Roboquad - The latest from the WoWee robot stable

WowWee’s new robot, which appeared this year, is called Roboquad and amused people crawling around on its four legs. The robot comes with infra-red sensors and apparently it can be used as guard since it is able to scan for sounds and movements, up to 10 feet away. The manufacturer is claiming that the robot should also be able to identify objects of different sizes, move around furniture and detect the edge of doorways.

The Robotsrule site has a summary of the robot’s features:

• It can identify motion at a distance of about 10 feet. Once identified it can pursue the moving object
• It is a four legged robot with a chassis that is designed to move easily in any direction
• The Roboquad’s main theme is fast movement in nearly any ground based direction and it is capable of 3 speeds of movement
• The Roboquad is react quickly to it’s environment
• It has a strange little head that can sweeps the room with a tightly focused infrared beam
• The Roboquad can even identify the sizes of objects
• It is sensitive enough to detect the fine details in it’s environment like the edges of doorways
• It is expected to hit store shelves in fall of this year (2007) and to retail for a little above $100

Now if you consider the price of those LEGO Mindstorms out there I would not be surprised if the sales for this toy were large, and the best part is that you will not need to assemble tiny parts before starting with the fun!

Via: T3 (video) and Robotsrule

Killer Robotic Insects

According to a Wired magazine article military forces around the world are starting to develop the so called MAVs (Micro Air Vehicles) to be employed on different types of military operations. “If you feel something crawling on your neck, it might be a wasp or a bee. Or it might be something much more dangerous.”

The MAVs will not be used for massive destructive endeavors but rather for specific and tactical missions, like getting inside buildings to destroy the power supply. Fred Davis from the Air Force Research Laboratory commented: “This means preventing the target from carrying out its mission, rather than destroying it (…) for example, can be put out of action by destroying its tires; a MAV can do this by squirting them with few milliliters of a catalytic de-polymerization agent, causing them to disintegrate rapidly.”

Apparently the British Special Forces already use MAVs for recognition missions. Those are called WASPs, they cost $3000 each. Isreal is another nation trying to develop MAVs. According to some newspapers they are using nanotechnology to create robots no bigger than hornets that are able to photograph, chase and kill military targets.

Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister commented to Reuters: “The war in Lebanon proved that we need smaller weaponry. It’s illogical to send a plane worth $100 million against a suicidal terrorist. So we are building futuristic weapons.”

It looks like in the near future we will have Terminator-like warfare going on, and this is not a comforting thought at all.

Reference: Wired and ABC News

Spyke - Make your own WiFi Spy Robot

It’s another robot with a cutesy name, SPYKE the WiFi Spy Robot. It’s due to be sold under the Meccano brand name which is pretty appropriate as you’ll have to make him your self.

Once constructed you’ll be able to control Spyke from any Internet enabled PC, he incorporates VOIP and a web-cam so you’ll be able to send him on dangerous spying missions and watch the results from the other side of the world. When SPYKE is running low on robot juice he’ll use his auto parking system to dock with his recharging system.

You should be able to make your own Skype in September 2007 with a price point planned at under $300. More info (but not a lot more) over at Spyke World.