It looks like humans are just as

It looks like humans are just as capable of forming bonds with robots as they are with dogs. Perhaps the robot dogs will comfort us while we propagate memes for our machine overlords.

• memes
• pets
• robots

The 2007 robot of the year is a

The 2007 robot of the year is a mechanical arm made by Fanuc Ltd. and used for packaging. The arm is capable of grabbing 120 items per minute from a conveyor belt.

Swiveling frenetically, they analyzed digital images of items scattered randomly on a swiftly moving conveyor belt and picked up the items using suction cups that blow air in and out at their tips. They then worked together to place line up the items in rows inside boxes.

Here’s a video of three of these babies in action.

• best of
• best of 2007
• robots

iRobot, the makers of the Roomba robotic

iRobot, the makers of the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, also makes a pool cleaning robot.

• irobot
• robots
• roomba

On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan,

On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, robots are fast becoming part of the US military family. “The colonel just could not stand the pathos of watching the burned, scarred and crippled machine drag itself forward on its last leg. This test, he charged, was inhumane.” (via cd)

• Afghanistan
• Iraq
• military
• robots
• war

Ken Graney’s Roomba has broken the three

Ken Graney’s Roomba has broken the three laws of Roombotics. “The first law states that the device ‘must not suck up jewelry or other valuables, or through inaction, allow valuables to be sucked up.’ The second law prescribes that Roomba ‘must obey vacuuming orders given to it by humans except when such orders would conflict with the first law.’ The third and final law authorizes a Roomba to ‘protect its own ability to suction dust and debris as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.’”

• funny
• robots
• roomba
• The Onion

The top movie robots of all time,

The top movie robots of all time, including #5 and the Iron Giant.

• best of
• irongiant
• lists
• robots

Buried treasure worth $10 billion (!!!) is found on

Buried treasure worth $10 billion (!!!) is found on the Robinson Crusoe Island by a robot invented by a Chilean company. The loot is comprised of gold and jewels stolen from the Incans by Spanish conquistadors. The estimated 2004 GDP of Chile is $169.1 billion. (via mm)

• chile
• incans
• robinsoncrusoe
• robots
• treasure

Robot Lucy

Robotics research suggests that Lucy walked upright like humans. Lucy, discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia, is a 3.2 million year old Australopithecus afarensis skeleton.

• archaeology
• humans
• robots
• science

The World Series of Poker……….Robots

The World Series of Poker……….Robots. Robots make anything cooler.

• artificial intelligence
• games
• poker
• robots

Sony Aibo dances to a Daft Punk song

Sony Aibo dances to a Daft Punk song.

• Aibo
• Daft Punk
• dance
• music
• robots
• Sony
• video

Cease and desist

I got my first cease and desist letter today. Sort of. Here’s the letter:

Jason,

This letter is really strange for two reasons:

a) It’s not from a lawyer. It’s from the “Senior Multimedia Designer” from a company called Rossroy Interactive. I guess this guy is cheaper than a lawyer. Of course, the lawyer might have realized that the Apple Dodge Neon page is a parody of both the Dodge Neon and the Apple iMac and is therefore probably protected under copyright laws.

b) It’s unclear what is wrong with the page. Is it the Dodge logo or the Apple one? I did some checking and Rossroy Interactive is in Michigan…making it a good bet that the Dodge logo is the one in question. It might have been nice of them to mention that.

Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be taking the page down right now. I’ve got a couple letters to write and some legal codes to pore over.

• movies
• robots