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Sega Unveils Robotic Baby Chicks

Administrator — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 19:43:25 +0000

My late grandfather owned a chicken coop, which regularly produced a few dozen yellow, fluffy chicks every year or so. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to spend much time around baby chickens, you’ll notice a few things:

Cuddly? Check. Yellow? Check. Cute? Check. Prone to crap on everything in sight and make a mess of your easter clothes? Unfortunately, a smelly check there as well.

Now Japanese toy maker Sega has developed a range of robotic baby chickens that remove the messy bits and retain the furry, cuddly parts of these popular critters. According to Reuters, the little gadgets will wiggle their wings and peep when stroked. They don’t do much else, but it’s obvious that the appeal of fuzzy little robots endures. Check out some additional Reuters photos and some video as well. (Source: Reuters) – [Jeff James]

Brain-Sucking Aliens Beware:Land Walker is here!

Administrator — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 16:14:37 +0000

If you’re a Mecha/BattleTech fan who is eagerly looking forward to the day when giant walking robots are stomping about the ravaged battlefields of a post-apocalyptic earth, your dream came just one tiny step (or more accurately: a few stumbling, rattling steps) closer to fruition.

As shown on YouTube, an enterprising Japanese inventor has managed to build a functional walking ‘mech-type vehicle, complete with gasoline engine and joystick power. The vehicle doesn’t exactly walk — it moves by sliding its feet forward, shuddering and shaking with each step (sort of like everyone’s crazy Uncle Larry during his first go-round at the local skating rink).

It’s also armed with a gatling gun and an autocannon, both powered by compressed air and able to launch balls at nearby targets. The inventor is obviously preparing the vehicle to help defend the Earth from hostile takeover by pixelated aliens, as the target shown in the video is plastered with the blocky antagonist from the Space Invaders game.

All kidding aside, this is one impressive creation. Granted, it’s a bit wobbly and shaky, but if a few dedicated Japanese Mecha fans can build something like this, what could the Pentagon and DARPA do with a few $Billion and 10-20 years of development? (Source: YouTube) – [Jeff James]

We need you! A call for Mindstorms creations

Administrator — Wed, 10 May 2006 16:28:03 +0000

As we inch closer to the launch of the new Mindstorms NXT later this fall, we’d like to take a nostalgic look back at some of the best creations from the last generation of Mindstorms. Many of us have seen some incredible Mindstorms constructs over the years, ranging from Rubik’s cube solvers and copiers to ATMs and Segway clones.

Here’s the deal: Beginning Monday, May 15th we’ll begin spotlighting one amazing, old school Mindstorms creation per week, based solely on the existing RCX. If you have an impressive, wacky or just plain cool Mindstorms creation — or know someone who does — please comment on this post with the info, or drop me an email at jeff [@] nxtbot.com.

We’d ideally need a few paragraphs describing the creation, as well as 2-3 high-quality digital photos. - [ Jeff James]

Slime-powered cyborgs?

Administrator — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 21:29:34 +0000

A very intriguing article over at NewScientist.com (by Will Knight) describes the work of some UK researchers who have combined a simple slime with a functioning six-legged robot. This seemingly bizarre combination actually presents some interesting possibilities: why spend millions developing control software and AI when you can use simple organisms to help you do the job? Interesting stuff, and good fodder for a few dozen cheap science fiction movies….

Check out the full article (and more photos like this one) over at NewScientist.com here.

Ugobe reveals Designer Life Forms

Administrator — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 16:13:21 +0000

At the 2006 DEMO Conference today UGOBE announced the first of their new line of Designer Life Form robotics products, beginning with the cuddly Pleo.

Designed to look like a newborn dinosaur (a 1-week old Camarasaurus sauropod, to be exact), Pleo sports 40 sensors, a life-like movement system, 14 servo joints and the ability to exhibit a variety of lifelike moods and actions, including anger, boredom, sneezing, etc.

From the news release:
“UGOBE’s goal is to re-animate life by transforming inanimate objects into lifelike creatures exhibiting organic movement and behaviors,” said Bob Christopher, CEO of UGOBE. “Through evolving companionship, Pleo will suspend disbelief by bringing magic and beauty to life.”

Pleo should be available in Q3 2006 for under $200 retail.

Check out the news release here, or visit the official site here. PC Magazine also has a nice preview of Pleo here by Lance Ulanoff as well.

2006 CES Report: First look at the Mindstorms NXT (Part 2)

Administrator — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 00:36:18 +0000

In this second installment of our three part CES report on the Mindstorms NXT we’ll take a brief look at the new Mindstorms programming software.

The original LEGO Mindstorms product shipped with one of two different programming environments, depending on how it was purchased. The original retail product shipped with RCX code, a visual programming environment that was easy to use but perhaps lacked programming features for more advanced users. Educational versions of Mindstorms shipped with RoboLAB, a more robust programming environment based on National Instruments’ LabVIEW application. Participants in FIRST LEGO League also received both software versions as part of their registration, while a number of unofficial third-party programming alternatives — such as NQC and leJOS — offered even more advanced programming capability for accomplished Mindstorms gurus.

