Our editors have compiled a list of five high-tech robots you can’t buy, or at least anytime soon. If we happened to miss any, please leave us a comment. Continue reading for the list.
Albert Hubo
This Albert Einstein-inspired robot “is the first ever walking robot with humanlike expressions.”
Our Frubber material makes this possible, because it requires MUCH less force to move into facial expressions than do previous materials–less than 1/20th the force and energy than the softest animatronics materials, according to published tests. This means that the Albert head can run for hours on AA batteries, so it can be mobile and mount on a walking robot body
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Repliee Q1Expo
Japanese scientists have developed a life-like female android called “Repliee Q1Expo”. The Q1Expo has “42 actuators in her upper body, powered by a nearby air compressor, programmed to allow her to move like a human.”
She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe. Repliee Q1 has skin made from a silicon substance has 11 piezoelectric sensors embedded in it to detect if someone is touching her
Partner Ballroom Dance Robot
Researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University have created a strange “Partner Ballroom Dance Robot” that features “a woman’s face [and] a sensor around its waist — [it] can move in all directions and comes in two colours: shiny blue and bright red.”
As its partner takes steps, the robot analyzes his movements and figures out how to accompany him with its shoulders, elbows, waist and neck
[Source]
Brain Controlled Robot
Researchers at the University of Washington have unveiled a “brain-controlled” robot — basically uses “an electrode cap (a non-invasive tool generating a noisy signal), mental powers commanded the robot to walk to a block, pick it up, and set it down in a designated area.”
Because of the type of brain readings they’re getting, the bot is semi-autonomous, using human control for making the decisions based on video cameras, but managing the actual mechanics of the motions on its own. Right now the bot can only manage to pick up simple shapes and move them to another location, but the eventual goal is a human-controlled robot that can function in human environments, learn from its surroundings and perform meaningful tasks for its human masters
Baseball Batting Robot
Created by Robocross.de, this robot is capable of hitting baseballs thrown from the pitchers mound — though not very far, it’s still an impressive piece of machinery none the less.
