Golf carts are getting smarter all the time. We have already seen a few that can follow players on a golf course. The iXi Self Driving Golf Cart takes it to the next level with voice/gesture recognition and an AI camera. It moves with you, carries your clubs, and tracks your swings. It comes with a large touchscreen display. iXi has a lightweight, portable design.
Writing and drawing robots are nothing new. We have covered a bunch of them that can create a work of art and replicate human-like handwriting. This robot from PNDbotic (Adam) can write Chinese Fu. Adam SP stands 1.67m tall, weighing 620kg. It has 41 degrees of freedom.
It is no secret that robots are becoming more agile. They can run and do all kinds of challenging poses. with ASAP, it is now possible to teach humanoid robots agile whole-body skills. Thanks to this approach, it is possible for a humanoid robot to perform moves by LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo. ASAP is a two stage framework that involves pre-training motion tracking policies in simulation using retargeted human motion data.
This is the ToddlerBot: a $6k open source humanoid robot for AI research. It has 30 active degrees of freedom, including 7 DoFs per arm and 6 DoFs per leg. It can lift just under 1.5kg while maintaining its balance. These robots can also integrate with OpenAI’s real-time API for speech to text and text to speech conversations.
In the past few years, we have covered plenty of cute educational robots for kids. The XR Hunter-Ackerman is a Jetson Nano ROS2 robot for more advanced students. It comes with AI vision and LiDAR navigation. It is ready for Python programming. This model comes with a 4GB Jetson Nano. It also has a 2DOF 3D camera and a foldable 7-inch screen.
Plenty of robots are inspired by nature, even fleas and mantis shrimp. Take HeTRM for instance: it is a hyperelastic torque-reversal mechanism for powerful and rapid motions using soft rubber-like materials. As you can see in the below video, the soft gripper is capable of grabbing ping pong balls. This approach can be used to build robots that move on rough terrains.
Tesla showcased its robotaxi a few months ago. During the presentation, a robotic cleaning system was also shown. We now have more information about it. This autonomous cleaning robot has a giant arm with various attachments to get rid of dirt in these vehicles. The video shows the robot changing its head to pick up dirt and clean the screen.
This robot can pick up bottles too. It’d be nice to have something like this in our homes!
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This is the HyQReal: a hydraulic quadruped robot that can pull a 3300kg airplane for more than 10 meters. It is designed to support humans during emergencies. This video shows how it can get tasks done with dual arms.
This robot has a dual-arm haptic teleoperation and VR-based user interface. It uses its arms to move potentially hazardous objects. This robot dog can also walk over rough terrain.
[HT: Nikhil Deshpande, Claudio Semini, Nikos Tsagarakis, Ioannis Sarakoglou, Sara Anastasi]
The Torobo is a humanoid robot with torque sensors in its arms and waist joints that can be used to automate tasks that involve interacting with various objects. The Torobo Hand is a human sized multi-fingered robotic hand with 16DOF that has 200 pressure sensors. It is ROS compatible. The below video shows it in action:
See Torobo with hand in action!
Performing various tasks via teleoperation.
For product information, please refer to the following link.https://t.co/9q1Zl3hSV8 pic.twitter.com/uZFIPJ1y1u— 東京ロボティクス株式会社 (@Tokyo_Robotics) January 21, 2025
As you can see in this video, this robot can handle cups, open boxes, scan things, and a lot more.
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Musicians hit a plateau at some point after extensive training. As it turns out, it is possible to hit past that with fast, complex finger movements. Researchers have come up with a robotic hand exoskeleton that generates complex finger movements at a speed faster than possible without it. With this, pianists were able to play faster.
As the researchers explain:
The exoskeleton training with one hand also improved the motor skill of the untrained contralateral hand, demonstrating the intermanual transfer effect.
[Shinichi Furuya, Takanori Oku, Hayato Nishioka, and Masato Hirano]
