Published on 6/24/2009
under Tech
- by Gracie Murano
- 63,924 views
Just because robots don't have feelings, it doesn't mean we can't have feelings for them. Meet 8 cute robots who will win you over! --Thanks to our reader Olivia Loy, who sent us the idea and part of the content for this article!
Yume Neko Smile: the robo-cat
Are you a cat lover but allergic to cats? Segatoys has the answer for you. The Yume Neko Smile (translated as "Dream Cat Smile") is robo-cat that is nothing like any other toy. The Dream Cat Smile stands 13-inches tall and weighs around 4.5lbs. Equipped with five different sensors hidden in different parts of her body, each of which react to touch. Yume Neko won't chase mice but she'll blink, move her mouth, her neck, rear up and lie down, all the time purring, meowing and - should you upset her by squeezing her tail - hissing. After a period of being left to her own devices, like most cats, she'll fall asleep, briefly snoring before settling down into a low-power mode. An intelligent robot-cat that doesn't have the cat smell! Straight from Japan. They also have a dog version robot.
Electronic parts maker Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., creators of the popular “Murata Boy” robot bicyclist, developed a self-balancing robot unicyclist named “Murata Seiko-chan.” It doesn't just balance when moving back and forth on one wheel, but also detects obstacles with its sensor and moves toward or around them. The 50-centimeter (20 in) tall, 5-kilogram (11 lb) robot is modeled after a female kindergartener and is equipped with built-in Bluetooth capabilities and an embedded camera that transmits live video.
Toyota recently unveiled a new robot that can play the violin. Albeit not particularly well, the 1.5-metre-tall (five-foot), two-legged robot can faultless play Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance.
Hey, not trying to generalize, but the Japanese just happen to always come up with the best humanoid and petnoid robots. This Assistant Robot (AR) is domestic enough to do the laundry, sweep, and clean up the kitchen. But don't get excited just yet. The research center says it'll be another decade or two before the 1.5 meter robot can be mass-produced.
A robot designed by Black-i Robotics whose mission is world peace – he diffuses bombs. The robotic company was founded by Brian Hart after losing his son in Iraq. The LandShark is a robotic platform with many add ons. This robot is designed to defuse bombs and haul away wounded soldiers.
AcYut is India's first indigenously developed Humanoid and was developed at the Centre for Robotics & Intelligent Systems, BITS Pilani, India. AcYut means "the imperishable " or "the one that does not fall down" in Sanskrit. It won the Bronze medal in the middle weight Humanoid category at the 2009 RoboGames that took place in San Francisco.
This cute robot has excellent balance and loves Kung-Fu.
Short for Eternal, Maiden, Actualization, E.M.A is Japan's first humanoid hottie. Designed by company Sega, the 38 centimetre, curvaceous cyborg blows kisses, sings and shakes its grooved things. Using infrared sensors and battery power, the diminutive damsel offers smooches to nearby human heads, entering what designers call its "Love Mode". She also hands out business cards.
Ok, so maybe you don't think "endearing" automatically, but these guys definitely endeared the other cockroaches, assimilating into their bug lifestyle without being detected as “less than.” Hoping to learn more about their behavior, researchers led by Jose Halloy at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, designed these small robots programmed to act like a cockroach.
(Link | Photo)
Reader Contributions
pleo the dinosuar by lizette on 8/25/2009 pleo is an amazing dinosuar that has feelings. And will love you.
Tweenbots by jin on 8/18/2009 Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encoun(...) (Source)
EMA from Japan - Not by Ayngel on 7/20/2009 This is actually the Femisapien from WowWee, the makers of Robosapien. The picture shown even has th(...) (Source)
Yume Neko Smile: the robo-cat 
Murataseiko-chan: the unicycle-riding robot
Toyota's Humanoid: the violin-playing robot
AR: the Japanese maid robot
LandShark: the peace maker robot
Ac-Yut II: the Kung-Fu dancing robot
EMA: the kissing robot from Japan
Cockroach robot: the bug robot
10 Coolest Robots
