Check out the MIT DOMO Robot. This metal creature still looks pretty slow and dumb after all these years. But if it is combined with the Honda Asimov and get dressed up a bit, I bet the combo bot will be pretty convincing humanoid.
Whole bunch of Youtube videos available at: http://people.csail.mit.edu/edsinger/domo_video_youtube.htm?tr=y&auid=2605448
By now you might have heard about the new 2007 Lexus LS460’s selfpark feature. How about an NXT version of that along with speech recognition? Watch this:
“Microsoft on Wednesday took the wraps off its first commercial operating system for robots, with hopes of paving the way for a broader robotics industry and taking a central role in its development.”
“Since June, the software has been downloaded more than 100,000 times, with interest from academics, hobbyists and industry, Microsoft said.”
Related: free lifetime domain registration and web site from Microsoft Office Live (yes, free domain for life. I am not kidding):
Coverage of the LEGO NXT and the MIT Media Lab’s company Playful Invention Company (started by my ex boss Mitchel Resnick) on Businessweek. It adds a little bit of history to the LEGO Mindstorm development:
Slideshow at: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/09/picocricket/slideshow.htm
AUSTIN, Texas - NIWeek - Aug. 8, 2006 – National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) announced the NI LabVIEW Toolkit for LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT. With the new toolkit, LabVIEW users can create and download VIs to operate and control the MINDSTORMS NXT robotics platform. Third-party software and hardware developers also can use the toolkit to create native blocks for MINDSTORMS NXT software. MINDSTORMS NXT, the next generation of the popular LEGO robotics invention system, became available earlier this month and includes a new programming environment, custom developed by NI and powered by LabVIEW.
Details at: http://www.automation.com/store/p1030details18209.php
.jpg "nxt lego labview")
See Wimo’s blog at:
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2006/05/13/596684.aspx
I attended Microsoft’s NXT demo yesterday. What a great event! Not to mention the free box lunch 
NXT MDP Steven Hassenplug, David Schilling and Christopher Smith were there showing off their robots. The funny thing is that I didn’t even realize Christopher from the nxt step was actually there until I read Jim’s (actually Christopher wrote it) blog entry at http://thenextstep.blogspot.com/ this morning! What a small world!
Anyway, we got some cool demo from both the MDPs and the Microsoft Robotics team. For pictures and details, click here.
Two new bots we saw yesterday: (1) Christopher’s cool “Starwar” bot and (2) Microsoft’s NXT bot controlled from a PC via a bluetooth phone on the robot:
Microsoft announces the Microsoft Robotics Studio, which offers end-to-end robotics development environment customer technical preview for hobbyist, academic, and commercial developers.
A quote relating to NXT:
“Microsoft, together with the upcoming LEGO Mindstorms NXT, will help further amplify the impact of robotics,” said Soren Lund, director of LEGO Mindstorms. “… In combination with Microsoft Robotics Studio, PC users will have a sophisticated tool that will further extend the powerful NXT hardware and software to an even wider range of developers who wish to create advanced applications for their LEGO robots.”
Check out their Channel 9 video for an insider’s look at the team and what it is all about:
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=206574
The Microsoft robotics team’s blog is at:
http://blogs.msdn.com/MSRoboticsStudio/
Microsoft Robotics Studio General Manager Tandy Trower:
University of Michigan students Doug Li, Jeff Loevell, and Mike Zajac created this strange yet fascinating “Rubik’s Cube Solver” robot for their final project — it does the job to say the least, and quite well (54 seconds):
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/rubiks-cube-solving-robot
