Xingzhe Robot: World Record With Continuous 83-Mile Walk

A four-legged robot built by Chinese researchers just walked 83 miles on a single battery charge, more than doubling the previous record for longest distance covered by a quadruped robot. Xingzhe (or "Walker") No. 1 resembles the design of the Cornell-built Ranger robot that traveled 41 miles for the record in 2011: two pairs of legs that swing past each other in turns, shifting the weight of the robot forward and producing a highly efficient gait.

Cobalt Robot: Security Robot

It can stand guard day and night, and if it detects anything unexpected -- like an open window, a leaky pipe, or a person in the room -- then an offsite employee can use it as a telepresence robot to manage the situation without putting themselves in a potentially dangerous situation. The robot is loaded with more than 60 sensors and computational power that can handle machine learning algorithms.

Marble Robot: Food Delivery Robot

Fledgling robotics startup Marble has announced its first public-facing partnership, one that will see food delivered to hungry San Franciscans via a little ground-based autonomous drone. Headquartered in San Francisco, Marble has been buzzing around in stealth for some time now, but an eagle-eyed tech writer spotted a Marble / Yelp Eat24 co-branded robot out on the streets last month, apparently during a promotional photo shoot.

Myon Robot: Smart Singer Robot

Robots designed to look and learn like children isn't a new concept. We've seen the iCub work it's way towards understanding visual cues and eye contact, and the Diego-san robot from UCSD and Kokoro was made for cognitive experiments (as well as terrifying everyone who sees it). Without seeing Myon tackle actual language tasks, it's hard to know how it stacks up to these other projects.

Noodlebot Robot: Noodle-Making Robot

Noodblebot burst onto the scene back in 2012, but we just discovered him and we couldn't resist sharing. Noodlebot is cheap, uncomplicated, and according to some restaurant owners, actually "better than human chefs." He cuts a specific kind of noodle called dao xiao mian, or "knife cut noodles," according to a CNN post from 2012.

RoboBee Robot: The Smallest Flying Robot

Inspired by the biology of a bee, researchers at the Wyss Institute are developing RoboBees, manmade systems that could perform myriad roles in agriculture or disaster relief. A RoboBee measures about half the size of a paper clip, weighs less that one-tenth of a gram, and flies using “artificial muscles” compromised of materials that contract when a voltage is applied.

Omron Robot: Ping-Pong Plating Robot

Japanese electronics firm Omron says that in the beginning, its ping-pong-playing robot “could not even return a ping-pong ball,” which suggests its engineers were getting ahead of themselves when they described it as a “ping-pong-playing robot.”

Motobot Robot: Motorcycle-Riding Humanoid Robot

Yamaha produced somewhat of a surprise at the Tokyo Motor Show today when it showed a motorcycle-riding robot. Unlike most two-wheeled debutants, Yamaha's new Motobot isn't starting out on a small capacity motorcycle, but release images show the humanoid robot riding Yamaha's most sporting motorcycle, the 1000cc R1M.

Vipir Robot: Enormous Eyes for Repair

In October 2015, one of RRM’s latest technological debuts, the Visual Inspection Poseable Invertebrate Robot (VIPIR), had an opportunity to move from the training camp of RRM to helping a real client. This is a big moment for the team that developed these technologies, says Benjamin Reed, deputy project manager of NASA’s Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO).

U-CAT Robot: Sea Turtle Robot

U-CAT is autonomous, so it doesn't require a control cable that could get snagged or tangled. It also has an onboard video camera, which records video that can later be used to visually map out the inside of the shipwreck. Plans call for the technology to be tested at underwater archeological sites in the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea. The idea is that U-CATs could ultimately be used in conjunction with other underwater robots that are too large to enter wrecks, and too expensive to risk losing within them.