It can be hard to believe that just a few years ago all that our cell phones were good for were making calls and sending text messages. Nowadays we can control almost anything with our smartphones, like our washing and drying machines for example. Well since we can clean our clothes with our Android phones, it only makes sense that we can clean our floors with one as well. In addition to their WiFi-enabled washing and drying machines, Samsung also brought its WiFi-capable vacuum robot to CES. Check out Cnet’s video to see the NaviBot S in action:

With the latest update to Samsung’s NaviBot robotic vacuum cleaner line, users will be able to control the bot with the exact same app that lets them control the company’s other WiFi-compatible devices. Users will still be able to control the bot with a traditional remote control, but the new WiFi enabled NaviBot S lets you fire up the robot from just about anywhere. Its updated battery gives approximately 100 minutes of cleaning on a single three hour charge.

In addition to the added WiFi capability, the NaviBot received some updates in efficiency as well. NaviBot S now uses Visionary Mapping Plus, a technology that involves a top-mounted camera that analyzes cleaning data to find and remember the most efficient cleaning route to and from its charging dock. Samsung’s latest vacuum-bot is also the first to feature a self-cleaning dust bin. NaviBot S detects when its dust bin is full, automatically dumps it at the dock and jumps right back to cleaning. No official word on pricing or availability just yet, but we can expect to hear more from Samsung soon.

We’ve seen a lot of big things at CES, huge even, but sometimes it’s the small things that amaze us the most. It’s pretty much expected that we’d see a lot of new televisions, tablets and ultrabooks, so it’s always refreshing to see something a little new at CES. Created by Modular Robotics, the Cubelets showcased at CES were quite a treat.

One way to describe Cubelets would be to call them the evolved version of Legos, but even then these miniature robots are in a class of their own. They’re marketed as a children’s toy (ages 8+) but we can certainly imagine some creative adults having fun with these as well. Cubelets are a number of small multicolor cubes that each serve an individual purpose and can be snapped together to create an almost limitless combination of robots.

The blocks are classified into three major subcategories: action blocks, sense blocks and think/utility blocks. Some examples of action blocks are blocks with moving wheels, a flashlight, or a speaker. Sense blocks are cubes that respond to external factors such as brightness, temperature and touch. Think/utility blocks such as the battery or passive block are the ones that act according to connected cubes.

The Cubelets are in a constant state of development since enthusiastic adults are constantly throwing new suggestions their way. One of which that the company is working on involves the ability for innovative users to reprogram their own blocks. With the current number of blocks that are available, there are already so many different combinations so it’ll definitely be interesting to see where Cubelets are in a couple of years. For now, you can preorder your Cubelets in packages of 6 for $160, which will be shipped in a few months’ time.

The U.S. Marine Corps has begun deploying the first unmanned helicopters. The Kaman K-Max, developed by Kaman Aerospace and Lockheed, is used as a supply chopper and has reportedly successfully transported cargo in Afghanistan.

The unmanned K-Max is based on Kaman’s single-seat helicopter with the same name, weighs just 5000 pounds, but can carry up to 6000 pounds over a distance of up to 250 miles, but can stay in the air for up to 12 hours. The single-seat chopper has been in production since 1992, while the unmanned version was in development since 1998 and won a contract with the Department of Defense in 2007. The unmanned K-Max, which still offers room for a human pilot, was demonstrated first in 2010. “Deployment readiness” was confirmed back in September of this year.

According to the Marine Times, a fleet of 16 to 20 K-Max helicopters could “handle 100 percent of the resupply mission in Afghanistan, although that isn’t the plan for now.”

The U.S. military also considered Boeing’s smaller A160T Hummingbird design as an unmanned helicopter. The K-Max has won for now as the Boeing model hit “design snags”, but the Naval Air Systems Command says that the Hummingbird could still “undergo field testing and a possible deployment”.

SOURCE via Wired

Pancakes? No problem. Cookies? You got it! Sandwich? …is there a Subway nearby? Why robots have such a hard time slapping meat and cheese on bread is beyond us, but we’re glad the crack team at the Technical University of Munich has finally figured out how to teach them. The dynamic duo of James and Rosie don’t exactly blaze through their task of making a sandwich and some popcorn, but at least they’re nice enough to toast the bread for your salami- and cheese-based chow. As usual, the moves here are not preprogrammed, the two bots make decisions on the fly based on a complex “reasoning” mechanism and data it can cull from a Kinect. Check out the videos below to watch two carefully construct a simple, layered lunch.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a prison turn to robots for a little assistance, but South Korea looks to be going a bit further than most with its latest robotic endeavour. The country’s Ministry of Justice has announced that it will be conducting a one-month trial run of robot guards at a prison in the city of Pohang starting in March — a project that’s expected to cost one billion won (or about $863,000). “The robots are not terminators,” as the university professor in charge of the endeavour told The Wall Street Journal, but rather monitors that will patrol the corridors of the jail and alert the human guards if they detect any unusual activity. Inmates will also be able to use the robots to communicate with the guards, and the folks behind the bots are apparently doing their best to keep things from turning into too much of a dystopian future — they’re now said to working on making the robots appear more “humane and friendly.”

