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Posts Tagged ‘Bot’

How We’ve Decided to Use Buzz

Hey, RWW friends and fans! As some of you may have noticed, we’ve been tinkering around with our new team Buzz account today. We’ve decided to do something a little bit different with this network, and we really hope you’ll like it.

We know a lot of you follow us on Twitter of are our Facebook fans, and sometimes the constant streams of blog posts and observations can be as impersonal as they are informative or interesting. And occasionally, you might also catch a duplicate update.

We’ve decided that the last thing we need to do with Buzz is use it to promote the same stream of blog content – we’re not that desperate, and we know you get that news elsewhere. Here’s how we’re using Google Buzz instead.

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For conversations!

Actual, honest-to-god, open conversations between the RWW team and you, our wonderful readers. We’ll ask questions or give opinions there from time to time each day, and we do hope you’ll join us for some friendly debate and fresh perspectives in a real-time setting. We’ve certainly had fun with it, ourselves, already.

You can also choose to add our blog posts to your Google Buzz stream by choosing Buzz from the Add This widget at the bottom of each post. It looks like this:

But we won’t be cluttering up our own Buzz stream with bot-like aggregations and self-promotion. As we’ve said, if you want to get RWW news, there are many other platforms well-suited to that.

So, if you’d like to chat with us about any topic under the sun, just follow our new Buzz account and leave us a comment. We welcome all kinds of feedback, and you never know who will reply! We’re really looking forward to getting to you know as individuals in a more casual online environment.

Let us know what you think in the comments, or just pop over to the Buzz account and tell us all about it.

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Heineken Bot does what it says on the keg, soon to be man’s new best friend

If you ask us, our theory is that the Daleks are rather huggable by nature, but they probably partied a tad too hard with these beer-toting fellas before trashing the world. One such “Heineken Bot” — crafted by the geniuses at Middlesex University — turned up at Kinetica Art Fair in London. Daring humans can stop this drifting bot by hovering their hands above its sonar-sensing head, and then place a cup in its holder for some bevvy spat out of its keg. When you’re served, the lonewolf continues to wander along its pre-programmed path, probably waiting for the assassination signal from Skynet. See for yourself after the break while you’re still alive.

Continue reading Heineken Bot does what it says on the keg, soon to be man’s new best friend

Heineken Bot does what it says on the keg, soon to be man’s new best friend originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Evolution Robotics Mint bot is the Swiffer of Roombas, keeps track of its positioning

If you haven’t figured out how to clean your floor robotically by now, you might be a lost cause, but Evolution Robotics is willing to give it a try with its new Mint machine. The bot uses regular Swiffer pads, and is designed for cleaning hard floors with a shove of the wet-nap. Outside of its lack of vacuum, the Mint also differentiates itself with its “NorthStar” positioning tech, which lets the bot keep track of its exact location with GPS-style tech, relative to a base station, ensuring that it hits every spot and doesn’t waste time with random meandering. Mint should hit retail in Q4 of this year for under $250. Check out a video of it in action after the break.

Continue reading Evolution Robotics Mint bot is the Swiffer of Roombas, keeps track of its positioning

Evolution Robotics Mint bot is the Swiffer of Roombas, keeps track of its positioning originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remo humanoid hobby robot now available, wherever adorably creepy gifts are sold

We’ve always wanted a really solid humanoid robot of our very own. Remo, a hobby bot recently released in Japan — who boasts two arms and legs and seems to be about the size of a Good Guy doll — could perfectly fit that bill. He’s got pressure sensors in his feet to help out his balance, two sensors in his “eye” section (with two color CCD cameras for image processing), and Bluetooth connectivity for communication with your PC. He also comes with the expressive faceplate you see in the photo — which should definitely keep your nieces and nephews from trying to touch him, anyway. Remo is available in Japan now, but something of this quality is, as you may have guessed, not cheap: he’ll run you ¥399,999 (about $4,400).

Remo humanoid hobby robot now available, wherever adorably creepy gifts are sold originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS ECleaner is ready to rumble with the Roomba

Judging by the comparative explosion of robo vacuum releases this month, you might think 2010 is all set to be the year of the automated floor sanitizer. Augmenting that impression is ASUS, who has now made its heavyweight presence known with the newly announced ECleaner, to be released under the AGAiT brand. This new bot comes with a UV light for disinfection, a fragrance slot, the usual photo sensor to prevent it from falling off a cliff, and naturally a remote control for the hands-on househusband. The biggest attraction though — beyond that killer paintjob — is likely to be the $150 price tag, which significantly undercuts most of what’s out on the market right now. Video of the little spherical hipster lies after the break.

Continue reading ASUS ECleaner is ready to rumble with the Roomba

ASUS ECleaner is ready to rumble with the Roomba originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nippon Institute of Technology unveils educational humanoid robot

We really can’t get enough of these humanoid robots. Researchers collaborating from the Nippon Institute of Technology, Harada Vehicle Design, ZMP and ZNUG Design have just taken the wraps off another addition to the crew. The newest version of the e-NUVO walk bot stands about 4 feet tall, making it roughly the size of an elementary school aged child, and will be incorporated into classes to teach children about humanoid robots in a hands-on environment. We’ll admit that after seeing a video of the bot in action (it’s after the break), we’re pretty jealous of those school children.

Continue reading Nippon Institute of Technology unveils educational humanoid robot

Nippon Institute of Technology unveils educational humanoid robot originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ROPID the adorable humanoid can jump 3-inches into the air, sweep you off your feet

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a humanoid robot this size do anything very new or interesting — mostly they seem busy with their slow-mo dance moves — but the new ROPID bot by Tomotaka Takahashi, the man behind Panasonic’s Evolta bots, not only has a few new tricks up its plastic sleeves, but has personality to spare. The bot can rotate its upper torso, which seems to help immensely in keeping it balanced while jumping, running and skipping around. It’s still the tried-and-true “bent knees” method of balance, but ROPID is “rapid” enough to make it look almost lifelike. The movements are expressive enough, but with some slightly articulated hands and a moving mouth, ROPID ups the adorable-ness factor over some of its nuts and bolts counterparts. ROPID can also respond to a few voice commands and speaks as well. Takahashi designed and built the bot himself, which makes us wonder what we’ve been doing with our lives that’s so-very-important for the past couple of decades. Video of ROPID in action is after the break.

[Via Plastic Pals]

Continue reading ROPID the adorable humanoid can jump 3-inches into the air, sweep you off your feet

Filed under: Robots

ROPID the adorable humanoid can jump 3-inches into the air, sweep you off your feet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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STARMAC learns the loop de loop, puts on brave face despite Scoble’s continued existence

Last time we checked in on STARMAC, the autonomous hover bot was fuming over his near-miss in a desperate bid to assassinate Robert Scoble. Recently paroled, the bot has turned his energies to more constructive pursuits, like performing a controlled flip and selling drugs to kids. Still, do we detect a hint of brooding in these acrobatics? Video is after the break.

Continue reading STARMAC learns the loop de loop, puts on brave face despite Scoble’s continued existence

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

STARMAC learns the loop de loop, puts on brave face despite Scoble’s continued existence originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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