I-FAIRY Robot at CES 2010

There were a lot of robots on parade at CES this year, and this one was the I-FAIRY from Kokoro Co.
According to my source, this robot can be “programmed with the user’s voice and accompanying body gestures that give the I-FAIRY a more natural feel when used for museum guide work”. I have an attached video after the jump that shows it doing nothing of the sort, but rather sitting in one place and occasionally moving to the beat of rock music.
I guess someone’s finally invented a robot that slacks off, eh? No, just kidding. The I-FAIRY was developed in conjunction with Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and I have no doubt that it can do everything that it says as far as being a museum guide.
After all, do we really need to pay some human being to walk around a museum and show us things when a robot could do it far more interestingly? By the way, the I-FAIRY is also designed to do corporate presentations. Seriously? Now I have heard just about everything about robots today.
Actually, I just heard some interesting fact about robots today that is more related to the Adult Entertainment Expo that is held next door to CES every year. Apparently, someone has invented Roxxxy, a very pleasurable fembot. However, I’m not going to bother to report on that. Do your own research if you want to hear more about that.
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Speaker Bot plays your MP3 player

Despite all of the conspiracy theories that robots will someday take over the world, you can’t help but love this robot.  He’s completely harmless, all he does is play your favorite music all day long.  He may have a permanently goofy expression on his face, but at least he has his uses.  Plus he’s made out of new and old parts, which means you’d be giving new use for old discarded electronics.
These robots ship out worldwide and are assembled in New York by Lipson Robotics.  In order to power the speaker, you can use the power adapter and plug it into the wall, use batteries or plug it into the USB port on your computer.  He even comes branded with a metal nameplate to declare the robots origins (Lipson Robotics).  The speaker will work with any MP3 player and can be purchased for $550 from Etsy.
Source: Technabob

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I’m not certain what it is, but there is a lot of cool robot stuff happening today. First the JO-ZERO, the Remo, and now the OmniTread.
The OmniTread isn’t a humanoid robot, and it isn’t a kit that you can special order just yet. The OmniTread is the work of some developers at the University of Michigan, and it is designed for some very rugged work.
As you can see in the video (after the jump), you will note that the design of the OmniTread resembles that of a train. The serpentine robot has treads on all four sides of its segments, and pneumatic bellows that can lift itself up like a caterpillar.
Right now, the developers at the University of Michigan have two models of the OmniTread. One of them, the OT-4, is named because it has the ability to crawl through a small hole only four inches in diameter. Their experiments show them working with an Omnitread with an AC cord, but they do have a working model that is good for 75 hours worth of use with the help of some battery power.
The uses of the OmniTread are similar to the robo hummingbird that we reported on a few days ago. It is a machine that can go to places that we cannot, such as a collapsed building or cave-in. Just imagine having a durable camera mounted on the front of this guy, and you’ll see what I mean.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the OmniTread at work on the job in the near future. In fact, my source claims it was “ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice” for a quake that recently occurred in San Diego, but I couldn’t find a secondary source to back this up. Until then, let’s just assume that the OmniTread is just concept tech.
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Remo Humanoid Kit

I’m going to speak a little boldy and say that the Remo Humanoid Robot Kit wishes that it was the JO-ZERO. Of course, I had some video footage of JO-ZERO in action. I’m afraid all my source had was this still shot of the Remo standing upright.
In other words, I don’t know how the Remo moves, which is really what you should look for when you get yourself a robot kit. The Remo (which is short for “robot brain”) does have some “high quality CCD cameras for image processing” as well as “pressure sensors on its feet for balance”.
The Remo is also powered by lithium batteries or by a simple plugging into an outlet. That would probably give it a short leash, though. By the way, remote control is attainable via Bluetooth, which is something that JO-ZERO doesn’t have at this time.
Okay, now that I’ve got the basic facts out of the way, I can finally talk about that face, or lack thereof. What is that, some sort of mask sample from The Phantom of the Opera musical? Who was playing the role of the Phantom, Howard the Duck?
Or maybe someone intends to make some sort of horror movie where the Remo starts killing everyone. After all, most slasher films boil down to some guy in a mask hacking people to death. You know, like Jason from theFriday the 13th movies, Mike Myers from the Halloween series, or that one guy in the Scream movies.
Well, if someone is planning on making a low-budget robot slasher film, then they had better be willing to pay the $4,358 price for the Remo. They can order it here.
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JO-ZERO could be in next Transformers movie, as himself

