Thanks to everyone who took part in our Christmas giveaway, we were as excited as everyone who took part as you guys posted as many as 2257 entries!
So what have we got today? We’ve been fortunate to have been sponsored by the makers of Pingo – a social-networking robotic penguin gadget to run this contest. If you haven’t heard or read about Pingo, he is a one of a kind robot and we’re not just saying it cause we’re giving one away.
Pingo isn’t like any desktop socialnetworking robot you see available that simply just lights up or flashes when you get a message through IM or Twitter, he speaks, moves, listens and interacts with you and others via the specially made Facebook app!
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Its tiny, it befriends you and appears to me as slightly creepy. But if you like your social-networking, you’re going to like Pingo. Its a tiny robotic penguin that sits next to your computer and interacts with you, delivers you news, reads emails, RSS feeds, headlines, weather and responds to voice commands – hey it does sound pretty useful! Pingo is also different from other similar products in that it links with the user’s facebook account. It launched two days ago, if you get one of these, you’ll be able to use its dedicated Facebook app to give it a personality, profile as well as manage its daily life.
Fancy a hands-free toilet flushing system at home? Take a look at the RoboFlush. It is yet another great use of the LEGO Mindstorms NXT Kit, touch sensor and a ultrasonic sensor (for flush detection) to do the flushing work for you. Check out the video of how it works after the break.
If you’re someone who employs a robot like automatic hoover vacuum system for your home, you might be interested in this latest invention from Panasonic. Fukitorimushi is the latest in floor-cleaning robots, unlike many that you may find up for sale these days, this autonomous robot does its thing in a rather creepy way by crawling around like a worm despite it using a highly efficient tech savvy cloth to keep your floors spotless.
Technically, the Fukitorimushi sports sensors that allows it to detect dirty spots on the floor. Fukitorimushi’s body is covered in Teijin’s Nanofront cloth, which is made of polyester filament fibers measuring 700 nanometers in diameter. Though this sounds remarkably hard to believe, this means it is about 7,500 times thinner than the average human hair. The nanofibers significantly increase the fabric’s surface area, giving it superior wiping characteristics and the ability to absorb oil and ultra-fine dust particles less than one micron in diameter. The large surface contact area also increases the fabric’s friction with the floor and makes it resistant to sliding.
Our friends over at TechChee recently spotted this neat new robotic technology developed by the scientists over at the University of Munich Hospital. The EyeSeeCam has been developed to track the viewpoint of the user’s pupils, this as a result then transmits data to servo actuators that can control any number of mechanical devices imaginable.
Examples include a video cameras or even a robot. It sounds extremely simple to use, in fact, the EyeSeeCam has been practically developed to adapt to us, humans.
The beginning of a real lightsaber!? The “Z Plasma” Saber featured in the video below isn’t actually using just water to cut through steel, it uses a combination of alcohol too. Unlike conventional cutting machines, this one doesn’t require any gas compression or cooling system and emits just water vapour. Sources say this badboy can reach up to 8000 degrees, this sounds remarkable but very hard to believe considering the man handling it in the video has his hand just a few inches away from the tip of the flame itself. The Z Plasma saber will be later available from Reitec Japan.
A robot that can automatically serve ice cream with selected toppings and pass on a spoon? 26 students at Ohio Northern University under supervision of their professors have built an ice cream serving robot consisting of two Kuka industrial robots which man their stations inside a kiosk of custom-fabricated components. Check out the video after the break, what they have achieved in this project is brilliant!
