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Latest Video: Bleeding Edge TV 288: TNA iMPACT! Preview: Christy Hemme & Christopher Daniels interview

We chat with TNA stars Christy Hemme and "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels about the upcoming TNA iMPACT! video game in this episode.
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Tokyo University Develops e-skin

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science

e-skinJapan’s Tokyo University researcher Tsuyoshi Sekitani and team have created e-skin. Carbon nanotubes are combined with an iconic liquid and then added to rubber. The result is that it can feel heat and pressure the same as human skin. Applications include being used in steering wheels to determine body temperature to see if the driver should operate his/her vehicle, as a mattress cover for those who are bedridden to gauge body pressure, and of course the obvious, robot skin.

Read More | Space Daily

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Pleo Can Be Resurrected

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: Hot Deals, Misc. Tech

Pleo

If you already have a Pleo but, for some reason, the robotic dinosaur bites the proverbial dust, send it back to its place of birth. If they cannot fix him/her, the UGOBE team will extract its “soul” and load it into a new one for a reduced price. We call that an incredible offer for those whose Pleo is more than just a robot. By the way, if you haven’t yet purchased one of your own, in honor of their 1 year anniversary, PleoWorld selling them for $235.00 off until July 11.

Read More | PleoWorld

Robotic Foosball Table

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: Design, Science, Toys

Robotic Foosball Table

Foosball players that can’t find enough competition can rejoice in the fact that they can now play against a robo-player. Engineering students from the Univ. of Adelaide won an award for their mechatronics project that took 8 months to complete. The system consists of a motions sensor system, software for decision making, and an actuation system for control manipulation. The 4 sets of rods can move side to side and rotate for kicking. The winners were sponsored by Sage Didatic and supported by Rockwell Automation.

Read More | Rockwell Automation

Interaction Wall-E

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: Movies, Science, Toys

Interaction Wall-EHow could we not pay homage to our newest and favest bot? Wall-E debuted today and although we couldn’t make the premiere, we did notice that there are already a truckload of toys and other tie-ins, like this Interaction Wall-E. The little guy’s eyes light up, he moves his head and arms, and has the original movie voice and sound effects. If that isn’t enough, when you talk to him, he responds and, if you are too busy, can communicate with Interaction Eve. At a size of 6.5 x 10.5 x 8.5-inches and a weight of 2.1 pounds, we found one on Amazon for $43.99.

Read More | Amazon

Flame Walks Like a Human

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: Misc. Tech, Science

Flame
ASIMO eat your heart out. Flame is now the most advanced walking robot to date. Created by Dutch PhD student Daan Hobbelen of TU Delft, his bot is both stable and energy efficient. To accomplish his objective, he studied how people walked for the first time. He then gave Flame seven motors and a balance mechanism created with stability algorithms. Daan is hoping that the technology will be used to help treat those with walking disabilities.

Read More | Physorg

WowWee Tribot

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: CES, CES 2008, Misc. Tech, Science, Toys

TribotWowWee has finally moved on from their inane Chatterbots to bring us all the Tribot, which we first introduced you to in February from the CES. Obviously named for its three-wheeled base, the bot can move in 8 directions (including diagonal.)The kewl tilt trigger button allows you to move him in directions by just moving the remote around. He will also tell jokes and stories and refers to himself as “the most rad robot in the galaxy.”

Wait, there’s more. Use Tribot as a guard against alien bots or dogs, as an alarm that needs a tap on the head to shut him up, challenge him to a game of hide and seek, or play one of three driving games. We would have been happy if he just cleaned up our room.

Read More | Tribot Product Page

SnoMotes Don’t Mind the Cold

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science, Transportation

SnoMoteResearchers from Georgia Tech and Penn State have been working on 3 autonomous bots for cold locales such as Greenland and Antarctica. SnoMotes, funded by NASA, use cameras and sensors to navigate.The idea of the design actually came from a child’s snowmobile kit.The robots are sent to certain locations from base camps, then collect data for their handler. The scientist can then reassign location if necessary. Eventually the team is hoping that the prototype will have a full range of sensors. The Snomotes will be field tested in Alaska and on display at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry next month.

Read More | Georgia Tech

Monkeys Control Robotics With Brain Waves

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: Misc. Tech, Science

Monkey with Robotic ArmIn order to assist those who are paralyzed, researchers have been training monkeys to feed themselves with the use of a robotic arm. The monkey uses its brain to control sensors and let the arm know that it wants a marshmallow. The team say that one monkey has already achieved a 78% success rate. Head of the U. of Pittsburgh team, Andrew Schwartz, says that it won’t be long before the technology will be tested on humans, but it may be a several years before making it to the mainstream.

Read More | CNN

Panasonic Evolta Batteries

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: Misc. Tech, Storage

EvoltaPanasonic has certainly gone out of its way to promote their new Evolta (Evolution + Voltage) AA battery cell. They sent a 5 oz. robot climbing up a rope suspended from the Grand Canyon for almost 7 hours on a pair of them and earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as “the longest-lasting AA alkaline battery cell.” If the 6.7-inch blue bot, also named Evolta, looks familiar, it was designed by robotics scientist Tomotaka Takahashi. Although the batteries are about 15% higher than the competition at $5.40 for four, they are already doing so well in Japan that Panasonic plans to send them overseas later this year.

Read More | Post-Bulletin

Robotic Tynamizer Mows Lawn

Posted by Sheila Franklin
Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science, Videos

You’ve got your elite with their fancy Swedish Automowers that they adore so much they give them names, and then there are others who take a more ordinary approach by having a robot slave do the work for them, despite the rudeness of the family dog. The video of the Tynamizer is fairly amusing to watch but we were wondering a couple of things. Doesn’t the grass already look fairly short? And what happens when the extension cord runs out?

Read More | Robots-Dreams

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