Have you ever noticed how jerky and clumsy most robots move? I mean, they don’t call that one dance “The Robot” for nothing. This is simply not the case with JO-ZERO (pronounced “Jay-Oh Zero”).
Himeji Softworks wanted to develop a robot that was “stylish, speedy, and human-like” and I believe that they have succeeded. If you don’t believe me, watch the video.
What you are seeing isn’t deleted footage from a Transformers movie, but actual film from the International Robotics Exhibition 2009. I mean, JO-ZERO is really busting a move on the dance floor (presumably a sheet of paper) as well as a battery of other tricks that would make most stiff-necked robots green with envy.
The JO-ZERO has about twenty directions worth of movement (8 for the arms, 10 for the legs, and 2 for the back). So if it gets knocked down, it gets up again.
One of the reasons that the JO-ZERO looks so cool is because it was actually designed by a manga artist Minoru Kamiya, who created the anime show Act On!
The JO-ZERO robot kit has a microcomputer built in so it can be pre-programmed. It can also be controlled via controller (like one from a console video game) or IR remote. Any interested user can purchase the JO-ZERO kit for about $1,300.
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Robot Hummingbird could one day have a tiny camera

One of the most intriguing creatures in the animal kingdom is the hummingbird. These small birds have wings that move faster than 30 times per second, and they are the only bird that can fly backwards.
It does not surprise me that a Japanese researcher named Hiroshi Liu modeled his flying robot after the hummingbird. His robo-hummingbird, for lack of a better word, weighs up 2.6 grams and 10 centimeters long. Just to let you know, this is about the size of a non-robo-hummingbird.
Believe it or not, research into this robotic avian is at $2 million, and counting. The end-goal of this project is to create a robo-hummingbird with a tiny camera. This will allow the robo-hummingbird to fly into tight corners for going to places that humans cannot reach.
For example, in situations where a mineshaft has collapsed, and there is only tiny openings for air. Just send in the robo-hummingbird and check on the status on survivors. Now, you could achieve the same effect by mounting a tiny camera on a small flying toy copter, but the toy chopper would not be as stable in its flight.
Personally, I can easily see this robo-hummingbird being used as some sort of spy camera. I’m not certain if adding a colorful hummingbird disguise would fool anyone, though.
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New version of the LG RoboKing

Look out Roomba, you might have yourself some serious competition with the new version of the LG RoboKing. Is it bigger than you, or is the model (the pretty one on the right) smaller?
Looks like you’re going to have to take on iRobot’s best seller in a titanic Rocky Balboa/Apollo Creed fight. I can tell you that the RoboKing is much quieter than its predecessor. The former version was 63db, while this one is 50db.
It also has two cameras, which they say is an industrial first. I believe that the two cameras give the RoboKing a serious advantage over a robot vacuum with just one. These two cameras allow the RoboKing to better analyze its environment, so it knows exactly where to clean.
The RoboKing is also claimed to have a 30 percent speed increase. This has nothing to do with its size, so I’m told. It is actually smaller in the height category, by the way. This version is 90mm tall while the former version is 130mm.
So far, I don’t have any word of a price or availability date as yet. Maybe they will announce that at CES 2010. I hope they have this on display at CES, because I want to see how fast it can suck up dust. Perhaps LG will use it to clean up the floors after the big show.
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Robonica looks at new robotic entertainment formats

Robonica is a start-up that is looking into new ways of robotic entertainment and aims to redefine the entertainment robotics market later this fall by rolling out a whole new range of products that come with the tagline, “The Rise of Robotic Gaming.” This new range will merge elements of robotics, R/C vehicles and electronic gaming, making them stand out from the current crop of entertainment robots that is able to offer meaningful and structured gameplay regardless of whether one is alone, with friends or through online interaction.

