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(Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)

Played any boxing video games, like Fight Night Champion, lately? What if your opponent could hit you in the face? Australian designer Kris Tressider built a robot that can take and deliver plenty of punches.

The Punching Pro is a training partner for those who like to keep fit in unusual ways. It has arms that flail around automatically and a soft head and chest to cushion your blows.

The arms swivel on wheels from a golf cart and are powered by windshield wiper motors attached to steel cables. A dial controls speed and agility, and there's a "martial arts mode" in which the dummy throws hooks and jabs at various speeds.

The arm movements look pretty predictable, but apparently are "semi-randomized." The punches probably don't hurt all that much. The point is to avoid them.

Tressider hopes to sell the Punching Pro for less than a thousand Australian dollars. Would you go for a round or two against it?

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On the anniversary of Russia's triumphant manned space flight, Donald and Eric scheme to put America back on top by building a life-size, fully functioning Imperial AT-AT. Less ambitious projects are also covered, including a Lego Ghostbusters car, a 360 video capture lens for the iPhone, and a digital film roll to give analog cameras new life.

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Tepco workers remotely operate heavy machinery at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

(Credit: Tepco)

TOKYO--Robots and remote-controlled heavy machinery finally got to work at the crisis-hit Fukushima nuclear plant in an effort to minimize human exposure to radiation as Japan raised the severity of the disaster from 5 to 7, putting it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.

A month after the 9.0-magnitude March 11 earthquake, operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) deployed three remote-controlled excavators equipped with cameras to clear radioactive debris around the unit 3 reactor, according to a Tepco spokeswoman.

The unmanned machinery was donated by Shimizu and Kajima corporations.

(Credit: TEPCO)

The excavators were donated by two Japanese construction companies. Remote-operated power loaders sent to Japan by Qinetiq North America are still being evaluated before deployment to the plant.

Meanwhile, Tepco launched a Honeywell T-Hawk micro air vehicle to survey the plant from above. ... Read full post & comments

Robotics merit badge

The merit badge features NASA's Mars Rover.

(Credit: Boy Scouts of America)

Sure, Bobby Boy Scout can tie a square knot and start a fire using flint and steel, but can he build a robot? If so, he'll now be able to sew a robotics merit badge to his sash.

The badge is part of the Boy Scouts of America's new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) curriculum. One of 31 STEM-related merit badges, it's a nod to robots' increasingly wide-reaching impact and part of the BSA's ongoing attempt to teach its ranks relevant skills.

"While the guiding principles of scouting--service to others, leadership, personal achievement, and respect for the outdoors--will never change, we continue to adapt programs to prepare young people for success in all areas of life," BSA Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca said in a statement.

Earning the bot badge will mean a scout not only has a handle on actuators, sensors, and programming, but on the myriad ways robots are tightening their metallic grip.

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In this week's episode of Crave, Eric and Donald break out of the podcast studio and follow the trail of vodka and servos to BarBot 2011, an expo of cocktail robotics. Based on Vienna's annual Roboexotica festival (a government-funded exercise in motor-controlled hedonism that runs four days), San Francisco's BarBot is equal parts science fair and nerd cocktail party. Highlights included the White Russian Hippie Maker, the Drink Making Unit 2.0, iLush 2, and the gravity-defying Cosmobot 2.0.

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Hexapod robot (Credit: Video screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET)

Japan's Kondo Kagaku has a new spider robot with six legs and a palpable creep factor, especially when it drums on a table like in this video.

The KMR-M6 is targeted at hobbyists, researchers, and people who want to scare others.

Each of its legs has two Kondo KRS-2552HV ICS servo motors--one for the horizontal rotation and another for the vertical movement. The bot seems to have a maximum ground clearance of about 4 inches.

The Kondo RCB-4HV control board directs the leg movements, and a 10.8V 800mAh Ni-MH battery supplies the power. Users can add additional leg assemblies to make even creepier spider-bots.

Shipping in May for about $880, it will probably find lots of fans among Kondo's KHR humanoid kit robot users. Or aspiring Doctor Octopuses out there.

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Owl1-A

The Owl1-A can detect even the slightest motion. Coffee mug not included.

