Sunday, August 4, 2013

Smartpet

"Phone face!" That may sound mean, but not to little Smartpet. To complete this robot dog from Bandai, you download the robot's app onto your iPhone, which you then snap into place. By using the Facetime camera, Smartpet can do tricks in response to your movements and gestures. It can also recognize voice commands, act as an alarm clock, and has over 100 facial expressions.  Originally posted on April 4, 2012.

Lego Segway

This awesome robot can stay upright like a Segway, but without using any gyroscopes. The secret to this design is a light sensor on the front that faces the floor. The robot detects when its distance to the ground increases or decreases and the wheels rotate to get it back to the right height. This is happening constantly while the robot is running. If you start it balanced, it stays balanced. If you start it off leaning forward or backwards it will stay at that angle and end up rolling forward or backward, in a controlled fall. Pretty clever!  
Originally posted on March 17, 2012. 

Lego Robot Makes Mickey Mouse Pancakes

This awesome robot can make a perfect pancake every time. One of the motors drives an air compressor that "pushes" the batter out of the ketchup bottles. The other two motors move the bridge to the correct position for the batter to come out. Here is the video: 
Originally posted on March 6, 2012. 

Robosapien


Robosapien is a remote control walking robot that can walk sideways, forward and backward. It also burps, can be programmed and moves it arms. It can also pick things up and then throw them (badly). There are three versions. I have the 1st, and it has always been fun to play with. What's really fun is to have two of them and have them do their demo dance in unison. My Robosapien is shiny chrome; others are white, and the newest version is red. Check out this cool video:

Originally posted on February 5, 2012. 

Tribot

Tribot is another robot made by WowWee. Its base has 3 wheels arranged in a circle, and another set of wheels within each wheel; this makes it a very agile robot. It is remote controlled and can move forward, backward, sideways and even diagonally. It can be programmed, will tell jokes (constantly), and can also go off on its own detecting obstacles along the way. It can spin very quickly and is a neat toy. Here’s a link to the WowWee website: http://www.wowwee.com/en/products/toys/robots/robotics/tri-bot  
Originally posted on February 5, 2012. 

Aibo the Robot Dog

Aibo is a robot dog made by Sony. It can learn the name you give it and will run around with its little ball and play. It gets annoyed and lonely if you ignore it. It also can be happy, sad, and surprised. You can teach it new tricks with upgraded software and Memory Sticks. The downfall of such an awesome and high-tech toy is it costs about $1000 -- not something your allowance will likely buy you. Here’s a video of Aibo in action:

Originally posted on February 5, 2012. 

Robot Fish Save The Day

Engineers and inventors have always used ideas from nature, taking things from animals to make stuff for humans, so these fish are returning the favor. These little robotic fish help lead schools of real fish away from chemical/oil spills and turbines. At a glance, the small robots aren’t very convincing, but what the inventor says is so convincing to the live fish, is the robots' ability to swim so much like the real thing. This link has the full write-up: http://www.livescience.com/12968-robot-fish-school-bts-110225.html
Originally posted on February 4, 2012. 

110 FirstLook

The 110 FirstLook is a small throwable robot great for clearing buildings and reconnaissance in hostile areas. This little robot is absolutely rugged; it can withstand a 15 foot fall onto concrete and will survive in 3 feet of water. It can tackle an obstacle 8 inches tall and climb stairs. It is 10 inches long, 9 inches wide and 4 inches tall, and only weighs 5 pounds. It is very small, light and portable. Here’s a link to iRobot and a video: http://www.irobot.com/gi/ground/110_FirstLook/

Originally posted on February 4, 2012.