Check out the ad below.

This garage is 100% automated and uses robots to park the bikes and then to return them to their owners. The robots are based off of industrial robots.

Getting all 800 bikes into the structure took a lot of research as well. It was determined that a zig-zag pattern of parking the bikes was ultimately the best method, though even that took a lot of refinement so that no bike would hit another bike on its way out.

The construction of the garage is also innovative. Using their method they are able to build such a structure quickly and fairly cheaply.

Be sure to watch the video below – this really is an incredible feat of engineering.

Now, however, it appears doctors can take the idea of surgical robots much further than before. At the Israeli Institute of Technology they have built a prototype robot that can swim through a person’s bloodstream right to the point of where there is a problem. The ViRob can then administer whatever solution is required directly to that point.

This could mean no more pumping radiation throughout a cancer patient’s body, for example, and just targeting the cancer cells themselves directly. No more wasted medicine as any kind of medicine can be distributed right to the damaged cells.

While this might not be the submarine-like ship out of Fantastic Voyage (or Inner Space if you preferred the comedy) it certainly is a huge step forward in the use of robotics in the operating room.

So now you have to ask yourself – Will Obama’s health care plan protect you from scary robots that are strong because they are made of metal and that will use your medication for fuel?

This isn’t a robot that can think for itself, it is controlled with a remote. It also has a bullhorn attached to the top so that a person can scream at the homeless to move along. There is also, of course, a camera on the robot so the person controlling it can see what is going on.  Finally, it has a small hose sticking out of it that can spray the homeless with water if they refuse to leave the area.

Given the reaction from the man who got hit with the hose, either it sprays a lot harder than it looks or that is actually deadly acid spraying from its … um … hose-like-appendage.

If you wish to learn more about Rufus Terrill you can check out his official Web site.

I will say that I do not live in the Atlanta area at all so I have no idea what his politics are. But I will say that I find it funny that he owns a bar called “O’Terrill’s” – I guess he stuck the “O” in front to sound Irish. I am not sure I could trust such a man.

The best part of this robot, besides the music, could be the hat. According to the Daily Mail, the hope is to have this robot eventually interact with people and teach them how to play the flute.

Good news for human flautists: the robot might play this song very very well, but all that clicking and mechanical noise certainly won’t make this ready to perform in a symphony any time soon.

Working on each of these issues are two car manufacturers – Honda and Toyota.

Honda’s robot is ASIMO (I am going to assume this is a nod to the great robot sci-fi writer, Issac Asimov). ASIMO is able to make decision all on his own. He can choose when to step back or forward, choose how to carry and deliver objects and more. Honda has even developed ways for multiple ASIMOs to work together as a team, give people the right-of-way when walking and travel to the nearest charging station to charge itself when needed.

You can watch videos of ASIMO doing these things and more much more, like the one below of it conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, at their site here.

Speaking of music, Toyota seems to really enjoy creating musical robots. Here is one that can play the violin.

As you can see, it isn’t exactly awesome at it. It plays like someone just learning. But even that level of manipulation is amazing. It has to not only have a light touch with its mechanical fingers, but it must move them in a coordinated fashion, with each hand performing a very different task.

But Toyota has kicked it up several notches by having a group of robots playing different horns and other instruments. What makes this performance particularly amazing is that they not only must manipulate the keys, but the level of airflow through the horns. Another robot plays the drums, having to carefully select which drum to strike and how hard and with the correct rhythm. That each of these robots does these things individually is incredible, that they do them as a band is mind-blowing.

Note in the video that not only does the trumpeter play, he walks around and even moves his feet to the rhythm of the music!

According to Toyota they are expressing a Japanese concept of “Wa” – which deals with harmony and hospitality.

What both Toyota and Honda have accomplished over the past several years with these robots is to put a lot of robotic theory into action. While perhaps these are not super-practical applications, they do show what robots can do. Fine-motor control is now a reality for robots. To say, “Well, a robot can’t do that, they can’t manipulate something that small” is untrue.

It is only a matter of time before these robots and others like them are created not just to entertain but for more practical purposes.

Update: I have posted another story – American auto company robots. Let’s just say they are … different … than their Japanese counter-parts.

This system, they say, would allow for far greater advances in robotic technology, because rather than starting from scratch every time someone goes to construct a robot, the basic controlling code will exist – meaning more time can be spent on the mechanical aspect of the robot rather than the software side of things.

This seems to make a lot of sense – it would help everyone from all walks of robotic life as well. From the corporation that is trying to construct mass-market robots to homebrewers who are just trying to make something cool in their spare time.

Not to mention this would allow different robots – even ones from different manufacturers – to “talk” to each other, share information and generally make it easier to perform tasks.

For example, let’s say your Roomba was vacuuming a bedroom – the Roomba can communicate this to the other robots in the home, say one made by US Robots and Mechanical Men, so that they know to stay out of the bedroom until it is done.

You can check out the ROS project at SourceForge – which is also a great sign. This means that the ROS is available to everyone, which certainly will help with adoption down the road.

Microsoft is also developing software for robots as well with similar intent. You can insert your own “Blue Screen of Death” joke here.

Of course, this is not a bad thing – the more the merrier. While some might argue this could create groups of robots who can’t talk to each other because they are each using a different operating system, the flip side is, as long as more than one group is working on it, a better OS will be created. After all, each group will want the best so that their OS becomes the standard.

The first clip even has our favorite futurist, Ray Kurzweil (otherwise, that clip is … not the best).

So, without further ado, go check out their top ten list on robots.

The demo videos are pretty neat. Even though the bot doesn’t have front steering, it does have a “Thingy” that lifts the back of the bot up so the front wheels can pivot the unit in a complete circle.

What would be a great use of this project, is to steal the vacuuming algorithm from Roomba and launch an army of these little guys on a minefield.