The clever Japanese company PCWR managed to turn our beloved Wall-E into a transformer. Perhaps if they had put him in the movie, it might have turned out to have a kinder, less violent film.
For those who cannot build, but have talent as an artist, Keith Thompson has created this unique book that will teach you the basics of drawing 50 Robot designs with over 200 illustrations. Once you have your "starter" model, you can add to it to make it your own. Learn to create clockwork bots, insectoids, shock-troopers, bipedal anti-tanks and more.
Look, more USB Robot Drives. Made by AntDesignStore and available in 6 different colors, each holds 2GB and has eyes that light up in robotic glee. If you would like to add one or more to your collection, they are priced at ¥6000 each (~$63.00.)
Combine a Manga type robot and a Kondo KHR-2HV robot kit and maybe you too can get a bot to make and serve your coffee. Created by "Clockwork," it uses 20 digital KRS-788HV servos, one GWS-PICO-STD servo motor and is controlled by a PCB in its head.
We are continuously surprised and pleased that there are such advancements in robotics, both here and worldwide. What seemed like Sci-Fi only a couple of decades are now becoming fact. Check out our June Round-Up if you missed any of the fun, not the least of which was the saving of our beloved Pleo. And visit our new Facebook page! We would dig having you as a friend, even if you are a human.
Writer Thomas Hall and Artist Daniel Bradford have teamed to create Blacklist Studios. The result of the pairing is "Robot 13", a comic that is small on price but big on talent. Basically the hero, a skull headed robot, fights Greek Mythological monsters. A copy can be yours for $5.25 and that includes shipping.
This past March, we mentioned that the Gundam franchise is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a giant 18 meter tall version of the robot that lights up at night to freak out Japan. It is now here and located on Odaiba, a human made island. From the images, the real thing looks freakin' awesome!
MyDeskFriend is a prototype penguin that will be available from the Swiss company Arimaz. Place him next to your PC in his docking station and he will interact by following your finger without falling off your desk, respond to voice commands and can memorize up to 15 short key words. His eyes change color depending on his mood. Connect him to your Facebook profile and you will actually have to take care of him, virtually anyway, since he displays when he is hungry or tired. If you invest the $99.00 and can get your friends to interact with him on the social site, you will know you have a winner.
Next time you are stuck going to a baby shower, show your robotic love with the organic cotton Robots Dancing Onesie from Foco Loco. Choose between five colors and 2 sizes. The same design also comes in a long sleeve version and t-shirt, both with the same options.
We can think of nothing we would like better than to wake up to the sound "Beep, Boop, Bop." Luckily we found this Robot Tech Alarm clock. With a dark blue frame, at least it will great you with a smile and comes with 3 AA batteries. But if you like your robots the strong silent type, you might want to opt for the Silver Robot Tabletop Alarm that stands all of 4" tall and needs 1 AA battery (not included.)
This incredible medical robot can locate shrapnel and guide a needle to the location in the body without human assistance. Developed by bioengineers at Duke University, they used a basic tabletop bot with a 3D ultrasound probe and an AI program. They attached an electromagnet to the probe so that when the shrapnel vibrated, its motion was detected. The autonomous medical bot may also have future applications as placing and removing radioactive "seeds" when treating cancer.
Get ready for winter early with the Snowbot. He has an adjustable scan light in either red or blue, rotates his arms, has a control knob and an "authentic snowbot sound." Hook him up to your USB port and he will defend you against the Summerbot. (We figure there must be an arch nemesis out there somewhere.) The toy comes with a cable that extends to 30" and an off-seasonal price of $7.99.
Probably our first exposure to robotics was the procuring of a toy demo for Mr. Gameshow in the 80s. When he got too annoying, I gave him away, but now he appears to be back in the form of Buzz Lightyear, who will be available for the holiday season for about $140.00. It has two modes, puppeteer and voice command, but we expect he will soon become as obnoxious as Mr. Gameshow, for a whole lot more money.
The European Commission's Joint-Action Science and Technology researchers built a service bot that they say can anticipate needs of humans. The robot is programmed to help them put together a toy, pays attention to what part the person has, then finds the right tool to use. If a piece can be used in multiple ways, the bot will ask what the human is building to try to deal with a possible mistake.
The JAST team is hoping that it will lead to cooperative service bots who can anticipate and question human actions, as opposed to those that are pre-programmed. We figure that if they can let us know where our keys are, we are all for it.
If you like cyborgs (who doesn't?) and anime, you will love the flick "Appleseed Ex Machina." Produced by John Woo and directed by Shinji Aramaki, it is based on the science fiction manga by Shirow Masamune ("Ghost in the Shell",) so put them both on your must see movie list. Want to complete the series? See the original "Appleseed", not nearly as gruesome or flashy as the other two, but fun nonetheless.
Wall-E Transformer
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