Bomo Baby Carriage

As a parent of a toddler, I am always looking for the latest and greatest baby products. The Bomo Robot Baby Carriage might be one that I probably wouldn’t buy, even if I could afford it.

The point of this product is to put the little baby in, and then program it to automatically follow the parental figure around the house. It can apparently “see” obstacles and navigate around them, provided they don’t move independently, like pets or older siblings.

Of course, if you want to give the baby the wheel, that is an option. Manual mode allows the tyke to hit the accelerator and use a fully functioning steering wheel. You might want to make certain the safety gate is on the stairs first.

After the baby has taken his or her joyride, its unique horizontal swing motion will help put him or her down for a nap.

I can’t help but think that a device like this is preparing a child for a world like WALL-E, where humans just sit around on their hovering chairs with their Internet all day. I suppose that if you have a child who is a real Cling-on, then this could come in handy.

I briefly mentioned the high price earlier, but never gave you the actual number: $780. All I got to say to that is this: Bomo Arigato, Mr. Roboto! Yeah, Styx would not be proud.

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Dustbot could change Sanitation

This Dustbot robot is the type of concept technology that I live to report on. European scientists have come up with a new way of removing trash in narrow streets with these wheeled guys. Clearly, Disney-Pixar was the inspiration as the Dustbot is essentially a WALL-E without the ecological apocalypse.

This new garbage collection process would start when a consumer with a bag full of trash gives the Dustbot sanitation organization a call or sends a text message. The automated system then sends the nearest Dustbot right to the user’s door, navigated via GPS.

From there, the consumer selects the type of trash he or she is disposing on the touchscreen, and put it in the drawer/compressor that comes from the Dustbot itself. I can only presume that the Dustbot goes somewhere and dumps the trash in an eco-friendly spot after that.

You may notice that the Dustbot is precariously balanced, like a Segway. So what happens when you call up a Dustbot, drop in your garbage, and then it tips over? Talk about awkward.

Well, I’m certain that you can see the potential for the Dustbot in today’s society, and it would definitely change society as we know it. Just picture a big city where Dustbots roam the sidewalks like the taxis that fill our streets. Better yet, picture a world where people actually separate their trash.

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ROBOTOPS: One Constructive Robot

I have just seen Terminator Salvation, and I was somewhat impressed by what I saw. It certainly wasn’t the same quality as T3: The Rise of the Machines, but that is a very, very good thing.

I am not revealing any spoilers by saying that there is a scene where a gigantic robot scoops up humans, and then puts them in one of those flying ships that are seen in previous Terminator films. Of course, it isn’t explained why the heck these humans are being rounded up, nor why they are being stored at their main headquarters.

It cannot be denied that this new ROBOTOPS from Japanese company Tadano Ltd. bears a strong resemblance to the aforementioned people-snatching robots from the well-known Warner Brothers science fiction franchise, but this robot is designed for construction, to pick up very heavy objects such as girders and the like.

In fact, it has a high quality three-chip CCD camera, so it can be operated from a distance. In fact, it can go places that humans cannot go with 29 functioning joints, tank treads, hydraulic lifting legs as well as its grabby arms.

In other words, the ROBOTOPS is a machine designed to help humanity, not hurt them. Can we get over the nightmarish, dystopian images from science fiction and embrace an age where robots don’t take over the world?

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Painting Robots

I’m sure we have all heard stereotypical comment by those viewing modern art paintings: “My kid can paint that”. Well, we might be entering a new age where people will be saying: “my robot can paint that”.

In fact, graduate student Oscar G. Torres is trying to figure out a way to make a robot paint with Jackoon. Jackoon is a robot that is connected to a camera that allows it to “see” what it is painting.

In other words, the Jackoon isn’t just randomly splattering paint, it “knows” what it is doing, in theory. Now, does this make paint better than abstract expressionist artists like Jackson Pollack and Willem de Kooning (who serve as namesake of the Jackoon)? Well, take a look at the picture here and judge for yourself. While you are at it, you might want to see the robo-artist at work in this video after the jump.

I remember hearing in Art class that some artists killed themselves after photography was perfected. Of course, art has survived long after the age of digital photography, and photographs can be works of art in and of themselves. This example, like the Jackoon, makes people think about mixing art and technology.

Well, let’s put it this way. If a robot painted a realistic picture from a digital camera, you know what we would call it? A printer. That sort of puts it in perspective, doesn’t it?

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