Category: Consumer

New single-board computer built specifically for DIY robots

A lot of cool robots have been built using Raspberry Pi, the credit card-sized computer that was originally developed to help teach computer science. But Raspberry Pi wasn’t built specifically for making robots, and according to two former software/mechanical engineers from Carnegie Mellon University, that means it’s not as robot-friendly as it could be. Their

Keecker home robot aims to replace your DVR with R2-D2

For humans, space might be the final frontier, but robots have it pretty well in hand. The International Space Station is currently home to both NASA’s Robonaut and Japan’s Kirobo, and the Curiosity Rover is cataloging Mars as we speak. For robots, a lack of oxygen and extreme cold is nothing — the real challenge

Internet of Things the star of the show at this year’s CES

Major headlines in robotics lately have circled around Amazon’s drone-based delivery ambitions and Google’s consolidation of a number of small, innovative robotics teams under Android OS-head Andy Rubin. Such moves, akin in many ways to those made by Chinese manufacturing giant Foxconn toward automation over the past two years, represent the opportunity for a fundamental

Electric, self-driving shuttle announces U.S. launch at CES

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday, French company Induct Technology announced the U.S. launch of its electric, self-driving shuttle Navia. Navia has already been deployed via partnerships in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Singapore. The shuttle, which was originally announced in Europe in 2011, guides itself using laser-mapping technology and sensors that detect

Follow-me robot Budgee gets its own Kickstarter campaign

Start-up company Five Elements Robotics yesterday launched a Kickstarter campaign for its flagship product, the Budgee follow-me robot. The robot, which was first shown at the RoboBusiness conference in October, is designed to improve the shopping experience for consumers by following them around and carrying their things, up to 50 pounds. It’s kind of a

MakerBot retail stores launch time-based 3D printing service

MakerBot yesterday announced a new a 3D print service at its retail stores, which it is making available immediately. Customers can now bring a .STL, .OBJ, or Thing file into the stores on USB drive, and items will be 3D printed on a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer. Pricing is based on print time,

MakerBot selects winners of its “math manipulative” challenge

Last month, we wrote about a design challenge MakerBot hosted on its Thingiverse website asking users to create 3D-printed math manipulatives for use in the classroom. The idea was that these educational tools, which are typically fairly expensive, could be made more widely available through 3D printing. MakerBot says it received more than 160 entries, which

AUVSI president reacts to Amazon’s UAS delivery service

Last night on “60 Minutes,” Amazon founder Jeff Bezos shared his vision for a future where unmanned octocopters deliver the company’s packages — a notion he admitted “looks like science fiction” but which he said could be a reality in as little as four or five years. That bold prediction caught the attention of both the

“Hidden” Internet of Things OS proves vulnerable to attack

For all the excitement surrounding progress toward networking the everyday machines that make up the “Internet of Things” — tech writers and analysts say the IoT will be a major focus of research and investment this year (as well as a new arena of potential FTC intervention) — there has been comparatively little attention paid

Motorola, 3D Systems partner to create customized phones

One of the ways Motorola, which was acquired by Google last year, is attempting to set itself apart in the crowded mobile marketplace is by giving users an unprecedented ability to customize their phones, and they’re doing it with a technology tailor made for highly custom manufacturing: 3-D printing. 3D Systems, a leader in the