Meet the robot enforcer: The Husqvana DXR 310 demolition robot

I for one welcome our new robot overlords.. And I have the sinking feeling that this particular robot will be the enforcer of the group. It’s a damn good thing that the Cylons didn’t have one of these, or it would have just chewed through the side of the Galactica and made for a very short series.

All kidding aside, the Husq.. Husqv.. the DXR 310 is a industrial demolition robot designed to work in hard to reach, or just plain dangerous areas. Everything is controlled hydraulically, but it’s actually powered by an electric motor. This self-propelled robot also has a variety of attachments, like jack hammers, scoops, and claws. This means it can tear through pretty much anything the operator (who controls it remotely) wants to. No idea how much it costs, I suspect if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

[via Red Ferret]

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This robot appendage could dismantle you before you had a chance to scream

This is a great demonstration of the speed and precision with which things like car factory robots can manipulate things. Remember those arms that were throwing a baseball back and forth? Throw in a little human interference and this is what you get.

In case you can’t tell, the little platform is being controlled by a Wiimote. Obviously the creators have capped the platform’s speed at something the robot arm can keep up with, but it’s still impressive to watch. Now just imagine one of these things dissecting you in fast forward and keeping all the useful parts — you know, after they take over.

On the bright side, they’ll probably be able to serve ramen even faster.

[via Crave]

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Videos: Tower robot Tsutenkaku conquers Akihabara, meets Asimo

Remember Tsutenkaku, “the world’s biggest” robot? Tsutenkaku, basically a 170cm tall robot that looks like a city tower, recently made the journey from Osaka (where he was made and is supposed to attract tourists) from Tokyo. Needless to say, he first went to Akihabara, Tokyo’s robot geek paradise, and while he was there, Tsutenkaku met Honda’s famous humanoid Asimo, too.

Tsutenkaku looks weird on pictures, but he’s actually much, much weirder on video.

Here’s Tsutenkaku walking around Akihabara and interacting with cute maids in manga cafes (it’s in Japanese, but that’s not too important in this case):
http://www.youtube.com/v/Zsaovu7vmyU&hl=en_US&fs=1&

This video shows Tsutenkaku meeting Honda’s Asimo humanoid in more details. It seems both robots want to shake hands, but somehow, that fails:
http://www.youtube.com/v/uFNXyoTFYg8&hl=en_US&fs=1&

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Videos: See Robovie-R Ver. 3, the robot for the elderly and disabled, in action

We’ve given you some early information and a first picture of Robovie-R Ver.3 (a robot that’s supposed to make life for older and handicapped people easier) last week. And today, the makers of the robot, major Japanese robot maker Vstone and Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR), made Robovie-R official [JP].

Standing 120cm tall, the robot weighs 43kg (including the 336Wh battery) and boasts the following specs: eleven touch sensors, two USB cameras (one for each eye), two mono mics (one for each ear), a total of 17 joints, a speaker (in his mouth), networking capability, 2.5km/h speed, an aluminum frame, and an optional laser range finder to make it easier to avoid obstacles.

Starting now, the ATR and Vstone are actually taking orders for the robot, which costs $41,000.

This video shows Robovie-R Ver. 3 going up a slope and entering a building:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Q92UvMu8OJI&hl=en_US&fs=1&

Watch him speak and guide a human here:
http://www.youtube.com/v/fCe09zEgfcY&hl=en_US&fs=1&

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The SiliFulin is a robot tail for humans (video)

We’ve covered quite a few unusual robots from Japan in the past, but the SiliFulin, a robot tail designed specifically for humans, is definitely among the weirdest models. You can wear the robot around your waist, where it reacts to your movements.

Every human embryo has a (quite large) tail, which is gradually absorbed by the growing body. But the SiliFulin intends to give users back the experience of walking around with a tail, a part of the body human beings lost during evolution.

Designed by Japanese media artist Ryota Kuwakubo, the robot features a number of servo motors that power multiple joints, making them move based on the way you walk.

Here’s a video showing the SiliFulin in action (I’ll leave all form factor-related jokes to you):
http://www.youtube.com/v/ck5K0A6RZgM&hl=en_US&fs=1&

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HMK 561 – a bike not a robot. Mostly.

Remember those cartoons where the Igor on the bike peddled to power the generator so the mad scientist could scream ‘IT’S ALIVE!!’? Well Igor would have it much easier with a HMK 561.

The bike – which looks like Kit had relations with a Storm Trooper – has a carbon-fibre frame which distributes power from the inbuilt motor without the need for wires. So no little wiring motor making you sound like you’re riding a hairdryer. And as well as making the wheels spin, it also powers in built lights and stores excess energy for when you need to go up a hill. Add to that regenerative brakes, which captures and redistributes the heat generated through braking and send it back into the system to keep the wheels going that bit extra.

Plus, it looks beautiful. It’s only a prototype at the moment, but designer Ralf Kittmann has just won an International Forum of Design Award for it. So that means it must be pretty functional and well as pretty.

You can read more at the designer’s website Ralfkittmann.de. If you can read German anyway. If not see Yanko Design.

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