SOURCE via Wall Street Journal

A pillow to the face is a good way to silence the snorer you sleep with. Unless you’re the snorer. In that case you’d probably prefer to share a bed with Jukusui-kun, a robot polar bear that doubles as an intelligent pillow, gently waking you by tickling your face so you’ll roll onto your side.

Developed by Wasaeda Univeristy’s Kabe Lab, and demonstrated at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo, Jukusui-kun, which translates to deep sleep, doesn’t just listen to how loud someone is snoring. Since it’s designed to be a serious tool to help those suffering from sleep apnea syndrome, the user also wears a pulse oxygen meter on their hand, which sends readings to a terminal monitoring their vital signs. When their oxygen level drops, indicating they’re having a hard time breathing, the polar bear’s arm reaches over and gently tickles their face, causing them to subconsciously roll on to their side where it’s easier to breathe while sleeping.

I’m assuming the use of an adorable polar bear is also strategic, since it makes it harder for those who really don’t like being disturbed in the middle of the night to simply tear the bear’s head off. It wouldn’t stop me, but I’d probably be happy with just forcefully removing its arm after the first tickle.

Honda does a whole lot more than just cars. They do motorbikes, ATVs, power equipment, outboard marine engines, personal watercraft, business jets… and yes, even robots. In fact its ASIMO humanoid robot (parodied in a rather disturbingly hilarious episode of South Park) is one of the most advanced in the field of robotics, and it’s only getting more so as the Japanese industrial giant has just unveiled its latest iteration.

While ASIMO may look more-or-less the same as he/she/it always has, the new model encompasses several advancements. For starters, ASIMO longer needs to be controlled by a human – it can walk about and do stuff all on its own, taking in its surroundings and making spatial decisions accordingly. Its new arm and hand mechanisms also allow it to perform delicate and intricate tasks like opening a bottle of water and pouring it into a paper cup without crushing it under the might of its own technological superiority.

The long and short of it is that ASIMO – now under the newly-formed Honda Robotics division – will soon be able to do everything a human can, only better. So start stocking the bomb shelter again. Or better yet, let ASIMO do that for you. You’ve had a long day.

Click past the jump to let ASIMO pour you a drink and show off some of its newfound skills.

The battling bots in Hugh Jackman’s Real Steel look far too CG to get me excited over the idea of programmed pugilists battling to the death. But this real life set of giant, tele-operated robotic arms are without doubt the future of televised combat, and probably handy for doing real work too.

Built by Salt Lake City’s Raytheon-Sarcos, the massive arms are attached to a modified Ditch Witch making them fully mobile, and are controlled by a human operator who’s strapped into what’s often referred to as a Waldo system. The operator’s shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand movements are all translated to the robotic arms in real time, requiring absolutely no previous training. And the rig even provides force feedback as the user moves, so they know when the arms have lifted something particularly heavy, or hit something immovable.

Unfortunately the limited imaginations of the engineers who built the arms see it primarily being used in dangerous working conditions, even being remotely operated from miles away in situations that are inhospitable to humans. But I predict it won’t be long until we see a couple of these battling it out in a back alley.

SOURCE via Geekologie

When the end of the world comes, it will arrive on the shoulders of dancing robots. The researchers behind Asimo, the humanoid robot from Honda, have tapped into the muscle behind the Xbox Kinect system to allow users to control Asimo using nothing more than their own body movements. With self-collision safeguards and upper and lower body correlation programming in place, the adorable face of our robotic overlords is moving more like a human than ever before. What’s more, Aismo can now utilize a database of text-inspired gestures as a form of communication.

Why does this matter? In the past, programmers had to individually code the movements in each of Asimo’s joints in order for the robot to be able to perform a simple task. The design required a symphony of programming just for the robot to be able to walk across a stage. Now Asimo merely requires a human to move naturally in order to instruct his joints. It’s a massive step forward. We’re guessing it wouldn’t take much to be able to record those movements for future replay, either. Hit the jump to check out the video.

SOURCE via Automation

Designed by Beatty Robotics, this DIY robotic tank is a force to be reckoned with. Dubbed the Mechatronic Tank, this little robot is equipped with a fully functional 360 degree gun turret that can fire up to 1,000 brass or plastic pellets per minute. Weighing in at a hefty 45 pounds, the Mechatronic tank is also highly agile and capable of making swift, complex movements, all while while firing its turret independently.

Complete with four powerful motors and a software controlled drive system that allows the wheels to operate independently, the Mechatronic tank is capable of driving in any direction, or at any desired angle. To add a flashy flare to the tank, Beatty Robotics also added strips of 52 programmable RGB LED lights that have been mounted all around the Mechatron.

These LEDs not only provide an amusing lightshow, but also indicate what mode the robot is in and whether or not the weapon system is armed. Depending on which direction the individual wheels are facing, the LEDs will indicate whether the robot is stopped (blue), moving forward (green), or moving backwards (red).

For more information on this project or to check out some other great robots, be sure to head on over to Beatty Robotics’ page here.

SOURCE via Gizmodo