Meet BJ, son of Aibo

Kawasaki-based iXs Research has a new toy that's perfect for Aibo and Doctor Who fans out there: a dog-bot that looks like a cross between Sony's discontinued hound and K-9, the Doctor's companion.

"BJ," seen as a potential successor to Aibo, is designed for robotics research and robot sport tournaments such as RoboCup, where Aibos play soccer.

It has 16 joints in total, an infrared distance sensor, accelerometer, and paw sensors. It can also connect to the Internet and can be programmed with a variety of motions. It has memory stick, USB and other ports. Weighing 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs), BJ is slated to go on sale around the world this fall for around $4,800.

via Robot Watch

The Osaka Kid: better, stronger, faster

He's back, and better than ever.

The wizards at Team Osaka, mentioned in an earlier post, have again unveiled an improved version of their champion soccer-playing robot, Vision. The past three versions came out winners in their RoboCup robot soccer tournament category. RoboCup's purpose is to develop a team of robot footballers that can beat the best humans at the sport by 2050 (and then take over the world...maybe).

Vision 4G can run 30% faster than its previous incarnation, its joints have 40% stronger torque, its has a lighter CPU and a new forward-looking camera, in addition to its 360-degree head cam, to better track the ball. There's a cool video of 4G showing off here.