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The M3-Neony baby robot is the result of work done by Japanese researchers from the University of Osaka.

Professor Minoru Asada has been directing the research carried out in partnership with the JST (Japan Science and Technology Agency) since 2005.

The main objective is to make the M3-Neony into a humanoid robot able to imitate the behaviour of a human baby.

For the time being, the baby is independent, it can crawl on all fours, it rolls on the floor and tries to walk.

It is approximately the same size of a real baby (which is a plus since in the past we have seen baby prototypes that were over 1 meter high). It measures 50 cm high and weighs 3.5 kg.

On the technical side, the robot has 22 motors used in movement; its head is equipped with two video cameras and it has two microphones in its ears. It has 90 tactile sensors on its robotic skin in order to “feel” when it is touched.

Below is a video of the prototype:

via examiner

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ECCE is a humanoid robot with a replicated human structure.

Researchers went even further with this one-eyed (a video camera) robot and made the bust of the robot look and move just like a human’s bust.

The anthropomimetic robot liberates the barriers found with the robotic metallic structures of humanoids by creating replicas of human bones, tendons, muscles and joints as well as the associated mechanism.

Thus, the prototype can move with just as much freedom as a human. To have fluid movements that resemble those of a human being, the false bony structures are simply connected together.

Watch an example of its clasped hands in the video below.

The website of the project: http://eccerobot.org/

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RoboThespian is a humanoid robot with exceptional acting and singing skills.

RoboThespian TM, a British company, built this nice robot to entertain the crowds. Its mission is to educate, communicate, interact and entertain.

We can say that it is a great success; watch the video and you may fall under the jester’s spell.

Its movements are very natural and resemble those of human beings. He is a born actor who seems to have emotions.

Its hardware includes six servo motors for torso and head movement, one ultra-fast servo motor for lip movement, LCD screens for the eyes, and a camera mounted on the front for streaming video.

Its software is written in C++ and has an emotional text-to-speech interface for it to say anything you want.

RoboThespian RT3 is controlled via a computer and a touch screen or by a mobile remote control with a built in screen.

For dimensions and weight, RT3 measures 1.75 m and weighs 33 kg.

Its price: starting at 84,000 U.S. dollars.

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Found on Dailymotion, this television report from France 5 talks about the phenomenon of robots in Japan.

The Japanese are no 1 in the world for industrial robotics. And they risk becoming the same for humanoid robotics.

You’ll see the very lifelike CB2 baby robot, as well as Repliee Q2, the female android.

“The robot phenomenon is not really different than what happened with computers. Overnight, computers shook up the world. “The exact same thing will happen with robots” said Hishiguro Hiroshi, famous professor from Osaka University.

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The Ibn Sina robot is the first humanoid in the world that speaks Arabic. It is based on Iranian philosopher Avicenna who can be considered as the Leonardo of the East.

It was one of the stars of the 2009 Dubai Gitex show.

Ibn Sina recently flew in an airplane for the first time aboard the Emirates Airlines company.

It was sitting in first class with its creator, Doctor Nikolaos Mavridis, an assistant IT professor at the CIT de of the UAE University at Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

Sina welcomed and impressed the passengers and crew, but its presence on board the aircraft required several security measures and checks.

Here it is at the 2009 Gitex in Dubai:

Another display:

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PALRO (for PAL = friend and Ro = Robot) is a new small humanoid robot built by the Japanese company Fuji Soft.

It will be available for sale during 2010.

Rated technical specifications, Palro measures 39.8 cm (15 inches), and weighs 1.9 kg (3.5 pounds).

The small humanoid robot has 20 degrees of freedom. It is equipped with speakers, a camera, several microphones, an array of LEDs and a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor.

Its price: US $ 3,300

via PlasticPals and Fsi

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We knew the female Robot Teacher android, now here is her male counterpart.

However, this robot teacher barely resembles a human.

Rather, it seems to have travelled from a distant planet (an alien? ).

It measures 4.1 feet (1.26 m) and weighs 33 pounds (15 kg).

This specimen developed by the Nippon Institute of Technology is reading to students. Its real role is stimulating students’ interest in the field of Robotics and Mathematics.

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Diego-San is the fruit of the imagination and the Development of Japanese researchers.

The picture shows Dr. Javier Mogellan from the Machine Perception Laboratory at UCSD.

The baby measures 4.2 feet high (1.30 m) and weighs 30kg. He has more than 20 moving parts in his body.

It can stand alone on a chair and hold a water bottle with his hand.

With a high resolution video camera, it has a six-axis acceleration integrated motion sensor.

A true small concentration of technology, but what a pity that it is not better looking

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