TravisDeyle.com

I'd like to pose a question: "How can you know the location of a robot when you don't have GPS?" Obviously, absolute position would be extremely difficult. Even if you had the stars to navigate (like sailors), your resolution is not so good. Further, not all environments have stars visible (indoors, subterranean, etc). SLAM to the rescue...

So there is this company called Mattracks that makes cool tank tread wheels. Basically, they attach to the drive shaft where a 'normal' round wheel would be attached. The benefit is that the tank tread drive mechanism gives you much better traction and versatility, and thus the ability to traverse otherwise impossible terrain. Mattracks has some very cool videos on their website here.

OK, OK, I know what everyone is thinking... "What is this craziness? Intergalactic Love?" Well, let's just attribute it to a poor Japanese-English translation. It is actually an interesting movie. The title should have been left at just "Hinokio," which is a play on words from the old, classic film title "Pinocchio." This movie is about a Japanese boy who is unable to walk and thus uses a humanoid robot to experience life; everything the robot sees, hears, and feels, so does the boy. He uses telepresence to control the robot from his bedroom.