The smallest humanoid robot, iSobot, is now available in the UK for £199 ($356). The Guinness Book of Records bills the iSobot as the world’s smallest humanoid bot currently in production.
This tiny bot measures just 16.5×10x6.5cm, but it can do a lot despite its size. It can walk, fight, dance, talk, and even kung fu fight.
For being so small the bot packs a fair amount of tech as well: 2 LEDs, a built-in gyro sensor, voice command recognition, 17 custom made servomotors, and 19 integrated circuits. It can speak hundreds of pre-programmed words and phrases and perform actions based on ten voice commands.
Last Wednesday we told you about Caterpillar and Carnegie Mellon University’s plans to build a friggen 700 ton dump truck robot. In the interest of unbalanced fights we’d love to see iSobot vs. Giant RoboTruck on BattleBots.
Personally I can’t think of a better way for a grown man to get his ass kicked, then by wearing this R2 backpack that hugs you like a nasty Hemmo-droid. As a grown man who simultaneously loves robots, but fears the coming apocalypse, even I would not wear this. So, get it for your kid instead and let him take the ass-kicking. We do what we can to police the streets of Botropolis, but these things happen. $60.
Don’t wait around for iRobot to release an autonomous robotic lawnmower. Build your own autonomous mowing bot. The Robocut kit makes it easy, with a complete lawnbot kit that gives you everything you need for about $700.
The brain of the mower is a BASIC Stamp and the rest of it’s body has motors, and detectors for Buried Wire Fence(BWF) identification, IR obstacle detection, drive motor control on/off enabling and related circuitry. It sure beats getting exercise and exposing your delicate skin to sunlight. Who knows, a few more bots like this and we may turn into pasty-white cave dwellers.
For those who hate Hello Kitty, you’ll be happy to know that she now has a janitorial position cleaning the filth off your floors. Why in the hell we need yet another Hello Kitty item is beyond me, but if we must, at least she can get her paws dirty.
iRobot and Sanrio must have had a few drinks and a bright idea about how to open up to a new demographic. We can be thankful of two things: Only 500 units are made and it’s only available in Japan. It will cost roughly $810. Sadly, too expensive to buy on impulse and let it play in the road.
WowWee’s impressive three-wheel webcam-enabled robot will be hitting e-retailers soon. The Rovio features a Northstar GPS system and can be controlled via the internet, cellphones, and even game consoles. It can be found on Amazon and pre-ordered for $300 on Hammacher Schlemmer. The release date is Sept. 26. This is one awesome robot!
This bot is a long way from dealing a Vegas table, but the objects that it does shuffle are shuffled efficiently I guess. It’s called Robot Partner 2.0 by Slovenian artist Stefan Doepner. It was recently exhibited at the 2008 ARS Electronica Festival. The robot is billed as a robotic “living table installation.” It can shuffle objects around all by itself (I’m thinking magnets) and is intended to demonstrate the “absurdity” of “service-automation.” I don’t know about that, but it’s strangely fascinating to watch. Video below. Read the rest of this entry »
The smallest humanoid robot, iSobot, is now available in the UK for £199 ($356). The Guinness Book of Records bills the iSobot as the world’s smallest humanoid bot currently in production.
