Robot Land theme park gets investors, conceptual renders
Gallery: South Korea’s Robot Land theme park
Robot Land theme park gets investors, conceptual renders originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
DARPA job posting talks of developing an autonomous, grenade-wielding robot
DARPA job posting talks of developing an autonomous, grenade-wielding robot originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Robonica Roboni-i programmable robot toy review
Life became duller ever since FedEx took away our last annoying little robot, so we got our hands on a new but less chatty plastic companion — say hi to Robonica’s Roboni-i programmable robot. Since its last Engadget appearance we’ve seen a drastic price drop from the original $299.95 to $159.95 at Hammacher Schlemmer, but the robot is no less awesome — those unique wheels alone deliver plenty of coolness already, not to mention the bunch of peculiar accessories in the box for games and even interaction with other fellow Roboni-is. Read on to find out if this bot’s a keeper.
Gallery: Robonica Roboni-i robot toy review
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Robonica Roboni-i programmable robot toy review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Evolving robots navigate a maze, help each other, plot descruction of mankind
digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Evolving_robots_navigate_a_maze_help_each_other’; You’ll say the whole Robot Apocalypse meme is played out. We say it’s your lack of focus that’ll eventually be the downfall of society. Gurus at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems in the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne have been working on “evolving robots” for quite some time, but the latest breakthrough is easily the most astounding (and in turn, terrifying) of all. According to new research that was just made public, a gaggle of robots programmed to use Darwinian selection in order to learn, evolve and mutate have now successfully moved sans collisions through a maze and helped each other push tokens around in order to achieve a common goal. Moreover, some of the creatures even displayed early signs of a predatory-prey relationship, which effectively assures mankind that these cute little learners will one day assimilate to rule the world however they please. Keep laughing if you must — it’ll probably make the painful sting of reality a bit easier to take when Doomsday rolls around.
Continue reading Evolving robots navigate a maze, help each other, plot descruction of mankind
Evolving robots navigate a maze, help each other, plot descruction of mankind originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Splitterbot Headphone Splitter Makes Sharing Music Even Cuter [Accessories]
Some gadgets scream out for an adorability upgrade, like netbooks or Roombas. Headphone splitters aren’t exactly one of them, but Splitterbot is too cute to deny.
As much as there’s nothing more adorable than sharing one pair of earbuds, one bud per person, sometimes you just gotta have the full stereo. Splitterbot is here to keep the cuteness factor up while retaining superior sound quality. You have to pop his head off to reveal the audio-in jack, and then the two pairs of ‘phones are plugged directly into the little guy’s eyes. That sounds way more grotesque than cute, now that I write it, but probably in practice it’s not quite so gruesome. Splitterbot is available for $16, because cuteness demands a slight premium. [Product Page via Nerd Approved]
Insecure Emo Robot Musician Needs Our Attention [Robots]
Cybraphon is an interactive, internet-connected musical art project that’s sort of a riff on insecure emo bands—when more people online discuss it, it plays happier music, and when it’s not getting enough attention, it gets melodramatic.
Created by Scottish musical collective Found, Cybraphon is basically a collection of mechanical instruments in a box, including some acoustic instruments and a whole lot of junk machinery. It constantly searches the internet and adjusts its “mood” between depressed and ecstatic by such vapid statistics as number of Myspace friends and Facebook invites. Its mood is then demonstrated by the tone of the music it plays, from dirgey melodrama to perky upbeat tones.
It’s a really cheeky and fun project, and we’re in a unique position here to overflow the Cybraphon’s happiness sensors by bombarding its social networking pages with hits. Let’s make the cabinet-sized whiner as cheerful as it can possibly be. [Cybraphon]
The Broomba Self-Propelled Broom For Harry Potter Fans [Robots]
Unfortunately, the Broomba doesn’t clean up after you like a Roomba might, but it does travel autonomously around the room cackling and playing scary music.
As menacing as that sounds, this evil can be stopped in it’s tracks by carpet, stairs and / or a gentle push. It can also be humiliated by children attempting to play Quidditch. [Grandinroad via TGH via OhGizmo via Likecool]
Flossie The Headless Motorcycle Robot: A Sleepy Hollow For the Computer Age [Robots]
If Sleepy Hollow was recast in 2009, it would star Flossie here. Wearing a robot motorcycle batsuit, he would stop at nothing to find his robot head.
Idiots Want Robots to Draw Ads On the Moon’s Surface [Robots]
A company wants to “license a technology” to draw advertisements on the Moon’s surface, which according to them could be watched from Earth. If nobody shuts them down, I’ll be there at the launch. With my land-to-air rocket launcher ready.
I thought this was a joke, but apparently this deranged people are serious enough about it to put out a press release and a 3D animation.
Robots to Advertise on the Moon
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, July 20 /PRNewswire/ — It’s one giant leap for robot-kind. New Shadow Shaping technology creates images on the Moon that can be seen from Earth. Robots are used to create several small ridges in the lunar dust over large areas that capture shadows and shape them to form logos, domains names, memorials or even portraits. Talk about the Man in the Moon! You can even carve your initials in a heart to impress your sweetheart.
The advertising potential is mind-boggling. Never in history have companies been able to penetrate every market on Earth, reach every person on the planet, and touch them at an emotional level only possible with the beauty of the Moon on a starlit night. Twelve billion eyeballs looking at your logo in the sky for several days every month. And since there is no atmosphere on the Moon, the images last for thousands of years.
“Finally dependency on government to travel beyond Earth is over,” says inventor David Kent Jones. “This new commercial incentive will turbo charge space technology development. Shadows are just the beginning; eventually robots will be planting crops on other planets.”
Beginning July 20, 2009, the fortieth anniversary of man’s first step on the Moon, exclusive licensing for this patent pending technology is publicly available. Moon Publicity is accepting bids from accredited investors and companies for 44 lunar regions until October 20, 2009. You could license moon-imaging technology potentially worth a fortune in advertising value for about the cost of an SUV. Minimum bids start as low as $46,000. For more information visit MoonPublicity.com.
Of course, anybody can do this. The whole things sounds like a scheme to get easy money, yes. I have a hard time thinking someone may take them seriously, but it’s a matter of time before some idiots actually manage to pull it off. [Moonpublicity]
Full-Size Gundam Get Attacked by Laser During Inaugural Ceremony [Robots]
I am not a full-size Gundam in Tokyo—although I want to be one when I grow up—but if I were attacked with greeeeeen lasers during my inauguration ceremony, I would get pretty damn pissed off. Then I would destroy everything in sight, and go to have a carrot cake and coffee afterwards. [Mainichi Daily News] 
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