This robot, designed by students at the JT Engineering College in Gujarat, India, is designed to detect earthquakes. It does this by connecting wirelessly to sensors embedded in the ground that are able to detect earthquakes about three hours before they hit. This gives the robot time to send out warnings over the internet. The only thing that isn’t clear is why its a robot. I mean, if it’s just relaying messages from sensors to the internet, couldn’t a normal computer do the job just as well? But hell, if it saves lives it doesn’t really matter what form it takes, does it? OneIndia via Gizmowatch via BotJunkie

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New robot can detect earthquakes before they happen

Think robots in the future will be simple automatons with predictable behavior, doing only what you tell them? Think again. Researchers at L’cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne in Switzerland have shown that the behavior of our mechanical friends/future rulers can evolve. From their summary article: At the beginning, robots have random values for their genes, leading to completely random behaviours. The process of Darwinian selection is then imitated by selectively choosing the genomes of robots with highest fitness to produce a new generation of robots. In this process, genomes are paired (to allow recombination) and random mutations (e.g., character substitution, insertion, deletion, or duplication) are applied with a given probability to the new genomes. Within the experiments, robots evolved to, over several generations, navigate a maze without slamming into walls, develop a homing ability, cooperate to push tokens across an arena — even cultivate effective predator-prey techniques. This is it, folks. They may not be quite ready for Daniel Graystone’s lab , but make no mistake: These evolving robots will rebel. And they will have a plan . Public Library of Science , via Engadget

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Incredibly shortsighted researchers create robots that evolve

Robots have something of a bad rap, what with the The Matrix and Terminator making them out to be murdering, enslaving overlords. Not so, says Joe Berlinger, director of Metallica’s Some Kind of Monster . His film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival , with a bunch of scientists, philosophers and engineers weighing in on the future the film feels we’re headed toward: one flush with helpful robots. The film’s stars are surgical robots and Honda’s ASIMO (with a few cameo appearances from some robo-friends of DVICE), with plenty of the staff working on the ASIMO chiming in. Research on the ‘bot significantly boosted Honda’s other R&D efforts — such as improving the brakes on the company cars — and was even helps us all learn more about ourselves. Masato Hirose, the executive chief engineer working on the ASIMO, likened its development to a child’s: “When the robot took its first step, it was the most memorable moment.” Check out an 8-minute trailer for Living With Robots below, courtesy of Engadget. (Which, unfortunately, turns into something of a commercial for Honda about halfway through, but to be fair the company does have one of the coolest bipedal ‘bots around, so we’ll cut ‘em some slack.) Via Engadget

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Living With Robots paints ‘bots as the good guys

Maybe this NicoletoMK Mikrokopter Quadrocopter is not trendy enough to be controlled by an iPhone like that Parrott AR.Drone we saw at CES , but it’s powerful enough for its four rotors to lift a 1.1-lb camcorder. You can either control it with its sophisticated remote or program it to lurk in the air autonomously, dutifully sending video back to you from its lofty perch according to your own preprogrammed flight plan. This is no toy, created for professional videographers to smoothly shoot aerial footage, and serious peeping toms to look into places where they’re not necessarily wanted. If you speak German, you might understand what they’re talking about in this video of this way-cool copter in flight:

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Quadrocopter lurks mid-air, shoots video or peeps

You ever seen a robot-child pulling a kid around in a rickshaw? Now you have. And I think I speak for all of us when I say, “I want to cut its legs off and steal those glasses”. A creepy kid’s ride where they ride other (robot) kids, in the SM City Marikina mall in the Philippines. This is wrong on so many levels, we don’t know where to begin. Damnit, the Philippines. I’ve already got both hands full(!) keeping Japan’s collective robo-boner in check and you go and pull some shit like this. Believe me, you don’t want to follow in the footsteps of Japan (except for the worn-panty vending machines — those things draw hella-tourism). Youtube Thanks to Dj Azer, who would have tripped that kid and stole his wagon.

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Okaaaay: Child Riding In Robot Slave Buggy

Oh my goodness. This robot baby, named Diego-san, is the stuff nightmares are made of. Standing a bit over four feet tall and featuring a grotesquely large head, it’s supposed to be some sort of baby simulator. I don’t like it. Diego-san’s face has about 20 moving parts so that it can communicate with facial expression without being able to talk. It is 130cm tall, weighs 30kg and can stand up from a chair on its own. It can hold a water bottle with its hand. It has a high resolution camera and 6 axis acceleration sensor built in to detect movement. All I know is that if I saw this thing walking down the street I’d be looking for a weapon. BotJunkie via Geekologie

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Say hello to the scariest robotic baby ever

One of the robotic standouts of the recent CES event was the new I-FAIRY robot from Kokoro Co. The robot, developed in conjunction with Japan’s National Institute Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, gives the user the ability to essentially become a kind of remote puppet master. The robot can programmed with the user’s voice and accompanying body gestures that give the I-FAIRY a more natural feel when used for museum guide work or even corporate presentations. You can see video of the prototype robot in action here . Via Sankei

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I-FAIRY lets you become a robot puppet master

Chiba University researcher Hiroshi Ryu has unveiled what may be the first of a new wave of rescue robots. Dubbed the Hummingbird Robot, the tiny robot features four wings that flap 30 times per second, a miniature motor, and is controlled via infrared sensors . The mechanism was developed by Ryu at a cost of around 200 million yen (2.1 million dollars). The researcher hopes to have the robot used as a rescue device by mounting mini-cameras to the unit sometime around 2011. Via Physorg

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Hummingbird Robot being prepared to rescue humans

When the day arrives that humanoid robots are an integral part of human society, one can only hope they aren’t as terrifying beautiful as the HENGE robot. The art piece/robot model is the creation of Japanese designer Tomoo Yamaji, and is exquisite not just for its tech aesthetic, but also for its simplicity. Set up on a stationary stand for display, the model won’t talk back to you or walk around, but as a futurist conversation piece representing your robot lust, it’s pretty much perfect. The model is available for 100,000 yen ($1,090) here and you can see video of the HENGE going through its various transformations here . Via Jean Snow

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HENGE merges fine art with robotic design

Equipped with a somewhat menacing set of arms and a circuit-filled face only a programmer could love, the Care-O-bot has a deceptively cuddly name. Developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) in Stuttgart, the robot is designed to assist humans with their daily routine tasks. Revealed at last week’s International Robot Exhibition , the automaton could use a bit of softening before installation in the homes of humans around the globe. You can see video of the Care-O-bot in action here . Via Impress Watch

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Care-O-bot offers helping hand via cold steely grip