Sure, it’s not uncommon to see one robot arm take a break from productivity to engage in some shenanigans potentially fraught with peril, but two robot arms slacking off and wielding weapons? Well, that’s cause for some sort of celebration. As you can see in the video after the break, however, whomever was responsible for this madness didn’t completely let the arms loose on each other, which we can only hope means they’re saving the arms for the inevitable Wiimote-controlled version.

[Via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Don’t you hate it how simply moving a robotic arm in a microgravity environment can produce enough negative reaction forces to alter a spacecraft’s orientation? Well, a group of researchers from Cornell University have now devised a new type of robot arm that they say could make that pesky problem a thing of the past. To do that, they’ve employed a device known as a control-moment gyroscope (or CMG) instead of a motor to control the arm’s joints, which not only reduces the amount energy requied to move the arm, but lets it move faster as well. As you can see above, they’ve already tested the arm on board NASA’s famous Vomit Comet, but there’s no indication just yet as to when or if the arm will actually see action in space.

While robots are still quite a ways away from being able to challenge humans in sports like soccer, it looks like at least one company has managed to create a robot that’s able to prevail in one somewhat athletic activity: air hockey. According to Nuvation, its otherwise unassuming robot arm here can not only hold its own against its human opponents, but beat them about 90 percent of the time. That, as you might have guessed, is done with the aid of an optical sensor that’s programmed to follow the conveniently shiny puck and react like an old air hockey pro. Still skeptical? Check it out in action in the video after the break.

Sure, it’s been done before, but that doesn’t make the idea of a robotic arm controlled by a Wiimote any less exciting, especially when the arm is actually responsive. That feat is aided considerably by the fact that this latest setup was developed by an engineer from National Instruments, who made use of some of the company’s LabVIEW hardware and a specially-designed Bluetooth adapter to control the arm at the flick of a wrist (or using the Wiimote’s buttons). Check it out in action in the video after the break — don’t worry, no one gets hurt.

It’s still awaiting formal clinical trials, but Dean Kamen’s so-called “Luke” artificial arm has already gone through its share of tests, which we can now thankfully catch a glimpse of courtesy of a new video from the folks at IEEE Spectrum Online. That same video also helpfully provides a few more details on the arm, including word that it can be controlled through a variety of means including foot pedals, nerves or muscles, and that it packs force feedback to give the wearer an indication of grip strength, among other suitably sci-fi-like things. Of course, none of this exactly does the arm justice, so be sure to check out the video at the read link below to see it in action for yourself.

[Thanks, Sarah]

As if robots didn’t already have enough of our jobs, a group of Dutch inventors have now taken the wraps off their new car-fueling robot, which they hope will one day be filling up your tank at a gas station near your. Coming in at the relatively bargain price of €75,000 (or $111,100), the bot can apparently identify cars as they pull up, and reference them against a database to determine the type of fuel cap and the fuel type to use, which should avoid any mishaps. Somewhat interestingly, the inventors admit that the technology isn’t an entirely new idea, and they give credit for the inspiration to the robots used for milking cows, saying that “if a robot can do that then why can’t it fill a car tank.” While it’s apparently not a done deal just yet, the team say they hope to roll out the robot to a “handful” of Dutch gas stations by the end of the year.

[Photo courtesy of Reuters/Michael Kooren]

It may just be for demonstration purposes for now, but this humanoid robot dubbed “Justin” certainly looks like he means business, and we can all be thankful that’s he’s confined to a table or there’s no telling how things might have gone down. Apparently, Justin’s biggest claim to fame is his pair of DLR-III Light-Weight arms which, in addition to making other robot arms look positively retro, are dexterous enough to pick up a trash can and dump it or twist a lid off a jar. No word as to when Justin might be let loose from the lab, but you can get a better look at what he’s capable of in the video at the site linked below.