So you're throwing a holiday party and need help, but can't afford the human variety? Stella Artois is offering an inexpensive robotic alternative--but only for people who have a robot vacuum cleaner. Called Stella Artois B.A.R.T. (for Bartending Automated Robotic Technology), it's an add-on stand that attaches to the robovac, topped by a tray with four beverage holders and room for a snack bowl. The idea is that your guests can grab a brewski and some nuts while the robot vacuum makes its usual floor-cleaning rounds.

Inspired by leaping aquatic animals such as dolphins and whales, researchers from Cornell University have developed a breaching robot that’s able to pull off similarly dazzling vertical leaps in a tank of water. Here's how it works -- and how it might one day be employed.

Want to be sure you get a parking spot at the mall on Black Friday? Maybe you should get a robot to guard your place for you! A startup called MyPark is offering exactly that service, courtesy of its spot-guarding mobile app and collapsible 'robot' guardians. Here's how it works.

When it comes to jobs that none of us enjoy, scrubbing the toilet would have to rank pretty highly. So why not hand the job over to robots? Thanks to researchers from Germany's University of Koblenz-Landau, very soon you might be able to do exactly that. Here's what they've developed.

Paaila Technology, a new robotics startup from Nepal, has created a humanoid robot waiter called Ginger. It's capable of delivering food from kitchen to table, and can even engage customers in a bit of decidedly human banter as it does so. Just don't ask it to carry any drinks!

Anyone who has ever watched Star Wars, Short Circuit, or WALL-E has surely dreamed about having a robot buddy to come live with them. After a successful Kickstarter campaign from Anki, we no longer have to dream. The Vector home robot is here, and he looks amazing.

After a few years of Earthbound training, Boston Dynamics’ SpotMini robot dog is ready to take on Mars. Bruno Mars, to be precise. Check out Skynet's future pet getting down to Mars' 2014 ear-worm 'Uptown Funk.' It's the most cheerful reminder of the rise of the machines you'll see today.

We’ve seen one-legged, two-legged, four-legged and even six-legged robots, but researchers from Japan have gone way, way further with their latest project: A 32-legged robot. Called Mochibot, the 32-legged machine moves by telescoping its individual legs. Check it out in action.

The British Army is about to get an impressive new explosive ordnance disposal robot that’s able to climb stairs, negotiate slopes of more than 40 degrees, cut wires, and… oh, yes, dispose of bombs, too. Here's what makes it so special, and when we can expect to see it in the field.

Robots doing backflips? That's so 2017! In its latest jaw-dropping YouTube video, Boston Dynamics’ amazing Atlas robot pulls off some frankly astonishing parkour stunts for our viewing pleasure. Check out in all its hopping greatness. This isn't going to end well for humanity, is it?

Researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin have created a bipedal robot, designed to be able to withstand various bumps without falling over. Here's how it works -- and why this is such a crucial problem for engineers to solve.

Called MobiLimb, this robotic finger attachment plugs into your smartphone and pulls itself along the floor by making beckoning motions. Imagine a new iPhone feature designed by The Evil Dead' director Sam Raimi, and you’ll start to get the idea! Check it out in action.

This new robot built by researchers from Japan’s Advanced Industrial Science and Technology is capable of carrying out a range of construction tasks, such as hammering up sheets of drywall. That's great news if you hate DIY. It's not so good if you happen to work in construction.

If your attempts to complete the Rubik's Cube usually end with the thing flying out of the window or against a wall, then what you need is one that solves itself. A Japanese creator has just created such a cube, squeezing a tiny computer and motors inside the world's most frustrating toy.

Devised by researchers from MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, a new spin on the classic Turing Test asks human participants to name a single word that they would use to explain just what makes humans, well, human. Here are the (sometimes surprising) results of the experiment.

Created by German-based artist Piet Schmidt, this robot arm 'Encounter' project will come close to tricking you into thinking it's a real creature, based on its behavior. Check it out in action -- and witness whatever the robotic version of the 'uncanny valley' is called.

