Remember those little Zen rock gardens they used to sell for desks? So you could take a minute of your busy day to contemplate the void? Thanks to the magic of Kickstarter, you can build your own automatic, desktop-based Zen garden that will rake itself into endless patterns.

The toy is a little pricey – $999 for the “table” kit, half that for the desktop version – but the concept is pretty cool. It’s basically a robotic Etch-a-Sketch with a few tricks built in. To wit:

Hello? This is Zen Table?

The coffee table version is 56″ x 39″ x 19.5″ while the desktop version is 13″ x 9.5″ x 2 1/2″. Created by video game developer Simon Hallam, the Zen table lets you draw nearly anything into the silicone sand, allowing you to complete your mandala without having to get off from work. They’re about $4,000 below their funding goal, so get over there and get zenning!

Project Page

This video is making the nerd rounds today and it’s pretty amazing. It shows a set of quadrocopters first righting themselves after a catastrophic failure and returning to a certain point (the scientists throw the little guys into the air and they turn over and fly back to their hands light frightened starlings) and then we see how these monsters can fly in formation around obstacles and through windows.

Built by the GRASP Lab at U Penn, these wee robots keep getting cooler and smaller. These are part of the Scalable sWarms of Autonomous Robots and Mobile Sensors (SWARM) project that sounds like something Shredder used to find the Ninja Turtles in their watery redoubt.

The future: full of scary robots.

Do you like nature? Do you have a beard? Then you’ll love these things. Cubelets are essentially robotic building blocks. By connecting sensors, motors, and feedback devices, you can create clever little automatons that can interact with the world around them (within reason). Most important, however, is that Cubelets has decided to feature a bearded, Dutch spokes-mountain-man to sell their product, an excellent choice for almost any kit-based robotics project.

Sold by ModRobotics, the kit is available for pre-order for $160. This includes six Cubelets – two sensors, two “action” blocks, and two “brains” including a battery pack. A giant kit costs $520 and includes 20 pieces. They’re made for kids eight and up and run on rechargeable batteries.

These things are clearly very pricey but they are educational and aimed more at schools than at kids who just want to jam blocks together. It is unclear if every package comes with a hirsute Dutch man to help you build your Cubelets, but you would think that for a few dollars more they could ship one out along with a supply of beer and Edam to keep him fed and happy [UPDATE - I checked: it doesn't].

The Robocalypse is near: Osaka-based Hajime Research Institute is working on a humanoid that will stand 13 feet (4m) tall, which is much taller than most other existing robots of its kind (the latest version of Honda’s Asimo, for example, is just 130cm high). It will also sport a built-in cockpit.

Hajime Sakamoto, president of the institute, is on a mission. After having successfully developed a 7-foot robot in 2009 (pictured above), the plan is to build the aforementioned giant robot next, before following up with humanoids that are 26 and 59 feet tall after that.

Needless to say, the 13-foot version would be the tallest humanoid out there. Sakamoto is currently trying to find more contractors and sponsors to finish the project, for example by posting videos on YouTube, setting up a Facebook page, or running a blog (all in Japanese).

Sakamoto doesn’t say how long it will take to build the robot, but this picture from Monday shows him standing him next to a completed leg:

Via Plastic Pals

It’s not the first spider-like robot out there, but it’s almost certainly the most advance one: a team of researchers at Osaka University in Japan has developed Asterisk [JP], a six-legged insect robot that can perform a few pretty interesting moves.

Perhaps the most interesting feature is that Asterisk can pick up objects with two legs, lift them on top of its body and carry them away. Asterisk is also able to climb up stairs, lower its body to move through narrow spaces or move along a net attached to a wall.

Asterisk has been in development for about six years. Its makers are currently trying to make it cartwheel, too (which is especially awesome).

The robot weighs 4kg, is 816mm wide and 78mm high. Asterisk comes equipped with an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, six force sensors, three infrared sensors and six CCD cameras.

Here’s a video showing the latest version in action (courtesy of Diginfo TV):

Honda caused quite a splash a while back with the introduction of the U3-X, a personal mobility robot that’s basically a motorized unicycle (and that our own John Biggs was “impressed” with after taking it for a test drive last year). And now, at the Tokyo Motor Show 2011, Honda took the wraps of a pretty similar robot, the so-called Uni-Cub.