The Mindstorms NXT will be the first retail Mindstorms product to offer both Macintosh and Windows support right out of the box, thanks to an all-new programming environment based on National Instruments’ latest version of their LabVIEW software. During a quick demonstration of the new software by Soren Lund (the Mindstorms NXT Marketing Director), it was obvious that the new software is a noticeable upgrade over both the old RoboLAB and RCX code programming environments, and fully embraces standard Windows interface conventions. Segments of code can be dragged and dropped into the programming workspace very easily, while a new quick start programming option will let novices get up to speed quickly with 18 new robot building challenges designed around the new features and capabilities of the NXT. I’ll hopefully share some additional details on the new software over the next few months.

In our upcoming (and final) installment of our 2006 CES Mindstorms NXT coverage I’ll share some photos and observations of a few of the sample NXT models that were on display, as well as a few very early pics of the new product packaging.

2006 CES Report: First look at the Mindstorms NXT (Part 1)

Administrator — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 23:09:21 +0000

The recently announced Mindstorms NXT was on display in the Robotics TechZone at CES, surrounded by other robotics exhibits. A number of NXT sample robots were being demonstrated, but in this installment we’ll focus on some of the key features of the new NXT intelligent brick, which replaces the yellow RCX brick used in earlier versions of Mindstorms.

The NXT unit itself is roughly the same size as the old RCX, but most similarities end there. A pearlescent off-white finish and four control buttons (providing left, right, select and escape menu functions) give the NXT a vaguely iPod-ish appearance. Seven ports – 3 output and 4 input — are used to communicate with sensors and other devices. On the old RCX these ports were covered with brick studs and surrounded the central LCD display; on the new NXT these ports are on the top and bottom edges of the unit and take the form of proprietary 6-wire connectors that resemble (but are incompatible with) RJ11 phone connectors. Next to the output ports is a USB 2.0 connector, and the unit also offers integrated Bluetooth compatibility.

Using the control buttons you can navigate through the NXT menu system, which appears to be more flexible and provides more control options that the old RCX LCD display functionality, which only allowed the user to toggle through and select currently loaded programs. Based on our limited time with the device we think the new menu system should be relatively easy for users familiar with iPods and mobile phones to choose and select program functions and adjust NXT brick options.

In our next installment we’ll take a closer look at the new NXT programming software, which is based on National Instruments LabVIEW software and is both Macintosh (Huzzah!) and Windows compatible. We’ll also check out some of the sample models we saw on display at the show, in addition to an early comp of the NXT product packaging. Check out the official Mindstorms site (http://mindstorms.lego.com) for more information as well.

2006 CES Report: Honda’s ASIMO Steps Out

Administrator — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 22:33:02 +0000

Buried in the far corner of one of the myriad halls of CES, Honda Motor Company demonstrated the latest features of their ASIMO humanoid robot. Honda has been a leader in the development of humanoid robotics for years, and this latest version of ASIMO demonstrated two new features never before demonstrated in the United States: balancing on a tilting floor and navigating a steep slope in both directions. This Las Vegas appearance was preceded by news of yet another ASIMO variant in Japan that can carry objects in cart and run at a brisk 4 mph. While your average human toddler can manage these tasks pretty easily — and chuck soggy cheerios at the family pet at the same time — the engineering, physics and programming required to make this happen (aside from the flinging food bit) in a humanoid robot is pretty remarkable. While we still may be a few years away from George Jetson’s Rosie-bot washing our delicates and baking gingersnaps for the young ‘uns, odds are good that some of the robots doing so may be sporting a Honda logo. We tried to snag a swell ASIMO plush toy at a post-demo raffle, but our swag-winnning mojo was nowhere to be seen. For more on all things ASIMO visit http://asimo.honda.com.

Introducing nxtbot.com

Administrator — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 22:55:15 +0000

Welcome to nxtbot.com, a new blog dedicated to providing news, interviews, features and commentary on the fast-changing world of consumer robotics. This blog is sponsored by the LEGO Company, which helped develop the consumer robotics category in 1998 with the original release of the LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System (RIS).

While I’ll be taking a closer look at the upcoming Mindstorms NXT in the near future, nxtbot.com isn’t just about LEGO Mindstorms. The field of robotics has seen amazing growth over the last few years, ranging from the success of iRobot’s Roomba robot vacuum to the stalwart autonomous robotic vehicles that crossed the finish line at the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005. We’ll touch on many facets of the consumer robotics industry here at nxtbot.com, and we’d also like to hear your observations and commentary as well.

So what’s next? Over the next day or so I’ll be prowling the halls of the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) here in Las Vegas, snapping photos of new robotics products and trying to snag as much free exhibitor food as possible.

- Jeff