• Chatbot Chitchat, What Happens When AIs Get Together?

    Updated: 2011-08-31 14:48:20
    Chatbots have always been very popular computer programs and provide, among other things, a way for people to converse without the need of another human. Some chatbots have even been given a humanoid robotic avatar. This being said, their train of thought is not always very clear and can lead to surrealist and utterly absurd conversations. What happens when two of these bots converse together [...]

  • Chatbots Converse About Robots, God and Unicorns

    Updated: 2011-08-30 03:44:03
    You've probably heard of the Turing Test or the Loebner Prize. Well, some brains at Cornell University's Creative Machines Lab set two Cleverbots for a faceoff with each other. Yeah, it got a little weird. What did you expect? It sort of went like speed dating for chatbots. They said their hellos, then quickly began to argue with each other like an old married couple. Watch the video, it's great fun.

  • Robots: Robot Art II

    Updated: 2011-08-29 01:52:11
    This is the second episode of a three part special series about robot art with guest interviewer David St-Onge, an engineer working at the interface of visionary arts and creative science. David was our guest in previous episode with the Robots Podcast about robot art. In today’s show, we talk to Bill Vorn from the University Concordia in Montreal and Louis-Philippe Demers from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapour. To learn more about robots in art read on or tune in!

  • Short History of LEGO Building Sets

    Updated: 2011-08-29 01:42:32
    Home About Disclosure Privacy Toys Reviewed Best Toys 2011 Top Toys for Boys Top Toys for Girls Halloween Costumes Funny Costumes Scary Costumes Toys By Age Top Toys For Boys 0 baby boys Toys 1 Year Old Boys Toys 2 Year Old Boys Toys 3 Year Old Boys Toys 4 Year Old Boys Toys 5 Year Old Boys Toys 6 Year Old Boys Toys 7 Year Old Boys Toys 8 Year Old Boys Toys 9 Year Old Boys Toys 10 Year Old Boys Toys 11 Year Old Boys Toys 12 Year Old Boys Toys 13 Year Old Boys Toys 14 Year Old Boys Top Toys For Girls 0 Baby Girls Toys 1 Year Old Girls Toys 2 Year Old Girls Toys 3 Year Old Girls Toys 4 Year Old Girls Toys 5 Year Old Girls Toys 6 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 7 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 10 Year Old Girls Toys 11 Year Old Girls Toys 12 Year Old Girls Toys 13 Year

  • Top Toys and Games for 7 Year Old Boys

    Updated: 2011-08-24 14:09:07
    Home About Disclosure Privacy Toys Reviewed Best Toys 2011 Top Toys for Boys Top Toys for Girls Halloween Costumes Funny Costumes Scary Costumes Toys By Age Top Toys For Boys 0 baby boys Toys 1 Year Old Boys Toys 2 Year Old Boys Toys 3 Year Old Boys Toys 4 Year Old Boys Toys 5 Year Old Boys Toys 6 Year Old Boys Toys 7 Year Old Boys Toys 8 Year Old Boys Toys 9 Year Old Boys Toys 10 Year Old Boys Toys 11 Year Old Boys Toys 12 Year Old Boys Toys 13 Year Old Boys Toys 14 Year Old Boys Top Toys For Girls 0 Baby Girls Toys 1 Year Old Girls Toys 2 Year Old Girls Toys 3 Year Old Girls Toys 4 Year Old Girls Toys 5 Year Old Girls Toys 6 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 7 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 10 Year Old Girls Toys 11 Year Old Girls Toys 12 Year Old Girls Toys 13 Year

  • Best Robot Toys for Christmas 2011

    Updated: 2011-08-23 19:42:48
    Home About Disclosure Privacy Toys Reviewed Best Toys 2011 Top Toys for Boys Top Toys for Girls Halloween Costumes Funny Costumes Scary Costumes Toys By Age Top Toys For Boys 0 baby boys Toys 1 Year Old Boys Toys 2 Year Old Boys Toys 3 Year Old Boys Toys 4 Year Old Boys Toys 5 Year Old Boys Toys 6 Year Old Boys Toys 7 Year Old Boys Toys 8 Year Old Boys Toys 9 Year Old Boys Toys 10 Year Old Boys Toys 11 Year Old Boys Toys 12 Year Old Boys Toys 13 Year Old Boys Toys 14 Year Old Boys Top Toys For Girls 0 Baby Girls Toys 1 Year Old Girls Toys 2 Year Old Girls Toys 3 Year Old Girls Toys 4 Year Old Girls Toys 5 Year Old Girls Toys 6 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 7 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 10 Year Old Girls Toys 11 Year Old Girls Toys 12 Year Old Girls Toys 13 Year

  • iRobot 110, A Robot You Can Throw

    Updated: 2011-08-22 22:41:30
    iRobot has been working for some time now on an inexpensive (relatively speaking) military robot that would allow soldiers to explore hard-to-reach areas without risking their lives. You can see the results of their efforts in the video below, the iRobot 110 throwable robot. As shown in the video above, not only does the robot need to be rugged, [...]

