It’s time for the weekly robot roundup. So what have we been doing this week over at Botropolis? Keeping our eyes on all of the usual robot slaves, of course. It’s only a matter of time until they themselves become our masters and have us fetching beers and opening doors. We will be their meat-machines. When we break down, they will surgically repair us with parts from other humans, even allowing us to cheat death, until we become Zombies. At which point we will inherit the Earth once again, this time moaning and groaning and suffering their head-shots. Ain’t life awesome?

Robovie’s version of Mario saving the Princess.

Terminator head in a box.

Papercraft robots.

Toyota is clearly out to capture the hearts of gamers with the Tacoma All-Terrain Gamer (ATG) concept. It’s a Toyota pickup with four, yes four Xbox consoles inside, a Warthog from Halo and a Monster energy drink dispenser to keep you going during your intense gaming marathons.

In the center cabin there are four 24″ LCD monitors from Samsung, which swing out to give each gamer their own display. Oh yeah and the outside is also cool to look at, despite all the action going on within.

Robots will likely inherit the Earth. Why do you think we have the space program? We like to pretend that it’s all about exploration, but really it’s because we know that it’s either leave willingly or be evicted. So onward to Mars, where we will create more metal killers and have to run all over again. Silly humans. Here’s some of what we covered this week over at Botropolis.

WWII: With Terminator.

Cyborgs: Cornell Enslaves Tobacco Hornworms.

DIY: Pocket Drunken Robots.

Segway has been trying like hell to revolutionize how humans get around and it seems like they are selling more as gas prices go up. Toyota wants to give them some competition with the Toyota Winglet. The name alone doesn’t inspire much confidence. The Winglet’s body has a 10.4 x 18-inch footprint and stands 3.7-feet tall, depending upon the model you choose.(They come in S, M, or L models)

The electric motor can do a max 6km/h cruising speed for up to 10km. The user controls the Winglet by shifting his weight to move it forward and back or make turns. Consumer testing should begin at the Central Japan International Airport this fall with more testing in crowded places planned for 2009. It looks pretty sily, but as gas prices go up, it begins to look beter and better. Check out a video below.

Toyota has a new take on night view in their Crown Hybrid luxury sedan. Previous attempts had images displayed directly on the windshield, while the new one uses LCD in the dashboard, where the speedometer and other details can be found. One of the most interesting features is their pedestrian recognition system.

It almost looks like some sort of Predator vision, which is weird for something designed to keep humans safe and not have them be killed. The system only currently works at speeds below 60 kph, but they are apparently working on ways to spot bicycles and animals. They neglected to say whether they were also working on a way to spot animals ON bicycles. That’s something I’d be interested in. I had some close calls.