Technology Info

BAE Systems will lead a team of scientists that will develop miniature robots to improve military situational awareness. The company signed a $38 million agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to lead an alliance of researchers and scientists from the Army, academia and industry.

The Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance will research and develop advanced robotic equipment for use in urban environments and complex terrain, such as mountains and caves. The alliance will create an autonomous, multifunctional collection of miniature intelligence-gathering robots that can operate in places too inaccessible or dangerous for humans.

“Robotic platforms extend the warfighter’s senses and reach, providing operational capabilities that would otherwise be costly, impossible, or deadly to achieve,” said Dr. Joseph Mait, MAST cooperative agreement manager for the Army Research Laboratory. “The MAST alliance is a highly collaborative effort, with each partner from government, academia, and industry playing a significant role.” (link)

Remember those massage pants? Um, now there’s a total body massage version. Slutty asian model not included. Why stop kidding ourselves? Break out to robot sex slaves already!

HPI Japan just conjured up GR-001’s new best friend: the G-Dog. The DIY, four-legged robot with a taste for jugulars and what appears to be a sword for a tail stands just 5.3-inches tall and features the same control unit and sensors of his bipedal buddy. Presumably, G-Dog will only respond to street-wize greetings of “Whut up Gee?” and “‘Sup Dawg?” at which point he’ll lubricate his turf (aka, your carpet). G-Dog is expected to terrorize Japan sometime in July for around $1,000. Backside front, after the break. (engadget)

Major Japanese retailer Aeon Co. said Tuesday it has introduced a 1.4-metre (four-foot-seven) yellow-and-white robot at a store in the southern city of Fukuoka in charge of entertaining the children.

If parents want to leave their children with the kid-sized machine, they arrange for the youngsters to wear special badges that bear codes which the robot can read.

The robot can then identify the children by their names and ages and chat with them, even though its vocabulary remains limited.

The robot, developed with leading robot-maker Tmusk, can also use a projector in one of its eyes to beam advertising messages — or to show pictures that it has captured with a camera installed in the other eye. (link)

From Gizmodo

“Zoltan is a 33-year-old guy from Georgia. Average height, average looks, and not a rich man. He works in an arcade, where he fixes video games for a living, and still lives with his elderly parents. No wonder he was nervous about asking his slim redheaded girlfriend Alice to marry him. To make things more tense, she had split up with Zoltan at the beginning of the relationship because she thought he was taking things too fast. Since they got back together, though, Alice has been good for Zoltan—he’s started attending church again, and cut out watching porn. His parents’ initial rejection of her had turned to respect, and the four of them seemed to be living together happily enough. So Zoltan had confidence when he popped the question to Alice—his beloved, who just happens to be a robot.” (link)

10 reasons to marry a robot

Zoltan’s Lab

Um, what? I think this is a crazy idea by Reebok, oh well, the shoes are out there, damage done. $80 - $135 (save your money and buy some shoes that won’t get you beat up)
Reebok Voltron Shoes

Question: Do they combine to make a giant Voltron shoe? Boo - urns!

Voltron gets served (Robot Chicken)

What? People falling in love with robots? I don’t know which is more troubling, terminators killing us or people having sex with robots. Both equally disturbing and creepy. Remember that Star Trek: The Next  Generation episode where Tasha and Data get it on? Eeww, especially since she was a bit man-ish. Although Fembots from Austin Powers might be tempting, so long as they don’t try kill me with their machine gun jubblies (can I order one without the guns?). Even the sexy Cylons from Battlestar Galactica warrant consideration. Or how about a Buffybot?

Although you have to admit, robot on robot action is hot! (just kidding, geez can’t you spot a joke?)

“That day is imminent, Levy writes, especially the sex part. By the middle of this century, he predicts, “love with robots will be as normal as love with other humans, while the number of sexual acts and lovemaking positions commonly practiced between humans will be extended, as robots teach more than is in all of the world’s published sex manuals combined.”

If this seems a bit much, hang on. Levy, an expert on artificial intelligence and the author of “Robots Unlimited,” builds his case gradually. He begins with what scientists know about why humans fall in love with other humans. There are 10 factors, he writes, including mystery, reciprocal liking, and readiness to enter a relationship. Why can’t these factors apply to robots, too? Even something as apparently human as “reciprocal liking” can be programmed into a robot’s behavior, and if it acts as if it likes you that’s often all that matters.” (link)

Japan developing sex bots

Wow this is great! NOT! Soon it will be dual wielding assault rifles and gunning down humans like Master Chief (it’s been playing Halo 3 and pwning your ass). We’re all in trouble. AND it can self charge. This guy never gets tired of hunting humans. Honda what are you doing?! I love your cars but this robot thing has got to stop. DESTROY THE PROTOTYPES!

story

A robot math whiz breezes through a Rubik’s Cube, using metal hands to twist and turn the colourful toy. A panda robot uses sensors to detect when people are laughing, and joins in. A dentistry student peers into the mouth of a new patient - a humanoid practise robot with a complete set of pearly white teeth.

Japan showed off its cutting-edge robots Wednesday at the country’s largest robotics convention, a dazzling display of the technologies that make it a world leader in both service and industrial robotics. (link)

A pearly white robot that looks a little like E.T. boosted a man out of bed, chatted and helped prepare his breakfast with its deft hands in Tokyo on Tuesday, in a further sign robots are becoming more like their human inventors.Twendy-One, named as a 21st century edition of a previous robot, Wendy, has soft hands and fingers that gently grip, enough strength to support humans as they sit up and stand, and supple movements that respond to human touch.

It can pick up a loaf of bread without crushing it, serve toast and help lift people out of bed.

“It’s the first robot in the world with this much system integration,” said Shigeki Sugano, professor of mechanical engineering at Waseda University, who led the Twendy-One project (http://twendyone.com) and demonstrated the result on Tuesday. (link)