In fact, Honda says it has been working on mobility solutions for single drivers since 1980. Just like with the U3-X, this new model makes it possible for drivers to ride in the direction they want to go by just moving the upper body or operating a joystick (the robot can also handle lateral movements).

360-degree motions are still possible, too, but Honda added another wheel to the robot to make it more stable. To increase driving comfort, the Uni-Cub features armrests (that previous models didn’t have).

According to Honda, the Uni-Cub can reach a top speed of 10km/h and has a battery life of one hour at this point.

Unfortunately, the company is still not sure about when to commercialize the technology. Honda sees the Uni-Cub used by people who want to scoot around places like shopping centers and exhibition halls.

Here’s Honda’s Uni-Cub promotion video:

Whoa. I thought Pleo was hot but this thing is out of this world. It’s basically a little walking robot that can see, hear, and recognize you from a distance. Originally designed to help teach autistic children, the Nao is now a fully-featured and surprisingly friendly-looking robot that can walk, play catch, and talk to you. The company, Aldebaran Robotics, updated their original Nao robot, adding a 1.6GHz processor and two HD cameras.

This guy won’t be cheap – he’s a service robot and the movement is so surprisingly smooth that I don’t doubt it will be in the upper thousands when it’s finally available. You can pre-order right now although I suspect that these guys choose you rather than the other way around.

From the press release:

Product Page via Victor

Japan-based Kowa Tmsuk may just be ten months old and just have five employees (it’s a joint venture between two larger companies), but it seems the company is set to build cool things. Their electric vehicle concept, dubbed KOBOT, looks very promising – especially for a first product.

The KOBOT is essentially a mix between a robot and an electric mini car that can make itself smaller than it already is with the push of a button (a feature that obviously comes in handy when it’s time to park the vehicle, for example). What’s cool is that the cars can be connected to smartphones: they actually start folding after owners push the button on their handsets.

Kowa Tmsuk has built three prototypes (see below) to showcase at the Tokyo Motor Show 2011 (which currently takes place).

The company explains:

The seat folds up, the wheelbase contracts, and the panels are concealed. So this concept also has security in mind. In the green Kobot β, the wheelbase goes down by about 30 cm. In the red Kobot ν, it goes down by about 40 cm.

To some extent, vehicles need to coexist with pedestrians, so we’ve given KOBOT a low-speed mode where it’s easy to maneuver. Then, there’s Drive Mode, which goes up to about 30 km/h.

This video from Diginfo TV provides more insight (try to focus on the cars):

When I first wrote about the dancing quadcopters last week, I noted there was no video. Well, now there’s video.

The IEEE has a great collection of photos and a fresh video from the exhibit showing how the robots work in concert to build a fun little tower. It’s a wild project and a wild technology and, more important, these monsters can scale to build bigger buildings. Could robots one day build our houses or, more in keeping with the theme of future robotic uprisings, tear them down using demolition bots.

Sleep apnea can be a big problem for people affected by the disorder, but there is help from Japan on the way. A team of researchers at Waseda University in Tokyo have developed a robot pillow that monitors the sleep of patients and helps them by touching the face or neck whenever it detects irregularities in the sleep cycle.

The pillow, which is dubbed Jukusui-kun, is shaped like a teddy bear. In Japan alone, about 2 million people are estimated to suffer from sleep apnea (out of a population of 128 million), meaning the target group is quite large.

Teruko Otani from the Jukusui-kun’s research group explains how the pillow works:

In this system, a pulse oxymeter, worn on the finger, measures oxygen concentration in the blood. Also, a microphone in the teddy bear picks up the sound of snoring. The data from these two devices is evaluated by a PC, and reflected in the signal sent to an actuator, so the actuator movement can be varied depending on the person’s condition. The actuator movement helps the person roll over in their sleep, and if their breathing is badly interrupted, it wakes the person up.

This video, shot by Diginfo TV (in English), shows the robot pillow in action:

We’re getting closer and closer to the Robocalypse: Osaka-based industrial equipment maker Muscle Corporation and a few other Japanese companies have developed a humanoid that can climb up (and down) ladders all by itself. Considering how hard it still is to create robots that can walk smoothly, this is quite an accomplishment.

