Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is introducing a "Robot of the Year" award to acknowledge all the good robot work going on in that country. Prizes will be given to industrial robots (welding), service robots (cleaning and security), special environment robots (rescue) and small to medium firm designed robots. Hopefully these awards will encourage robot development in other countries as well.

That friendly Japanese terminator may be smiling now, but snap your gum too loudly and it will fucking eat your soul.

METI to establish Robot of the Year Award [Pink Tentacle]

Send an email to Jason Chen, the author of this post, at jchen@gizmodo.com.