Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 26th, 2010
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It’s been over four months since I last paid a visit to a robot store in Akihabara/Tokyo, namely the Vstone flagship store . But I have to say the Tsukumo Robot Kingdom [JP] is much cooler, mainly because the shop is larger and offers more robots than its rival. The Robot Kingdom is located on the 4th floor of the Tsukumo PC Store II in central Akihabara. Just like the Vstone store, the Tsukumo counterpart offers a plethora of different parts and bits for your robot pleasure: The humanoid on the left costs the equivalent of $1,100, while the right one sells for $1,300: No robot store without one of the most popular humanoids out there, Robovie-X (pictured below in the middle, price: $1,600): The humanoid on the left costs the equivalent of $1,000, while the one on the right is priced at $1,050: KHR-3 HV costs $1,300: $1,100, that’s the price for this cool Hello Kitty robot: Here’s a short video showing the store/kingdom (not made by me):
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
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Three Japanese universities ( Waseda , Kogakuin and Showa ) and robot maker Tmsuk have developed Hanako, a robotic dental patient who can behave like a human patient (to some extent). The robot, who is supposed to be female, can converse with doctors (“Please examine me!”, “That hurts!” etc.), discharge robotic saliva, sneeze, open and close her mouth, etc. Standing 157cm tall, Hanako’s body is the work of Tmsuk, while the “medical features” were developed by the dental faculties of the universities involved in the development of the robot. There are nine joints in her body, for example in her jaw, tongue and even in her eyelids. The main goal is to offer dentists or dental students a way to practice “real-life” procedures on a robot before taking care of human patients (at Showa University, dental students actually have to take tests using Hanako). This actually makes a lot of sense, I would say. Hanako reacts to mistakes by verbally expressing pain, rolling her eyes or even simulating a vomiting reflex, thanks to the touch sensors in her mouth. Watch Hanako in action in the video embedded below: Via Node [JP]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
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We’ve covered Tsutenkaku, a Japanese robot that looks like a tower to promote tourism in the city of Osaka, just last week . Standing 170cm tall, his makers claim Tsutenkaku [JP] is the tallest robot in the world. And now he finally showed himself in the public, during a street festival that took place over the weekend in Osaka’s shopping district of Nipponbashi . Verdict: Tsutenkaku is a very weird robot. I just wonder how the handful of companies from Osaka that made it think about Hajime , another tall robot from Japan that stands even 210cm tall. Just look at the way he “talks” and moves in the (Japanese) video below: Via Nico Nico Douga [JP/registration required]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
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iRobot , perhaps best known for having created the Roomba , turns 20 today . Let’s give them a virtual high five for helping so much in bringing roboticism into the home. Sure, in the end, it might be the death of us all , but in the mean time, it’s nice not having to vacuum so much, am I right?
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
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Honda’s Asimo is probably the world’s most famous humanoid robot. The company today leaked the first technical details and pictures of the fourth version of Asimo, the P4. And the new and improved Asimo, which took 13 years for Honda to develop (P3 was unveiled in 1997), looks much more elegant and human astronaut-like than the previous models. Standing 160cm tall, Asimo is probably only second in height to “tower robot” Tsutenkaku . P4 is as tall as P3, but Honda managed to reduce his weight from 130kg to 80kg. He now has 34 joints (two more joints in each hand than P3) and is said to be able to dance better than his predecessors (“dancing” was always one of Asimo’s special skills). The new Asimo has a more flexible waist (which allows him to walk in a smoother way) and completely redesigned chest and shoulder areas. It looks completely different from the P1 Honda showed back in 1993 . We’ll let you know when we get the first videos showing Asimo in action. Via Plastic Pals and Response [JP]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
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Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR) has unveiled robovie mR2 [JP], a cute desk robot that stands just 30cm tall and weighs 2kg. The cool thing is that users can place an iPod touch in his chest to control the robot (via Wifi or by touching the screen). ATR says he can use “information gathered with the iPod by means of gestures”. Other features include a CCD 3.4MP camera, two microphones, a mono speaker (2W), 18 joints (3 in each eye), and 18 servo motors. The robot can also be controlled via Bluetooth. ATR says the goal with robovie mR2 was to design a „likeable“ robot with particularly cute looks. The institute might actually commercialize the humanoid in the future. Here’s a short demo video (with English subs) showing robovie mR2 in action: Via Node [JP]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 19th, 2010
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Baseball robots are nothing new (there’s even a dedicated Wikipedia article on them), but that didn’t stop Japan’s Meiji University and Yokohama-based metal recycling company MRC [JP] to come up with the so-called Jet Hitter [JP]. This new model is a batting tee robot that makes it possible for a player to practice hitting baseballs by himself. And the makers say it’s the first of its kind. The way Jet Hitter works is that users need to step on a button at the base of the robot, prompting a baseball to pop up and stay suspended 10-20cm above a nozzle on a jet of air. Users can then practice hitting up to 70 balls one after another (that’s how many balls the robot can hold). Jet Hitter can be filled with both soft and hard balls. Meiji and MRC say Jet Hitter is already being used by several Japanese pro baseball teams. But the robot can actually be bought by anyone ready to spend $7,700 for it.
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
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We last blogged about EMIEW2 , a two-legged robot made by Hitachi, in July 2008 . The main selling point was (and still is) an array of 14 microphones integrated into his head, enabling him to identify three different human voices simultaneously . But up until now, EMIEW2 tended to easily fall over on bumpy surfaces, which isn’t really ideal for a humanoid that’s supposed to one day serve as a receptionist and “walking” guide. That’s why Hitachi has been working on a sophisticated suspension system for his wheels that helps the new version maintain its balance in certain situations. In the case of EMIEW2 running over the edge of a rug, for example, a sensor built into his body detects his body position and automatically adjusts the length of the springs attached to the wheels, preventing the robot from toppling over. If a wheel loses contact with the ground, it automatically stops rotating, lowering the chance of the robot falling over. Hitachi says the previous EMIEW2 models had problems with bumps that were just a few millimeters high. But the updated version is able to handle bumps that are up to 1.5cm high. EMIEW2 himself stands 80cm tall, weighs 13kg and can run as fast as 6km/h. Via The Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]
Posted by 010081
Tech
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
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This robotic fish is not the first of its kind, but it’s certainly one of the coolest out there (granted, not too many of these actually exist). Developed by the Faculty of Engineering at Osaka City University , the unnamed robo fish can move very realistically and has a key selling point: It can be powered by a solid-polymer fuel cell dubbed “Power Tube”. The fish, which is 10cm long, can not only swim around but also dive and rise, thanks to a joint at the front end. The developers first used a motor but scrapped that idea later when they found out power consumption stood at 1W. A magnet system then did the trick, pushing down that number to just 10 milliwatts. The final goal is to develop a robot fish that’s able to swim for three consecutive days on a single charge. The robot is intended to be used for rescue work and maritime research in the future. This video shows the robot fish (and another cool model) in action:
Posted by 010081
Tech
Friday, March 12th, 2010
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Toshiba is a huge company, but it’s not necessarily known as a maker of robots . Their “Wheelie” for indoor use is an autonomous, 2-wheeled robot, which is still in prototype stage and somehow reminiscent of a Segway in its basic design. Technical details are scare right now, but the main purpose of the robot is to one day help families out with daily chores, for example by serving food. For that you need to place plates and glasses on top of the little guy’s head and he will do the rest by himself. And the way Wheelie can balance out differences in height is pretty impressive (skip to 1.50 in the video below). Here’s a demo clip: Via Plastic Pals