Roboware E3 family robot spotted in action-packed video

by Laura June,
Roboware's family-centric, open-source E3 robot has been rolling around for a good while now, but this video of him in action is probably of interest to our humanoid readers. Called E3 because of his customizable emotional, entertainment and educational functions, Roboware's bot is meant to be a valued member of the family -- albeit one with WiFi, IR rangers, an LCD in its chest, a web-cam in its head, and a microSD slot on its back. The little character has 17 joints and three multi-directional wheels, making him quite mobile, expressive, and rather reminiscent of WowWee's Mr. Personality. Check the video for the full demo, including his recital of T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" in its entirety near the end.

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KAR robot arm does the dishes, sort of

by Donald Melanson,
Ok, so it may not be quite as ambitious as some all-purpose cleaning robots, but this so-called KAR robot arm developed by a group of researchers from Panasonic and the University of Tokyo does appear to at least do the sole task it was designed for relatively well. While it can't exactly "wash" the dishes, per se, it can apparently pick up even delicate dishes without damaging them, dip them in the water, load them into a dishwasher, and even turn on said dishwasher. The researchers apparently aren't satisfied with things just yet, however, and they say they eventually hope that robot will be able to clean up after a family of four in just five minutes. Head on past the break for a video, and hit up the link below for another silent (and, hence, more unnerving) one.

[Via Japan Probe]

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Recycled Citroën parts used to create fire-breathing robo dog

There's something about fire-breathing robots that just gets us giddy, so you can imagine our joy when finding one that gallops, too. The hand-built robot dog -- cutely coined LRRY-1 (pronounced Larry, we'll have you know) -- was built almost entirely from unwanted Citroën scraps, and not a single ounce of non-recycled material was used in the final construction. No idea if it's technically street legal, but we'd love to see a traffic warden try to get this thing back in its cage. Video is posted after the break.

[Via BoingBoing]

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