WJN milled this itty-bitty robot from a single piece of brass.  What amazing craftsmanship.  Link [via]

Crabfu has designed yet another Swashbot, called Swashbot3.  It's still a three-legged robot based on R/C helicopter eccpm swash control, but this Swashbot has a more organic design.  Check out the video here and photos here.  (Thanks, I-Wei!)

Previously:
Swashbots
i-Wei Huang interviews with Star Wars Blog
Crabfu Steamworks happenings at Maker Faire 2007
Crabfu Steamworks, I-Wei Huang
Howto: Draw Steampunk Machines

Check out the newest creations, SwashBot1 and SwashBot2, made by I-Wei over at Crabfu Steamworks.  They aren't his typical steam creations. SwashBots are three-legged robots based on R/C helicopter eccpm swash control.  Link to photos and video.  (Thanks, I-Wei!)

Previously:
i-Wei Huang interviews with Star Wars Blog
Crabfu Steamworks happenings at Maker Faire 2007
Crabu Steamworks, I-Wei Huang
Howto: Draw Steampunk Machines

My husband and son would kill for this robot model of Gort from the movie "The Day The Earth Stood Still" that is up for auction on eBay.

From BoingBoing:

Ths eight-foot-tall animatronic model of Gort, the robot from The Day The Earth Stood Still, is currently up for auction on eBay. According to the ad, "the robot hasn't been activated in years." So be careful! Current bid is $4051. From the auction listing:
 Specifications:

* Created by Fred Barton Productions, Inc., hand assembled in the USA.
* Originally purchased from FBP, Inc., in 2003. Since then it has been on public display.
* Full size fiberglass reproduction. High quality, durable construction.
* Originally equipped with tilting visor with sound effects.
* Animatronics controlled by an infrared remote control.
* Dimensional specifications were obtained from the original robot.
* The original infrared controller is included.

This past Christmas Zachary received "My Little Blue Robot" by Stephen T. Johnson from his grandparents.  It's a hands-on book that your 3- to 7-year-olds -- and even you -- will just love.  Follow the directions on each page, pull out the cardboard parts of the robot, "screw" the robot parts together, and by the end your kiddo will have his very own walking and talking robot!

Zachary loves this book and has even named his robot "Marty".  Attempts to take "Marty" apart and put him back into the book ends in tears, which definitely means this present was a winner.  I love this book because it's both a fun and educational project to do with my son. 

Even if you don't have any kids or they are all grown, you should still check out this book.  It will bring out the kid in you.

Books by Stephen T. Johnson:
My Little Blue Robot - Amazon.com
My Little Red Toolbox - Amazon.com
My Little Yellow Taxi - Amazon.com

Yuki-taro is a self-guided robot snowplow in Japan that uses GPS and cameras to eat up snow and poop out snow bricks.  Link to video.  [via meshly]

Now you can speak R2D2 with this R2D2 Translator and even download the translation to your mobile phone.  Link.

Previously:
R2D2 trash can, Transforming R2 Droid Robot

They don't look much like cockroaches, but the robotic cockroaches created by Belgium researchers managed to infiltrate and influence cockroach colonies' behaviors.

Halloy and his colleagues suspected that a group decision emerges because every individual follows these simple rules: Wander around randomly, but spend more time in a place if you sense that it is (A) dark and (B) has other cockroaches.

So the researchers made sure their robotic cockroach could follow those rules. The robots had wheels, plus a light sensor and an infrared sensor to detect nearby roaches.

When they put these robots in with the living roaches, they all began to interact. Before long, the robots and cockroaches were huddled together under the same roof. "The robots and the cockroaches behave as a group," Halloy said.

So then the scientists decided to reprogram the robots and change one of their rules. "We change their preference for darkness," Halloy said. "We make the robots prefer lighter places than darker ones."

And they presented the group of robots and roaches with two shelters. One was dark, and one was light.

What the scientists found was that the whole group would generally end up resting in the brighter place, even though normally roaches would prefer a darker one.

The experiment, published in the journal Science, showed that just a few individuals can dramatically alter the behavior of the whole group.

Jason over at meshly writes:

Craig from the Twin Cities Robotics Group demonstrated his homemade R2-D2 droid at Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry.

Here's a link to the video. Check out how it's able to transform to and from biped and 3 wheel mode.

Beauto is a Roomba alternative that you building yourself.  It runs on 4 AAA batteries and can be hacked to become battle-bots or moving display cases for your favorite stuffed animal.  Product page (Japanese)