Sarah Kidner explores our fascination with robots, looks at their past and ponders the robotic future. What have a Czech playwright, 15th century artist Leonardo da Vinci and the future o

Humanoid robots could also take robotics back to the factory floor in the 21st century. Theres a very pragmatic engineering reason to build humanoid robots, and thats because most of our environment h

The biggest problem with modern robotics is not the mechanisms, its the intelligence behind the mechanisms. Matching the human sense of balance is a major challenge, for example. Enter cy

Fictional depictions such as these are startlingly accurate, since sci-fi has paved the way for our acceptance of each generation of robots. Capeks prophecies were fulfilled when robots made their fir

A site that shows you how to do infra red photography. Also: Asimov's laws of robotics and why they matter, Earth is getting a Space Fence, and the next big netbook processor.

Reaching the places where human beings cant travel would later propel robotic arms millions of miles away from the factory floor. It started with the creation of the six-jointed, robotic Stanford Arm,

Theres another, equally important, purpose to making humanoids such as Cog human: interaction with other human beings. For human/robot interaction, its good to have something that looks vaguely human

Each month we put together a list of the technology and trends that have made us sit up and take notice.

Ever wondered what a particular acronym stands for? Find the answer in our comprehensive reference guide to computer industry acronyms. RTFM!

University of Manchester to build brain style computer.

Humanoid robots arent a new concept. Perhaps the first appearance of a humanoid robot was Elektro, who appeared at the 1939 World Trade Fair in New York. Elektro danced, counted to ten, smoked and rav

Remember Anakin Skywalker? Here he is, 10 years after. Also: Intel's power saving trick and why it might hurt your eyes, robotic motorcyclists, Monkey Island on the iPhone

Assuming that all goes to plan, well see the first of the Mars Network communications satellites hitching a ride on the 2003 mission spacecraft. By 2005 the technologies should be mature enough to all

The other alternative camp of AI research that sprang up in the 1980s decided that the whole idea of high level abstract intelligence and complex models of the world was a bad idea - or at least too a