Mahru-Z - the slow waiter

You've all been there: you go to a restaurant and it takes ages to get the simple dish you asked for. Now those lazy waiters and cooks are totally replaceable by robots that act exactly the same. Meet Mahru-Z and his older (less evolved) brother, Mahru-M. They can get your order and even cook something (in case you ask for something similar to milk and toast). Being served by robots may seem like a nice idea, but once you see Mahru approaching you with the speed of a dead horse you'll lose your enthusiasm. Despite being so utterly slow, watching them try is very amusing.

Break dancing Robot

Robots can do almost everything, from solving Rubik's cube to cooking sophisticated dishes, but until now, none of them could break-dance. The little guy you can see here is called Manoi Go and it was created by a team of talented Japanese guys. They asked the help of professional dancers so that they could make the robot move more realistically. The result is amazing!

Robot gymnast

As Robot Olympics are due to take place sometime in 2010, a new competitor appears. This robot is homemade and its efforts are laudable. It tries a routine on the horizontal bar, but has to work more on the dismount. The Robot Olympics will surely be interesting.

Hummingbird Robot

Japanese researchers managed to develop the most monstrous robot - a hummingbird. These are usually simple birds, some might even find them cute, but the robotic version is simply ugly. The bot is the same size as a real hummingbird, it has an infrared sensor and it can fly with its four wings. The development goes on until 2011. Possible uses for the robotic bird are: finding people who are trapped inside buildings, spying criminals or operating as probes on Mars(?!).

Read more here

Robolamps

Robolamps are strange but beautiful lightning devices. Their creator is Robert Matysiak,  Croatian artist with a lot of imagination. The lamps vary in height and complexity, but they are all very interesting. Each one has been made of  plumbing supplies and they can be modified at will. Recently the Robolamps are on sale, you can get one from the artist himself.


Read more on Matysiak's Facebook page

PETMAN - your biped helper

Do you remember those cheap games in which you shoot the monster, but its feet are still advancing towards you? Now scientists have turned it into a robot! It's called PETMAN and it's purpose, for the moment, is to test military suits. It walks just like a normal human being, it can even be pushed from the sides and still keep its balance. It can also control temperature and humidity to provide more realistic test conditions. A very helpful, yet creepy robot...


Read more here

Titan the Robot-Suit

Titan the "robot" was presented at Gitex Technology Week and it impressed quite some people. I watched the videos showing it and at first I too was amazed by the giant. Only later did I realize that the "robot" was nothing more than a guy in a plastic suit. There are minor details that give it away. Firstly, its arms are connected to it's ribs and it never moves its shoulders. Then, its feet are way too small to have ever been able to sustain the weight of a real machinery. If you look carefully you can see the man's hands controlling everything. The "mirror" on the robot's chest is actually a means for the human inside to see. The whole prank is so well planned that even Engadget were fooled, or so they want us to believe.

Transformers

I've always been a big fan of Transformers, but not big enough to actually build one in my backyard. The video below shows what some guy in Cleeveland accomplished - one Optimus Prime and one Bumblebee.

The smallest R2-D2

I've seen many R2-D2s, some big, others small, but this is the smallest yet. It's really awesome to see that a robot not bigger than an AA battery can move around and spin its head at the same time. So, all you Star Wars fanatics out there, enjoy the video.

Read more about it on  Solarbotics

Eporo robot car

Eporo is Nissan's latest robot, a vehicle that produces zero emmisions and is free of accidents. It looks adorable, possibly resembling a fish and it is quite capable of detecting obstacles. Eporo likes to travel with his friends, and they're acting like a school of fish. The robot has a 288 degrees field of view, it can sense other Eporos and it can change direction quite easily. Nissan hopes to apply the same technology that prevents Eporo form hitting obstacles to cars.

Read more on Plasticpals

Machinarium

Machinarium is a point and click adventure game about robots. The most impressive thing about it is that everything is hand drawn, every background, creature or animation. The game feels a little post-apocalyptic, with all the rusty machineries and old robots. The abundance of details combined with the beautiful backgrounds make Machinarium a charming game. The puzzles aren't very hard, although to find usable objects you have to get close to them, which can be frustrating sometimes. There is also a hint book, with one hint available each level. However, to see the hint you must first win a mini-game (quite fun). Now, the least beautiful part about the game: it's not free. The game costs 15 euros, which is quite a lot, considering it only has 30 screens... The demo is available for download, but it is just a teaser - only 3 screens.

+ eye-popping graphics
+ the cute-yet-strange feeling
+ logical puzzles

- the demo is too short
- the whole game is too short

Download the demo here

Murata Seiko

Murata Seiko is a very cute Japanese robot, resembling a young girl on a unicycle. News about it appeared almost a year ago, but back then Murata was very slow and unbalanced. Now, it has a decent speed, it can turn quite normally and it keeps its balance very well. Murata can even ride on a very thin board and it will be seen at CEATEC 2009.

Read more on PlasticPals.com

R2D2 packed with 8 gaming consoles

Star Wars has many fans, but yesterday's consoles have even more. Engineering student Brian de Vitis combined his two passions into an amazing thing. He modified his R2D2 cooler and stacked it with motherboards from 8 fully functional old consoles. The robot also has a sound system and a projector, just like the real thing.

Read more on Popsci

Taizo

Are you wondering what this funny-but-a-bit-disturbing robot was made for? Well, Taizo is best at helping old people exercise. It's small, flexible, knows a bunch of exercises and it can spare your time when dealing with the elderly.

Read more about it here.

Neat robo-beep-plush-thing!

What you can see here is the Thingamaplush, made by Jeff-O for his 2-year old daughter. It looks nice, but it talks a lot.

Instructions on how to build your own huggable-beep-robo-guy are here; click to read more.

Little wheel

Little Wheel is one of those games you simply love. You help a tiny robot bring his kind back to life. The graphics are very polished and, although it's a point & click, you'll never get stuck. A flash masterpiece...

+ exquisite graphics
+ nice setting

- a bit too short

Play it on ArmorGames