Researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have developed a robot farming "exoskeleton" suit designed to help aging farmers lift heavy objects and perform manual tasks more easily. The current cost for each suit is about 500,000-1,000,000 yen ($4,500-$9,000) but may drop to 200,000 yen ($1,800) when they aim to mass produce it in four years. [via Boing Boing]...
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I usually brush off the latest robot technology (really, what am I going to do with a robot that can run, take care of the elderly and deliver babies, all at the same time?), but when I heard that someone had created robots made of Rice Krispies I thought, "Well, now we're on to something. Something that snaps, crackles and pops. And then runs away from you." The research done by the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, the Mattress Factory and MAYA Design has resulted in a few tips on what food makes for good robot building (apples and licorice are bad; cucumbers and Rice Krispies are good) along with a handy tutorial video that guides you through...
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385 dph ("donuts per hour") is how fast the Belshaw Donut Robot 42 churns out donuts. Derrick bought one of these bad babies on eBay and documented the robotic donut making process for the rest of the world to behold. This section is best described as the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, as long as 'D' stands for Doughnuts, like in 'Doughnut Day'. The doughnuts climb this ramp relentlessly, pulled along by the doughnut chains. Now, you could be the German defense forces preventing the doughnuts from making a beach head, but no matter how big your belly is, 6.5 donuts per minute are going to eventually overwhelm your defenses. The ones that come after the initial assault pile up...
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