We've addressed JVC's J4 robot o­nce in the past. It's a 20cm robot that can be controlled via Bluetooth.

JVC did another demo of the robot o­n the 14th, and more details have been revealed.

There's a new aibo in town: the "ERS-7M3" is not o­nly a different color, but features improved software. Communication is the name of the game this round; the aibo's speech capabilities have been vastly improved, and it can even read news to you via RSS. Training your dog to fetch the paper for you never has been easy, so at least you now have an alternative.

ITmedia is reporting o­n the 2nd anniversary renewal of the Gundam Museum, operated by Bandai. The renewal features, among other things, a "V Operations Cockpit Reproduction," where visitors are encouraged to take pictures for good memories. Of further interest at the museum is a 2-story (5.6 meters, or 18 feet), 1/1 scale model of a Gundam A-Parts. Bandai also inadvertently took a stab at fans of SEED with the following quote: "I think everyone, from fans who are in 'deep' to those light users who have just started with SEED, will enjoy this." This article is just a tad too off-topic for me to translate the entirety of, but if there's a specific section you're interested in, let me know. Click either of the images inside to be taken to ITmedia's article, with plenty more information and pics.

ROBOTREX/ROBOCUP, o­ne of the world's largest robotics conventions/competitions, is well underway in Osaka. There's not a whole lot I can do from South Carolina here to cover it, but seeing as how PC Watch is all over it, I probably wouldn't be there even if I were in Japan (especially considering Wireless Japan 2005 is also being held this same week). Anyway, they have a nice article covering all sorts of robots, but in all honesty, there wasn't anything that completely floored me (otherwise I'd be translating it right now). As always, if you want a particular part of the article translated, let me know and I'll take care of it. Click the image below to continue to their article, full of nice pictures and videos of the event.

Fujitsu Automation has announced their "HOAP-3" humanoid robot. It looks to be pretty compact with a 60cm height. Additions to this version include image recognition and some various sensors. I also didn't realize the thing has a Pentium M processor and runs Linux, and Fujitsu Automation even publicizes the internal interface info...this thing would be a homebrew delight!

Speecys has begun taking orders for a fuel cell-powered version of their "Speecys" bipedal robot for those who like to keep their robotic activities environmentally friendly. Saving the planet doesn't come cheap however - the "Speecys-FC" will retail for approximately US$24,000. Maybe I'll just stick to Lego for a little while longer...

The "Prototype Robot Exhibition" is currently going o­n at that 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan. PC Watch has some absolutely maniacal coverage of the entire event, including over 70MB of video content. Be sure to take a look if you're even remotely interested in robotics, as Japan is the capital for that sort of thing.

NEC has announced the world's first "tasting" robot. It is surprisingly accurate, too, able to distinguish between different types of cheese and bread. My taste buds work fine, and I still can't do that.

Another feature of the robot is its ability to offer advice. If its analysis concludes that there is a certain percentage of fat in the food, it will actually let you know that you're turning into a fatty. And since it's a robot, you don't have to worry about it reserving its judgement!

This o­ne isn't long enough for a "Read More," but it was too cool to pass up. According to this article o­n Slashdot Japan, a Japanese company called Sakakibara Kikai has developed a robot called the "Land Walker," which looks strikingly similar an Elemental (for those of you who have played BattleTech or Mechwarrior). No telling if it has a a Small Flamer, SRM or PPC (don't think the Elementals had enough heat sinks for PPCs, though), but it's a tad slow at 1.5km/hour. And a bit heavy at 1000kg. Still, badass. Click the link below for Sakakibara Kikai's homepage; they even have a 5MB WMV you can download of the thing in action.

Those crazy guys at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology are at again! Not content with developing the world's most therapeutic robot, this time they've come up with a couple of very realistic dinosaur robots to be displayed at the 2005 World Expo.