The so-called “Dream Robo” was actually showcased last year during the Shanghai Expo. It stands 1.4m high, weighs about 30kg and moves with the help of five motors that are built into its body.

Muscle Corp.’s president Hirofumi Tamai explains how Dream Robo actually climbs walls:

For example, if the robot suspends itself and moves to the next step, first of all, it raises its right hand. Then, it rotates its back. Next, it raises the hand a bit more, returns its back to the previous position, and pulls the hand downward. The force needed to grasp the pipe is transmitted in the motor, and after the motor has grasped it properly, the next motor is instructed to raise the left hand. So the robot’s motion involves that kind of dialog between the motors.

This video, shot by Diginfo TV in Tokyo, provides more insight:

And this video is proof that Dream Robos can handle walls outside buildings, too:

Our favorite manhacks, the Quadcopters, are currently building a 1,500 piece styrofoam sculture in the FRAC Centre in Orleans. The robots follow a pre-set plan but can sense each other in space and assess which pieces have already been placed, resulting in a ballet of tiny, flying machines that are about as smart as a barn sparrow.

Called “Flight Assembled Architecture,” this demonstration shows how far we’ve come from the early days of quadcopters and how much smarter these things are getting. I’m honestly waiting for the day when these things can swarm, piraña-style, and pick our grapes, apples, and occasional enemies of the state.

No video yet but if someone in Orlean can head over there and check it out, we’d be eternally grateful. It looks insane.

via PopSci via Giz

We’re one step closer to the Robocalypse: Japan-based Kawada Industries has developed a humanoid robot that’s specifically designed to work alongside human beings. The so-called Nextage is certainly not the first robot of its kind, but his specs are pretty impressive, and he’s already commercialized, too.

Nextage is equipped with a high-speed stereo-camera and two arms that have 12 joints each and can be positioned within 30 microns. When a human worker gets near, the robot stops working immediately for safety reasons.

Kawada explains:

We’ve created these robots to work alongside people, and to cooperate with people in the same environment. Work done by people doesn’t involve handling large objects or moving very fast. Our aim is for industrial robots to do human work like that, so people can be more productive by working together with robots.

In the video below however, you can see three networked Nextage robots at an exhibition in Tokyo assembling objects by themselves (and showing the finished products to the crowd) – no human help needed:

Video courtesy of Diginfo TV

Simroid, a super-realistic dental training robot developed in Japan, caused quite a splash in news outlets worldwide when it made its debut in 2007. The level of realism was pretty high back then, but it’s even higher in the new version that was showcased in Tokyo a few days ago.

The basic idea is that Simroid simulates a human patient during a dental check-up by moving and speaking as realistically as possible, including the simulation of gag reflexes or negative reactions when the doctor touches her “breasts” by accident. Two cameras are recording the treatment, which makes it possible to evaluate the performance of dental students after each training session.

Professor Hamura from the Nippon Dental University, the mastermind behind Simroid, explains:

The first improvement we have made is that the robot now has speech recognition. So when you speak to it, it moves in response. There are also sensors in and around the mouth. So, for example, if something hurts or feels unpleasant, the robot can react. Another improvement, as you can see, is the skin. A robot dental patient has to “open wide,” so if the skin is made of silicone, it can tear. So we’ve used a different material, which doesn’t tear even if it’s stretched a lot or makes contact with dental implements.

The newest version is bi-lingual (English and Japanese), meaning Simroid might go on sale in the US and other places soon, too.

This video, shot by Diginfo TV (in English), provides more insight:

We’ve shown you many Kinect-based hacks and applications over the past months, and here is a new one from Japan: major robot maker Yaskawa has developed a humanoid that can be remote-controlled using a Kinect interface. Dubbed SmartPal VII, the telepresence robot can be used to communicate with other people over a distance or even help them cleaning up rooms, for example (by controlling the robot’s arms using Kinect).

Yaskawa explains:

This robot resembles a person, so it has many degrees of freedom. We’ve given it technology that lets people utilize that freedom easily, just by moving their hands, while the robot itself considers how to move its hand, back, and trolley in optimal ways.

SmartPal VII runs on wheels and is equipped with a gyro sensor, improved wrists and arms (the previous version was shown in 2007), a set of touch sensors, an infrared sensor in its head, and a stereo camera with pan tilt.

