Swarmanoid is a 'heterogeneous robotic swarm' made up of three types of robot: eye-bot, which can fly and attach itself to the ceiling, and has a camera; foot-bot, which has wheels and can transport things along the floor; and hand-bot, which can grab things, move itself up the edges of walls and thin poles, and shoot a magnetic rope to the ceiling to lift itself. In the video, the bots work together using wireless communication of some sort, and achieve their objective: to retrieve a book. As much as I agree this is a pretty harmless activity, the sci-fi fan in me is anticipating such swarms becoming sentient and taking on more complex tasks, such as retrieving THE STILLBEATING HEART OF EVERY LIVING HUMAN. Although given how long it takes them to get the book, we're probably safe. Ish.
Secondly, this fantastic infographic (I secretly have a massive thing about infographics and think that done well, they are a brilliant way to communicate facts, especially statistics, although I agree they have the potential to mislead) and this one is about ROBOTS! And contains lots of great facts about robots, so you should have a look at it.
Thirdly, this video from New Scientist of a creepy robot head which sings, looking for all the world like a slightly melted Liza Minelli but not as good at singing as her. It can apparently read musical scores written in a specific way, and will sing the words you write on the score. My favourite part is at the end of the article, where it implies such robots might soon be employed as receptionists. Shudder.
And finally, a picture of a building which looks like a robot. With a huge erection. Photo by ackoblog.
Having previously discussed the use of remote controlled (or otherwise) robots in war zones, particularly for bomb detection and disposal, I was touched by 