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• Japan brings us the first spherical flying drone

  In Robots, Technology, Toys

  

  It was an iPhone 4s moment, where everyone at first is stunned, then disappointed, then later everyone feels silly for having felt disappointed over something that’s never been done before, and all that because it simply runs with a propeller. Sure, it looks eerily like the light saber practice drone in Star Wars, and I suppose everyone there might have been disappointed for not having been shot with a tiny laser, and I must point [...]

   

• The Baguette Vending Machine in Action

  In Robots

  

  Like most baked goods, a freshly baked baguette will taste at least a million times better than one that has been sitting on the shelf all day. There are times, however, when getting fresh bread is not really practical… or should I say hasn’t been practical because French baker Jean-Louis Hecht looked at that little problem and saw automated opportunity. Hecht now has an automated baguette machine sitting out the front of his bakery and [...]

   

• Foxconn to Replace Unhappy Humans With Mindless Drones

  In Robots

  

  As far as jobs go, working on the Foxconn assembly line as got to be up their with the worst. If various reports are to be believed, they pay very little, have draconian rules and poor working conditions – not to mention their employee suicide problem. So it may actually be a good thing that they are aiming to replace their mostly human workforce with an army of robots. At the moment, Foxconn has 10,000 [...]

   

• Chicken Boning Bot Bones a Chicken in 2.5 Seconds

  In Robots

  

  If you bone chickens for a living then meet the robot that will probably have your job sometime in the not too distant future. I won’t go into too many specifics (you can catch that from the video) – but basically the system works using cameras and some very precise circular saws. At maximum speed it can turn out 1,500 birds per hour – the most skilled butcher can manage about 150. Obviously, chicken boning [...]

   

• Have Your Floors Cleaned By Robotic Puppy

  In Concept, Robots

  

  Cleaning sucks, I hate it with a passion and avoid it whenever possible – but I might be more inclined to keep my mess off the floor if I had a team of robotic puppies automatically vacuuming my floors each day. The Puppy Robotic consists of four robot puppies and a mother dog base station. When they are in cleaning mode, the little dogs run around your house picking up dust. When they are full [...]

   

• Lego Sorting Bot Can Sort 48 Bricks Per Minute

  In DIY, Robots

  

  If you hate sorting your own Lego bricks, then you could try building yourself your very own Lego Quad Flexpicker. The machine uses four bots to sort Lego bricks at breakneck speed – 48 bricks per minute to be precise. Unfortunately, as always, there is a catch. Aside from the difficulty of the build, you are going to need some fairly pricey parts – namely: 6 NXT microcontroller bricks, 22 motors and servos, and 26 [...]

   

• Guy Makes Robotic Punching Bag That Hits Back [Punching Pro]

  In Robots

  

  The thing with regular old heavy bags is that they don’t hit back – they are good for learning how to punch properly and for getting a workout but that is about it. Kris Tressider’s contraption, on the other hand, has the potential to teach a little more. The Punching Pro uses 2 12-volt windshield wiper motors to punch back at you – so you have to avoid getting hit while you go about your [...]

   

• Clean your pool, zero your footprint: Solar Pool Skimmer

  In Robots, Toys

  

  There’s nothing worse than diving into your pool only to surface in a pile of leaves, dead bees, frogs and “Snickers” bars.  But before you overreact, don’t hire a pool boy; save yourself a little money and reduce your carbon footprint with the Solar Pool Skimmer from Sharper Image. Since it runs all the time (so long as it’s sunny, at least) the Skimmer catches leaves and other unwanted debris before it can sink.  Also, [...]

   

• Tie Tying Machine Does a Respectable Enough Job

  In Robots

  

  If you have to wear a tie to work, the thought of having a tie tying machine probably appeals to you. Sure, with a little practice anyone can bust out a half-assed half-windsor in around half a minute, but if you didn’t have to why would you? [Neatorama]

   

• The Great Emancipator in Lego With a Mini-gun

  In Geeky, Robots, Toys

  

  Something about this robot Lincoln armed with a mini-gun made me smile. It is definitely the funniest take on the Lincoln meme I have seen to date. Dan explains his creation: I imagine them recovering a prewar robot, and deciding to turn it into an inspirational tool, as well as a weapon. I also just thought that the idea of a robot Lincoln was hilarious, and once I thought of it, I had to build [...]

   

• Philip K. Dick Robotic Head

  In Robots

  

  If you don’t know who Philip K. Dick is then you may actually be in the wrong place – I’ll give you a hint, he was a prolific writer of pulpy science fiction, and one of his short stories was turned into a classic piece of science fiction starring Harrison Ford and involving androids… set on Earth as opposed to a galaxy far, far away. In addition to Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, and [...]

   

• Robot Sponge Bath Saves Nurses From Awkward Chore

  In Robots

  

  Being on the receiving end of a sponge bath is pretty cool, but I can imagine it would be kinda gross if you had to be doing all of the sponging – especially with the creepier patients. In the not too distant future there may very well be a robot for the job. Now, before you go talking about the coming robot apocalypse and robots stealing human jobs, etc. I must inform you that this [...]