Hasta La Gadget!

There does not seem to be much news concerning Flappy Bird these days, especially after the creator of the game, Dong Nguyen, decided to remove it “for our own good”. Well, just in case you so happen to own a device that is still capable of playing Flappy Bird because the game itself has already been installed, what is your high score? You might be feeling all smug about it, but have you actually tried to measure your performance against others? How about coming up against a robot opponent? Humans vs robots are always interesting matchups, pretty much like a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) debates, such as this table tennis playing robot who will go up against a human in due time. Liu Yang and Shi Xuekun of China are the brains behind this robot prototype that plays Flappy Bird pretty well. How well, you ask?

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Robot Plays Flappy Bird Pretty Well original content from Ubergizmo.

Do you remember the T-1000 robot from Terminator 2? Well, that was certainly a villain that was certainly memorable, capable of mimicking other forms as well as voices. Well, that science fiction world might not seem to be too far fetched now, with researchers Lei Sheng, Jie Zhang, and Jing Liu from Tsinghua University in Beijing having come up with a method of manipulating liquid metal, even allowing it to transform its shape on command.

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Liquid Metal Robot A Possibility original content from Ubergizmo.

Which would be more scary? A human being police officer, or a robot? On one hand a police officer can be reasoned with and talked to, but a robot will be non-discriminative and will just follow its given orders. Both have its ups and downs, but if you’re planning on heading over to Brazil to watch the World Cup later this year, you might want to keep an eye out for robot police. This is thanks to Brazil’s government securing a $7.2 million deal with iRobot, a Bedford, Massachusetts-based company, who will be providing the government with about 30 of its PackBot robots. These robots will be stationed through 12 of Brazil’s host cities during the soccer matchers and will also contribute towards checking out any suspicious objects.

For those wondering why the PackBot sounds familiar, it is because it was used to enter to Fukushima nuclear facility as well as being used after the East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The PackBot feature a robotic propulsion system that will allow it to travel as fast as 9mph and will have built-in flippers that allows it to rotate itself and traverse over rugged terrain like rocks, rubble, and stairs. It also weighs around 40lbs and can fit into a backpack, allowing it to be transported and deployed with ease. Other features of the PackBot include a GPS system, video image display, system monitoring, an electronic compass, and temperature sensors.

Brazil Will Deploy Robots To Police The World Cup original content from Ubergizmo.

The advent of drones has often been touted for military use, but are there any other kinds of practical use? Fendi, the haute couture label from Italy, is definitely set to rock and roll its Fall/Winter 2014-15 fashion show by introducing flying cameras to the masses. Known as the Fendi drone, one ought not to feel all that bad if you are not sitting in the first few rows, since you can now check out the show in real-time via the “classic” view as well as the unprecedented aerial shots that have been shot and streamed over by the flying “Drone cam”.

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Fendi Drone Ups The Fashion Show Ante original content from Ubergizmo.

This is the story of how Robot Dance Party came to be—how it was born, how it went through "robot puberty," and how it became the unwitting sex symbol of Dolores Park.

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