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

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.

Robots are cute, and this one’s no obligation. It’s apparently made of a trash can, some LEDs, and other electronic components, and also apparently created in three days on a budget just barely exceeding $100. Despite its absolutely adorable appearance, this Android seems hell-bent on destruction, literally beating itself up, and eventually falling on its face.

A few months ago, back when Japan was freshly reeling from that devastating earthquake and tsunami, it became obvious that robots could help survey radiation levels in Fukushima, even if they were powerless to lower them. Now, Tokyo Power Electric Co., the company that operates the damaged nuclear plant, is experimenting with an ad hoc system designed to clean at least some of the radioactive dirt from the reactors. What you see in that clip below is an industrial-grade vacuum cleaner attached to a Warrior, the most heavy-duty of iRobot’s mobile bots. The idea is that workers can control the system from a safe distance, and let the robot handle the dirty work of removing toxic sand and debris. Head past the break to see it in action, combing the floor of the (eerily) empty plant.

Ever wonder if the quadrocopters will eventually got to their sense (in a way or another) and attack us humans? Well, fear not, as it won’t happen anymore. The researchers came to their senses and put the flying machines on a Kinect-controlled leash.

Instead of flitting about autonomously, the four-rotored nightmares are directed by a puppeteer waving his hands. Movement is controlled by the right hand, while raising the left one tells the copter to do a little flip for its master’s amusement, and a commanding clap makes it sit down like a good little pup. Best of all, if you don’t give it any arm-waving instruction it just hovers and waits until you tell it otherwise.

On further consideration, maybe we haven’t been creating our own murderers, but a new man’s best friend — after all, they don’t eat much and can’t chew up your remotes. But who knows, this may be the new age armies.

SOURCE via Flying Machine Arena (YouTube)

Have you ever shop at online boutique just to have doubt at the end whether the shirt’s size fits you nicely? Unless you’re in the rather strange habit of going to stores, trying on clothes, and returning home to purchase them online, you never know how they look on you until the package arrives on your doorstep, which at times really is suck balls, trust me I’ve been there done that.

Last year Fits.me tackled this little niggling e-commerce issue with a shape-shifting male mannequin and finally, after a year of tireless work, the fairer sex has its own FitBot — turns out the female form is much more difficult to replicate. Ah ha! Exquisite species, I have no doubt on their claim on this!

Again, the adjustable, human stand-in is making its debut at the British retailer Hawes & Curtis and our more womanly readers can head to the source to get a better idea of how the White Hipster Shirt would drape across their particular body type simply by moving a set of sliders. But, before you go, check out the pair of videos after the break.

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SOURCE via fits.me

Japan’s Ministry of Defense is pretty good at its hovering drones, but we’re not entirely convinced that this one will be fit for purpose. The RC reconnaissance scout reminds us of a spherical Iain M. Banks Culture drone, which is neat, except that this one’s more conspicuous, dies after just eight minutes and was constructed not by an intergalactic artificial consciousness, but by a bunch of geeks who went foraging for parts in Akihabara. Nevertheless, it can do 40MPH and is surprisingly agile, as you’ll see in the video — watch out for the kissogram moment.

SOURCE via Wired

What’s the point of a robot disguised as a tank or, uh, a clothes dryer? If you really want to infiltrate human society, you need robots that can hide in plain sight. Thankfully for would-be robotic conquerors, Ron Tajima brings us the aptly named CanBot, which hides batteries, an embedded control board, and three RC-servo legs beneath its beer-can exterior. Tajimi controls it with a Wiimote, and in the video above you can see it walking and rolling. His son seems less than impressed, but he probably sees this stuff all the time. We’re mightily excited, and look forward to picking up a six pack. Of robots.

SOURCE via getrobo

Do you fancy keeping spiders? How about robotic spiders? I’ve seen people having spiders as pets, and some having robots as toys, but I’ve never seen both combined. Here’s a very cool hobby toy that you can buy, and it’s a robotic spider made by Kondo.

It’s got many legs, although they can’t be used to stab people with eight samurai swords. Dubbed as the KMR-M6, this robot comes equipped with an optional spacing, a camera, grippers and servomotors to add more fun and flexibilities to your research and developments, or your Tom Peeping missions.

The Kondo KMR-M6 spider robot is now available for 76,800 Yen or around $900.

SOURCE via Akihabaranews