New breed of cognitive robot… a puppy? from PhysOrg.com Designers of artificial cognitive systems have tended to adopt one of two approaches to building robots that can think for themselves: classical rule-based artificial intelligence or artificial neural networks. Both have advantages and disadvantages, and combining the two offers the best of both worlds, say a…

First we have the latest on the space robot: Space Robot Flexes Arms for First Time from PhysOrg.com (AP) — Astronauts flexed the giant arms of the international space station’s new robot for the first time, testing the brakes and maneuvering the appendages into position for a Monday night spacewalk. [...] Then, we have this:

NASA Robots are planning a takeover of the Moon. NASA has selected 24 scientists to initiate new investigations and assist with planned measurements to be conducted by the agency’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Scheduled for launch later this year, LRO represents NASA’s first step toward returning humans to the moon. The orbiter will conduct a…

Known as COM-BAT, This is a tiny flying robot, about six inches long, that would fly like a bat, gathering information primarily, it is claimed, in urban combat zones. Among other things, it will be able to detect sights, sounds, and smells. Low-power miniaturized radar and a very sensitive navigation system would help the bat…

“Spacewalk on Despite Robot Trouble … NASA pressed ahead with the first spacewalk of shuttle Endeavour’s space station mission Thursday night despite a problem getting power to a giant robot that needs to be assembled by astronauts. The trouble cropped up earlier in the day and had engineers scrambling for a solution. “ You can…

According to recent reports, it is possible that Robots will take over personal human transport operations. The RobuCab, an autonomous vehicle about the size of a golf cart, trundles at 10kph along a quiet French street. Alarmingly, it looks like it is driving itself. Surprisingly, that is more or less true. The RobuCab is following…

From Wired: Astronauts bound for orbit this week will [be], assembling a “monstrous” two-armed space station robot that will rise like Frankenstein from its transport bed. Putting together Dextre, the robot, will be one of the main jobs for the seven Endeavour astronauts, who are scheduled to blast off in the wee hours of Tuesday,…

I suppose I could live with Robots if they were Open Source. (Or are they just trying to lull me into complacency?) Imagine a robot that hands you a beer and then cleans your kitchen and living room. That’s what a start-up called Willow Garage in Menlo Park, Calif., is busy developing. But the company…

The Barbeque Bot reminds me of an old Harlan Ellison story in at least one way: This is all about using advanced technology to “enforce” laws by private citizens. In the Harlan Ellison story I’m thinking of, individual drivers attack other drivers with advanced weapons built into their cards. (I understand Ellison wrote this story…

Some people are freaked out by snakes. Some people are freaked out by robots. But what about a Modular Snake Robot? Is that just a little too freaky even for someone who is not freaked out by snakes or robots?

Japan Looks to a Robot Future from PhysOrg.com (AP) — At a university lab in a Tokyo suburb, engineering students are wiring a rubbery robot face to simulate six basic expressions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise and disgust. [...]

Professor Noel Sharkey of Sheffield University is issuing warnings about the threat to humanity by robots. From this urgent press release:

Robots, in a bald-faced effort to induce warm feelings in humans, are now offering the Robotic Breast Massager.

Robots in the Netherlands who can’t find jobs elsewhere will be put to work pumping gas.

From Slashdot: Schneier points out an interesting (and long, 117-pages) paper on the ethical implications of robots in war: “This report has provided the motivation, philosophy, formalisms, representational requirements, architectural design criteria, recommendations, and test scenarios to design and construct an autonomous robotic system architecture capable of the ethical use of lethal force. These first…

Dutch artist Theo Jansen demonstrates his amazingly lifelike kinetic sculptures, built from plastic tubes and lemonade bottles. His “Strandbeests” (Beach Creatures) are built to move and even survive on their own.

Coming soon to Minnesota: Robowalleye! And if you don’t want to get totally freaked out, leave now….

Because the can’t drive… GM Envisions Driverless Cars on Horizon from PhysOrg.com (AP) — Cars that drive themselves – even parking at their destination – could be ready for sale within a decade, General Motors Corp. executives say. [...]

Hod Lipson demonstrates a few of his cool little robots, which have the ability to learn, understand themselves and even self-replicate. At the root of this uncanny demo is a deep inquiry into the nature of how humans and living beings learn and evolve, and how we might harness these processes to make things that…

This is bad: They are now going to turn the control of the world’s petroleum supplies over to robots.

Remember Heathkit? Then you are old. Anyway, Heathkit was a company that produced electronic devices (such as stereos). They were generally good, high quality devices that you could get much cheaper than market value, but they would arrive in the mail in pieces … totally unassembled, and sometimes with a free soldering iron.