HumanoidRobots
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POLYRO humanoid robot can be built by you, looks more like K-9 than C-3PO
It may bear closer resemblance to an upright dog than a human (check out those ears!), but POLYRO here is the least frightening example of a do-it-yourself robot that we've seen to date. We're not sold on the humanoid's name as an acronym (oPen sOurce friendLY RObot), and the instructions and assembly photos are rather hit or miss, but this rollin' rover definitely scores some points for looks. Prepare to get down and dirty with a jigsaw, drill press, and "safety equipment," before the latest addition to your family is ready to roll across the living room floor on its iRobot base. Instructables has posted a full shopping list, including a 10.1-inch netbook, ROS (Robot OS), and a Kinect. If you're feeling brave, clear some time in the schedule and space in the garage after heading over to our source link.
Bina48 is one humanoid robot you're going to want to hang out with
The photo you see above is of Bina48, one of the most advanced humanoid robots around. Bina48 resides at the Terasem Movement Foundation in Bristol, Vermont, and while she doesn't exactly excel at conversation, she's far more coherent than many we've spied. Bina is a body-less robot modeled on a real Bina, who spent hours talking to the bot to give her human personality traits and vocabulary idiosyncrasies. While she often gives some pretty confounding responses, her existence and nearly constant evolution is pretty impressive and we're going to keep our eye on her as we move toward the future. Check out the video after the break.
Iran's got a walking humanoid robot, too (update: video!)
Two years ago, Iranian students built Sorena, a white humanoid machine that reportedly wheeled about via remote control. For 2010, robots experts at Tehran University decided to update the creature -- and apparently, channel a little bit of Asimo. Surena 2 was unveiled by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week, its purpose unknown. Named after a famous Persian warrior, the robot stands 4.7 feet tall, and can walk about slowly carrying its own weight of 99 pounds. Gulf News reports the robot will get vision and speech modules later on down the road. If it ends up conducting orchestras or performing show tunes, we'll be sure to keep you informed.
Simon the robot gets upgraded with voice and face recognition, still loves organizing blocks
The last time we checked in on Simon, he was moving pretty slowly, moving some blocks from one bin to another, and while he was creepily silent, we still had high hopes for his future. Well, Simon's seemingly come a long way -- if recent footage of him and his creator, Georgia Institute of Technology researcher, Andrea Thomaz -- are to be believed. Simon's host of new features now include voice recognition (he's got a Stephen Hawking-style voice of his own), facial recognition, sound localization, plus he's way speedier now. All of this helps Simon learn how to do things on his own without constantly being commanded. And in case you were wondering -- Simon the robot is no fanboy -- his various software programs run on Windows, Linux, and Mac machines. Hit the read more to view the video.
Nippon Institute of Technology unveils educational humanoid robot
We really can't get enough of these humanoid robots. Researchers collaborating from the Nippon Institute of Technology, Harada Vehicle Design, ZMP and ZNUG Design have just taken the wraps off another addition to the crew. The newest version of the e-NUVO walk bot stands about 4 feet tall, making it roughly the size of an elementary school aged child, and will be incorporated into classes to teach children about humanoid robots in a hands-on environment. We'll admit that after seeing a video of the bot in action (it's after the break), we're pretty jealous of those school children.