If two robo-dogs met on the street, would one attempt to sniff the mechanical components located at the rear of the other? We have no idea, but with Robotic Systems Lab's robo-dog recently showing off its improved skills, and SpotMini hitting the market in the coming months, we may soon find out.

No, it's not some concept design from an as-yet-unnanounced sequel to Pixar’s 'WALL-E'. In fact, JackRabbot 2 is a real robot created by researchers at Stanford University -- designed to navigate around the campus, while interacting in a friendly way with the humans around it.

Researchers at Yale University have developed a new sensor-packed robot skin that can be wrapped around inanimate objects, such as toys, to transform them into functioning robots. Here's why that's so exciting -- and which robots the team has created with the new tech.

Could schools of robotic jellyfish soon be patrolling the world’s oceans, monitoring fragile environments, such as coral reefs? A team of U.S. researchers, comprising scientists from Florida Atlantic University and the U.S. Office of Naval Research, certainly thinks so.

Humans may have to worry about robots taking their jobs, but you know who else should probably be watching their back? Fruit flies! At least, that’s our takeaway from an amazing new fruit fly-inspired winged robot created by researchers at Delft University of Technology.

Ever heard of string art? Researchers from Austria have created a computer system that lets an industrial robot create amazing string art portraits using thousands of feet of yarn. Just show it an image and it'll figure out the optimal thread path necessary to re-create it.

Pediatric Hal is a new robot training tool created by medical equipment company Gaumard Scientific. Made to look just like a 5-year-old male patient, Hal is able to answer questions, track fingers with his eyes, say 'Ow!' when pricked with a needle, and much, much more.

After running into LG’s Cloi the airport robot in South Korea, the experience was entrancing, yet unfulfilling. Does a rolling, talking computer screen with blinking eyes have a purpose other than to entertain?

A shocking amount of clean water is wasted each year as the result of leaky pipes. A new soft robot may be able to help -- and it has just netted the 2018 James Dyson Award, a design competition to celebrate up-and-coming inventors. Here's how the Lighthouse robot works.

If you’ve been dreaming of a domestic robot or a smart speaker that can follow you around the house, then Temi could be just what you’re looking for. We went hands-on with the personal robot at IFA 2018 in Berlin to find out exactly what it’s capable of doing and how well it can get it done.

The rapid spread of lionfish poses a massive problem in places like the Florida coast. Students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute are working to develop an underwater robot that's capable of autonomously hunting and harvesting these creatures. Here's why that's so important.

Spectral Motion is the award-winning studio that brought the terrifying Demogorgon to life in Stranger Things and made Robot from Lost in Space a fully realized character. In this interview, Digital Trends talks creatures, makeup, and movie magic with studio co-founder Mike Elizalde.

Developed by engineers from Japan’s University of Tokyo, Aerial Biped is a robot whose top half is comprised of a flying quadrotor UAV that's rooted to the ground by thin, stork-like legs. The unusual design means that, at least in theory, it should be incapable of taking a tumble.

Mechanical engineering students from the University of California, Davis’ College of Engineering recently built a robot whose sole personality in life is to tie shoelaces. It cost them under $600 to do it, as well! Check it out in all its highly automated, knot-tying glory.

In the near future, the person who picks out your online Walmart grocery pickup order may not be, well, a person at all. That’s due to the fact that the retail giant has teamed up with a robot shuttle system company to find a way to speed up its in-store grocery pickup service.

Former NASA engineer-turned-quirky-YouTube inventor Mark Rober has combined two things every kid loves to create a robot that's able to skip rocks across the surface of water with impressive consistency. Check it out in all its fantastic summer afternoon-wasting brilliance.

Bionic prosthesis company YouBionic created an amazing new 3D-printed robot hand prosthesis that's capable of carrying out just about all the functionality of a regular human hand. It could one day be used to help people with missing or partially functioning limbs.

Yanu is a new fully autonomous robot bartender powered by artificial intelligence. Taking the form of a single robot arm, capable of pouring perfectly drinks, it promise to automate the experience of getting that soothing, refreshing beverage into your hand as soon as possible.