ROAMS Robot uses off-the-shelf components to build 3D maps of an area
At a robotics conference, a vehicle called ROAMS demonstrated a cheap approach to mobile map-making. 
ROAMS (Remotely Operated and Autonomous Mapping System) was created by researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, with funding from the U.S. Army. It uses several existing [...]

 
Anybots “QA” at Work
Having one of those days where even a hearty bowl of Fruit Loops and Jack Daniels can’t get you out of bed? A telepresence robot can come into the office for you, elevating telecommuting to a decidedly new level. The somewhat humanoid ‘bots, produced by Mountain View, California-based Anybots, are controlled via [...]

David Bashford, lead of the LaserMotive team, preparing their robotic climber entry in the $2 million Space Elevator Games
A robot powered by a ground-based laser beam climbed a long cable dangling from a helicopter on Wednesday to qualify for prize money in a $2 million competition to test the potential reality of the science fiction [...]

Aida
As if you don’t have enough distractions while driving, the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab and MIT’s SENSEable City Lab have teamed up to create AIDA, a robot that lives in your dashboard, is way smarter than you, and has no compunctions about letting you know it: (Video)
 

ROPID
A new, even cuter, Japanese robot has hit the scene called ROPID. Developed by Tomotaka Takahashi of Robo Garage at Kyoto University, the tiny robot can respond to voice commands and actually has a mouth that moves when it speaks. (Video and pics)
 

RoboBee
Harvard researchers recently got a $10 million grant to create a colony of flying robotic bees, or RoboBees to among other things, spur innovation in ultra-low-power computing and electronic “smart” sensors; and refine coordination algorithms to manage multiple, independent machines.
 

Boston architects Howeler + Yoon and Los Angeles digital designers Squared Design Lab have designed a conceptual structure for Boston, where an unfinished building would be covered in modular pods growing algae for biofuel.  The pods would be continuously rearranged by robotic arms (powered by the micro-algae produced) to ensure the optimum growing conditions for [...]

This four-fingered robotic hand contains sensors that help it pick up a variety of objects
Industrial robots have been helping in the factories for a while, but most robots need a complex hand and powerful software to grasp ordinary objects without damaging them.  Researchers from Harvard and Yale Universities have developed a simple, soft robotic hand [...]

Stickybot has specially designed footpads, inspired by the surface of a gecko’s foot, that allow it to climb smooth surfaces.
To a robot designer like Sangbae Kim, the animal kingdom is full of inspiration. “I always look at animals and ask why they are the way they are,” says Kim, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering [...]

Cyborg beetles are plain creepy
DARPA shows off its remote-controlled cyborg beetles

“Miruko,” a wearable eyeball-shaped robot with a built-in camera and wi-fi capabilities, is designed to augment human perception by sensing and reacting to objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye. (Video)

You can’t go anywhere these days without stepping on a robot.
Japan certainly hasn’t let the recession damp its enthusiasm for all things robot, even if much of the robotic workforce still suffers from unemployment idleness. The robot tiles emerged as the brainchild of Hiroo Iwata, a virtual reality researcher at the University of Tsukuba in [...]

Yaskawa Electric’s industrial robots in Tokyo, victims of the global recession.
Play a small violin for thousands of Japanese industrial robots which now stand silent, victims of the global economic downturn in a country that hosts the highest robot-to-human ratio.  Recession times have proved a harsh reality check for Japan’s ongoing love affair with robots. Novelty [...]

Return to the moon is part of the Google Lunar X Prize
Today, Team Selenokhod, a Russian group of engineers and managers, announced its official entry into the Google Lunar X PRIZE – a $30 million competition that challenges space professionals and engineers from across the globe to build and launch to the moon a privately [...]

The skinny little rider you see perched atop the back seat of this tandem is Joules, robot cyclist extraordinaire. He’s the creation of a guy called Chris who, challenged by his son to create an electric tandem that worked via pedal power, more than satisfied the brief.
The nuts-and-bolts robot is powered by a PMG-132 electric [...]

A bed-shaped robot which can transform from a bed (top) to a wheel chair (bottom).
Japan’s Panasonic Corp. has developed a “Robotic Bed” that can transform into a wheelchair to make life easier for elderly and disabled people.  The invention is designed to help people with limited mobility maintain an independent lifestyle, the firm said in [...]

Taizo
On Thursday — shortly before the Japanese government released new statistics showing the nation’s centenarian population has reached an all-time high of more than 40,000 — researchers from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) unveiled a new humanoid robot designed to lead the elderly in physical exercises. (Video)
 

The Benthic Rover
Like the robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which wheeled tirelessly across the dusty surface of Mars, a new robot spent most of July traveling across the muddy ocean bottom, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the California coast. This robot, the Benthic Rover, has been providing scientists with an entirely new view [...]

Images of the robots showing their size proportional to various objects.
Tiny robots the size of a flea could one day be mass-produced, churned out in swarms and programmed for a variety of applications, such as surveillance, micromanufacturing, medicine, cleaning, and more. In an effort to reach this goal, a recent study has demonstrated the initial [...]

The robotics lab at Ben Gurion University in Israel has created a robot that walks on the ceiling. SpiderBot has suction cups tethered to the ends of its four legs.  It aims a leg at a spot on the ceiling, then shoots the cup at it.  Then it reels itself toward the spot, releases a rear [...]

According to a Sanswire-TAO announcement issued yesterday, “the first flight of the full scale STS-111 is expected to take place at the end of August”. The test video above shows a smaller prototype.
 

A prototype of the X-47B Navy Unmannded Combat Air System (UCAS)
Robots in the sky and on the ground are transforming warfare, and the US military is rushing to recruit the new warriors that never sleep and never bleed.
 

Now the enemy can rock out before he dies
Your Predator drone has all the latest gear, including communications, laser target designator, day and night cameras and, of course, Hellfire missiles. But, according to Special Operations Command, it still needs that essential finishing touch: the latest sound system. The command is setting out to correct this, [...]

How about a high five
Say hello to Ken Lim’s “Guardian Robot,” which will keep an eye on your Twitter feed for happy or sad messages from your friends, raising its arm in triumph or lowering its head sulkily. While it may not look like much (though it’s still got an undeniable charm to it), the [...]

Sensors are being placed inside and around the mouth of Mount St. Helens.
Scientists have placed high-tech “spiders” inside and around the mouth of Mount St. Helens, one of the most active volcanoes in the United States. Networks such as these could one day be used to respond rapidly to an impending eruption.