ROPID Robot Jumps And Runs

Aside from supposedly being the fastest runner and best jumper among similarly constructed robots, ROPID also responds to voice commands, with action and speech.

Article Link (Gizmodo)

Boston Dynamics PETMAN biped robot

This biped humanoid is being built by Boston Dynamics to test military suits used to protect soldiers in chemical warfare. As an evolutionary advance from its four-legged BigDog platform, PETMAN does the ol' heel-toe at a healthy 3.2 MPH (5.14 KPH) and packs enough balancing intelligence to remain upright even when given a shove from the side.

Article Link (Engadget)

New Bluetooth Runs for a Year Off a Watch Battery

By Texas Instruments, a new, 6mm-square Bluetooth system-on-a-chip can operate for "more than a year" on a small button-cell battery.

Article Link (Gizmodo)

Panasonic's Dishwashing Robot

Article Link (Gizmodo)

New Wi-Fi Direct to Connect Gadgets Without Routers

Coming mid-2010 there will be a new Wi-Fi standard that will allow any Wi-Fi gadget to connect wirelessly with each other without having to go through a wireless router. The best thing: It will only require a software update.

The new standard is called Wi-Fi Direct and—unlike Bluetooth—the technology will enjoy exactly the same speed and range as Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi Alliance—which
includes Intel, Microsoft, and Apple—says that it will
automatically detect and hitch any device equipped with Wi-Fi within a
300 range, from computers to cameras to TVs to printers to anything in
between. All peer-to-peer.

Article Link (Gizmodo)

DASH - Industructible Running Hexapod

DASH, a UC Berkeley-designed, cockroach-inspired robot, manages to take what makes cockroaches so resilient and even retain the cockroach's singularly creepy movement. This thing is near-indestructible.

The 10-cm long DASH, which stands for Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod, weighs only 16 grams, yet is able to run 15 times its body length per second. It has a uniquely flexible design from nearly all sides that allows it to survive pretty much anything, including a drop eight stories above the ground. It's actually made of what's basically laminated cardboard, which means it's a very cheap robot to build as well.

Article Link (Gizmodo)

MIT's autonomous helicopter

The latest Micro Air Vehicle from MIT does an incredible job of balancing itself in-air. Not to mention that the helicopter models it's surroundings so well it could probably fly over to the fridge and make you a sandwich. By using lasers and 3D cameras, the team built a vision engine that can very accurately define the helicopter's surrounding environment. That's only part of the trick to getting it to fly so well, the other half is some pretty sweet flight path correction.

Article Link (Gizomod)

Vstone's Robovie-PC humanoid robot

The Robovie-PC from Vstone [] has a 1.6GHz Atom Z530
processor, dual USB ports, a VGA connector, and even Wi-Fi. There's a
1.3 megapixel camera on its head, which shows a lot of potential. Since the robot is
the computer, able to run Windows or Linux, advanced functionality
should be much easier to achieve. The 15-inch tall bot will cost ¥399,999, or about
$4,500.

Article Link (Engadget)

Vstone's tiny Robovie-nano humanoid robot

There is certainly no shortage of humanoid robots conspiring to attack your savings, but few look to offer the combination of tiny size and amazing dexterity of the Robovie-nano, the little guy from Vstone who is now shipping to would-be Dr. Frankensteins. He's just 230mm tall (about nine inches) and weighs 575g (about a pound and a quarter), but looks to be at least as nimble as larger forebearers and is far cheaper than most, costing just ¥49,350 ($540) to start.

Article Link (Engadget)

Ball sensor as a game controller

The startup Ball-it markets a golfball-sized device that is able to interact with your computer, TV or mobile phone thanks to physical wireless sensing technology that was popularized in large part by the Nintendo Wii gaming console. Since it detects things like rotation, direction movements, squeezing, tapping and reaction speed, there are loads of gestures that you can make wielding the ball trigger an on-screen activity

You can place the ball in your pants pockets, after which the device will be able to detect your running speed, how high you jump, and more to control elements of basic sports games. Besides doubling as a pedometer, it also measures how many calories you burn so you can use to improve your fitness, too. Ball-it aims to be able to distribute the device in the near future for 15 or 16 euros (approx. $22) and includes a couple of basic PC games in the same box.

Article Link (TechCrunch)

iTag, Mattel's Augmented Reality

Technology by Total Immersion.

Article Link (TechCrunch)