The following online sources – ToysRUs.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and more will be the first to get hold of Robonica’s offering, followed by retailers Hammacher Schlemmer, Edmund Scientific and other specialty shops.

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Bloodbot combines your worst vampire and robot fears

There are a lot of people who faint at the sight of a needle, as well as those that swoon at the sight of blood.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was some machine like this Bloodbot that could draw your blood, without a human ever being present?

Some of you might faint at the very idea of that, but haven’t you ever had a doctor who had a hard time finding the vein while you were donating blood? Apparently, this bloodbot has an accuracy rate of seventy-eight percent. Normally, I would say that is good, but I would like to see the average accuracy rate for a doctor.

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Robot Deliveries of the Future

As city streets grow more and more crowded, it is more difficult for delivery trucks to get through them. The solution is to deliver the packages through the sewers.

Yes, that network of tunnels designed to move human waste from our homes could be used to bring packages to our homes. All of this is possible with the proper application of robots.
Some researchers are working on inventing the Urban Mole. Instead of digging through the dirt, the Urban Mole is designed to carry packages such as signed documents, groceries, and Amazon.com orders. Of course, there are limits, and my source has said it can probably deliver nothing bigger than a shoebox.
Of course, I don’t know how good of a condition your packaged materials would be if they have just been swimming through sewage. Perhaps it will be required from every Urban Mole to take a shower before it knocks on the door.

Another problem that I forsee is what do you do when there is some sort of breakdown in the system? Do you send someone in the sewers to fix it? That’s one of those “dirty job, but someone has to do it” thing.
This is one concept gadget that I don’t think will ever be made, but you never know. I have seen I, Robot, and I believe that robot delivery people will be walking, not swimming.
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WALL-E in thumb drive form

I’ve never run across someone that didn’t adore the movie WALL-E. So it’s no surprise that there would be small random WALL-E inspired items. Here’s a tiny whimsical flash drive that has a keychain attached to it. Which means you get to store files on it and show it off on your keys when it’s not plugged into the computer. Not only is it WALL-E, but it’s WALL-E clinging tightly to a fire extinguisher.

The flash drive stores 8GB of data, which is definitely not too shabby. This was a posting on Etsy and when it was it would have cost you $65. However, being Etsy, they only had one in stock and it’s managed to disappear already, which I’m not really surprised about. The great thing with Etsy though, is that you can easily contact the seller and see if they’ll create a duplicate for you. Sometimes it’s a one time deal and they can’t create another one, but it’s worth a shot.

Source: Technabob

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Rescue Robot Removes Victims from Accidents

Maybe I have seen too manyTerminator and Matrix movies, but this shot of the human going inside of a robot just gives me the creeps.

The fact that the attached YouTube video that you can watch after the jump is called “Human Body Shredding Machine” doesn’t help. Clearly, I need to get over my robot issues and see that this robot rescuer, or Robocue, could truly save a life.

The basic concept behind this is that the Robocue can get to places that would be too dangerous for a human to get to. It is equipped with many sensors and cameras for remote operation up to 100 meters away, and the conveyor belt feature is equipped to put the injured human in a safe place for transport.

Of course, I can’t help but wonder what situation the Robocue could get into that a human could not do better. Sure, it may be able to enter a burning building without getting singed, but could it do it at a running speed? In other words, I’m not certain whether this Robocue would be up to the job in a real emergency.

Perhaps I got a little robo-bigotry like Will Smith’s character in I, Robot. I know that I’ve got a little irrational fear of this Human Body Shredding Machine video, but maybe it is because it reminds me of the people bulldozers from Soylent Green.

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