ZMP rolls out the e-nuvo WHEEL robot

While it's not exactly a life-sized humanoid companion, ZMP is rolling out (literally) a new robot destined to awe physics and engineering students everywhere. While the company has dabbled in robotics for academia before, the new e-nuvo WHEEL is a learning tool (be it science or anger management) through and through. Designed to challenge your MATLAB / Simulink skills, the two wheeled machine won't stay put (or stand straight up) without your programming efforts mastering its motion. Sporting an unmistakable nuvo body on an "inverted pendulum," the company even has supporting textbooks that explain how Newton's "equation of motion" can be tweaked and implemented in order to get your 'bot up and about. While there's no apparent pricing available, the e-nuvo WHEEL is still currently "in development," but should be wheeling around (or laying flat on its back) in campus laboratories soon.

[Via GoRobotics]