Rise of the machines

An engineer makes an adjustment to the robot "The Incredible Bionic Man" at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, Oct. 17, 2013. 

The robot is the world's first-ever functioning bionic man made of prosthetic parts and artificial organ implants.

LS 3

An unidentified LS3 (Legged Squad Support System) team member shoves an LS3 robot that was galloping off course back on track during a high-speed demonstration in Homestead, Fla., Dec. 20, 2013. 

The device is designed to accompany soldiers and Marines any place they go on foot, helping to carry their gear.

Kansei

A humanoid robot named Kansei, meaning "sensibility" in Japanese, makes a facial expression depicting "happiness," next to the word "Love" during a demonstration at a laboratory of Meiji University's Robot and Science Institute in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, June 4, 2007. 

The robot, developed by professor Junichi Takeno and a team of researchers, is able to make up to 36 kinds of facial expressions after typing a word to its software which extracts word associations from a database of 500,000 words and calculates the level ranging between pleasantness to unpleasantness which prompts the robot to make facial expressions accordingly. 

Humanoid

Honda Motor Co's Asimo humanoid robot opens the top of a bottle to pour the drink into a cup during a news conference at the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo, Nov. 30, 2011.

Facial expression mimic

This combination picture shows a robot produced by the electrical engineering department of the National Taiwan University mimicking the facial expressions of a human at the Taipei International Robot Show, Oct. 19, 2010. 

The yet-to-be-named robot, which consists of a life-sized head and torso, was designed to show basic emotions for improved interaction.

Dream Chick

A baby chick, right, looks at Japanese toy maker Sega Toy's robot chick "Yume Hiyoko" (Dream Chick) at a chicken farm in Ome, Japan, April 6, 2007. 

The electronic robot chick which cheeps and moves its wings at the touch of human hands is not only a toy for children but also a healing gadget for adults, the company said. 

Andoroid Repliee Q2

Andoroid Repliee Q2, left, faces graduate student Motoko Noma at an exhibition during Core Technology Symposium in Tokyo, Oct. 31, 2006. Repliee Q2, with 42 actuators to generate humanlike behavior, has been developed by the Department of Adaptive Machine Systems Graduate School of Engineering of Osaka University.

Robo-patient

A dentist demonstrates on a dental patient robot at its unveiling ceremony at Showa University in Tokyo March 25, 2010. 

The humanoid female robot was developed to give practical experience for dental students and can be used for examination purposes. The 157 centimeter tall robot displays autonomous eye and tongue movement and can be controlled by either original programming or an instructor using an external touch panel, the university said. 

QRIO

Rong Cheng

Robot designer Yue Hongqiang gives commands to "Rong Cheng" at the Institute of Automation of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing Aug. 7, 2006. 

Dubbed the first Chinese "beauty" robot, Rong Cheng is able to respond to some 1,000 Chinese words. 

She can dance, bow and greet people in the Sichuan dialect as she is destined for the Sichuan Science Museum to serve as a receptionist.  

Robovie-II

Soccer-playing robots

Wappy Dog

Sega Toy's interactive robotic toy "Wappy Dog" is displayed at the International Toy Show in Tokyo June 14, 2012. 

The robotic dog can be controlled and play games with its owner through the Apple iPhone.

Robot Restaurant

A customer, right, is seated on a 3.6 meter-high custom-made female robot at the newly opened "Robot Restaurant" in Kabukicho, one of Tokyo's best known red light districts, Aug. 16, 2012. 

It's show time at the "Robot Restaurant," a new and high-tech take on the city's decades-old cabaret scene that puts a friendly, if unusual, face on the robot technology in which Japan is a world leader. 

itray

"Robots," the musical

Actor Branch Worsham performs during a rehearsal of the musical "Robots" at the Barnabe Theatre in Servion, near Lausanne, Switzerland, April 22, 2009. 

The musical tells the story of a man in self-imposed exile who lives with three robots (a butler, a pet and a dancer) and who is facing a visit from a woman who represents his last link with the outside world. 

