AUTOMATIC, a benefit art show for RoboGames 2010 takes place on Thursday, November 19th at the Lowerdeck Gallery in San Francisco.

Do sentient machines dwell on the existential circuit
that leads to the spiritual 404 error?

Does being a machine mean just being a device:
literarily, artistically and literally?

Or does everything just boil down to everyone’s deep-seated need to crush all humans and plot eventual total world domination?

Find out at Automatic!

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photos by Jason Lentz

Over the years Jason Lentz has been creating various versions of a giant cardboard robot suit that he wears around to various events and locations.

Here he is trying to fit into the elevator at the Gazillion Entertainment offices.

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guest post by Josh Ellingson

Artist Jeremy Mayer creates striking representations of human anatomy using only typewriter parts. Mayer doesn’t weld or glue any of the components, preferring rather that the pieces hold together naturally. The resulting biomechanical artwork transcends “steampunk” aesthetic and clicks neatly into place among surrealists like H.R. Giger and Zdzislaw Beksinski. You can follow Jeremy Mayer on Twitter (@jeremymayer) or view a live webcam feed from his Palo Alto studio here.

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Boston Dynamics has created the PETMAN prototype, an amazing biped robot that walks like a human and is used by the US Army to test chemical protection clothing. It’s a follow-up to Boston Dynamics’s quadruped robot BigDog.

PETMAN is an anthropomorphic robot for testing chemical protection clothing used by the US Army. Unlike previous suit testers, which had to be supported mechanically and had a limited repertoire of motion, PETMAN will balance itself and move freely; walking, crawling and doing a variety of suit-stressing calisthenics during exposure to chemical warfare agents. PETMAN will also simulate human physiology within the protective suit by controlling temperature, humidity and sweating when necessary, all to provide realistic test conditions.

Natural, agile movement is essential for PETMAN to simulate how a soldier stresses protective clothing under realistic conditions. The robot will have the shape and size of a standard human, making it the first anthropomorphic robot that moves dynamically like a real person.

via Geekologie

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While on a quest for dinner tonight in San Antonio, Yelp pointed me in the direction of Mamacita’s, a cavernous Tex-Mex restaurant setup as a faux Mexican town where people have dinner in the zocalo under a starry sky. That in itself was pretty bizzare, but what I didn’t expect was an impromptu performance by an animatronic Davy Crockett playing fiddle on the top of a replica of The Alamo.

It’s like a Tex-Mex Chuck E. Cheese.

Oh and the food was great, especially the tortillas that were made a few feet away.

Here are a few photos I shot at Mamacita’s:

photos by Scott Beale

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guest post by Violet Blue

We’re absolutely sure that with the aid of super-futuristic technology that we know is being invented right now, sex in the future will be more amazing than our Cylon-Cylon (plus Replicant, plus Cameron/T9) fantasies could imagine. I mean, I just get stuck thinking of two Summer Glau’s kissing. But until then, and barring Chinese manufacturing of a cheap entry-level priced Peep Show Holodeck (patent pending), we have the annual international sex and technology festival Arse Elektronika.

This year’s theme “Of Intercourse and Intracourse” promises to be a buffet of futuristic and fantastic sexual innovations, artistic explorations, and virtual hallucinations of the sci-fi-meets-pr0n kind. The thing is, it’s in just two weeks and with poeple flying in from all over the world to participate, there are a lot of talks and happenings to choose from. Starting October 1 to the 4th, events will be at various San Francisco locations including Roxie Theater, Center for Sex and Culture, Noisebridge, Femina Potens Gallery, and PariSoMa.

Tickets to each of the three-day events are here at Brown Paper Tickets. The main site with the full schedule is here.

Don’t have time to sift the schedule to find out where to see the hot robot sex action? Here are recommended highlights:

* Thursday, October 1 is the opening night, and we’re excited to see that Annalee Newitz will be speaking at the opening gala. It officially starts at 6pm with an explicit film festival at the Roxie Theater in the Mission, and is followed by in-theater opening presentations that, if you’ve seen the Arse opening (and award ceremony) before, you’ll know they’re anything but dry. Also, not on the schedule is a hardware-hacked Atari Joydick showdown: male vs. female gaming parts. We’re sure this will be pretty outrageous.

* Friday, October 2 talks start at the Center for Sex and Culture at 8pm, but the one we won’t be missing is Johannes Grenzfurthner’s “Dating Yog-Sothoth and Fucking a Zombie.” If you’ve seen his presentations, you know he’s — rather unpredictable. The talk’s description is only, “Bizarre Sci-Fi and Fantasy in Graphic Novels. No spoilers.” Enough said.

* Saturday, October 3 is the Big Fat Future Sex Day, with talks going from 11:30am to 9pm at ParisSoMa, then a not-to-be-missed (though limited capacity) evening gala at frisky erotic art gallery Femina Potens, starting at 10pm. Daytime talk highlights include “Sex Without Meat: How Singularitarians View Sex” by R.U. Sirius, “Will You Still Love Me Like This In The Year 2300?” by Annalee Newitz, and “Biometrics in the Bedroom” by Kyle Machulis (AKA qDot). The nighttime future sex fiesta includes a bizarre installation of DIY porn tools, plus a six-piece musical act that fits the theme while putting the flesh into all this hypothetical sex. This is the party, replicants.

* Sunday October 4 is the hackfest: at hacker space Noisebridge, sex hackers will demo how to create a Joydick (and other sex/gaming hybrids), you can learn how to make your own ’steampunk’ vibrator from the expert, the Thrillhammer’s Allen Stein will show you genital-based haptic devices and much more.

