"Any mechanical motion, such as the movement of arms or the fingers of a robot, could be translated to control signals, " said Zhong Lin Wang, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

BBC: Sensors

Data's character is a bit of a diva, or "an aspiring robot celebrity, " as Ms. Knight put it.

WSJ: Heather Knight and Data: A Researcher and a Robot Walk Into a Bar... | Creating

Thanks to spotty Wi-Fi coverage, we'd go a short distance, talking naturally, then halt as the robot lost signal, or veered off.

WSJ: Working With Robot Rachel

Called RAPHaEL (Robotic Air Powered Hand with Elastic Ligaments), the robot can hold heavier, solid objects, as well as light or delicate ones such as a light bulb or an egg.

ENGADGET: Robotic hand controlled by compressed air grasps the concept of delicacy

Current applications for Superbot are being developed with space exploration in mind, but Shen said the technology could be usefully applied in any environment dangerous to humans such as for search and rescue tasks in mines or underwater -- although the laboratory is still working on a morphing robot capable of swimming.

CNN: Robotics discovers its soft side