It’s a trade-off, I suppose. On the one hand, at the new robotic German restaurant in Nuremberg, you won’t get that lovable waiter banter that we’ve all come to love. On the other, you won’t have to tip. Just select your meal from the touch screen, and it makes its way to your table sans human involvement. If these take off, restaurant critics will have one thing less to talk about. 

It’s cute and it’s small, but don’t let that fool you: the Speecys SPC-101C robot not only recognizes your face, but it can read how you’re feeling. It’s just one more step along the way toward the eventual takeover of our robotic overlords. Oh, by the way, if you want one, they’re about $3,000.

And when I say that, I mean it in a good way: the more that robots become part of our everyday lives, the more they’ve progressed to the point of being real tools. That means more investment, greater breakthroughs, and vastly improved capabilities. So, iRobot’s Looj, although a lowly gutter cleaner, is helping to blaze a trail.

For those with an aversion to their vacuum cleaners….meet Roomba 560.

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A 10-centimeter hopping flea-like robot was "developed to detect mercury poisoning in the ground and leap from place to place the way fleas or frogs jump." The idea is to turn these little critters loose, and let them jump around looking for pollution.