The only thing better than state-of-the-arts robotics is when it’s combined with Force 9 cuteness. Japanese electronics company Murata Manufacturing has given us one example with the unveiling if its robotic Cheerleaders. The squad of ten ball-mounted robots uses advanced ultrasonics, infrared, and group control technology to perform synchronized dance routines with perfect stability.

The Cheerleaders were built in collaboration with Matsuno Lab at Kyoto University … Read More → "Murata’s dancing robotic cheerleaders showcase advanced group control"

Álvaro Franca uses manual typewriters to create ASCII portraits of famous literary figures like Jack Kerouac (above), Charles Bukowski, and Jose Saramago. Here’s a time-lapse video of the process.
via Boing Boing

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… Read More → "Analog ASCII portraits of famous writers"

That’s the idea behind Intel’s Make It Wearable contest, “a global initiative to inspire ideas and fuel innovation that will evolve personal computing in exciting new ways.” With a $500,000 grand prize, Intel is challenging people to invent and design tech projects so small and functional that you can wear them on your body unobtrusively. It’s the future!

The Make It Wearable … Read More → "This is a cute bracelet! Oh, and it’s also a drone that will take selfies for you in mid-air"

Most bridges are compromises: Cars want to speed low and straight across the water, but but boats want to pass under them. So we wind up with either tall bridges (expensive) or moveable bridges (clunky and awkward). But now a Dutch engineering firm has come up with a radical solution that doesn’t involve the bridge—instead, it lowers the … Read More → "Ingenious design lowers the water under a bridge to let tall ships pass"

The UAV outback challenge is an annual event designed to promote the use of drones in Australia’s expansive inland regions. If anything, it only highlights how far from safety you could find yourself. Each year, teams compete to find “Outback Joe” (a mannequin in high-viz attire) using unmanned craft and — once located — deliver him a bottle of water. It’s like “Where’s Waldo” but harder, and with UAVs. The thing is, since … Read More → "After seven years, Australia’s rescue-drone challenge has a winner"

Maritime smugglers will often hide contraband in false hulls or propeller shafts within their boats. While there are ways in which port authorities can search for such stashes, the smugglers often have time to ditch their illicit goods before those searches can be performed. However, what if there were stealthy, inexpensive, underwater hull-hugging robots that could check the boats out, without the crews even knowing they were there? That’s just what a team at … Read More → "Hull-clinging robots could perform secret searches of smugglers’ boats"

The days of hemodialysis patients spending hours upon hours sitting in a hospital lounge while waiting for their blood to be cleaned could soon be a thing of the past—assuming, of course, that the world’s first wearable artificial kidney passes FDA muster later this year.

Read More → "This mobile dialysis machine will clean your blood on the go"

When we think about robotics, we don’t typically think about a lump of inert foam — but with the right clothing, it counts. Researchers at Purdue University are developing a robotic fabric that can be used to make so-called “soft” robots out of foam and other lightweight materials. The team has embedded fabric with a flexible polymer that changes shape and rigidity when heated, allowing it to be contracted or relaxed at … Read More → "Robotic fabric acts like a muscle, makes foam blocks wriggle"

This is footage from the what was apparently the first live concert played completely with 3D-printed instruments. From the little bit we can hear, it doesn’t sound as bad as you might expect!

The show, played by students from Sweeden’s Lund University Malmö Academy of Music, … Read More → "The first concert with only 3D-printed instruments doesn’t sound too bad"

Andy Clark saw a clock like this on a children’s television show and decided to build one. His Topsy Turvy Clock has stepper motors connected to two plastic gears which are guided by a microcontroller hooked into an electronic clock. When the Topsy Turvy Clock is turned on, the motors reset the time according to the electronic clock.
via … Read More → "This clock tells correct time even though the numbers are out of order"