Essential Home Smart Assistant

Built with privacy as a chief priority, the Essential Home Smart Assistant is a cloud-connected, but not cloud-focused helper. It runs Ambient OS, a new operating system that runs its AI engine locally to keep from having everything you say blasted over the 'net. Its creators promise that it will automatically find and configure other smart devices around your home, like lamps and speakers, and can even learn your routines, notifying you when you need to leave the house for a meeting or when you've forgotten to turn off a light. A built-in circular display shows you relevant information and provides a physical interface, with clean, well-designed graphics. Other details are scarce, but more should be announced in the coming months.

DJI Spark Mini Drone

The DJI Spark Mini Drone won't turn you into a Jedi. You might feel like one, though, when you're controlling it in mid-air using nothing but your hands. Aside from the gesture controls, the Spark borrows some other tricks from its full-sized siblings, including a gimbal-mounted camera shooting 1080p video and 12-megapixel stills, automatic obstacle avoidance, and a top speed of 31 miles per hour. It can run for up to 16 minutes per charge, juice up via Micro USB, and receive commands from a smartphone from up to 109 yards away. Available in white, blue, green, red, and yellow.

Biki Underwater Drone

With a bionic design that mimics the movement of a fish, the Biki Underwater Drone combines outstanding maneuverability with 4K video capture. It uses GPS, an inertial measurement sensor, and intelligent algorithms to automatically follow pre-set routes and keep its balance in the water, resulting in stable footage at depths of up to 196 feet. An infrared positioning sensor lets it avoid obstacles, its camera can also shoot 16-megapixel stills, and its battery is good for up to two hours per charge.

Joto Drawing Robot

More versatile than a static print and more personal than a display, the Joto Drawing Robot lets you adorn your wall with a frequently updated image. The connected device uses a custom pen controlled by a mechanical arm to recreate notes, artwork, doodles, or even tweets. It writes on a wipe-clean writing surface, automatically erases it before the next drawing with a built-in, replaceable eraser, and the simple self-contained frame is something you'll be proud to hang on your wall.

Forpheus Ping Pong Robot

It's hard to get better at table tennis without a playing partner that can adjust to your skill level. The Forpheus Ping Pong Robot can do just that. It uses two vision sensors and a motion sensor to measure the position of both its opponent and the movement of the ball 80 times per second. Using AI, it can then predict the trajectory of the ball and hit the ball back, and learn about your playing characteristics over time to help you make progress. It's not available for sale to private or commercial customers just yet but instead points to a future where robots can help you get better at skills you already have, instead of just doing things for you.

Gita Cargo Carrying Robot

Designed to solve the problem of needing a car or truck to move packages through the urban landscape, the Gita Cargo Carrying Robot is your own personal delivery system. Measuring 26 inches tall and capable of carrying 40 pounds at speeds of up to 22 mph, Gita is primarily designed to accompany you without notice, letting you walk, jog, run, or bike to your destinations while it follows dutifully behind. In addition to simply following you, it can also move by itself on a pre-mapped schedule, picking up lunch, packages, and anything else you need while you focus on more pressing matters. Created by the company behind the iconic Vespa, it also looks right at home on city sidewalks.

Cafe X Coffee Robot

We all know robots are likely to replace many jobs over the coming years. If the Cafe X Coffee Robot is any indication, your barista's might be among them. Built in partnership with leading automatic coffee machine company WMF, the Cafe X is a fully enclosed affair, delivering perfectly-brewed drinks on demand. You can place your order at one of the touchscreens at the cafe or ahead of time via an app, and simply enter a four-digit order number to have the Mitsubishi robotic arm grab your cup. Currently open in San Francisco's Metreon, it offers drinks developed hand-in-hand with local roasters AKA, Verve, and Peet's.

Laundroid Laundry Folding Robot

Ranking just below "cleaning the bathroom" on the list of annoying household chores, folding laundry is no one's idea of a good time. The Laundroid Laundry Folding Robot can make sure you never have to do it again. Just load all your freshly washed and dried laundry, and it takes care of the rest. It takes a picture of each garment to figure out what it is and the best way to fold it, and can automatically sort the folded items by type or by family member, freeing up your time for other pursuits.

