As Mars rovers found some hard evidence that there was water on the Red Planet, scientists already are thinking that humans could one day populate the planet. If it’s possible for Mars to have Earth-like water and soil and our Blue Planet is becoming more and more polluted, then one day the Red Planet could be colonized.

In order to “test” the planet, scientists are trying to develop swarms of tiny robots that will explore Mars. The and-sized robots will work together to complete different projects and tasks, just like ants and termites co-operate to produce food, build nests for the “greater good of the colony.”

“Small robots that are able to work together could explore the planet. We now know there is water and dust so all they would need is some sort of glue to start building structures, such as homes for human scientists,” said Marc Szymanski, researcher at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany.

Szymanski which is a robotics researchers, will work at the I-SWARM Project, which is funded by the Eu. By now, the team managed to create 100 centimeter-sized robots and now they are going to try to make the micro-robots to reconfigure into bigger robots for the times when the tasks will become harder.

The beginning of the project was easier, but now EU is funding the Symbrion and Replicator projects which are the sequel of I-SWARM Project.

These swarms of robots will explore and colonize the planet therefore they have to be adaptable as it’s very likely to face difficult obstacles.

“Robot swarms are particularly useful in situations where you need high redundancy. If one robot malfunctions or is damaged it does not cause the mission to fail because another robot simply steps in to fill its place,” said Szymanski.

Before colonizing Mars, the swarm robots have to be tested in a real-world environment, but this is not possible for the moment. Although the robots resemble ants’ behavior by following another individual or leaving a chemical trail behind so that the colony would know where it was. This type of behavior is known as collective perception, and the I-SWARM team came very close to achieve it.

The micro-bots will communicate via infrared by signaling to each other details until the whole swarm is informed so that when one of the robots faces an obstacle another one comes and helps it out.

The biggest group of robots was called “Jasmine” and they move by wheels while the smallest group moves by vibration. The ant-sized robots will be powered by tiny solar cells and as Szymanski says “power is a big issue. The more complex the task, the more energy is required. A robot that needs to lift something [uses] powerful motors and these need lots of energy.”

Another big problem for the swarm robots was to process power therefore the team designed complicated algorithms to control them. It was very hard to complete the algorithms as the robots feature only 8 KBs of program memory and 2 KBs of RAM which is a million times lesser than conventional computers.

For the moment, the team didn’t manage to mass produce these autonomous robots, but they are close because the micro-bots can be manufactured as computer chips from flexible circuit boards. Well, we can only wait for the day when the swarm of robots will be cheap to manufacture and hopefully, by then the robots will be able to perform different tasks.

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Toyota thinks about the future once again as they unveiled the “Winglet” which is “a personal transport assistance robot ridden in a standing position.” The robot was created in order to help people to have a safer and more mobile life therefore it could become an everyday transportation mean.

The Winglet is being developed by Toyota Motor Corporation, or TMC, and it’s “still being refined” as it surely needs some improvements. The robot features a body, an electric motor, two wheels and internal sensors (of course), the latter with the purpose of monitoring your position in order to make some adjustments that will increase or decrease power for stability.

“An unique parallel link mechanism” ensures the movement, you can go forward, backward and it’s simple to turn as you’ll only have to shift body weight therefore the Winglet is “safe and useful even in tight spaces or crowded environments.”

In order to fit everybody’s preferences, Toyota developed three version, “L”, “M” and “S”. These models vary between “practical” and “hands-free sporty”.

TMC will begin testing, technical and consumer trials in Autumn at the Central Japan International Airport near Nagoya, and Laguna Gamagori, and then they will see how the Winglet reacts to crowding and other conditions, and they also want to see how regular people acts around the robot and they will test at the Tressa Yokohama shopping complex in Yokohama City in 2009. Check out the video below and tell us what you think about this device.

Press Release via Akihabara News

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Sega has unveiled one of the coolest robots ever which is destined for kids and even for businessmen as it can hand over business cards for potential customers and clients. Besides helping you on your problems, it can sing, dance and offer you kiss when you get close to its head.

The robot is called E.M.A which stands for Eternal, Maiden, Actualization, and it’s based on infrared sensor technology which also helps it to perform a Japanese bow if you ask it to do that. Sega will put it only on the Japanese market as of 25th September and it will cost 18,900 yen or $176.

Sega Toys

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Having a pet these days is becoming the first method in teaching a kid about having responsibilities and taking care of something over time. We’ve already seen electronic devices supposed to serve as pets, but this Wrex the Dawg robot from WowWee is the first dog robot specially created for children.

The design itself makes it look a bit crazy, and its characteristics confirm it. The dog has programs such as peeing on the carpet simulation, rubbing its but on the ground, sneezing and pretends to break so you’d take more care of it. A definite advantage of this kind of pet is that you don’t have to worry it’ll starve to death if you’re going in a vacation.

Via

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Although movie producers from the SF area already made a habit of representing robots as evil machines, dangers to the human race, or any other malicious form of existence, Crabfu created a small swashie robot that amazes through its cuteness.

Via

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