This video (in English, shot by Diginfo TV) provides more insight:

Fuji Heavy Industries and Sumitomo have developed a cute robot that can help human workers clean offices. It’s a follow up to a simpler model the two companies unveiled ten years ago. This new robot can navigate through spaces full of desks, office equipment and other obstacles (including humans).

The battery-powered robot can move around at 30m per minute and is equipped with a laser range finder: before bumping into an obstacle or human, it says “Please get out of the way, I am cleaning this room!”. If nothing happens for 15 seconds, the robot will move around the obstacle and continue to do its job (at around 0:45 in the video below).

According to Fuji Heavy and Sumitomo, the robot runs 2.5 hours on one charge and cuts cleaning time by around 50%. It’s already commercialized (in Japan, at least).

This video shows the robot (and a human colleague) in action:

Via Robonable [JP]

Most robots that are labeled “humanoids” still have a common problem: they can only walk in a slow, mechanical and chopping motion. Even HRP-4C, in my opinion the most realistic humanoid ever created, wasn’t an exception – until now.

Even though she could sing and later even learned to dance, walking was never her strong suit (the first version couldn’t move her legs at all). But its maker, Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), has been working on it: the newest HRP-4C has toes that support the legs during strides, for example.

You can see the result in the video embedded below. HRP-4C isn’t exactly walking like a human yet, but it’s the most impressive result I (as a robot otaku) have seen so far:

Via Plastic Pals

Honda has been very silent about Asimo, its super-advanced humanoid robot, in recent years. After introducing the first version in 2000, Honda showed several versions through 2005, until the company finally took the wraps off a new version earlier today in Tokyo. This model is the thinnest, fastest, and most “intelligent” Asimo yet.

At 48kg, the Asimo that was shown today is 6kg lighter than the previous model. He now has 57 joints in his body (23 more) and walks at 9km/h (instead of 6km/h).

Honda says that Asimos’s improved “intelligence” makes it possible for the robot to track a conversation between different people, recognizing the faces and voices of everyone involved (even when several people speak simultaneously).

Another plus in the intelligence department: Asimo can now temporarily stop a certain action and resume it after performing a different task in between (for example opening a can of beer and pouring it into a glass – something, which wasn’t possible before either).

If told, Asimo can kick a ball or start hopping now, too – on one or two legs. He can now even hop in a circular pattern.

And that’s not all: according to Honda, the robot “is now capable of predicting the direction a person will walk within the next few seconds based on information from pre-set space sensors and quickly determining to take an alternate path to avoid a collision with the person if the estimated locations of the person and the ASIMO intersect.”

The Robocalypse is near.

Here’s a video (in Japanese, but that doesn’t matter too much in this case):

Asimo serving beer (he opens the can and pours the beer into a glass by himself):

Some new skills shown in slow-motion [ENG/JP]

Professor Tachi from Japan’s Keio University has been working on telepresence robots since the 1980s, and TELESAR V, a so-called telexistence robot avatar, is the finest work of his lab yet. The robot makes it possible to transmit sight, hearing and even touch in order “to free people from time and space constraints”.

The way it works is that the robot becomes your alter ego (or “avatar”) at a distant location: the human operator sees what the robot sees and hears what the robot hears. With model V, operators can Telesar can even “feel” the shape and temperature of objects, thanks to a set of sensors built into the hands.

This video (shot by Diginfo TV, in English) provides more insight on TELESAR V:

Production of Sony’s AIBO, probably the world’s most famous robotic dog, may have been discontinued in 2006, but that didn’t stop other Japanese companies to keep on developing similar robots. 12 years after AIBO saw the light of day, Tokyo-based NSK took the wraps off a more advanced (nameless) robo-dog [JP].

Unlike AIBO, the NSK robot is designed to actually fulfill a purpose one day: serving as a guide dog for blind people. Work on the robot started in 2005, and the newest model is able to walk at 3.8km/h. Judging by the first videos (see below), the robot is pretty slow, so real animals still have a role for the time being.

The “dog” has four joints in each leg and is equipped with a set of cameras and sensors to help humans walk around. As robot blog Plastic Pals points out, NSK could equip their robot with GPS, web-connected maps and other bells and whistles to actually turn it into an alternative for real dogs one day.

Here’s the robot in action:

This video shows the dog tackling stairs in more detail (the previous model can be seen on the left):