Kuri Home Robot

Alexa, Siri, and Google's Assistant have gotten us used to the idea of talking to robots. The Kuri Home Robot aims to making living with them commonplace, too. Standing 20 inches tall, a foot wide, and weighing in a 14 lbs, Kuri bears at least a passing resemblance to Big Hero 6's Baymax, no doubt helped along by animations designed by a Pixar vet. Powerful motors enable Kuri to follow you around, even over carpet and thresholds, multiple mics ensure it can hear what you're saying, and a built-in 1080p camera lets you check in on things when you're away. Kuri can also recognize faces, detects objects and automatically maps out your house, and has powerful speakers that can read stories, play music, or just serve to speak its playful robot language.

Hankook Mirae Method-2 Robot Suit

It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. That might have something to do with Vitaly Bulgarov, whose conceptual design work can be seen in movies like RoboCop, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Terminator: Genisys. But the Hankook Mirae Method-2 Robot Suit is no CGI dream. Instead, it's a 1.5-ton, 13-foot tall manned robot. Sit inside the cockpit, move your arms, and its arms will move as well. It's still taking "baby steps", according to the company's chairman, but should be moving far more freely when it goes on sale late next year.

Shift Drone

There's a reason autonomous flying modes have been a key element of this year's big drone announcements: most people aren't that great at controlling them with what's in essence a legacy R/C plane controller. The Shift Drone overcomes that not with autonomy, but with a novel new control scheme. To fly it, you simply grab a stick-like box and wear a special ring on your thumb, which floats above the sensors on the top. Move your thumb up to go up, left to fly left, etc., giving you intuitive one-handed control. There's a 13 megapixel/4K camera on board, and an optional extension lets you control the camera and view real-time feed back via your smartphone.

Kobi Lawn Robot

Autonomous lawnmowers have been around for a few years now. But the Kobi Lawn Robot is far more than just a high-tech grass-cutter. In the summer, it can keep your lawn mowed, using weather forecasts to know when to cut and mulching the clippings to keep your yard healthy. In the fall, a separate module lets it clear both your yard and driveway of leaves, and during the winter, the snow module dutifully clears your driveway so you don't have to venture out in the cold — unless you want to, of course. It's powered by quiet, efficient brushless motors and a lithium-ion battery, and will automatically return to its charging station when it's running low on juice.

DJI Mavic Pro Foldable Drone

Having solved the problems of steady video and (mostly) autonomous flying, this year's crop of new drones are focusing on a third obstacle to regular use: size. The DJI Mavic Pro Foldable Drone offers a stabilized 4K camera, a range of 4.3 miles, and a flight time of 27 minutes, yet folds down into a package not much larger than a water bottle. The new FlightAutonomy system, outfitted with a slew of cameras, range finders, and sensors, can position, navigate and plan routes for the drone, avoiding obstacles at speeds up to 22 mph. A Sport Mode lets you hit speeds of up to 40 mph, and a new, optional dedicated controller has a built-in touchscreen, an improved video link system, and likewise folds down to let you carry the whole system in a normal bag instead of a dedicated case.

Prodrone Robot Arm Drone

It looks like something out of a sci-fi nightmare, but the Prodrone Robot Arm Drone is far more useful than intimidating. Based on the company's existing large capacity airframe, this aerial tool has a pair of five-axis robotic arms that can perform a number of tasks, from picking up and moving objects up to 22 lbs. to cutting wires and flipping switches at altitudes — up to 5,000 feet — where direct human interaction is inconvenient or impossible. Capable of operating in nearly any weather, it's limited only by the person at the controls.

Case IH Magnum Autonomous Tractor

Farmers work extremely hard. With the Case IH Magnum Autonomous Tractor, they can work a bit less. This concept vehicle, developed in collaboration with Autonomous Solutions, lets farmers take care of tasks like seeding, planting, and tilling, all without hopping behind the wheel. A simple tablet interface lets you set boundaries, plot paths, and set things in motion in less than 30 seconds, and you'll get a notification should it avoid any obstacles — using a combination of radar, LiDAR, and cameras — or run out of fuel or seeds. In addition, you can control multiple tractors at once, and with carbon fiber front fenders, black and red rims, and LED status/running lights, this robotic crop tender looks good, too.

