Military-backed researchers have built a tiny drone that looks and flies like a hummingbird, flapping its little robotic wings to stay in the air. So far, the mock bird, built for Pentagon mad-science division Darpa, has only stayed aloft for 20 seconds at a time. But that short flight was enough to show the potential [...]

Aversion
Kobian, a “humanoid” robot, which can express seven human emotions, has been unveiled by researchers at Waseda University in Japan. (Video and pics after the jump)

Military robots with guns
Robotex Inc is one of the plethora of companies out there that are working to bring intelligent weapon wielding robots to reality.  From the limited information on their website we can’t say much about whether Robotex’s robots are ever going to come to much, but perhaps these guys have a future in [...]

European researchers in robotics, psychology and cognitive sciences have developed a robot that can predict the intentions of its human partner. This ability to anticipate (or question) actions could make human-robot interactions more natural.

Terminator like robots really could be on the horizon
Can we build a brain from the ground up, one neuron (or so) at a time? That’s the goal of neurobotics, a science that sits at the convergence of robotics, artificial intelligence, computer science, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, physiology, mathematics and several different engineering disciplines. Computationally demanding and [...]

Robots can be trained to spot disease and estimate yield  
From plows to seed drills to tractors, evolving technology has brought about radical changes to agriculture over the years. Now the sector is poised for another shift as robotic farmhands gear up to make agriculture greener and more efficient.

Avatars with emotions 
Anyone who’s played through a game like Microsoft’s Fable II (who can forget your virtual dog?), BioWare’s Mass Effect (with its robust roster of non-playable characters) or seen Sony’s upcoming Heavy Rain (whose developer, Quantic Dream, promises a new type of relationship between player and character) may have wondered to themselves whether gaming, [...]

Terminator comes to life
When machines behave deadly, they are forced to spend eternity tortured by robots like these 10 monstrosities.

Robot walks like a human
Round four of mankind’s epic battle against the walking, talking, killer machines starts with the opening of Terminator Salvation. But humanoid robots aren’t confined to the movies. Turns out the U.S. military is backing research into robots that act like people, as well.

Â/p>
Surveyor makes open source robot controllers that have quite a fan following among do-it-yourself drone enthusiasts. The company’s core product is the SRV-1, a programmable mobile robot controller that is open source,wireless and video enabled.

Robot Taxi 
Eco Factor: Robotic car powered by electric motors.  With technology advancing at the pace it is today, we’ve to believe that by the end of the century we won’t be driving our cars around the city. Rather, we will just be sitting on the then historic driver’s seat and doing some work. While the [...]

RAPHaEL robotic hand
The Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (AKA the RoMeLa Project) at the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech has designed and built a prototype robotic hand that is controlled and operated by compressed air. Called RAPHaEL (Robotic Air Powered Hand with Elastic Ligaments), the robot can hold heavier, solid objects, as well as light or [...]

Hey didn’t they steal this idea from Jaws
Growing up on the beach in Florida, I’ve had my little run-ins with these eating machines.
The most notable of these encounters happened when I was in high school. Summer in Florida demands multiple visits to the beach. In this instance I was body surfing. I [...]

This really makes RC cool
Like a drug-hunting K9 with wings, the “Canna Chopper” is the Dutch police force’s latest addition to its weed-fighting arsenal (which must be impressive, considering that it’s adding a high-tech miniature helicopter). The unmanned craft is loaded with odor and video detection instruments so that it can identify fields of hemp [...]

Robot animals 
On a remote U.S. Forest Service road in Arizona a few years ago, the driver of a white minivan slowly rolls to a stop, sticks a rifle out the window, and starts firing at what look to be wild turkeys.

Bodyweight Support Assist 
Not so long ago we spoke highly about the Chariot that helps the amputees stand tall, and as if the world has taken to such technology development in a frenzy, we now have robotic aid to help people walk and lift coming from the American Honda Motors. Dubbed the Stride Management Assist and [...]

Tweenbot
The tweenbot, a cardboard-bodied, cheerful little bugger, is equipped with a flag stating its intended destination. Since it can only move forward, it depends on the kindness of strangers to guide it and remove obstacles. (Video) (Pics)

 
da Vinci Si Surgical System
Now even the clumsiest doctor can perform incredibly precise microsurgery with this latest da Vinci Si Surgical system, the only one in the world that operates in 3D HDTV. Using four robotic arms and one channel of HD video for each eye, the system reduces and filters a surgeon’s movements to [...]

Child Robot- CB2 
The creators of the Child-robot with Biomimetic Body, or CB2, say it’s slowly developing social skills by interacting with humans and watching their facial expressions, mimicking a mother-baby relationship. (Pics)

BERTI Robot 
Developed by Elumotion and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, the BERTI robot, recently on display at London’s Science Museum, was specifically created to mimic human gestures. The “gesture bot” was designed to use human gestures to compliment verbal communication with humans.

 
Wow I hope your not scared of needles
When doctors need to perform a coronary bypass, it typically involves cracking open the patient’s chest and stopping all functions of the heart. From Waseda University in Japan comes a robot that could end the need for that second step, at least.

Talking to yourself reaches a whole new level
Scientists say they can now build near-perfect replications of a human being, and that they finally have the technology to bring the inanimate to life.
Scientists are liars. Here are seven robots that reached for “life-like,” and came up with a big handful of your worst nightmares.

Sea Life Of Fondo Marino de Palma de Mallorca
Scientists are developing a robotic octopus that will be able to search the seabed with the same extraordinary dexterity as the real eight-legged cephalopod. With no solid skeleton, the robot would be the world’s first entirely soft robot, say researchers.

 
A robot named Cosmo has become six-year-old Kevin Fitzgerald’s unlikely ally in his uphill everyday battle with developmental difficulties.
At a strip mall clinic in suburban Maryland, Kevin is at the unlikely intersection of new efforts to treat symptoms of autism, cerebral palsy and other developmental disorders with robotics and computer work.

Can you say terminator
Researchers at Cornell University in New York have created robotic cubes that can create copies of themselves in under three minutes which, surprisingly, the scientists purport are simple machines. Self-replicating robots are simple? That’s because that’s all the cubes do – at the moment. They could easily be outfitted with tools for [...]