
Over the weekend I spotted robots galore at the Accipter gallery in Raleigh NC. The “Fobots” pictured above are found object (mostly vintage) sculptures created by artist Amy Flynn.
After the break we have a spring-loaded robot alarm clock which, I can only assume, would be a huge pain in the ass to turn off each morning.
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Toshiba’s new autonomous two-wheeled robot has the same basic balancing system as the Segway, but instead of transporting nerds, it nimbly transports plates of food atop its head. In other words, he’s your cute little waiter slave of the future. Check out the video after the break to see him in action.
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Well TWO tricks if you want to get technical about it. Zibit robots can move forward and spin. Forward, spin, forward, spin…honestly I don’t know how you could possibly get tired of that. The fact that they are so small, cute and cheap will make you forget all about the fact that they are dumb. Dumb as hell.
Expect the whole line to be available sometime in March.
Product Page ($10 via Crunchgear)

If you haven’t heard of them before, Toto is a Japanese company that makes, arguably, the most technologically sophisticated receptacles you could ever poop in. Their latest, the Greenmax 4.8, is part of a new green initiative for the company, and they have themselves a little mascot to help promote it.
As far as Transforming powers go, this toilet bot must have been last in line at the manufacturer, but he could very well be the last robot you would ever want to wage a war for control of the planet with. Who knows what he might throw at you.
(TOTO via Plastic Pals)

Manually passing salt and pepper to those around the table may have been fine in the 20th century, but now that we are ready to begin the second decade of the century it is time to move into the future. These Salt and Pepper Bots can be wound up so that they can walk themselves over to the next person looking to add a bit of spice to their meal. These robots may not be quite ready to join in Skynet’s takeover, but they could be a tool to get us used to having robots around.
Product Page (£20.00, about $33 , in stock soon)

These sumo robots walk faster and push harder depending on how much electricity you generate with the hand crank. So, it’s not fat, strength and superior technique that wins the day, it’s how fast you can turn that crank.
Product Page ($32)

Forget water or Gatorade, a true athlete knows that the best way to stay hydrated is to bring a bottle full of bacon squeezins, pickle brine or robot monkey banana juice to the gym. It gives you the energy you need to really achieve that slim and trim figure you always wanted (and all of that puking doesn’t hurt either). A gallery of these unique stainless steel bottles is available after the break.
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It appears that the Dancing Robot has hit the big time—hiring a backup crew consisting of a cricket player, barbecue lover, cowboy, rapper, alien and a gym rat. I don’t know how he makes such a diverse group work, but you have to imagine that it makes for one interesting show. The full gallery of characters is available after the break.
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In the future, the Tony Hawks of the world will be replaced by robot skateboarders that can perform tricks once thought physically impossible. This X-Skate can hit jumps and move forward, backward left and right under infrared control. Not exactly impossible, but you have to start somewhere.
Product Page (£20 or $32)

This is what the police will pry out of your nerdy hands when they find you dead of exhaustion after an hour of hiking.
Product Page ($17)