New Tech Reviews Just another NEW TECH NEWS

Meet Freecutter, a clever little peripheral for your home and office. Its a marriage between a cutter and scissor, where the cutter blade retracts into one of the scissor blades. A fine example of how to make things more multifunctional and of course, more than one way to accidentally cut my finger now.

Designer: Junho Jin

Source:yankodesign.com

Now that everybody and they momma are doing motion controls, what’s Nintendo to do next? Ask designer Florence Boob (yes for serious) and you’ll get the Wii-Robot. OMG Wii-bot! Working under the assumption that everybody and they momma loves robots (true), the Wii-Robot is the little R2-D2 companion you’ve always wanted. It flies and follows you around, inviting you to play games it projects onto any flat surface. The controller is a sphere laced with motion controls. Loves!

Designer: Florence Boob

Source:yankodesign.com

Sounds exciting! The problem the designer is trying to solve here is the fact that malpractice suits for minimally-invasive gallbladder removals are still prevalent. To deter this sort of situation, the designer aims to employ four dimensional ultrasound technology to better “see” the insides of the patient, including inside the bladder the surgeon is detaching. This 4D imaging is used currently to see real-time images of fetuses in the wombs of expectant mothers. What this device does it make that technology realistic for the operating table.

The second image you see in the gallery below is marked with several colored markers. They are thus:

1) Ultrasound probe (cable goes outside of OR for processing)
2) Probe truck (rides back and forth to provide the motion needed for 3D ultrasound imaging) (as well as in/out to match the curve of the patient’s body)
3) Drive motor (powers probe truck motion)
4) Ultrasound gel pad (adhesive pad that provides lubrication and ultrasound transmission)
5) Arm clamps (allow device to slide to match angle of patient’s body: see video for clarification).

Designers: Alex Broerman

Source:yankodesign.com

Science Fiction has been less-than-kind when it comes to giving robots an environmentally friendly outlook. Robots are supposed to destroy the world, not save it, right? Nay. Nay I say. And so also says Anna-Karin Bergkvist, designer of this tree planting robot. Reforestation on the horizon, that’s what this robot says. Four legs, extendable planting arm, and planting head. That’s what we’ve got here. One green robot walker.

This machine is built to be small and tread lightly so that it has as little negative impact on the plants and animals it must walk through in order to get around the newly planted forest. By using hot steam to destroy competing vegetation (choking vines that kill trees, for example), it poses no threat to the animals that afterward come upon planting spots. Each seed is planted with a biodegradable plastic protective barrier, protecting it from bugs until it’s old enough that they could take chomps and it’d still survive. The robot itself is run on steam and fueled by “forestry waste” such as animal pellets and wood chips.

One robot can carry around 320 seedlings in one load. Seeds are fed into the machine at the front and loaded onto a revolving cartridge until full – at which point the robot begins it’s cycle. The robot stands in place, planting as many seeds as is reasonable and it can reach in one location. Once finished, the arm retracts to fill up again as the robot moves on to the next location.

There is a trailer involved in this situation also, the one that brings the robot to the locations it’s going to seed. Once in place, the robot uses this trailer as a base camp, returning as needed to re-fill with seeds, fuel, and water automatically. The robot can work in patterns, a complete “virtual forest” can be programmed into it for planting. Landscape Architects, get out your pencils and pads!

Designer: Anna-Karin Bergkvist

Source:yankodesign.com

When you think of robotic police enforcement, I would hope that your mind would travel first to the most awesome of all part-robot police enforcers, that being of course Robocop. I’m not sure if Jamie Martin had RC in mind when he designed “C.R.A.B.”, but certainly this amazing machine would be right at home in a modern sequel to those fabulous action movies. The letters C.R.A.B. stand for Cybernetic Autonomous Remote Barricade, which means that if you see this death-defying looking metal six-leg at the door to anywhere, you ain’t getting in.

This is a real big deal. For real.

The technology behind the artificial intelligence used in this fabulous machine has been being developed over the past 12 years in relative secret between weapons manufacturer Dalton/Stanley and megacorporation Omni Consumer Products.

Next generation armor and weapons, very possibly on the streets in the real world very soon. In fact, similar all-terrain robots are being developed for military uses, setting in motion what might be the largest change in the way wars are fought in the history of the world.

NOTE: this is a concept right now, but we (humans) have been talking about the day when robots walk around on their own since robots were first conceived. Someday it’s gonna happen. And the CRAB shall command them!

Designer: Jamie Martin

Source:yankodesign.com

I don’t know if you know it, but today I got in a car accident. I’m not kidding. For real. In real life, I got in a car accident today. I ran a stop sign like an idiot, not paying attention, like a fool who needed to be separated from his car. Lucky for everyone, noone was hurt. My car may be totalled, but everyone is totally alright. That’s all you’ve got to know about that besides this: you know what would have been helpful? A robot helper. You know what designer Derek Chik Kin Ng has? A car that’s robot compliant, and yes, a robot who fits right there in the seat.

You can sit this robot right down in there, a little robot helper for you to ride with. This project goes by the name “Humanoid Robot.” This robot it built to be an autonomous type of machine, one that adapts and learns, and also one that’s meant to help it’s master, you, the human.

This robot is 120cm in height (similar to that of a 7 year old child), and works not only to assist its human friend in driving, but also in social life. For example, the robot tells you the news you’d like to know as it happens, like which one of your non-robot-owning friends just got in an accident because they forgot what a stop sign was for. But it doesn’t just have the ability to warn you, nay, this robot can drive for you if you’re totally busy with your cell phone. When you go grocery shopping, it can carry your bags. When you move from one house to another, this robot can help you pack.

And the car, it’s powered by fuel-cell technology, an ecological vision with 2+ heads at all times.

Now – take a look at these images. This gallery you’re about to see below is all also made by D.C.K.N., the designer of this project. He’s got some fantastic talent in illustration too, I’m tellin ya.

Designer: Derek Chik Kin Ng

Source:yankodesign.com

As promised, here are the details on the Electrolux Bio Robot Refrigerator, a concept that has been making quite a splash in the blogosphere! In lay terms, the fridge is a concept where the Bio Robot cools biopolymer gel through luminescence. A non-sticky gel surrounds the food item when shoved into the biopolymer gel, creating separate pods. The design features no doors or drawers, and the food items are individually cooled at their optimal temperature thanks to the robot. And since it can take any orientation (hung vertically, horizontally, and even on the ceiling), and can be modified in size, you can fit it in any apartment.

More details in the images…

Designer: Yuriy Dmitriev

Source:yankodesign.com