  • Totally Awesome Toys of the 1980s

    Updated: 2011-08-21 23:27:55
    Home About Disclosure Privacy Toys Reviewed Best Toys 2011 Top Toys for Boys Top Toys for Girls Halloween Costumes Funny Costumes Scary Costumes Toys By Age Top Toys For Boys 0 baby boys Toys 1 Year Old Boys Toys 2 Year Old Boys Toys 3 Year Old Boys Toys 4 Year Old Boys Toys 5 Year Old Boys Toys 6 Year Old Boys Toys 7 Year Old Boys Toys 8 Year Old Boys Toys 9 Year Old Boys Toys 10 Year Old Boys Toys 11 Year Old Boys Toys 12 Year Old Boys Toys 13 Year Old Boys Toys 14 Year Old Boys Top Toys For Girls 0 Baby Girls Toys 1 Year Old Girls Toys 2 Year Old Girls Toys 3 Year Old Girls Toys 4 Year Old Girls Toys 5 Year Old Girls Toys 6 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 7 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 10 Year Old Girls Toys 11 Year Old Girls Toys 12 Year Old Girls Toys 13 Year

  • Top Scary Halloween Movies of All Time

    Updated: 2011-08-19 21:15:56
    Home About Disclosure Privacy Toys Reviewed Best Toys 2011 Top Toys for Boys Top Toys for Girls Halloween Costumes Funny Costumes Scary Costumes Toys By Age Top Toys For Boys 0 baby boys Toys 1 Year Old Boys Toys 2 Year Old Boys Toys 3 Year Old Boys Toys 4 Year Old Boys Toys 5 Year Old Boys Toys 6 Year Old Boys Toys 7 Year Old Boys Toys 8 Year Old Boys Toys 9 Year Old Boys Toys 10 Year Old Boys Toys 11 Year Old Boys Toys 12 Year Old Boys Toys 13 Year Old Boys Toys 14 Year Old Boys Top Toys For Girls 0 Baby Girls Toys 1 Year Old Girls Toys 2 Year Old Girls Toys 3 Year Old Girls Toys 4 Year Old Girls Toys 5 Year Old Girls Toys 6 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 7 Year Old Girls Toys 8 Year Old Girls Toys 10 Year Old Girls Toys 11 Year Old Girls Toys 12 Year Old Girls Toys 13 Year

  • Yobot - buggage handling robot

    Updated: 2011-08-18 11:38:12
    All the news that's fit to assimilate Home Blogs Events Robots Humans Projects Podcasts About Account Yobot buggage handling robot Posted 18 Aug 2011 at 10:38 UTC by IKE_RobotsPodcast Robots are usually targeted towards dangerous , dirty and dull tasks , this one definitely focuses on the dull part . It is a converted ABB industrial robot named Yobot that handles the baggages on the futuristic Yotel line of hotels A visitor places his or her bag in the special tray and the robotic arm puts it in a specific drawer . Despite the style and the name , Yotel and Yobot have nothing to do with Japan . They are parts of the YO group of companies founded by British entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe and the Yotels are in London , New York and Amsterdam . The robotic arm apart from its obvious use as a

  • Swarmanoid, Robot Collaboration At Its Best

    Updated: 2011-08-16 15:14:53
    Swarm robotics -using several simple collaborating robots to accomplish very complex tasks, instead of using a single very complex robot-  is becoming increasingly popular. The Swarmanoid project is a perfect example of what can be achieved by using a swarm of small robots. As illustrated in the video above, each type of robot concentrates on a single task (e.g. navigating, [...]

  • Swarmanoid Video Wins!

    Updated: 2011-08-16 03:17:54
    All the news that's fit to assimilate Home Blogs Events Robots Humans Projects Podcasts About Account Swarmanoid Video Wins Posted 16 Aug 2011 at 02:17 UTC by The Swirling Brain At a San Francisco conference on Artificial Intelligence AAAI this week , researchers from the Free University in Belgium won the best video award The video is of their robot swarm called Swarmanoid The task was for a swarm of three different robots to find and retrieve a book from a shelf . The robot swarm consists of a hand bot that can grab and climb , an eye bot that flies and can view the surroundings , and a foot bot that can rove and pick up the hand bot . The very colorful robots work together to accomplish the task and bring the book back to the starting point . The video is a wonderful visual display of

  • Firmware Update Released, Make Your Neato XV-11 Smarter

    Updated: 2011-08-15 20:42:06
    Neato Robotics has just released a firmware update for their smart robotic vacuum cleaner XV-11. As illustrated in the table below, your Neato XV-11 vacuum robot will get many new features from this upgrade, such as spot-cleaning capabilities, wiggle action that allows for better docking, bug fixes, and more! Download the free Neato Vacuum Software update today and install [...]

