This FRIDA robot could leave millions of workers unemployed if it gets mass-produced. On the plus side, it will level the playing field and eliminate the cheap labor advantage of Chinese workers.

At the moment, the FRIDA robot is just a concept from ABB. It does not have a human-like facial feature or human limbs, the lack of body parts makes it compact enough to fit into spaces designed for human workers.

They can even be moved around easily and can easily be installed. The robot is designed with two very agile arms that can handle objects precisely and gently.

And the best thing is FRIDA robot won’t complain after long hours of work, unlike humans who are always complaining and fighting for better benefits.

FRIDA will definitely improve productivity but a lot of people could be out on the streets. I won’t be surprised if technology improves till this robot becomes a reality in future.

What do you think of the FRIDA robot? Check out the video below.

[Engadget]

I have often heard complaints about the bad influence of rock stars, drugs, sex, etc. Well, you may soon get the music, without the people. In other words, get ready to be entertained by robot guitarists.

Technology has improved so much that robots can mimic a rock star in shredding an electric guitar (see video below). Meet the robotic string instrument, Poly-tangent, Automatic (multi-) Monochord or PAM in short which is built by Expressive Machines Musical Instruments.

While it is a good start for PAM’s creators, I think robotic pop stars will be years in the making. Right now, PAM sounds too mechanical and has no soul to mesmerize the audience.

But like Big Blue which eventually trumps the best human chess player, a guitar robot may one day gain a human touch if we keep imparting it our personal playing experience through fine tuning the vibrato, string pulling/bending, etc.

Will you guys pay money to watch a rock concert by guitar robots?

Usain Bolt and Carl Lewis, please step aside.. There is now a prototype robot, aptly named “Athlete” by Japanese researcher Ryuma Niiyama, which can potentially outrun the fastest human!

This robot has been fitted with a pair of prosthetic blades and fourteen artificial, pneumatic-powered muscles and has the ability to sprint. Each muscle has one to six actuators, providing enough air power to replicate human muscles.

In addition, the robot is outfitted with touch sensors on each foot, and an inertial metering system to help it stay upright. Currently, Niiyama and his team are still teaching the robot how to run which involves analyzing the timing and patterns in which human muscle contract and relax.

Well, if this bipedal humanoid project comes to fruition, the police force can consider getting some athlete robots for patrol… that will be bad news for robbers.

[IEEE]

In the near future, you may not be able to find a human pastor or registrar to preside over your wedding. You will have to get used to the idea of a robot telling you what to do.

The employee of the company that created the i-Fairy robot married her client recently and instead of having a human to formalise the wedding, they had the i-Fairy to act as the registrar.

The 1.5m tall i-Fairy is normally used at museums and exhibitions to give directions but in this case, the robot was dressed in lovely flowers and could perform realistic gestures and even gave instructions like when the groom should lift the bride’s veil.

Although the robot had to be controlled by a human, it’s still a very unique way of getting married. Being at the forefront of robotic technology has its perks after all.

As technology improves, robots will eventually become indispensable gadgets. We don’t need to employ a domestic help as robots can do the cleaning up for us. Introducing Mint, the robot mop.

Just like how humans mop the floor, the robot mop will being by sweeping with a dry rag to pick up most of the dust and then apply a wet cloth to add shine.

Mint can navigate around and detect if it’s going to fall off an edge before turning to a different direction. It makes use of an indoor GPS tracking device to make sure the same spot is not cleaned twice.

This is very useful as you don’t want the robot mop to move anywhere it wants and the same place over and over again. Once you know how to use Mint, it will save time, money and electricity for you.

The robot mop is available for USD$249. Just so you know what you are buying, check out the mop in action below.

[Wired]

The day of robots helping out with household chores is drawing nearer. That could help reduce some unhappiness when the guys slouch in the couch watching sports program while the wives slog hard in the kitchen.

UC Berkeley researchers have started using Willow Garage’s PR2 robot to fold towels. The robot adopts innovative visual scanning techniques, allowing it to pick up a towel, find the corners, and fold the towel on a table perfectly.

According to the paper presented at the 2010 ICRA (PDF), the robot successfully completed 50 out of 50 attempts to fold a single towel, and also folded 5 out of 5 towels when they were presented in a group.

Is watching a robot do laundry really that exciting? Hell yes — wait until you see the video! UC Berkeley used a Willow Garage robot to develop their own sophisticated robotics program. That validates the whole premise of the PR2 — faster development by letting researchers use a common platform. Score one for open source robotics!”

By the way, Willow Garage is giving away 10 of these robots for free! This is a great time to watch how bots are going to evolve to take on a larger role in our lives. UCB has already benefitted with a a cool and novel application. The next few years are going to be amazing in terms of personal robotics development.

[Singularity Hub]

Robots are definitely getting more advanced. Not only can they pour a drink, but they also know how to mix a drink.

You know how entertaining drink-mixing can be in pubs, especially when done by a sexy babe/guy. So the guys at Evil Mad Scientist came up with this idea of a drink-mixing robot. They could probably charge more for this robotic technology.

But they have a small problem on the pumps. Fortunately, they came upon breast pumps which are designed to move fluid food without contamination. Breast pumps are affordable, cleanable and need little power.

Well, I can’t wait to drink a glass of Bloody Mary from a breast pump. I am not sure if the robot knows how to pump breast milk but if it does, I wouldn’t mind paying for a supplementary drink.

[Evil Mad Scientist]

If what Sheffield University’s Noel Sharkey, professor of AI & robotics, says is true, robotic armies could be the cuting edge military techonology of the future.

I dread to imagine a rogue nation acquiring the technology to create robots and send them into battle. What will be the implications of a war if human beings have to fight against these emotionless killing machines?

Human flesh frying in exchange for scrap metal and this is not a sci-fi movie. Scary eh..