As we say goodbye to the 200x’s and welcome the 201x’s it’s good to pause a bit and think about the world as it was ten years ago. There was no Wikipedia, no YouTube, internet access was still dialup for a huge portion of the population, and we didn’t have a whole heap of really cool robots. To highlight some of the great inventions of the past ten years, we’ve selected 10 of the best robots fom the past 10 years.

With any sort of list like this, things are pretty arbitrary, but we tried to pick robots that have made an impact in our culture or have impacted the hobby or science of robots in a major way. Below you’ll find 10 amazing robots from the military, toy industry, consumer industry, and science community that have had a lasting impact on robotics.

Take a look and tell us what you think. If you had to nominate 10 robots of the decade, who would they be? Keep reading for our picks for robots of the decade.

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As 2009 comes to a close it’s time once again for the Robot Christmas Gift List! We’re featuring a few of the same, but mostly new, things since the 2008 Robot Christmas Gift Guide. We’ll be featuring 10 items that would make great gifts for the robot lover in your life. Prices range from $10 to $900 dollars, so everyone’s budget should be covered!

Parallax Scribbler – $99

The Scribbler robot from Parallax has been around for a few years but makes an excellent starting point for jumping into robotics. The solid design and lots of ability for expansion make it a good choice for someone that has basic computer skills or someone that has limited electronics knowledge and wants an easy way to get started. The robot features a basic stamp brain, several sensors – like light, floor sensors, and stall sensors – and has two hefty motors, along with a speaker and LEDs. The robot comes with several demo modes, or can be programmed using the regular Basic Stamp programming software.

Roboni-i Game Robot – $189

Roboni is a neat robotic game that uses wirelessly controlled robots. The robots can be used individually or in combination for cooperative gameplay. Roboni’s clever design also makes it tempting for the hacker in me. The Roboni has 12 IR sesors that it uses to track the other Robonis in the playing field, the basestation, and various obstacles. The robot exhibites complex behavior and actually “plays” with you. It’s a relatively new toy, so take that as you will.

LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 – $271

When LEGO released NXT in 2006 they were coming off nearly 10 years of huge success with the RIS. Many people wondered if they could repeat the trend. It looks like they did, with tons of NXT related books being released, and lots of use in education settings. LEGO has updated the NXT and released the 2.0 version, which once again raises the bar. The NXT 2.0 set features a new color sensor, which can detect 6 different colors, or be used as a RGB light emitter. LEGO also dropped the sound sensor in favor of adding a 2nd touch sensor. There is also a different selection of beams and gears and a greatly improved programming interface. The NXT Step Blog has a comparison chart of new pieces.

Pololu 3Pi Robot – $119

Similar in price and usability to the Scribbler robot, the 3Pi from Pololu has meet with favorable reviews. The 3pi has two high power (and high speed!) DC motors, a LCD screen, and has built in sensors for line-following. The robot uses an Atmel Atmega168 chip and can be programmed in C or using the Arduino firmware and programming language. 

Phoenix Hexapod Kit – starting at $969

This exceedingly impressive kit from Lynxmotion will knock your socks off! The powerful inverse kinematics engine allows for a huge array of natural walking gaits and very “creepy” looking motion. Each leg has three DOFs (degrees of freedom) and the completed kit is wirelessly controlled via a transmitter. The parts are laser cut aluminum with black anodization. So, if you’ve got some spare change lying around, this is one slick robot to purchase. Nothing says, “I love you” like a beautifully walking hexapod robot!

Terminator Salvation DVD – $9

The continuation of the Terminator saga. Reviews were mixed, but there was some definite epic robot action. Totally worth $10.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen DVD – $21

Yet another continuation. Again, epic robot battles and mixed reviews. Certainly a “fun” movie. Check your brain at the door (or couch) though.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – The Complete Second Season – $37

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (TSCC) was quite possibly the best Sci-Fi show of the past several years. Take Battlestar Galactica off the table and you have to go back to Firefly to find something comperable. Even wtih Fox (wantonly, stupidly, foolishly, idiotically, … ) canceling the show after the 2nd season, the two seasons of the show are still well worth watching and are both intellectually stimulating, fun, and heartwrenching. The first season is available new for $17.

SolarSpeeder Kit – $27

The SolarSpeeder is a great beginner kit to demonstrate the power of solar energy. The kit requires some basic hand tools and a soldering iron, so it’s best for kids over 12.

Pleo Dinosaur – $200

Pleo is back from the ashes of bankruptcy and ready to rumble. With a new update to fix many of the original Pleo’s problems, this Pleo is still his same loveable self – just with a new company backing him. This robodino has a complex personality, can move around, use his built in camea to recognize objects, and has directional hearing. Pleo has instant repor with children and the elderly, and would make an oustanding companion for the diabled – or robot hackers.

Have anything to add to this list? Add it to the comments! What was your favorite robot gift from 2008?

