“The interactive AL-installation consists of a microcosm (a bordered-off semicircular, physical space) inhabited by a colony of small robots (dynamic systems) much like autonomous, cybernetic vehicles. The robots are equipped with photocells—and so light becomes the main power source of this system—and sensors, which function like perceptual organs, and which allow them freedom of movement [...]
Search Results
1993
Paro
Paro is a therapeutic robot baby seal, intended to have a calming effect on and elicit emotional responses in patients of hospitals and nursing homes, similar to Animal-Assisted Therapy.
It was designed by Takanori Shibata of the Intelligent System Research Institute of Japan’s AIST beginning in 1993. It was first exhibited to the public in late [...]
2005
Wakamaru
Wakamaru is a Japanese domestic robot made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, primarily intended to provide companionship to elderly and disabled people. The robot is yellow, 1m tall, and weighs 30 kilograms. It has two arms and its flat, circular base has a diameter of 45 cm. It is in commercial sale today.
Wakamaru runs a Linux [...]
2000
ASIMO – Advanced Step in Innovative MObility
ASIMO is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Standing at 130 centimeters (4 feet 3 inches) and weighing 54 kilograms (114 pounds), the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk or run on two feet at speeds up to 6 km/h. ASIMO was created at Honda’s Research & Development Wako Fundamental [...]
1982
KITT
Essentially an advanced supercomputer on wheels, KITT (known also as Knight Industries Two Thousand/Knight Industries Three Thousand) is the short name of a fictional character on the adventure TV series Knight Rider. KITT is an artificial intelligence electronic computer installed in a highly advanced, very mobile, robot in the form of a 1982 Pontiac Firebird [...]
1961
Mobot Mark II
This robot, the Mobot Mark II, was developed in the early 1960s by Hughes Aircraft. It was built to work in hazardous materials sites considered too dangerous for people. But the Mobot was never put to work.
Mobot is an abbreviation of Mobile and Robot. The image is from a series of images made for Life [...]
1951
Gort (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
An alien (Klaatu) with his mighty robot (Gort) land their spacecraft on Cold War-era Earth just after the end of World War II. They bring an important message to the planet that Klaatu wishes to tell to representatives of all nations. However, communication turns out to be difficult, so, after learning something about the natives, [...]
2002
Roomba
The Roomba is an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner made and sold by iRobot. Under normal operating conditions, it is able to navigate a living space and its obstacles while vacuuming the floor. The Roomba was introduced in 2002; as of January 2008, over 2.5 million units have been sold.
Various hardware interface devices are available to [...]
1956
Squee
Squee (named after “squirrel”) is an electronic robot squirrel. It contains four sense organs (two phototubes, two contact switches), three acting organs (a drive motor, a steering motor, and a motor which opens and closes the scoop or “hands”), and a small brain of half a dozen relays. It will hunt for a “nut”. The [...]
2005
Partner Ballroom Dance Robot (PBDR)
Developed by scientists at Tohoku University, the Partner Ballroom Dance Robot (PBDR) is able to predict the steps of a human partner based on body movement and react accordingly on its three wheels.
The robot is 1.65 meter high and has a female face, wears a plastic ballgown and comes in pink and pastel blue. A male [...]
