robodog
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Adam Savage turned Spot the robodog into a creepy rickshaw driver
Boston Dynamics has long touted robotic dog Spot's ability to help out in disaster situations and to take on jobs too hazardous for humans, but what practical applications does it have for the average Joe? Beyond scuttling around your house like a Lovecraftian nightmare, that is. Well, as ex-Mythbusters host Adam Savage has recently unveiled, it's pretty good at pulling a rickshaw.
Sony's new Aibo robot looks like a beagle
Sony has made Aibo much harder to resist for people who love chocolate-colored dogs. The tech giant has launched a tricolor version of its robotic canine with two shades of brown, and it's now available for pre-order in Japan. Since it's pretty much just a recolored release with no differences in hardware and software, it also costs 198,000 JPY (US$1,800) like the original Aibo, not including taxes and subscription fees. Sony promises to roll out a new security feature now that it has teamed up with security firm Secom, though.
Sony is resurrecting its robots for a full financial recovery
Sony is back in the robotics race. The consumer company gave us AIBO, one of the most popular "entertainment" robotic dogs, in the late '90s. But due to heavy losses and a corporate restructure in 2006, the canine bot and all related AI efforts were scaled back. Now a decade later, as the company powers through its financial troubles, it is renewing its commitment to consumer robots and artificial intelligence. This week, CEO Kazuo Hirai announced that Sony has re-established a corporate arm dedicated to robotics. While he didn't spell out the nature of the bots that will be rolled out, he mentioned that they will be "capable of forming an emotional bond with customers."
Google's got a robot dog that stalks indoors, haunts dreams
This is how it starts: you feel bad seeing the robot "dog" get kicked, and the next thing you know it's nipping at your heels, pushing you back to work in the salt mines. Instead of using the film and TV trope to illustrate how morally bankrupt a villain truly is, Google-owned Boston Dynamics employs it to show off "Spot": its latest quadruped, with an amazing ability to self-stabilize. The bot appears considerably more lithe than the AlphaDog it races up a hill, and can even roam in a tight pack with another unit. And unlike the diminutive Little Dog, Spot has a sensor-laden "head" that Boston Dynamics says helps it conquer a variety of ground cover.
Recycled Citron parts used to create fire-breathing robo dog
There's something about fire-breathing robots that just gets us giddy, so you can imagine our joy when finding one that gallops, too. The hand-built robot dog -- cutely coined LRRY-1 (pronounced Larry, we'll have you know) -- was built almost entirely from unwanted Citroën scraps, and not a single ounce of non-recycled material was used in the final construction. No idea if it's technically street legal, but we'd love to see a traffic warden try to get this thing back in its cage. Video is posted after the break.[Via BoingBoing]
Farewell Aibo, hello Genibo
You know what they say: 10 robot-god shut hatch, 20 robot-god open ventilation shaft. Wait, that's not right. No matter -- the late, great Aibo is, um, back? Korean robotics company Dasatech unveiled the -- ahem -- Genibo, fashioned after Spuds MacKenzie a bull terrier, capable of understanding 100 words and commands, feeling petting via sensors on its back, and even has Bluetooth. Forget the Roomba cockfights, native Bluetooth control of our robo-dog? Maybe Sony held back on this because of the robo-ASPCA, but we know what we're doing with our Genibo: starving it for electricity training it to be a vicious dog fighter. Then putting it out to stud.
