Robotics Trends: 30 April – 6 May 2012

This week, we highlight two news. On the area of service robotics Panasonic demoed its “shampoo-bot”. This head care robot showed in our selection of videos is already being experimented with real customers in a salon in Japan. With 24 digits, the robot can either massage head or wash hair. Our second headline story takes us up to the air. The Aerospace Robotics an Control Research Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is developing a new breed of flying robots. One that is able to flap wings to maneuver and perch. The slow motion videos are awsome!

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Videos of the Week

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News of the Week

• Arduino
• New Robots and Robotic Components
• Robotics Business and Initiatives
• Service Robotics
• Flying Robots
• Experiments
• Misc

Arduino

• Arduino 5 Minute Tutorials: Lesson 7 – Accelerometers, Gyros, IMUs – RobotShop – 2 May 2012
• PLEN Gets A Brain With Arduino Upgrade – Plastic Pals – 1 May 2012
• Arduino 5 Minute Tutorials: Lesson 6 – Force, Bend, Stretch Sensors – RobotShop – 30 April 2012

New Robots and Robotic Components

• Hugvie, The Huggable Robot – Robot Living – 3 May 2012
• Artisan’s Asylum: Hackerspace Startup Building a 2500+ lb. Rideable Hexapod Robot Named Stompy – Hizook – 3 May 2012
• Festo ExoHand and PolyPlus at Hannover Messe – Robots.net – 3 May 2012

Robotics Business and Initiatives

• UAV-01 concept by Intelligenia Dynamics. – Robots.net – 4 May 2012
• Robotics in Africa – RobotC – 3 May 2012
• Redwood Robotics: New Silicon Valley Startup by Meka Robotics, Willow Garage, and SRI – Hizook – 3 May 2012
• African Project Aims To Innovate in Educational Robotics – IEEE Spectrum : Robotics – 1 May 2012

Service Robotics

• Coming soon to a salon near you – Robots.net – 3 May 2012
• Chinese Restauranteur Boasts 18 Robot Workers – Plastic Pals – 3 May 2012
• HERB Can Now Microwave Meals, Lazy People Rejoice! – RobotShop – 2 May 2012
• Herb Learns to Microwave Frozen Dinners, Robot Research Can Stop Now – IEEE Spectrum : Robotics – 1 May 2012

Flying Robots

• sFly Quadrotors Navigate Outdoors All By Themselves – IEEE Spectrum : Robotics – 3 May 2012
• Flapping Robotic Birdplane Lands Right on Your Hand – IEEE Spectrum : Robotics – 2 May 2012

Experiments

• Control a Robot from anywhere in the World! – The NXT Step – 4 May 2012
• MIT Mediated Matter Group: CNSILK – Robots.net – 3 May 2012
• I heart robotics: Testing continues – Planet ROS – 2 May 2012
• Time Twister Instructions and Program available – The NXT Step – 1 May 2012

Misc

• Robots Podcast #103: Robopocalypse – Robots.net – 4 May 2012
• Video: What Happens When Toilets Become Robotized? – Plastic Pals – 4 May 2012
• Random Robot Roundup – Robots.net – 4 May 2012
• Video Friday: Robot Termites, Dust Puppies, and Serious Social Issues – IEEE Spectrum : Robotics – 4 May 2012
• J-POP Video Features Robot Girl – Plastic Pals – 4 May 2012
• Pepsi Nex Boy – Plastic Pals – 2 May 2012