We’ll see you there. Just don’t get your dangly bits too close to the moving parts. Unless that’s your fetish.

photos by Scott Beale

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Onward Robots!, a new Shirt.Woot t-shirt by Chris Ware to benefit 826michigan.

Wear this shirt: to support 826michigan,, the Great Lakes State chapter of 826 National. This non-profit project offers free workshops, tutoring, writing rooms, and other resources to students aged 6 to 18 who want to develop their creative and expository writing skills. The artist’s proceeds from this shirt will go to the Michigan chapter, housed in the world-renowned Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair facility.

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“Prove You’re Human” a brilliant installment of the webcomic APOKALIPS

via The Triumph of Bullshit

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guest post by Jackson West

UPDDATE: Turns out this was an elaborate hoax.

The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot, or EATR, from Maryland’s RTI is a fully autonomous robot that can actual forage for combustible, organic material to fuel its steam-powered engine. And by “forage,” I mean “eat corpses.” And since the project is being funded by the Pentagon, and potential uses include “mobile gunship,” it could operate indefinitely — or at least until it ran out of ammunition (then again, it could just switch to the included chain saw and hobble any live “fuel” with a whack to the shins). Your tax dollars at work, America.

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“Warning! Vehicle Transforms Into Robot” an awesome new bumper sticker by R. Stevens (Diesel Sweeties) making its debut at Comic-Con 2009.

Speaking of which, you can follow the adventures of R. Stevens as he travels to Comic-Con from Massachusetts via train, a trip inspired by Joe Biden!

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photo by Shuichi Aizawa

photo by AppuruPai

A giant 59′ tall Gundam robot has arrived in Tokyo overlooking Odaiba Island to help promote their bid for the 2016 Olymics.

via Flickr Blog

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Don’t mess With Chuck E. Cheese, he’s one badass animatronic mouse.

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illustration by Doctor Popular

RoboGames 2009, the world’s largest open robot competition, takes place this weekend, Friday, June 12th through Sunday, June 14th at Fort Mason Festival Pavilion in San Francisco. Here’s the full schedule and advance tickets are now on sale.

RoboGames invites the best minds from around the world to compete in over 70 different events. Combat robots, walking humanoids, soccer bots, sumo bots, and even androids that do kung-fu. Some robots are autonomous, some are remote controlled, some spew fire, some just look cool. Get your geek on and come on down!

photo by Lenore Edman

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories created this year’s awesome RoboGames awards.

photo by Scott Beale

Here are some photos and video I shot at RoboGames 2008.

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Here are a few short videos that I shot this year at Maker Faire 2009.

Calliope by Neverwas

Soma by Flaming Lotus Girls

Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing plays his cigar box guitar

kid vs. robot in a chess match

Cupcake CNC by MakerBot Industries

Geneva Wheel, part of 10,000 Year Clock Project by The Long Now Foundation

Hand of Man by Christian Ristow

R2-D2

Jacob’s Ladder by Omega Recoil

Skull by Alameda County Computer Resource Center (ACCRC)

Video Gallery: Maker Faire 2009

Here are my photos from Maker Faire 2009.

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Here are my photos of Maker Faire 2009, which took place Saturday, May 30th and Sunday, May 31st at the San Mateo County Event Center.

Photo Gallery: Maker Faire 2009

Here are the videos that I shot at Maker Faire 2009.

photo by Scott Beale

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Make and Craft present Maker Faire 2009, the world’s largest DIY festival, which is returns to the San Mateo County Expo Center for its 4th year next weekend, Saturday, May 30th and Sunday, May 31st.

Following on President Obama’s call to “begin again the work of remaking America”, Maker Faire 2009 will be organized around the theme of Re-Make America. Held in the San Francisco Bay Area on May 30-31, Maker Faire celebrates what President Obama called “the risk takers, the doers, and the makers of things.” The fourth annual Maker Faire will showcase individual creativity and grassroots innovation in the largest festival devoted to DIY culture and technology in the country.

Here are my photos from Maker Faire Bay Area 2008.

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“Reach” is a wonderful CG animated short by Melbourne animator and director Luke Randall that tells the story of a robot with a very short power cable.

via Drawn!

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guest post by Burstein!

photo by Signaltheorist

Signaltheorist writes:

Now here’s something interesting, I set up a photo camera in my room, turned out all the lights and took a long-exposure shot of my roomba doing it’s thing for about 30 minutes. The result is a picture that shows the path of the roomba through it’s cleaning cycle, it looks like a flight map or something. It really hits every spot!

This raises the interesting question of what the Roomba would take in a different room, or if it had a different starting point in the same room, or even if it would repeat itself from the same starting point. I lack a robot servant, but should get one.

If any of you got one and felt like recreating this experiment, please post photos in the comments!

via Gizmodo

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guest post by Burstein!

Fiobles Mench was originally an event proposed for Burning Man 2007, but it was not funded and the space, “a muti-use performance area with elevated audience,” was not permitted. So, as is wont to happen, it was delayed, but has now found a home this Saturday, May 16th, at NIMBY.

The plot follows the evolution of humanity from primitive to modern and beyond. Early humans frolic in the forest, then develop and build machines first to improve and then to unwittingly destroy their environment, with the machines eventually taking over and destroying everything including themselves.

Indeed-y. You will also get music by Kerry Walsh and TradeMark G, along with the fire robots of Justin Grey. Classy and awesome. What else could you ever want?

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photos by Scott Beale

Here are a few photos from last night’s Super Secret Robot Party at SPACE in San Francisco that Laughing Squid co-hosted with Combots and the Robotics Society of America as a fundraiser for RoboGames 2009 (June 12-14 in San Francisco).

Swarm Orb

David Calkins testing out the flame thrower for the marshmallow toasting robot.

Photo Gallery: Super Secret Robot Party

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