Random Robot Roundup

Posted 17 Nov 2008 at 19:38 UTC by steve

I'm back and starting the week with a dump of the editors mailbox. First up is an unusual Craigslist personals posting in search of "creative robot chicks"; but be careful girls, as you face a battle to the death if you're not of up this robot's standards (oh, and enjoy the ad while you can; CL ads tends to vanish pretty quickly). After battling robots in the street, you may need medical attention. A Reuters story has just the thing, all the latest in robotic medical technology. As you recover from your robotic surgery, you can listen to Waseda University's latest musical robot play the flute. The Swirling Brain sent some interesting things our way too, like a story about robotic sculptures that watch you watching them; and how about a new office chair that's a really a robot leg with a seat bolted onto it?; if sitting on a robot doesn't sound like fun, maybe you'd prefer Honda's new mini-exoskeleton that augments just your legs. We also heard about a public radio Marketplace interview with Richard Dooling, author of Rapture for the Geeks. Engineering News posted a short article on RoboCup robot soccer. Our friends at Instructables posted a new DIY telepresence robot. Over at io9, there's a story on the remake of Forbidden Planet - and that means we may be seeing Robby the Robot on the big screen again. Rog-a-matic noticed a cool NASA photo of the ISS robot at work. We've also got several from Roland Piquepaille, one on flying robots inspired by nature, another on low flying robot helicopters, and a new story on that 700 ton Caterpillar robot mining truck that we reported on a while back. Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please.