Billed as "the world's first land drone", the Turtle Rover was designed by the same folks that brought us the Mars rover. The four-wheeled explorer has a front-facing camera and a robotic arm, is completely water-tight, and can run for four hours on a single charge. Controlled from your smartphone or tablet with an open-source app, the Turt Rover is completely customizable. Deliveries are expected to start in June 2018.
Big fun. Small package. The Sphero Mini crams the same tech that made the original popular — like a gyroscope, accelerometer, a motor, and LED lights — into a package about the size of a ping-pong ball. It can be controlled by the companion app, doubles as a pint-sized, motion-enabled game controller, and can be programmed for new functionality using the Sphero Edu app and some basic JavaScript. Available in five colors, it comes with a few tiny accessories to get you started.
Something of a cross between a security camera and a drone, the Aevena Aire Flying Robotic Assistant is a new type of homebound gadget. Using a ducted fan assembly for quiet flight, it has an arsenal of sensors that let it fly around autonomously, avoid obstacles from any angle, and automatically takeoff and land. Using it to take a picture is as easy as asking your Amazon Echo to do so — the Aire will take off, find you, and snap a shot with its built-in camera. You can also take control remotely using the companion app, and over-the-air updates such as automated security patrols and virtual home mapping will expand its capabilities further. It was designed to look non-threatening, and while it's not trying to be cute, it also doesn't look like the kind of robot that could be programmed to do you harm, either — so you can put any Terminator-style worries to rest.
Part Echo, part iPad, part butler, the Temi Personal Robot is a rethinking of how we interact with technology. It has an array of sensors and cameras that let it autonomously navigate your home, coming to you when called. It can handle standard AI assistant stuff like making calls, summoning a ride, and playing music. It can also handle tasks stationary and handheld devices can't, like letting you video chat hands-free while naturally moving through your space, taking videos and photos for you, thanks to face tracking technology, and even carrying and charging items you've placed on its tray. It's backed by Roboteam, the company behind several military-grade robots, and will be beta testing this fall for a wider launch next year.
A leader in the drone market, DJI are taking things to the next level with the Mavic Pro Platinum Drone. Featuring a brand-new aerodynamic design, the new quadcopter has an impressive flight time of up to 30 minutes and is 60 percent quieter than the previous Mavic Pro. It also has a 4k camera, and the new FOC ESC drivers offer sinusoidal current for increased stability, and its available for preorder right now.
Created by the inventor of the Roomba, the Tertill Weeding Robot promises to do for weeds in your garden what the former does for dirt on your floor. Powered by a solar panel on its top, the Tertill uses a variety of sensors to patrol your garden every day, searching for weeds to eliminate. When it finds one, it uses a spinning string trimmer to cut the weed off near the ground. Four-wheel-drive and distinctive diagonal wheels ensure it can get around capably, and a waterproof body means it can live outside full-time.
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.
When Casper entered the mattress market a few years ago, they changed the mattress industry. And now, after 30 engineering improvements and nearly half a million happy customers, the Casper mattress is more breathable and comfortable than ever. Each mattress is made of multiple layers of foam, including one for support and pressure relief, and one to make sure you sleep cool and comfortable. It's all wrapped up in a durable woven cover, and shipped right to your door in a box that's easy to maneuver into even the smallest homes or apartments. You get 100 nights to try it out and can return it for free if you're not satisfied.
Presented by Casper.
It's about time the humble travel pillow was upgraded. And that's precisely the case with the Hideout Travel Pillow. It takes your traveling experience up a notch with this ultra comfortable, memory foam pillow that inflates itself and packs up smaller than your rain jacket. The pillow is adjustable for maximum comfort, is made of quality, long-lasting materials, and is the result of a year of development. Backed by their Design for Life Guarantee, it self-inflates in less than 5 seconds, and the memory foam core makes it the most comfortable travel pillow you've ever used.
Presented by Everyman.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Compliment your collection of Submariner's and Speedmaster's with something truly unique. The Series 000 from the independent, Hong-Kong based watchmaker Anicorn is housed in a 42mm stainless case with a sapphire crystal face and replaces traditional hand movements with concentric circles to tell the hour, minute, and seconds. It'd be easy to power the Series 000 with a battery, but Anicorn instead opted to pair this modern watch with a traditional automatic movement from Japan. A custom, Swiss-designed typeface ensures the watch is up to the standards of even the most design-obsessed. Each piece arrives with a blacked-out, unique serial number card and detailed instructions on how to tell the time using the circular markers. But you won't need that, right?
For when you want the look of a $150,000 Rolex Milsub but would rather wear it on your wrist than keep it in a safe. Vague Watch Co.'s Black Submariner has a darkened steel case with a brushed finish that's designed to look aged, along with military style "sword" hands and applied "gilt" hour and permiter markers with vintage patina'd coloring. The 40mm watch has a near-silent Japanese quartz movement, a classic domed crystal, rotating bezel, and screw-down crown. Water resistant up to 100m, it arrives with both black and olive 20mm nylon NATO straps.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
