Iran’s got a walking humanoid robot, too
Two years ago, Iranian students built Sorena, a white humanoid machine that reportedly wheeled about via remote control. For 2010, robots experts at Tehran University decided to update the creature — and apparently, channel a little bit of Asimo. Surena 2 was unveiled by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week, its purpose unknown. Named after a famous Persian warrior, the robot stands 4.7 feet tall, and can walk about slowly carrying its own weight of 99 pounds. Gulf News reports the robot will get vision and speech modules later on down the road. If it ends up conducting orchestras or performing show tunes, we’ll be sure to keep you informed.
Iran’s got a walking humanoid robot, too originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 03:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: July 5th, 2010
at 7:06am by Sean Hollister
Topics: Asimo, HumanoidRobot, HumanoidRobots, Robotics, Tehran, Tehran University, TehranUniversity, WalkingRobot, humanoid, humanoid robot, humanoid robots, iran, robot, walking robot
Ropid: New robot runs, jumps 8 centimeters high (2 videos)
Japan has produced many humanoids in the past years, but making them move in one way or the other is usually a challenge. Kyoto-based Robo Garage has unveiled Ropid [JP] today, a mini robot that runs on two legs and can jump as high as 8cm.
Ropid stands 38cm tall and at 16kg, it’s pretty heavy. The little guy has 29 joints and four gyro-sensors in the body and is powered by a lithium-ion battery. He can react to voice commands, so if you tell him to jump, he will do so. His movements aren’t really elegant but OK.
Ropid (the name is a mix between “robot” and rapid”) is currently just a prototype, with Robo Garage saying there isn’t a release date set yet.
This video shows how he runs:
This video shows how he jumps:
Via Robot Watch [JP]
Boston Dynamics PETMAN predicts a future of man as pet (video)
At this stage of its development, PETMAN is here to assist mankind. However, it’s clearly fated to be weaponized as an AT-ST walker in support of Imperial ground forces. For the time being anyway, this biped humanoid is being built by Boston Dynamics to test military suits used to protect soldiers in chemical warfare. As an evolutionary advance from its four-legged BigDog platform, PETMAN does the ol’ heel-toe at a healthy 3.2 MPH (5.14 KPH) and packs enough balancing intelligence to remain upright even when given a shove from the side. Check out the action after the break.
[Via Make]
Continue reading Boston Dynamics PETMAN predicts a future of man as pet (video)
Filed under: Robots
Boston Dynamics PETMAN predicts a future of man as pet (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Panasonic serves up latest prototype robots, dish washing servant included (video)
Keeping those dreams alive by scrubbing dishes at your least favorite eatery? Best put those aspirations on the front burner, as Panasonic’s got a mighty fine robot swooping in to take your place — and for a whole lot less cash, to boot. At Panny’s robotics laboratory in Osaka, the company recently showcased its latest gaggle of prototype robots designed to help humans take it easy more often. Among the usual suspects were a porter robot designed to help with heavy lifting, while the star of the show was undoubtedly the dish washing bot that wasn’t afraid to get its metallic digits wet and soapy. As expected, an array of integrated sensors kept it from grabbing a wine glass too tightly, and its four fingers enabled it to do most everything a human washer could (sans the kvetching). Have a peek at these guys in action just past the break.
[Via Impress]
Continue reading Panasonic serves up latest prototype robots, dish washing servant included (video)
Filed under: Household, Robots
Panasonic serves up latest prototype robots, dish washing servant included (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Robovie-X: New glove-controlled, ambidextrous humanoid
Japan-based Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) and robot venture Vstone have announced the joint development of a mini humanoid [JP] that’s able to handle objects dexterously through a remote control. The so-called Robovie-PC is already on sale in Japan and costs $4,500.
The humanoid is 38cm tall, weighs 2.2kg and has a total of 20 joints in its body (six in each foot, three in each arm and two in the head). It’s also equipped with 5 sensors and a head-mounted 1.3MP CMOS camera that you can connect to your PC via USB. The robot is powered by an Atom Z530 processor (1.60GHz).
You can make Robovie-PC hold and transfer objects between its hands. The way it works is that you have to sit in front of a PC that’s connected to the robot, wearing special gloves fitted with markers (see the picture above). A camera mounted to the PC traces the markers in 3D, and the robot’s hands mimic the way you move the gloves. For example, the robot will grasp an object if you tilt your hand so the glove markers are at 90 degrees.
Robovie-PC only supports Windows XP/Vista/7 and Linux PCs. ATR and Vstone hope to sell 50 units within the next 12 months.
Posted: October 9th, 2009
at 11:23am by Serkan Toto
Topics: Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, Headline, atr, cgjapan, humanoid, robot, robovie-pc
