Researchers from the Machine Perception Laboratory at UCSD have developed this baby robot to simulate the development of a 1-year-old. And clearly, they've become somewhat attached to the little automaton with a gigantic head.

The robot baby is named Diego-San, and aside from joy, he's bundled with a high resolution camera and 6-axis accelerometer. And while his coordination is limited to standing from a chair and holding a bottle, Diego-San's face has 20 moving parts to convey emotion without speaking—the engineering of which probably necessitates the freakishly large head.

On a related note, what's it mean that I actually feel guilty calling the robot's head "freakish?" My insides feel inexplicably icky, as if I've insulted an actual, helplessly deformed child. [PDF Source via BotJunkie via Geekologie]