IREX

Kawasaki Heavy Industries has plenty of experience mass-producing industrial robots, and now we get to see some of its early progress into service robots, multi-purpose humanoids, and, for some reason, a rather silly-looking ride-on robot goat.

Ukrainian company Highland Systems has debuted a unique multi-role armored vehicle at the IREX defense expo in Abu Dhabi. The Storm is an armored MPV with a hybrid powertrain and fully amphibious capabilities, with a submersible version coming.

Best known for its advanced exoskeletons, Cyberdyne is readying a new cleaning robot for industrial facilities. The new model can be driven around its designated cleaning areas and remembers them, or it can explore and build its own internal map.

Japanese techno-artist Yasuhito Udagawa (AKA Shovelhead) put on an extensive exhibition of his mesmerising techno creations on display at the International Robotics Exhibitionin Tokyo recently. Awesome images.

Japanese design studio D-ART is a hotbed of futuristic thought and action. The company's design for an exoskeleton arm was shown at IREX in November, then followed with a very tidy tilting EV.

Jukusui-Kun is a polar bear-shaped robotic pillow equipped with a pulse-oxygen meter and a moving paw that gently touches the sleeper's face to stop snoring.

The D+ropop robotic mannequin is incredibly elegant and will perform a host of new and existing modeling tasks for a one-off price of around USD$5500. It'll work 24/7, won’t throw tantrums, get involved in scandals, or be perpetually late.