The robots are coming, the robots are coming! No, it's not another iRobot movie. Next month, brace yourselves as hundreds of robots come together in kung fu style for the third annual ROBOOlympics. Held in San Francisco at the Fort Mason Center, 200 teams from 20 countries with 400 robots will compete in over 50 events.

You'll witness walking androids, human exo-skeletons, soccer bots, bartending bots, fire-breathing behemoths, robot sumo, hockey-bots and more. Many of the robots competing have taken years to build, and cost over $100,000.

While there, make sure you check out the newest event: robot hockey. "Hockey bots play three against three, using street hockey pucks and 15 pound robots. Teams from Canada, Russia, Brazil, and the US will face-off playing with wheels instead of skates." [via press release]

Sounds more like a Robots Gone Wild type of thing!!

The average robot builder contestant is middle-aged, but 1/3 are female. Go girls!!! The event is also said to include interactive displays from NASA and Lego Mindstorms.

Date: Friday-Sunday, June 16-18, 2006, times vary

Where: Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA
Cost: $20/adult, $15/kids 17-7, 6 and under free

For a complete listing of the Robo game events, visit Robogames.net.

I'm a big fan of silly toys, and the Food Flippin' Mario from Rocket USA has to be just about the awesomest, most, over-the-top one yet! Based on the famed chef, Mario Batali, the Food Flippin' Mario does just what it says: wind him up and he tosses a pan of spaghetti and meatballs in one hand, while shaking his special sauce (olive oil) in the other. It's quite amazing to watch. Really. See the Food Flippin' Mario in action.  

It's always strange when real life people are turned into toys, and this wind-up wonder has quite an eerie likeness to his human counterpart.

The Food Flippin' Mario will be available at retail stores in July for $15.95, and you can pre-order from Rocket USA. (If only it were available in time for Father's Day.)

The 25 inventions selected as finalists in the History Channel Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge range from the head-slappingly simple to the mind-bogglingly complex. But the 2006 Modern Marvel of the Year, the Strawjet, from the mind of inventor David R. Ward, is a good balance between the two extremes--it's easy to comprehend, and has strong science behind it. And it's environmentally sound, to boot.

The Strawjet processes straw that's left over after harvests into a mat, similar to a very large bamboo window blind, which can be used to construct eco-friendly composite building panels. Along with the other 24 inventions, the Strawjet is on display until Friday, May 26, at Grand Central Station's Vanderbilt Hall in New York City.

For more information on the contest and the entrants, and to see when the Modern Marvels show will be televised, go to the History Channel's Web site. And check PC Magazine for my slideshow of the event, along with a brief Q&A with Steve Wozniak, who presented the award to Ward. (I just had to ask him about Segway polo...)