Dinamation: Hunting for Robotic Dinosaurs

By on August 8, 2009 in Dinamation, General robotics news

If you’ve visited a museum over the last decade, chances are good that you’ve come across at least one robotic dinosaur that was created by the now-defunct Dinamation International Corporation. Dinamation was founded in the mid-1980s, and quickly gained fame by supplying life-size robotic dinosaurs to museums, amusement parks, and other venues. The company dissolved [...]

Read full story • Comments { 1 }

Construction Ahead: Moving to a New Web Host

By on July 11, 2009 in Announcements

After using Yahoo! web hosting for Nxtbot.com for more than three years, I’ve decided it’s time to move to a more capable web host. I’ve been using Dreamhost for some of my other blogs, so I’ve decided to move everything together. What does this mean for you? Given that some changes will need to be [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Robotis and the Ollo Robot Construction Kit

By on June 24, 2009 in General robotics news, Ollobot, Robotis

South Korean robotics company Robotis is well known for their Bioloid line of robotics kits, but the firm is also positioning itself as a provider of robotics platforms for the educational market. Their new Ollo product line is a constructable robot kit aimed squarely at young robot builders, specifically those aged 7 to 10. That [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Meet the Mini Mac Bot

By on February 13, 2009 in General robotics news

If you’re looking for a smallish example of a tiny robot, feast your eyes on this little critter. I found this over at TechRepublic.com, featured in a gallery depicting unusual uses for dead PCs. According to the picture caption, this miniature robotic vehicle was created using the “floppy eject motors from a mac.” Want to [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

The BallmerBot at TechEd 2008

By on July 30, 2008 in Microsoft Robotics Studio

Microsoft has clearly come a long way on the robotics front, and proved the point by demonstrating a functional robot at the TechEd 2008 Developers conference that was developed using the Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio. The robot was dubbed the BallmerBot, and made its appearance during the Bill Gates keynote. This Hobbit-sized device sported an [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

JPL Develops Six-Legged ATHLETE Robot

By on April 8, 2008 in NASA, Robotic space exp.

When your office environment is genuinely filled with people who are rocket scientists, chances are that you’re bound to come up a bright idea or two. Such is the case with JPL’s ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer) robot, which was developed by JPL with the help of Boeing, Stanford University, and NASA’s Johnson and Ames [...]

Read full story • Comments { 1 }

roBlocks Promises Basic Bot-Building

By on April 3, 2008 in General robotics news

Building a small robot these days is far easier than it used to be, thanks in part to the introduction of products like LEGO Mindstorms and the Vex Robotics Design System. But what if you’re looking for something even simpler to construct, or perhaps you want to introduce robotics to a young child? A new robotics product [...]

Read full story • Comments { 2 }

Captain Kirk? The Doctor Will See You Now

By on March 10, 2008 in General robotics news, Medical Robotics

While we’re not quite to the level of teleporting cancerous growths from a patient to the medical waste bin yet, Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital (JGH) has taken us a step closer to a future where robotic surgeons may be commonplace.   Surgeons at JGH will reportedly use the new robotic, assisted-surgery device to treat gynecological and prostate cancers. According to a [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Death to Spam – reCAPTCHA to the Rescue

By on January 17, 2008 in Announcements

After a lengthy hiatus, Nxtbot.com will soon be updated with a new look, much more content, and lots of other long-overdue improvements. Before all that can happen, however, some sorely needed maintenance is in order. If any of you reading this happen to have a blog, you’ll understand what an evil scourge spam comments are. I [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Tyco R/C NSECT Robot Bug

By on August 13, 2007 in General robotics news

Okay, this may not be breaking news: The Tyco NSECT came out in late 2006, so those of you who’ve heard about this gadget can move on to something more timely. I did come across one of these R/C bugs not long ago while shopping at a local big box store, and the thing looked suitably cool [...]

Read full story • Comments { 1 }