New PaPeRo Aims to Help Elderly

Back in late 2010 the company NEC gave there new PaPeRo robots to some Japanese elders to test if it impacted their daily lives. Each citizen got their own PaPeRo that fit into their daily lives by matching to their interests and hobby's, and the the robot connected to a wireless network updating the citizen on the latest activity. This robot was very well admired by the group of elderly and the test showed that the citizens connected more to the open society rather than staying at home. This just shows that robots with the right looks, tech, and capabilities can impact someones daily life and that society may be getting closer to living alongside robots. If you have any comments on robots living among humans then feel free to comment below, and remember well appreciate it if you do. Special thanks to http://www.plasticpals.com/ for the orginal information source!

New Modular Robotics Cubelets

A new way to build robots is among us today, with the new Modular Robotics' Cubelets. Cubelets let you design and build your very own robot that moves about using motors built in to some of the cubes that come in the kit, and they react to temperature, light, proximity using a variety of sensors that are included in the kit. The Cubelets move about quite life likely too. Cubelets also require no programming and they consist of tiny strong magnets that let them snap together and once they are snapped together they're on the move, of course with the help of the motors. The kit includes 20 individual Cubelets overall, and five action blocks which include two drive, one rotate, one speaker, one light, and one bar graph action blocks. The sensor blocks which include one knob, one brightness, two distance, and one temperature sensor blocks. The rest of the blocks are the think/utility blocks which include two inverse, one minimum, one maximum, one battery, two passive, and two blocker think/utility blocks. The whole Cubelets kit sells for a retail price of $299.99 USD, but for now they're all unfortunately sold out. Thanks for reading and what do you think robots like these will become later in the future. Just post your answer in the comment section below!

Hexbug Introduces New Hexbug Spider

If you've read my recent post on the hexbug nano, than you most likely know about hexbug. Well, now hexbug has introduced the toys shelves to the all new Hexbug Spider. This robot, however is not autonomous but you can control the bot with a remote control, The robot currently sells at a retail price of only $24.99. Thanks for reading a support us be "liking" us on facebook!

This Robot Truely Sucks

Today most of us think robots that have arms and hands use claws and fingers to pick up objects, well that's not the case for this robot, and instead it uses a balloon filled with coffee grounds. With the help of DARPA researches at the Cornell University, University of Chicago, and iRobot have devised a new way for robots to pick up 3 dimensional objects, and all is uses it uses is a balloon, some coffee grounds, and a vacuum. They call it KONA (kinetic object gripping arm) and the devise works when the vacuum turns on and it densely packs the coffee grounds until they are so packed that they cant move or slide against each other. When the devise comes down to an object the loosely packed coffee grounds conform around the object, and then the vacuum turns on and it sucks out all the air causing the coffee grounds to become densely packed and making it grip the object. This is how KONA works and you can see it all in the video. Thanks for reading and if you have any ideas or requests for future posts then please feel free to contact me at faliero96@hotmail.com or just leave a comment below.

robo-roundup #3

On this weeks robo-roundup we have seal robots to robot androids, and with new robots robo-roundup just keeps getting better and better, and I hope you enjoy!

1. This little robo-cell phone is perfect for those on the go: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/elfoid-portable-telepresence-android

2. If you enjoy basketball and seals, then you will enjoy this robot: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/robot-seal-plays-basketball

3. Marathons are great, but robot marathons, check it out at: http://www.robots-dreams.com/2011/03/robot-marathon-lets-autonomous-operation-shine-video.html

4. New technological development in robotic navigation: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110301091346.htm

5. new robot could saves lives by helping with search and rescue after earthquakes: httpN//abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/drive_to_discover&id=7224227

I've hoped you've enjoyed this weeks robo-roundup and hope you read again next week on another robo-roundup! If you have any requests for future robo-roundup then please feel free to contact me at faliero96@hotmail.com or just leave a comment below!

Support SimpleBotics on instructables.com

If your a robot innovator on instructables.com then you've probably heard of the national robotics week robot contest. Today I just recently joined it and if you've been reading my blog for a while now and would like to support simplebotics just vote for my robot and instructable. Thank you guys a lot and I really appreciate it. If you would have any questions then please feel free to email me at faliero96@hotmail.com.

MAARS Military Robot Proves Itself Deadly

http://mechachan.com/r/src/13211441363.jpg

If you think UAVs are lousy and wimpy, take a glance at MAARS (modular advanced armed robotic system) developed from the North American company QinetiQ. This little rough bot aims at enemy forces and is the first fully modular ground robot system that's capable of measuring response in a given situation. non-lethal setting is broadcasting the voices of the operator(s) of the robot to the enemy. The second response is less-lethal with it deploying smoke, pepper spray, and other non-lethal chemicals. The last and most lethal in fact deadly, four grenade launchers and an automatic rifle. MAARS is also equipped with four on-board cameras to give the operator visuals and optics of the robots setting. However, only 3 have been deployed in Iraq, none of them have been allowed to shoot at any targets, but with modern military technology advancing these robots may just be our future soldiers on the battle field. Thanks for reading a what rolls do you think robots should have a part in the military? Just feel free to comment below with your answer!

\

Source(s): video listed above and http://mechachan.com/r/src/13211441363.jpg