EAT your heart out, Duracell bunny: NASA has unveiled an ocean-going robot that really can go on forever. It is the first of its kind to be fuelled entirely by renewable energy. This month the agency revealed that SOLO-TREC, a wax-filled buoy powered only by the temperature differences in the water around it, has been tirelessly diving to depths of 500 metres off the Hawaiian coast three times a day since November 2009. The float gathers data on temperature and salinity to improve studies of ocean currents.

BEAUTY may be only skin deep, but for humanoid robots a fleshy covering is about more than mere aesthetics, it could be essential to making them socially acceptable. A touch-sensitive coating could prevent such machines from accidentally injuring anybody within their reach. In May, a team at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa will dispatch to labs across Europe the first pieces of touch-sensing skin designed for their nascent humanoid robot, the iCub. The skin IIT and its partners have developed contains flexible pressure sensors that aim to put robots in touch with the world. "Skin has been one of the big missing technologies for humanoid robots," says roboticist Giorgio Metta at IIT. One goal of making robots in a humanoid form is to let them interact closely with people. But that will only be possible if a robot is fully aware of what its powerful motorised limbs are in contact with.

"This connection of automation to vast amounts of information will also be important for robots tasked with assisting people beyond the factory walls," says Rush LaSelle, the company's director of global sales. A "carebot" working in a less controlled environment such as a hospital or a disabled person's home, for instance, would have to be able to cope with novel objects and situations.

Kanibot is an innovative robot concept that has been designed to work as a surveillance robot with various handy functionalities. This spider like design of the robot features six mechanical legs with the ability to perform all-way movement, giving the robot the opportunity to go on almost any surfaces. The main body features a powerful camera to capture photos and videos, motion sensor to detect suspicious elements and a tiny antenna to send and receive signals and data to the base station. The glossy black and orange color combination has given the robot an appearance of professional military equipment.

I must be getting old; I didn't even know there were swarm bots. Or that you could use them to move children from room to room.