It's been a big summer for robots. While many the American roboticist has been hard at work developing lethal and destructive robo-weapon platforms, across the pond, the Japanese, have been focusing their efforts on something a little bit different. A couple of interesting designs have been coming out of Nippon recently – here's a few of them, in our first ever Japan-o-bot Summer Robot Review.

Plen, the skateboarding robot (~$2000)

A robot who can skateboard – how cool is that? Perhaps the ultimate office-toy, Plen can hop on skateboard and skate around. He's no Tony-Hawk, but he has some moves – he can hop on and off the board, and, well, skate.

Rating: 4/5 Robo-Stars.

Judgment: If Plen V2 can rail-slide, I'll give'em at least 4.5/5.

Hello Kitty Robo, the robo-pal for lonely children (~$6300)

You can't get more quintessentially Japanese than the Hello Kitty robot. I could not sum up this robot any better than the manufacturers has already done, so I'll just quote them: ''This robot can communicate with your using the Hello Kitty's voice. It can chat with you in 3 different situations: 1 As a close friend; 2 With the family; 3 Guessing game. This is a perfect robot for whoever does not have a lot time to stay with child. Hello Kitty Robo can help you to stay with your child to keep them from being lonely.”

The Hello Kitty Robo has almost as many sensors as the USS Enterprise-E, including a sound (voice) sensor, a stereo camera CMOS sensor, a ultrasonic sensor, and a motion (lift-up) sensor.

Rating: 4/5 Stars.

Judgment: Not going to let my own thoughts on this robot sway me – I think this is the ultimate I-have-a-million-dollars-and-just-divorced-my-wife-I-hope-my-kids-don't-hate-me pacification gift for children.

Asashi Robocco Beerbot, the walking beer-fridge that can pour beer (~$800)

Asashi Breweries not only make a damn fine beer, but they have a great marketing team as well: meet the Asashi Robocoo Beerbot. The Beerbot is a simple robot – he's not trying to steal the limelight from Asimo or anything – but darn, what a robot.

The Beerbot can pour you a beer.

I don't have to say much more; you can see the video for yourself. Additional features include a capacity for 6 beers (cooled), a child lock, and a programmable voice.

Rating: 4.5/5 Robo-Stars.

Judgement: I'm going to let my own thoughts on this robot sway me: this thing is awesome. A little on the pricey side at $800, and he takes much too long to pour a beer, but yeah, the Asashi Robocco Beerbot is a big winner in my books.

The Nameless Dance-bot, the robotic master of traditional dance ($4,000,000)

Just in case everyone in Japan suddenly forgets everything about aizu-bandaisan (a style of traditional Japanese dance), this robot might be able to save the day. Besides impressive balance and dancing abilities, this robot is also a quick learner: he/she has motion-capture cameras and can learn how to boogie on the fly.

Follow this link to see a video of this robot getting down.

Rating: 3/5 Robo-Stars.

Judgment: Impressive robot and all, but really: how many Asashi Robocco Beerbots can you buy for 4 million dollars?

Honey Doll, the creepiest sexbot yet invented (price unknown)

What a milestone this doll is... in creepiness! Sexbots are one thing, but its hard to fathom how unsettling this model is! A little bit different than the likes of AstroBoy, Hello Kitty-bot, and Beerbot, the Honey Doll brings is the new pinnacle of perversion for sex-toys.

Featuring very realistic, fleshy silicon skin, touch sensors, and emulated moans, the Honey Doll is just plain wrong. Not only does it look like a child – complete with teddy bear and all – but it has this MP3 player for a brain that creepy-wierdos can use to record their own speech to maximize their devious delight. This robot was pointed out to me by the folks at Gizmodo.

Rating: -8/5 Robo-Stars

Judgement: The most tasteless sexbot of the decade? I hope so.