Robots

The Land Walker is a wearable robot suit which is created by Masaaki Nagumo. The robot stands 3.4 meters high and weighs 907 kilograms or about 1 ton. It has a similar design with Mobile Suit Gundam. Controlled by four pedals to make movement, It also can shoot sponge bullet from two air guns installed beside the cockpit. The Land Walker robot is available in Japan for $313,985.

Via Zipped.

More picture and video after the jump!

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Hiroshi Ishiguro, a Japanese researcher, decided to build a robot of himself. The robot can be operated remotely via a built-in speaker and remote motion capture system. This means that Ishiguro could simply place his robot in his classroom and teach his class from home. In other words, he could use it as a substitute for himself when his girlfriend wants to go out and see a chick flick or something. If you look at the picture, can you guess which one is the robot? Read more story at Wired.

This 2.5 kg Nuvo robot from ZMP Inc. is able to receive voice command. The robot has an ugly 0.3MP CMOS camera and it can move at the speed of 3 meter per minutes. Measuring 390 mm x 350 mm x 120 mm, the Nuvo robot has a worse 1.5 hours of battery life. In addition, ZMP Inc. introduced an upgraded version Nuvo robot in red color which an FOMA card behind its neck. This upgraded version can connect to can accept you wirelessly by itself without any third party help. The price is $6000 for a standard version. Read more details at SlashPhone.

After the long wait, the Robonova-1 from Hitec Corporation is now available to consumers outside of Japan. The robot’s price is $1199.95 which boasts 16 powerful digital servomoters, custom gold anodized aluminium servo brackets, a rechargeable 5-cell NiMH which provides 45 minutes of use, and a wireless remote control. With this configuration, the robot can walk, run, kick, stand on one leg, turn cartwheels, and dance right out of the box. Moreover, the robot can be commanded to lie down, pick itself back up, turn a flip, do push-ups, and more. Robonova-1 measures 12 Inch x 6 Inch x 3 Inch. and weighs 3 lbs.

Via NewLaunches.

Samsung releases two new floor cleaning robots, VC-RS60 and VC-RS60H. The Samsung VC-RS60H will sell for 990,000 won or about $1045 and the VC-RS60 for 890,000 won or about $939 in Korea. They looked like a stereo cassette player and have an awesome cleaning speed of 0.4m/second. Both robots have a HEPA filters and can find the charging station for recharging when necessary.

Via i4u.

Chiba Institute of Technology Japan has developed a new rescue robot named Hibiscus. This robot’s main purpose is to look for survivors in case of disasters like earthquakes which are common in Japan. It has an infrared thermal camera which can detect trapped survivors in the rubble by their heat signature. With the max speed of 1.1 meters per second, this robot communicates to operator via Wi-Fi 802.11g and is using a SH-4 processor. Dimensions are 370 mm x 650 mm x 180 mm and weighs is 22.5 kg. It is powered by a 3700 mAh Lithium Polymer battery which lasts for 60 minutes. This rescue robot costs 3000,000 Yen or about $ 26,800. Via NewLaunches.

robosapien.tk has tons of information about hacked Robosapien v2 bots. One of the most amazing hacks is to use a computer serial port and some VB software to communicate via infrared to the Robosapien. The website also showcase cool physical hacks like RSV2 Leaden shoes, a fall suspension, and an integrated webcam. Check out the video clip after the jump.

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Koreans are cool when it comes to cellphones, and now they’re upping the ante with the launch of this family robot. It is currently nameless as our Korean translator is MIA, but it is connected to the internet, tells you who’s ringing the doorbell and can act as a media server. Via Akihabara News.