ROBOTS DREAMS - Robot news and robot hacks from a true robot geek

MechWar Robots Come Closer to Reality (Video)

Brat based, PS2 game pad controlled, this MechWarrior robot almost ready to do battle.



We have to admit we were on the fence about the viability of staging actual MechWar competitions, but we're slowly coming around to the idea.

[Posted from my iPhone]

King Kizer & Dynamizer Battle in Hong Kong (Video)

Two ROBO-ONE Champions duke it out for the crowds in Hong Kong last weekend.

Humanoid Appeal is Global Lead by Dynamizer (Video)

King Kizer wasn’t the only ROBO-ONE champion to visit Hong Kong last weekend. Mega Dynamizer also showed off his stuff, and to give the audience even more appeal, Sugiura’s humongous robot learned Chinese just for the occasion.

Wonderful Robot Carnival Setup (Video)

Alert readers probably noticed that we’ve started to post our popular robot videos again. Our old PC had some major problems and had to be sent to an early grave. It took a while to get the new desktop system setup the way we wanted, but now it literally zooms and makes creating videos a pleasure instead of a drag. So much so that in one afternoon we cranked out 11 short videos that we’ll be sharing with you soon.

First, here’s some fun footage we took during the first day setup at the April Wonderful Robot Carnival event.

Roomba Sumo Rocks in the Baltics (Video)

One of the things we really enjoy about the internet, and more specifically about social/sharing sites like Youtube, Flickr, and Facebook, is the never ending stream of ideas and inspiration.

For example, we’re a huge fan of robot sumo but hadn’t seen robot sumo played with modified Roomba robots in formal competitions ? at least not until this morning when we were pointed to the Tallinn 2009 Spring Cup robot sumo competition video below.

Now our mind is literally racing with the possibilities. What other neat things can be done with the Roomba platform? Is anyone doing Orange County Choppers hacks on the Roomba? Why doesn’t RoboGames have a Roomba Sumo category?

ASIMO Meets RoboCountryIV in Takamatsu

Talk about a ‘dream come true’, the premiere humanoid robot competition in West Japan, RoboCountryIV, played host to the ultimate humanoid robot, ASIMO, during the Golden Week holidays here.

If You Liked ROBO-ONE, Then You'll Love Dekinnoka! (Video)

The 3^rd Robot Pro Wrestling “Dekinnoka!” competition has been scheduled for May 5^th at the Kondo RoboSpot facility in Akihabara. Check out the promotional video below for just a small sample of why we think it’s totally over the top!

Robot Builder Inspiration: Mech War at RoboGames 2009

We’re finally catching up with the stack of books and magazines in the queue. We picked up the current issue of Robot Magazine and were totally jazzed to discover Andrew Alter’s excellent article on the new Mech Warfare robot competition that will debut at RoboGames 2009 in just a few months. This is going to be really hot!

"I Can Whip Any Mechanical Robot"

“. . . nothing mechanical will ever be able to whip an honest to goodness boxer.”  “I could tear it to pieces, bolt by bolt and scatter its brain wheels and cogs all over the canvas.”

Pretty strong claims, but understandable considering that the speaker was none other than Jack “Manassa Mauler” Dempsey, one of the greatest boxers of all time, and the year was 1934. His comments, and the reasoning behind them, appeared in the April, 1934 issue of Modern Mechanix.

Unique Opportunity To Change Human Life Through Robotics

The opportunity to make a significant contribution that changes life on this planet and achieves major goals is rare. It doesn’t happen by accident. It takes participation by the best, brightest, and most dedicated researchers and scientists that mankind can offer.

With that in mind, Skynet Research, which is totally committed to state-of-the-art Robotics and Artificial Intelligence applications, has put out the call for individuals to add their own unique ideas, designs, and enthusiasum to the cause.