The three automatons were developed by a spin-off from the EPFL called BlueBotics and are able to act autonomously and interact with the two actors and the set. 

Saya

A humanoid robot named "Saya, right, is touched by schoolchildren as she takes on a role as a teacher during a demonstration at an elementary school in Tokyo, May 7, 2009. 

The robot, developed by Tokyo University of Science professor Hiroshi Kobayashi, can speak different languages and make facial expressions like happiness, surprise, sadness, fear, anger or disgust with motors inside her face. 

Robot Kitchen

EveR2-Muse

Talk Host

Actroid DER

Zou Ren Ti

Ms. Saya

A Japanese-made robot receptionist named Ms. Saya greets students in Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the southern city of Be'er Sheva, Feb. 5, 2007. 

The university recently bought the robot from Japan as a means of developing its own robotics and computer science program. 

HRP-2

Humanoid robot HRP-2 uses a tap after washing a cup during a demonstration at Tokyo University, Feb. 28, 2007 picture. 

A Japanese university has developed two humanoid bartender and waiter robots who can also wash dishes -- sort of. 

Housework helper

A humanoid robot, jointly developed by the University of Tokyo and Japan's public research organization Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, lifts up a basket filled with coral sand weighing around 66 pounds during a demonstration in Tokyo April 24, 2007. 

The robot, aimed to be used in fields such as nursing care and housework, is the world's first humanoid robot which is capable of lifting up a box weighing 66 pounds and dragging a mannequin weighing 145 pounds, controlled by its built-in sensors, Tokyo University's professor Yasuo Kuniyoshi said. 

Asimo

Karfe Lady

Robocup tournament

Nau

Care-O-Bot III

The Care-O-Bot III robot carries a bottle through a kitchen in the Fraunhofer institute in Stuttgart, Aug. 5, 2010. 

The Care-O-Bot III, a third generation robot, developed over the past 12 years, will help at the elderly care center in the future. 

PWM1

Patient Transfer Assist

Denise

Martijn Wisse, researcher at the Delft University of Technology, Bio Robotics, walks with the passive-dynamic based two-legged robot "Denise" through the corridors of the university complex in Delft, March 8, 2005. 

Denise, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cornell robots are the first of a new generation efficient walking robots. 

QRIO

T-34

A mock intruder, tangled in a net that was launched by the remote-controlled security robot T-34, lies on the floor while posing beside the robot during a photo opportunity in Tokyo, Jan. 21, 2009. 

T-34 users can see live images from the robot's camera and control the robot using a mobile phone. The robot, which has sensors that react to body heat and sound, can launch a net against an intruder by remote-control during its surveillance. 

Handle with care

A robot with soft pneumatic fingers handles plastic sushi during a demonstration at the FOOMA Japan international food machinery and technology exhibition in Tokyo, June 12, 2009. 

The robot's hands are soft and have very few metal parts in order to handle delicate objects without crushing them. 

Robo-pancakes

ICub

ICub robot, a "hybrid embodied cognitive system for a humanoid robot" about 3.2 feet high, moves his arms during a demonstration at the INSERM institute in Bron, near Lyon, southeastern France, Aug. 31, 2009. 

Six versions of ICub exist in laboratories across Europe, where scientists are painstakingly tweaking its electronic brain to make it capable of learning, just like a human child and hoping it will learn how to adapt its behaviour to changing circumstances, offering new insights into the development of human consciousness.

Twendy-One

Music makers

Atlas

Bipedal humanoid robot "Atlas,” primarily developed by the American robotics company Boston Dynamics, is presented to the media during a news conference at the University of Hong Kong Oct. 17, 2013. 

The 6-foot tall, 330-pound robot is made of graded aluminum and titanium and costs about $1.93 million. 

It is capable of a variety of natural movements, including dynamic walking, calisthenics and user programmed behaviors, according to the University of Hong Kong's press release. 

Tiny player

Kirobo