Keepon on The Works

The robot Keepon (developed by Hideki Kozima and programmed by Marek Michalowski) dancing to the song "Don't You Evah" by the band Spoon. Keepon and Spoon reunited at WIRED NextFest in LA September 10, 2007 for Creative Commons.

Cast (in order of appearance): Keepon, Hideki Kozima, Jim Eno, Britt Daniel
Keepon Wrangler/Programmer: Marek Michalowski
Executive Producers: Melanie Cornwell, Scott Dadich
Producers: Melanie Cornwell, Zana Woods
Director: Jeff Nichols
Concept by: Melanie Cornwell, Laura Eldeiry, Nancy Miller
Written by: Jeff Nichols, Adam Stone, Chris Walldorf
Director of Photography/Camera Operator: Adam Stone (Mortimer Jones)
Editor: Chris Walldorf (Mortimer Jones)
Graphics and Effects: Joey Beason (Edit at Joes)
Additional Color Correction: Joe Murray (Edit at Joes)
Tokyo Production Managers: Heath Cozens, Sawako Imai

Keepon robot

We've been having a torrid affair with the Keepon robot since 2007, his simple yellow shape and unflappable adherence to the beat capturing our hearts. But, sadly, this has been an unrequited love, as the little guy has only been available to research institutions (and, apparently, rock bands) at the tear-inducing price of $30,000. Now there's a version we can finally bring home to mother, the $40 My Keepon. It's being dubbed a "toy," so we have our doubts that it can bust the same sort of moves its Pro predecessor puts down (embedded after the break), but we're certainly going to be first in line to find out when they hit stores. No, we don't know when that is just yet, but we're told all will be revealed on February 14th. Yes, Valentine's Day.

Barobo iMobot teddy bear learns from your commands, will definitely make varsity (video)

Barobo's iMobot modular robotics system just launched earlier this year, and the folks behind it just started shipping the first kits last month. Turns out, they were on hand here at NEXT Aarhus with a bona fide demo, and we couldn't resist a quick demo. The actual kit is being hawked primarily to universities -- we're told that each $2,000 robot can be programmed to do just about anything, and if you stock up on a couple, you can produce full-on humanoids, a camera-toting rescue snake or something else that'll undoubtedly take over the world in just a few centuries. Each robotic piece is equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth, and aside from mounting points used for connecting family members, there's a couple of sensor ports that allow for rangefinders and proximity modules to be stacked on as well.

The real show, however, happened when Elmo's long-lost cousin made an appearance. We're told that the creature is strictly a prototype using miniaturized versions of the robotic pieces that are on sale now. Those minis aren't up for order per se, but cutting the right check might land you with more than a smile. As you'll see in the video past the break, the software program written for the bear allowed it to "learn" movements that were dictated by the human holding it, and once the latest cheer was burned into its cotton-filled brain, a simple button press played things out in fantastical fashion. Have a look. You won't be disappointed.

Video: “Der Kritzler,” An Automatic Scribbling Machine

Der Kritzler - scribbling "The Chancellor" from tinkerlog on Vimeo.

An automatic scribbling machine sounds less than useful, admittedly, but it’s really just the style of line created by this motorized drawing machine. It’s reminiscent of ASCII art, in which heavier characters are used to create darker tones; in this case, the more jiggle added to the drawing platform, the more ink is put on the drawing surface. It’s kind of mesmerizing.

Der Kritzler - scribbling "TFOE" from tinkerlog on Vimeo.