 The students and their customized robots, with precision parts and shooting capabilities, defeated 47 other teams during the regional competition held this past weekend at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, Calif. About 20 engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., helped students in building the robots and provided technical advice during the competition.
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Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe announced robotics will be a core business for the company in coming years. Toyota will test out its robots at hospitals, Toyota-related facilities and other places starting next year, he said. And the company hopes to put what it calls “partner robots” to real use by 2010, he said. 
We’re really not so sure what Kyosho’s new Manoi AT01 has to be so glum about. It is his launch day after all. But manic depressiveness aside, he’s sounding just like he did a couple of weeks ago, except now we’ve got real pics instead of concept renders.
To curtail needless casualties, the full robotization of war at the lowest level has already started. Not only are the ethical considerations frightening, the pace is astonishing. Everything from the dumbest land mine to the best smart missile has already improved ten fold over the last 20 years. Armies are ready to field the first remote controlled land warbots – soon to be fully automated after the unheralded success of US Air Force systems like Global Hawk, Predator and other intelligence gathering unmanned, remote controlled vehicles. A Predator even managed to kill an alleged group of terrorists traveling in a moving car using powerful Hellfire antitank missiles – albeit by remote control hence not truly autonomous.
A nimble, four-legged robot is so surefooted it can recover its balance even after being given a hefty kick. The machine, which moves like a cross between a goat and a pantomime horse, is being developed as a robotic pack mule for the US military.