NXTbot.com Announces Guest Blogger Gareth Branwyn; Noted Writer, Robotics Pundit and Tech Columnist to Scribe for New Robotics Blog

Business Wire, March 17, 2006

ENFIELD, Conn. -- Robotics enthusiasts and devotees of the recently launched robotics blog www.nxtbot.com have two months to enjoy new musings and commentary from guest blogger, Gareth Branwyn. In addition to posting news updates and insights on consumer robotics announcements and trends, Branwyn will lend his vast knowledge and terse wit to the blog for the months of March and April.

Branwyn is currently the "Cyborg-in-Chief" of the popular Street Tech personal technology review site, and is also the author of The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots. A writer and columnist on tech culture for 12 years, he has contributed to publications like Wired and Make magazines. Branwyn also authored a number of other books, including The Happy Mutant Handbook (co-edited with the editors of Boing Boing) and one of the first books about the web: Mosaic Quick Tour: Accessing and Navigating the World Wide Web.

"We are thrilled to have Gareth join NXTbot. His knowledge of the consumer robotics landscape, paired with his ironic and humorous observations, will be a welcome addition to the discussions taking place among LEGO Mindstorms and robotics fans alike," said Jeff James, host of the NXTbot site.

Recent features and posts from NXTbot.com include:

--Robots who care for the elderly - RIKEN -- a robotics firm based in Najoya, Japan -- recently announced the RI-MAN, a humanoid robot designed to assist the elderly.

--Smart bots vs. dumb bots - MIT's Rodney Brooks has an adage (to paraphrase): A bunch of working "dumb" bots is better than one broken "smart" bot

--Snake bots, the ACM - R5 - being developed at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, it sports a sophisticated attitude/torque sensing system, a camera with lighting in its head, and a 32-bit microcontroller

About NXTbot.com

Currently hosted by writer and robotics enthusiast Jeff James, NXTbot.com serves as an online community where like-minded individuals share commentary and observations about the exciting and emerging category of consumer robotics.