Japanese researchers have developed a flexible artificial skin that could give robots a humanlike sense of touch. It can sense temperature and pressure simultaneously!

The team manufactured a type of “skin” capable of sensing pressure and another capable of sensing temperature. These are supple enough to wrap around robot fingers and relatively cheap to make, the researchers have claimed. The University of Tokyo team describe their work in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers explain how pressure-sensing and temperature-sensing networks can be laminated together, forming an artificial skin that can detect both properties simultaneously.

Takao Someya, lead author on the latest research, previously developed a form of artificial skin capable of sensing pressure. But the ability to sense temperature as well allows the scientists to more closely imitate the functions of human skin. Someya and his colleagues used electronic circuits as pressure sensors and semiconductors as temperature sensors. They embedded these sensors in a thin plastic film to create a net-like matrix.

“It will be possible in the near future to make an electronic skin that has functions that human skin lacks,” the researchers write in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Future artificial skins could incorporate sensors not only for pressure and temperature, but also for light, humidity, strain or sound, they add.

Look at your computer setup and imagine that you hooked up a 3D printer. Instead of printing on bits of paper this 3D printer makes real, robust, mechanical parts. To give you an idea of how robust, think Lego bricks and you’re in the general area. You could make a lot of useful stuff, but interestingly enough you could also make most of the parts to make another 3D printer.

That would then be a machine that could replicate itself! Plus it would allow for hobbyists and roboticists to create custom molds for their projects and to design custom casings for robot frames, etc. I’m looking forward to when these will the market at a reasonable cost since the only other 3D printers i’ve heard of are in the 5-6 digit figures. But with one of these, the design possibilities are endless!

If you haven’t seen these guys already you should check out WowWee’s latest robotics offerings. The Rovio uses Evolution Robotics’s Northstar indoor navigation system to keep track of where it is and can be programmed to autonomously navigate to various waypoints within a building in a similar way to GPS waypoints.

The BladeStar is not actually a robot (it is controlled by a human via a remote) but looks awesome and highly maneuverable. Judging by the flying in the video someone may want to try to build a pilot assist system for it to prevent random decapitation of passers-by!

This surgical micro robot, only 2 cm. long, was built to work inside the human body.
It can be attached to various kinds of medical devices like micro cameras, micromanipulators, various sensors and drug delivery injectors.

Japan’s Ritsumeikan University researchers unveil a prototype model of the micro medical robot, measuring 1cm in diameter, 2cm in length and weighing only 5-grammes, which enables it to stay and move inside a human body to remove or treat the affected part of disease especially cancer, at the Biwako Kusatsu campus of the university in Kusatsu city, Shiga prefecture near Kyoto 08 March 2007. The surgical micro robot can attach various kind of medical devices such as micro camera, micro manipulators, various sensors and drug delivery injector.

This kit allows you to build a robotic arm that can grasp anything up to 1.7 inches in width, lift objects weighing up to 100g, using its LED to provide you with a search light, and much more.

The wired control robot arm kit comes disassembled so it’s an ideal way to learn about basic robotic technology. If you know anyone that wants to come up with next great invention then this would be a perfect way to get them started. It has five motors all controlled via the hand set which allows you amazing, precession movements.

It has a maximum lift weight of 100g, opening gripper capable of grasping anything up to 1 in width, a 120 degree wrist pivot, a 300 degree elbow motion, a 180 degree base motion and a LED search light for night time operations.

The “Shower-Shower” is a robotic arm that cleans the door and walls of your shower after every use. The control panel allows you to select various settings, and the robotic arm applies a cleaning solution that removes calcium and lime deposits. Just turn it on, and it cleans the shower for you.

Four low-pressure rotating spray nozzles coat your shower in seconds with your favorite shower cleaner. The Shower-Shower eliminates soap scum, germs, and mildew so you step into a fresh, clean shower every time.

The shower cleaning sequence starts with the simple press of a button. No need to handle cleaning chemicals after your shower. The Shower-Shower is expertly engineered and built from high quality materials for years of maintenance-free operation. Prices run from $1,144.00 to $1,352.00.