Mike the emotional robot, transforming RoboCar on display in Brazil

by Evan Blass, posted Apr 11th 2007 at 7:10PM

By way of Tech Digest, we caught wind of that angry-looking fellow you see pictured above on the left. Why is he so pissed? We wish we could tell you: all that's known about "Mike the emotional robot" created by computer science and electrical engineering students at Brazil's FEI Mauá college is that its LCD "face" changes color based on mood (red for anger, green for happy, and orange for sad), though how those moods are determined is beyond us or the press release announcing Mike's public unveiling. We should know more sometime after today, though, as this is the start of the Robótica - International Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Fair in São Paulo, where Mike will be displayed alongside other bots and techie attractions like robot sumo and RoboCup-style tournaments, the old Hug T-Shirt we've seen in several iterations, and most promising of all, RoboCar the life-size Transformer (pictured right). If any of our Brazilian readers are brave enough to risk Mike going all Itchy and Scratchyland on you and your fellow attendees, we'd love for you to send in some pics and details (via our Tips form) from what sounds like a dangerous-but-fun gathering.

[Via Tech Digest]

Filed under: Robots

Tags: brazil, mike the emotional robot, MikeTheEmotionalRobot, robocar, robots

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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adam @ Apr 11th 2007 7:47PM

I, for one...
Awww nevermind

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Gustavo Yasuda @ Apr 11th 2007 8:04PM

HUB @ Apr 11th 2007 10:13PM

ENGADGET YOUR GREAT! I am in China (Nantong)on business and I am laughing at your ending comments from the Sau Paulo Robotic gathering above. For years now you have made me laugh with your "Beware of A.I. and Robotic takeover" sattire. The humor is subtle but is it is gut busting funny. My Chinese counterparts are looking and wondering what I'm laughing at! Keep up the great articles and humor!

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alfonzo @ Apr 11th 2007 10:20PM

What a dusgusting lack of Marvin the Paranoid Android references. c'mon, emotional robots??

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Tenshigami @ Apr 12th 2007 4:24PM

Here I am...brain the size of a planet...And does anyone ask what *I* think?...

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(:) @ Apr 11th 2007 10:31PM

There are things in Brasil that can't be taken to seriously.
Here exists, yet, the vision that technology can do anything, now.
Although there is funny and unuseful things in this fair, there are some things that can have some utility.

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Proteus @ Apr 12th 2007 12:16AM

Listen... just to make things clear, this ISN'T a scientific event nor was it supposed to be...
It`s just a bunch of robotic welding systems industries trying to get some publicity by exploring the press ignorance to what defines artificial intelligence...

I feel bad for our academic community... not only do we work hard with little pay (yeah you guessed correctly there`s not much money in research on third world... I mean... "developing" countries) but we keep getting negative publicity like that...

There`s a lot more to Brazil`s research than Ethanol or... Marvins`s great greatE10 grandfather

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