(Credit: TiaLinx)

Smugglers sometimes use freight containers to get people into foreign countries. TiaLinx has a new radio frequency detection system that penetrate the stuctures' steel walls and "hear" even the slightest breath.

The California-based defense contractor keeps churning out UAVs and robots that can detect breathing targets, and its Owl1-A system can be deployed on cargo cranes that load and unload containers.

The Owl uses very sensitive ultrawide band radio frequency beams that penetrate walls and reflect off human bodies. An integrated digital signal processor gets the data and results are displayed on the operator's laptop.

TiaLinx says the system can be used for air, sea, and land shipping, and may reduce the need for large, expensive X-ray scanners. The scanner is light enough for handheld use, the company says.

It might also be great in a game of hide-and-seek.

The T-Hawk has a valuable hover and stare capability, and can fly in 20-knot winds.

(Credit: Honeywell)

TOKYO--Japanese authorities are planning to use a Honeywell T-Hawk micro air vehicle to check radiation levels at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, while unmanned drone helicopters from France are also joining the effort.

Small enough to fit in a backpack, Honeywell's T-Hawk can do vertical takeoffs and landings and hover in place while monitoring a target. The U.S. government apparently proposed it for checking radiation levels at spent nuclear fuel pools at the plant, according to a Kyodo News report.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has been trying to cool the spent fuel in the pools with water. Radiation around the pools is believed to be very high, hindering workers' efforts to restart cooling systems. There are over 10,000 spent fuel rods at the site.

Related links
Qinetiq robo-loaders heading to Fukushima
Where are the robots in Japan's nuclear crisis?
Nuclear-site app pinpoints plants
From Tokyo to California, radiation tracking gets crowdsourced
Poll: Do nuclear power plants scare you?

The 17-pound T-Hawk can fly to 10,000 feet and work in 20-knot winds, with a top speed of 46 mph and operating time of 56 minutes. It can operate autonomously or by remote control. Check out the vid below for details.

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Meet the Geminoids: Seated, from left to right, Geminoid F, Geminoid HI-1, and Geminoid DK. Standing behind them are some random humans.

(Credit: Geminoid.dk)

Imagine walking into a room and seeing these people. Well, only some of them are people. Imagine they're all sitting down and they slowly turn to you and one says, "Welcome. You're just in time for your Voight-Kampff test."

Kyoto took on a sci-fi tinge recently when the Geminoid clan had a family reunion. The people who spawned three of Japan's eerie lifelike robots met up with their clones at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) for some heart-warming photos.

ATR has been developing the air servo-powered doppelgangers since 2006, when Osaka University engineering professor Hiroshi Ishiguro unveiled an android copy of himself called Geminoid HI-1 for research into robotics and cognitive science.

Ishiguro, who works with Tokyo-based entertainment firm Kokoro, ... Read full post & comments

Bobcat loaders can be converted to unmanned car-wrestlers in minutes with a Qinetiq kit.

(Credit: Qinetiq)

Robots and Bobcat loaders from Qinetiq North America have arrived in Tokyo, and workers are training with them before being deployed to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which continues to pose a serious radiation threat.

The Virginia-based defense contractor sent 20,000 pounds worth of equipment to Japan this week, including kits that can turn loaders into remote-controlled bulldozers in minutes.

A Qinetiq Talon robot is being equipped with radiation-hardened cameras for deployment to Fukushima.

(Credit: Idaho National Laboratory)

One of the biggest obstacles to getting the Fukushima crisis under control is the continuing radiation threatening workers. This might be a perfect opportunity for robots to help out, but operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) didn't have its own bots to deploy.

Japan's Nuclear Safety Technology Center sent its Moni Robo A, a 5-foot-tall radiation-detecting robot developed by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, to the plant. But debris from the March 11 tsunami and explosions that damaged buildings have prevented it from being used, TEPCO said in an IDG News report.

From Denver, Bobcat sent T300 loaders that are powerful enough to lift cars, and Bobcat staff in Japan have completed training on how to control them from laptops. Qinetiq also sent its Robotic Applique Kits, which can convert Bobcat loaders to unmanned vehicles in 15 minutes.

"You can attach anything to them, from bulldozer parts to hooks, to move debris," said Qinetiq spokeswoman Jennifer Pickett, who added that the machines should be at the plant site next week.

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