by Hirose-Fukushima Robotics Lab, the Roller-Walker robot walks like an insect when in walking mode, but then can transform itself into a rolling, wheel ‘bot when it’s instructed to. You’ve definitely got to watch the video clip to get the full effect – it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen a robot do.

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I’m assuming that this dual approach allows the robot to deal with more challenging terrain when in walking mode, then move around more quickly on flat land in wheel mode. It’s all very cool stuff indeed.

[via Robots.Net]

Their new Forerunner 50 system automatically synchronizes data from devices you wear to your computer. The devices use a wireless system called ANT+Sport which constantly looks for paired devices within proximity of your PC. There are several devices in the series, with the centerpiece being the Forerunner 50 watch.

In addition to being a fully functional digital watch, it can display other information such as heart rate, speed and distance traveled when paired with optional wireless devices. A wireless “foot pod” monitors your speed, cadence, distance and calories burned. The chest-worn band can accurately monitor your heart rate. The watch itself can track up to seven hours and 100 laps of detail-level data, so you can monitor your progress before you sync up.

Pricing depends on what accessories you purchase. The base Forerunner 50 with the heart rate monitor watch costs just $99, including the USB wireless stick for your PC. $149 buys you the watch and the foot pod, while $199 gets you the watch, foot pod and the heart rate monitor. Garmin also plans to release an add-on for tracking your bicycle workouts too.

The Forerunner 50 system should be available this October.

Westech Korea is launching this new portable wrist-worn GPS device which is designed specifically for sports applications. The Pyxis RGPS-300 features unique modes for tracking all sorts of athletic endeavors including running, biking, hiking, mountain climbing, skiing and even driving. My personal favorite feature is the ability to load up maps of your favorite golf courses and check out how far away you are from the pin.

For now, the device is only available in Korea, but hopefully they’ll see fit to release it in other parts of the world soon.

[via AVING]

Looking like a treadmill on wheels, the Speedy Rollator uses a special gear drive system to multiply your walking efforts and increase your pace.

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While you won’t look quite as cool as those hipsters tooling around on their Segways, you might end up getting there just as quickly.

[thanks for the tip, roadside scholar!]

King Titan measures about 15-inches tall and features removable weapons and armor. Unfortunately, it’s not programmable, but it does have some preset light and sound effects and little animated data monitor.

Best of all, the $40 robot is made by a company called the Happy Kid Toy Group Limited. How can you go wrong?

(FYI… the rendering above is a little exaggerated from the real version, which is a bit more chrome-like, with red LEDs instead of orange ones.)

Just sit in the chair, move the joysticks, and the gyroscopic stabilization system allows the ‘bot to walk like you and I. The whole thing looks really strange in action:

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The 6-foot tall, 330-pound robot can hold a driver weighing up to about 220 pounds and can walk forwards, backwards, left, right and even turn around 360 degrees.

Back at the end of 2005, the Institute developed two animatronic dinosaurs (one Tyrannosaurus Rex, one Parasaurolophus) that could actually balance and walk without any external stability systems. This is the first time I’ve seen any footage of them in action, so I thought I’d share it with you:

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Every kid’s gonna want one of these. All they’re missing are frickin’ laser beams on their heads.

[via Geekologie]