Random Robot Roundup

Posted 26 Sep 2008 at 19:16 UTC by steve

Dan Gates sent a Technology Review article on the UMan robot (for more see our previous coverage of UMan and other gripping robots). Amy McKinzie let us know that NBC has used to refurbished industrial robots from her company in the new Knight Rider TV series. The folks at the RoboDevelopment Conference announced the finalists for their annual Innovator Awards and the OpenJAUS free software architecture, which we reported on a while back has made their list. Trossen Robotics let us know that they've launched a new Educational Robotics Division that will carry robot kits specifically tailored for classroom use. Chris Bruner told us about a paintball robot sentry that weighs in at 10lbs and cost less than $500. David Calkins brings news from the world of orgasmotrons and teledildonics, where the ARSE ELEKTRONIKA 2008 conference will explore the intersection of sex and technology. The PC/104 consortium announced approval of the EPIC Express specification, adding stackable PCI Express support to future PC/104 boards. Roland Piquepaille posted in his blog about robot gas stations in the sky and ship-cleaning robots. And from the Swirling Brain come stories of robots on unicycles (with video), airbags for old people, a list of history's greatest robot hoaxes, info on the WowWee Bladestar autonomous indoor flying robot, and a Wired article on robot hands. Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please.