Last time this one kid I knew went to the big robot convention, it didn't turn out so swell. There was this huge earthquake and he got separated from his sister and -- well, I suppose that's beside the point. This year, the International Robot Exhibition went off without a hitch at Tokyo Big Sight (wrapping up on November 28th) and brought us some really neat looking robots as well. Some of them really look useful, while others appear to just be novelty items, made to impress show-goers.

There seem to be more and more humanoid-style robots each year, and this show is no exception. The TOPIO ping pong-playing robot made by TOSY actually looked pretty fun (if a little Termanator-esque). I gotta say though, Yaskawa's Motoman robots did quite alot, from swordplay to building with Lego bricks. It'd be neat to see some of these in person, but did any of you guys ever attend any of these robot exhibitions? 

In a side note, IREX is an awesome acronym.

[more images and descriptions at: Pink Tentacle]