Photos: Jackie Osborne / CNH Industrial

PowerVision PowerEgg Camera Drone

Judging by the looks of most drones, building one that looks like an egg seems a little counterintuitive. Yet it's that exact shape that makes the PowerVision PowerEgg Camera Drone different. Thanks to the design, each of its four arms and rotors is able to retract back inside the shell for easy transportation, as are the four legs, which fold upwards so as to not block the view of the gimbal-mounted, 14 megapixel 4K camera. Arrives with a traditional dual-stick controller, as well as the Maestro gesture-based controller that's ideal for beginner pilots.

Samsung Powerbot Vacuum

No one likes to clean their floors. Let the Samsung Powerbot Vacuum do the job for you. Its powerful CycloneForce design gives it 70 times the suction of competing robotic vacuums, and built-in Wi-fi lets you select which rooms to clean and when. To do so, it uses its onboard camera to make a complete map of your home, dodging furniture and objects left on the floor with ease — sadly, you'll still have to pick up after yourself.

Yuneec Typhoon H Drone

The drone market gets more crowded everyday, so it's rare when one truly stands out. The Yuneec Typhoon H Drone does so, and not just for its funny name. It's the first drone to use Intel's RealSense technology. Using a special camera and quad-core Atom processor, it maps and learns its environment in 3D, automatically recognizing obstacles and planning alternative routes around them, ensuring that it won't wreck it self during an automatic follow routine, and enabling it to easily be flown indoors. Other features include gimbal-based 4K video capture with a 720p real-time feed to the Android-based controller, retractable landing gear for a clear view, and folding arms for easy storage.

Sea Drone

Drones have become the go-to way to capture footage and stills from above the ground. The Sea Drone aims to do the same under the surface of the water. Its thruster system automatically regulates the propeller speed while monitoring the current, voltage, RPM, and temperature. A simple iOS-based interface combined with Auto Depth and Auto Heading systems makes control a breeze, and real-time video stabilization ensures that you get smooth footage even in choppy waters. Good for everything from filmmakers to bridge inspections.

DJI Phantom 4 Drone

Professionals will no doubt be happy with the new features of the DJI Phantom 4 Drone. But surprisingly, it's beginners who have the most to celebrate. Thanks to two new cameras on the front, two on the bottom, two belly-mounted Ultrasonic sensors, and the main camera, it can build a 3D model of the world around it and use it to avoid obstacles — including people. A new trick called TapFly lets you use it without the traditional two-stick controller, instead tapping on the live video feed to pilot the craft, while the new ActiveTrack system lets you select the subject you want to keep in frame, and the drone's intelligent software will take care of the rest. It runs for up to 28 minutes on a single charge, can hit speeds of up to 45 mph, and still shoots amazingly stable 4K video, but it's the confidence that comes with knowing you can operate it without crashing that's the real upgrade here.

Audi Lunar Quattro

Built to compete for the $30 million dollar Google Lunar XPRIZE, the Audi Lunar Quattro is the first four-ringed vehicle not meant for terrestrial use. To complete its mission, it'll have to traverse at least a half kilometer of rocky lunar landscape, while beaming high-res images and video back to Earth. During the journey, which will take an estimated five days, it will need to hitch a ride on a rocket, and deal with temperatures as high as 250º F. In order to overcome these challenges, it's built from a mix of high-strength aluminum and magnesium, uses a pair of stereo cameras to navigate obstacles, has a swiveling solar panel to charge up the battery powering its four hub motors, and, of course, takes full advantage of Audi's legendary all-wheel drive system.