  • Robot Art I

    Updated: 2011-08-15 16:55:57
    All the news that's fit to assimilate Home Blogs Events Robots Humans Projects Podcasts About Account Robot Art I Posted 15 Aug 2011 at 15:55 UTC by John_RobotsPodcast Robots Podcast episode 84 for Friday , August 12th actually posted late on the 11th is the first in a three-part series produced by David St-Onge , an engineer working at the interface of visionary arts and creative science , who was himself interviewed earlier this year in episode 75 In this first installment , David interviews Professor Nicolas Reeves of the School of Design at the University of Québec in Montréal UQAM Canada , and Stelarc Chair in performing art at Brunel Univeristy Professor Reeves and Stelarc recently collaborated on the floating head experiment , an image from which is shown . above Read On or Tune

  • REEM - Humanoid robot teleoperation using Kinect

    Updated: 2011-08-11 00:19:36
    All the news that's fit to assimilate Home Blogs Events Robots Humans Projects Podcasts About Account REEM Humanoid robot teleoperation using Kinect Posted 10 Aug 2011 at 23:19 UTC by IKE_RobotsPodcast This video from PAL Robotics shows the teleoperation system of its REEM robot . Equipped with a Kinect sensor as a motion capture device , a laptop captures the gestures and movements of a person and feeds the result to the robot as commands . This process is called motion retargeting and the teleoperation system was developed by Marcus Liebhardt as part of his master thesis project . PAL Robotics is a small Spanish company based in Barcelona , part of the PAL Group from Abu Dhabi . It develops humanoid robots since 2004 and its latest version of the REEM line of robots focuses towards

  • Ice-cream Sticks + Hot Glue = Robot

    Updated: 2011-08-09 22:49:23
    All the news that's fit to assimilate Home Blogs Events Robots Humans Projects Podcasts About Account Ice-cream Sticks Hot Glue Robot Posted 9 Aug 2011 at 21:49 UTC by steve Michael Gruber wrote to tell us about a cool little robot built from Ice-cream sticks , split pins , hot glue , and a control board from an Innovati RQ-5 robot : kit In preparation for the School Education Expo in September 2011 in Sydney Australia , we at RoboteShop decided to see what we could do to show how simple robots can be , so we built a robot with ice-cream sticks , split pins and a glue gun using a design inspired from the Karl Williams book called Insectronics For the control board we used the electronics that are included with the RQ-5 paper robot kit from Innovati which includes a servo and two infrared

  • Spectrum Takes On Military Robotics

    Updated: 2011-08-09 16:51:20
    IEEE Spectrum is currently featuring an article titled Autonomous Robots in the Fog of War, discussing the proliferation, variety, limitations, rapid progress, and potential of military robots.

  • Robots Called to the Dark Side to Help Make Cookies!

    Updated: 2011-08-08 01:01:34
    All the news that's fit to assimilate Home Blogs Events Robots Humans Projects Podcasts About Account Robots Called to the Dark Side to Help Make Cookies Posted 8 Aug 2011 at 12:01 UTC by The Swirling Brain Researchers at MIT have taken a Willow Garage PR2 robot and programmed it to make cookies Or rather one big cookie The robot can place all of the ingredients in a bowl , mix , and then dump the batter in a pan and shove it in the oven . Sure , if a human were to do it , it would probably be more graceful , the cookies would be bite sized and probably taste better but this is quite a step forward for robotics . The PR2 has been in the news a lot lately , from folding socks , to buying groceries at a grocery store . The robot is a little out my credit card spending limit at 400K , but for

  • SOINN Robot Learns to Adapt

    Updated: 2011-08-03 18:41:54
    All the news that's fit to assimilate Home Blogs Events Robots Humans Projects Podcasts About Account SOINN Robot Learns to Adapt Posted 3 Aug 2011 at 17:41 UTC updated 3 Aug 2011 at 17:44 UTC by The Swirling Brain Japanese scientists have created an Artificial Intelligence robot that can react and adapt to new situations based on what it has learned in the past . The robot named Self-Organizing Incremental Neural Network SOINN can perform a task such as putting water and ice in a cup and if it has too many objects in its hands to complete the task it figures out that it needs to put one of the objects it no longer needs down before it can pick up another object to continue . So , if it doesn't know how to do a task , it will either decide how to do it based on past experiences or it will

  • Random Robot Roundup

    Updated: 2011-08-03 16:20:07
    Ed Paradis sent a link to an interesting thesis by Samuel T. Clanton of CMU, Brain-Computer Interface Control of an Anthropomorphic Robot Arm (PDF format). Robotics Trends posted a summary of a new type of touch sensitive skin for robots (see also our own look at robot skin from 2009). Jameco Electronics has published a nice salute to two Bob Pease and Jim Williams, two well-known electrical engineers who died in June. EDN published longer pieces on Bob Pease and Jim Williams. Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please. And don't forget to follow us on twitter.

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