In case you missed the news, Ugobe, maker of the amazing robotic pet Pleo, has filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy and has auctioned off all of its goods as of May 29th. It’s still unclear what will happen to all of the IP, and there’s potential that some buyer may resurrect our little robot pal, but that remains to be seen as news of the auction goes live.

As a nice recap to Ugboe’s rise and fall, John Sosoka, the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) made a presentation to the Standford University EE380 lecture series class, entitled “The Rise and Fall of a Companion Robot: Lessons Learned from Pleo“.  You can watch a full video of the lecture here. It’s a fascinating talk for anyone that’s interested in bringing a robotic product to the mass market. John talks for about 40 minutes and answers questions afterward.  He talks about “what went wrong” with Ugobe, instead of the usual technical discussion, and considering that the lecture was given on the eve of the asset auction for Ugobe, the talk is twinged with sadness.

Ugobe was formed in 2004, released its first product in 2007, sold over 100k units worldwide, and was seeking an additional $20 million USD round of funding in the late Summer of 2008. Due to the economic collapse, this didn’t happen, and their chances of survival were pretty much eliminated. By April 2009 the company had filed bankruptcy. So, the most obvious reason for Ugobe’s failure was a money issue, but John points out that the bigger and more serious problem was that Ugobe never figured out what Pleo really was. Was it a toy? A robotic gadget? A research tool? They never honed in on a marketing message, and consequently weren’t able to make the jump from selling 100k units to early adopters to selling 1 million units to the general public. Pleo was more than a toy, and different from a pet and they couldn’t come up with a way of describing that. So, even if the $20 million dollar funding had come through, the company still may very well have collapsed. Additionally, rapid growth of the company and a lot of venture funding confused the core goals and caused them to lose focus.

Mixed in with John’s talk were some fun facts about Pleo. He said the wholesale cost of Pleo was $195, and the cost to manufacture each one was $140 – a pretty good price considering the complexity, processing power, etc. Sosoka estimated that the company spent about $7 million dollars before shipping the first unit. Another interesting tidbit was that 15k of the 100k Pleos were bought in the (relatively small) Itallian market, thanks to the distributor there. Sosoka lamented using the US distributor (which I hear might have been Senario LLC, can anyone confirm?), saying that they regretted this relationship.

Again, I recommend watching John’s talk if you’re interested in the business of robotics.

Pleo’s can still be purchased from Amazon.com for a steep discount.

The Christmas season is upon us, and it’s time to whip up your gift lists. Why not put a little robot love on there? Here’s some great suggestions for robotic gifts. We’ve featured 10 great products that will make excellent gift ideas for your robot loving friend or relative.

LEGO Mindstorms NXT

I wonder if LEGO fully understood what they were getting into when they first released their “Robotics Invention System”, or “RIS” in 1998? Now, two revisions later we have the LEGO Mindstorms NXT system, which is about as perfect of a product as you can imagine. Involving a tight-knit team of LEGO and robotics enthusiasts, LEGO developed NXT from the ground up and surprised the public with their new system in 2006. The NXT system supports over 40 different programming languages, and supports a wide range of additional sensors created by 3rd parties. The kit comes with 3 motors (with feedback), 4 different sensors, and 571 pieces. You can check out some of the fabulous NXT creations over at The NXT Step Blog.

Mindstorms NXT retails for $250 USD.

Buy LEGO Mindstorms NXT from RobotShop.

Wall-E RC Toy and DVD

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Pixar is known for creating beautiful, heartwarming, and sophisticated animated films that appeal to both children and adults. Their latest masterpiece is the story of Wall-E, a trash robot stranded and alone on Earth.

One of the more interesting product tie-ins is the U Command Wall-E “interactive robot” which uses an IR remote for control and can be programming with hundreds of different actions and combinations. This may be ripe for hardware hacking and is extremely cute, to boot.

Of course, if you’re looking for something a little less costly, the 3 disk Special Edition of Wall-E on DVD would make an excellent gift for your robot loving friends.

Buy U Command Wall-E from Amazon.com.

Buy 3 Disk Special Edition Wall-E from Amazon.com.

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In honor of the 1 year anniversary of the official Pleo website, PleoWorld , Ugobe is offering a steep discount on Pleo’s purchased through the website. By using the online offer code, "PLEOWORLDISONE", at checkout, you can get a Pleo for the incredibly low price of $235. Keep in mind that the sale only lasts through JULY 11th, so order fast.

You may also notice, that Ugobe now offers replacement batteries for Pleo. Be sure to pick up an extra if you’d like extended play (or experimentation time) with you new robotic dino-pal.

Ugobe has also released a new update for Pleo,  Pleosarous Rex, which makes Pleo act like Godzilla.

Pleo is a great toy and is ripe for hacking. Getting one for $235 is a steal, so I highly suggest you take Ugobe up on the deal. Now, I just have to convince my wife that I need two …