Axis Vidius Mini Drone

You don't need a huge, trunk-hogging rig to capture video with a drone. The Axis Vidius Mini Drone can stream and record both live (420p) video and still images during flight, yet fits in the palm of your hand. The world's smallest FPV drone, it communicates with its 4-channel controller over a 2.4 gHz connection, but can also be controlled via Wi-Fi with an Android or iOS device. Its rechargeable battery lasts for up to 7 minutes per charge, a six-axis gyro keeps it stable during flight, and a pre-programmed "trick mode" lets it do flips and rolls on command. With a 100 foot range, it's not going to replace your Phantom anytime soon, but as a fun toy or beginner's model, it's hard to beat.

Segway Robot

Mixing powerful robotics with the company's rock-solid mobility platform, the Segway Robot has as much potential as it does personality. It's powered by an Intel Atom processor running a version of Android, letting you create your own apps and use cases. It uses an array of cameras — one for depth sensing, one for tracking, and one for normal video/still photography — to complete tasks like move from room to room, track and follow you when you're on foot, and other things that haven't been thought of yet. It has a built-in interface for hardware extensions, letting you add things like arms or tools as you go, or you could just use it as a plain old Segway. But where's the fun in that?

Tipron Projection Robot

We get the benefits of having a screen in every room of the house. We also understand it's not practical for most people. The Tipron Projection Robot can give you a screen up to 80 inches on any wall (or ceiling) you want. It does so by connecting a moving base to a transforming body and projector-laden eye. The ability to transform, coupled with a projector unit that can adjust roll, pitch and yaw and features keystone correction, means it will work at a variety of heights and angles. It has a built-in speaker and Wi-Fi, an HDMI input, a 5 megapixel video/still camera, and sensors to keep it from bumping into stuff. With the companion app, you can designate places and times for it to arrive, and with Internet tie-ins, you can have it display things like a news feed, Twitter, or YouTube playlist on demand.

Parrot Disco Drone

Who said all drones have to be quadcopters? The Parrot Disco Drone has a propeller, but looks far more like a traditional airplane than a futuristic camera-wielding robot. The lightweight design houses a Full HD camera in the front nose, as well as ground sensors, Wi-Fi, GPS, and three-axis stabilization for incredibly easy control. It can fly for up to 45 minutes, automatically fly a predetermined route and return home, and is also compatible with VR headsets for a first-person view of every flight. And it doesn't take much knowledge to get it off the ground, either — if you can throw a paper airplane, you can get it in the air.

Amazon Prime Air Drone Delivery

It's the stuff of science fiction: being able to order nearly anything you want and have it delivered to your door in less time than it takes to finish an episode of Game of Thrones. Yet thanks to Amazon Prime Air Drone Delivery, it may well become a reality. This service will use autonomous drones to deliver packages weighing up to five pounds in 30 minutes or less to addresses as far as 10 miles away by relying on "sense and avoid" technology to keep away from obstacles both on the ground and in the air. No word yet on when you'll be able to start scheduling gadget airdrops, but if this Jeremy Clarkson-hosted video is any indication, expect it to happen sooner rather than later.

Meccano MeccaNoid G15 KS Robot

With a legacy dating back over 100 years, Meccano has been the toy of choice for aspiring engineers for a long, long time. The Meccano MeccaNoid G15 KS Robot brings the classic construction set up to date with an app-connecting "brain" and 10 motors that give it a broad range of movements. The set includes over 1,200 pieces, knows over 1,000 phrases, recognizes your voice, stands over four feet tall, and can learn new movements in three different ways. A perfect gift for future builders and adult tinkerers alike.

PowerUp FPV Paper Airplane Drone

Think you need a huge protective case to carry your drone around? With the PowerUp FPV Paper Airplane Drone, all you need is a small bag and a piece of paper. Developed in collaboration with Parrot, this lightweight drone lets you control your creations, with a wide-angle camera that rotates 360º to give you front, rear, and wing views, a bevy of sensors to give it rock-stable auto-pilot, and special Head Mounted Display gestures in the app that are ideal for VR. It has a 300 foot range, thanks to a MIMO Wi-Fi antenna, can move at speeds of up to 20 mph for up to 10 minutes per charge, and has a carbon fiber and nylon reinforced frame so it should hold up even if it comes crashing down.