Awesome Robots

Chris Hardwick, Sneaky Zebra, Pwnisher, Rocket Jump, Screen Team and Mars Rising team up to defeat Wired’s giant robot in this cheesy action short film. Stan Winston School and Legacy Effects made the 9’9″ robot costume.

From the makers of Cubelets comes a more advanced modular robot kit. MOSS uses magnets embedded in each block along with steel bearings to create connections. There will also be Artist Series sets with themed paint and graphics.

From director Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) comes a drama about a robot child created specifically to learn, adapt and feel like a human being. Starring Dev Patel, Sharlto Copley, Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman.

A programmer wins a prize to meet his company’s reclusive CEO. But he ends up becoming a pawn in his boss’ experiment with artificial intelligence. Written and directed by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine). International trailer here.

TakaraTomy’s consoles in disguise. Optimus Prime transforms into the original PlayStation, complete with a controller and a memory card, while Megatron turns into a Mega Drive with a controller and a Sonic cartridge.

Entertainment and security in one remote-controlled egg. It has a projector with an adjustable lens, a camera, various sensors and a sound system. It maps your home so you can ask it to come to a specific room, or control it directly.

The essential elements required to make an impactful short film are all present in this French student piece, in which we meet Leo, a high tech pet robot, living all alone in Paris following the strange disappearance of nearly all living species.

A veteran cyborg soldier ruminates on his actions – wondering whether he’s done anything worthwhile or if he believes that this is his purpose – as he makes his way to yet another battle. Or not.

We recently got up close with Caterpillar’s humongous 900+ horsepower D11T bulldozer, which can be equipped with a remote control for excavating and moving earth in locations too dangerous for human operators. BattleBots 2.0, anyone?

The Dyson 360 Eye’s 360º vision enables it to see an entire room all at once, helping it map and move around. It also has the most powerful suction out of all robot vacuums, and has brushes for both carpets and hard floors.

A team of robotic beings land on a desolate planet to use its scant resources, but not before leaving a wonderful gift.  Richard Mans’ Abiogenesis is a unique and beautiful short film.

Have you ever tried doodling on carpets and other furry surfaces? Professor Yuta Sugiura and his colleagues tried harder. They came up with three devices that let you draw, stamp or automatically print on furry surfaces.

CGP Grey looks at the revolutionary progress being made in robotics and artificial intelligence, and the ethical and philosophical questions of allowing robots and software to take our jobs and make their own decisions.

(NSFW, Gore) A day before his scheduled death, destiny intervenes with an android’s fate. Old timers should be able to recognize the film’s inspiration, but in case you don’t, go ahead and watch the film anyway. Then read this.

Jibo doesn’t have arms or legs, but he can recognize your face and voice, understand commands in plain language, read your messages and reminders aloud, take pictures for you and more. Just don’t fall in love with him.

Old Spice’s latest ad campaign is as weird as they come, but it’s also hilarious. The spots feature an biomechanical android who makes Star Trek’s Lieutenant Commander Data seem downright human. But at least he smells amazing.

Did Michael Bay disappoint you yet again? Let Harris Lourero restore your Transformers faith. He used Make Toys’ Giant Type 61 (Constructicons/Devastator) and Battle Tanker (Optimus Prime) to make this stop-motion short.

Düsseldorf Airport has a premium parking service that uses robot valets. Made by Serva Transport System, Ray gently and efficiently transports vehicles. Passengers use an app to have their car checked out when they return.

The Transformers 30th anniversary Tour Edition features Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave and Smooth Jazz as members of a glam metal band called Knights of Unicron. No joke. Available at the 2014 SDCC, or as always, on eBay.

A construction robot happily goes about his duty, until he sees what his fellow robots can do. Director and animator Scott Thierauf presents a funny parable about envy and desire in this animated short.

We’ve seen a robot that could run as fast as a cheetah, but it was unwieldy. This portable robot can amble along all on its own, and the Performance model can hit speeds up to 20mph, has 2-hour battery life and an on-board camera.

Engineers at the EPFL are working on a robot arm that can figure out how to catch objects on its own. Like humans, the robot learns through imitation and trial and error. Robot baseball is going to be short and boring.

Kinetix set up a robotic drum and percussion set and a variety of synthesizers to play a kick-ass electronic track. The video is a real-time recording of the song. Buy the song to fund Kinetix’ trip to NIME 2014.