Awesome Robots

Robotics firm Festo shows off its impressive design for a pneumatic hand with flexible fingers that can grip things like humans do. It uses AI tech to learn to grasp objects, and has sensors to help it model the shape of the object it’s holding.

Sphero’s RVR robot is not just as a plaything, but a platform for customization. The programmable all-terrain bot drives right out of the box, has numerous on-board sensors, and is highly-expandable using Raspberry Pi, BBC micro:bit, or Arduino control circuits.

Looking to kill a few minutes of your day? This highly addictive interactive online plaything lets you take control of a roomful of loosely-jointed, stretchy-limbed dancing robots. You can play with Gerard Ferrandez’ underlying code here. Let’s Rock!

With the Terra robot mower, iRobot aims to do for mowing lawns what its Roomba did for vacuuming homes. It uses standalone beacons and smart mapping technology to efficiently mow without the need for boundary wires or digging. It will be available in the USA soon.

The Hexbot is a modular, quiet and accurate robot arm that can perform a variety of tasks. By default, it comes with a pen holder that lets it write and draw. But you can also get modules that turn it into a laser engraver, 3D printer and even a pick-and-place machine.

TheCrafsMan SteadyCraftin has the best voice of any artist since Bob Ross, so that just makes his video of how to build a robot sculpture from found objects that much more charming. He also provides useful advice on soldering nearby joints without ruining adjacent ones.

The idea of a car that can walk might seem ludicrous at first, but Hyundai’s unique concept shows how its omnidirectional wheeled legs could be used to help it maneuver in extreme terrain, such as rubble and rocks, potentially improving rescue efforts in a disaster.

We have a hard enough time keeping two balls in the air at the same time, but this robotic contraption is able to deftly juggle five balls at once. It’s even smart enough to detect when a ball is intentionally dropped and resumes without skipping a beat.

ft Robotics shows off a nifty Arduino Mega and Fischertechnik based plotter. Unlike other drawing machines which are driven by cartesian coordinates, this one uses polar coordinates. It draws by moving a pen along one axis, while a turntable rotates beneath its retractable pen.

The Sphero Bolt is a spherical robot designed to teach and enhance computer programming skills. Use it with its app to make it zip around a track, display graphics or data on its LED matrix, and more. You can even make multiple Bolts communicate.

Waymo, Google’s self-driving car program, has launched a taxi service. Available only in Arizona as of this writing, Waymo One works just like a ride sharing service like Uber, except the “driver” just there in case of emergency, and the car is fully autonomous.

Our latest look at the live action adaptation of the cyberpunk manga Battle Angel Alita shows some of the heroine’s various armor and body modifications. It also gives us a peek of Alita competing in the deadly sport called “Motorball.” The film drops 2/6/19.

It is the distant future… the year 2000… the robots have taken our jobs… and are dancing about it. The music video for The Chemical Brothers’ track Free Yourself, from directors DOM&NIC and effects house The Mill will take you on quite the ride. Boogie! Roboboogie!

Great Big Story introduces us to artist Kolja Kugler, who built himself an animatronic band from scrap metal. The robotic musicians play the bass, drums, and flute, and seem to enjoy a bit of the old punk rock. Enjoy one of their performances here.

You don’t have to be a fan of the latest Jurassic World movie to appreciate this awesome high tech toy from Mattel. The Alpha Training Blue is a learning, interactive mini raptor with 7 motors, touch and sound sensors, and lots of nifty sound effects… and those eyes.

While most modern warehouses use a balanced blend of human and robotic workers, Japanese retailer UNIQLO’s Ariake warehouse replaced 90% of its human workers with machines. The result is both an engineering marvel, and a haunting glimpse of the future.

Moritz Simon Geist performs electronic music with a tableful of strange and wonderful mechanical contraptions he built by hand. Each one makes a unique analog sound that combines to create a driving beat. Check out the making-of video to see how it all works.

While the guys at Boston Dynamics have the latest in robot tech, they’re not exactly au courant with their musical selection. Still, we’ll forgive them for their out of date tastes because they taught their SpotMini robot some sick dance moves.

Boston Dynamics‘ bipedal humanoid robot continues to build its library of skills. In this brief video clip, the sophisticated ‘bot shows off by hopping over a log, and bounding up a series of platforms with greater agility than most humans could pull off.

Hong Kong toy designer Lock Lai creates vintage-style robot toys which will look awesome on your shelf. Their articulated body parts are held on by magnets and can be stored inside of their metal bodies. Find more TinBot designs, including a DIY blank one on Storenvy.

Vacuum cleaner robots are great, but there are lots of places that they can’t reach. That’s where the Coral One comes in. It looks and works like a vacuum ‘bot, but its core can be detached and used as a Dustbuster-style handheld cleaner as well.

Already in use in a number of golf clubs in the United States, the Rover is an autonomous caddie that carries more than your golf clubs. It also has a built-in cooler, a carrier for divot repair seeds, and even a USB charger. It also has a tablet that shows your yardage.

There’s already a robot that can solve a Rubik’s Cube in 0.38 second, but that thing takes up too much space. Thanks to miniaturization, and the smarts of Human Controller, we now have a completely self-contained version. It can only reverse a human’s moves at this point though.