Robots News

Stanford Law School held a panel Thursday on " Legal Challenges in an Age of Robotics ". I happened to be in town so I dropped by and heard an interesting discussion.

Responding to an urgent operational requirement QinetiQ, a leading international supplier of military robots, today announced that it has been awarded contracts by the UK Ministry of Defence to supply approaching 100 Dragon Runner robots, associated spares and technical services to support of current military operations in Afghanistan.

Star Trek star Zachary Quinto is loosely attached to star in the romantic dramedy Whirligig , reports Risky Business .Quinto would play the lead role in the independent Canadian film, which is aiming to shoot early next year.

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.

'Planet 51,' with the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, John Cleese, Jessica Biel.

Some day in the not-too-distant future, we won't need to plug in our portable gadgets to charge them.

Drones, state-of-the-art robots, and "jammers" : In a base close to the Gaza Strip, hidden from the prying eyes of television cameras and journalists, the [Italian] defence minister had come to inspect the latest jewels of Israeli military technology, which Italy may soon buy .

Abstract Future applications for personal robots motivate research into developing robots that are intelligent in their interactions with people.

How might a kid a ' OK, a teenager a ' protect himself from that dreaded fate described in legions of sci-fi movies , the anal probe? If you weren't thinking "champagne cork," you were way off, according to the sci-fi kids cartoon "Planet 51." A genial but generic riff on sci-fi movie history, "Planet" has barely enough slapstick to keep the kids ...

I've been invited to join a panel on robotics at the upcoming Orycon Science Fiction Convention, so I decided to write about them here, too.

A department store in Japan has experimented with using a robot assistant to help handle the large volume of shoppers, according to the Telegraph .

Robots are getting better at fast, complex movements. Like martial arts. Take a look at four robots with graceful martial arts moves.

University of Queensland scientists are working on algorithms to help robots rapidly 'learn' about their environment.

The Wall Street Journal has a fun, inspiring piece about technological tinkering: Occupying a space somewhere between shop class and the computer lab, the new tinkerers are making everything from devices that Twitter how much beer is left in a keg to robots that assist doctors.

Space shuttle Atlantis is circling Earth with two Virginia natives on board. Atlantis and its crew of six will hook up with the International Space Station on Wednesday.

Taiwan researchers have invented an robot that can act as a receptionist, tour guide, security guard and doctor's aide, the latest offering from an island seeking to make its name in the global robotics market.

The iRobot Scooba 380 is a floor washing robot. It will automatically clean sealed hardwood, linoleum, and tile kitchen floors.

A video monitor shows the work of a surgeon as he demonstrates robotic surgery at Montefiore Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery, New York City in a file photo.

If you're a chef, musician, cleaner, model, or just anyone, you should be afraid.

Are we ready for Astro Boy? He's a cute little robot with rocket boots, spiky black hair and a ' winningly a ' the ability to shoot bullets out of his backside.