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Stormtrooper bot with facial recognition guards against intruders
We know what Star Wars fans will be wishing for this Christmas -- aside from Sphero's R2-D2 and BB-9E toys. Ubtech, the company behind the dancing Lynx robot, is releasing a Stormtrooper bot. Although it can't teach you yoga, you can use voice commands to instruct it to ward off intruders (hopefully not with an actual blaster). Its facial recognition tech also allows it to store up to three faces in its memory bank. That way, it can shout at any uninvited guests that keep barging into your room. And, its accompanying mobile app packs an augmented reality game that lets you fight off the Resistance and launch First Order attacks. The robot is available for pre-order from Ubtech right now, and will ship in November. It will set you back $300.
Home and factory robots can be hacked to harm humans
Last month, cybersecurity firm IOActive let everyone know that Segway MiniPro hoverboards were vulnerable to hacks and outside control via their Bluetooth connections. Now it has revealed that industrial robots from Universal Robots and consumer models from Softbank Group and UBTech Robotics also have some troubling security flaws that can allow hackers to "modify safety settings, violating applicable safety laws and, consequently, causing physical harm to the robot's surroundings by moving it arbitrarily," according to a report published by the company today.
Amazon Alexa now lives inside a dancing robot
"Inhale. Stretch right leg back as far as possible." Lynx, a small white humanoid, gave yoga instructions as it slid its chunky leg back for the pose. A bright blue light flashed across the side of its round head to indicate activity. After a few more leg movements, it came back into standing position when Alexa's voice boomed: "Your next exercise is waist stretching."
Kids' bot breaks into a dance to teach them how to code
DIY robots are becoming the gateway to coding. Over the last couple of years, a new wave of cute-faced bots has taken shape to make programming languages fun for kids. Instead of dense textbooks and complex online tutorials that are designed for a more mature audience, programmable toys are built to introduce young kids to the world of code. The latest entrant on the educational bot scene is the JIMU robot, a build-your-own-bot kit from UBTECH Robotics that snaps together to form a little dancing humanoid called MeeBot, or a more elaborate elephant that flips forward on its trunk for some awkward yoga asanas.