Tag: ‘Robot’

Platinum Gundam

30 Mar 2007

Gundam Fix Platinum --- Bandai and Ginza Tanaka have teamed up to create a Mobile Suit Gundam made from pure platinum. Called Gundam Fix Platinum, the 12.5-cm (5-in.) tall, 1.4-kg (3-lb.) work features 89 separate parts and a head adorned with a 0.15 carat diamond. Hajime Katoki, a mechanical designer and illustrator noted for his work in a range of anime and games, oversaw the two-year long production process.

According to the Bandai press release, the aim of the platinum Gundam masterpiece is to combine the pure, rare and eternal nature of platinum with the everlasting Gundam worldview. While Ginza Tanaka hopes to attract attention to the beauty and value of platinum, Bandai hopes to boost Gundam's name recognition around the world, nearly 30 years after the first anime episode aired on Japanese TV.

The platinum Gundam will be exhibited at BASELWORLD 2007, an annual watch and jewelry show held in Basel, Switzerland beginning April 12. After that, it will return to Japan.

There are currently no plans to sell the Gundam, but Bandai estimates its value at $250,000 (30 million yen).

[Sources: Fuji Sankei, Bandai press release]

Android shows off people-lifting skills

29 Mar 2007

Android lifts 60-kg dummy out of bed ---

In a public demonstration held in Tokyo on March 28, a human-sized android showed off its weightlifting skills by successfully picking up a 30-kilogram (66-pound) package from a desk and lifting a 66-kilogram (145-pound) humanoid doll out of bed.

University of Tokyo professor Yasuo Kuniyoshi and his team of engineers developed the 155-centimeter (61-inch) tall, 70-kilogram (154-pound) robot last year. A recent software upgrade allows the robot to move more like a human by constantly adjusting the power of its arm movements based on data received from 1800 tactile sensors embedded in its artificial skin.

It is this system of sensor-based control -- and not large motors -- that gives the robot its strength. "Large motors are not safe for use in household robots," explains Kuniyoshi. "Only a small amount of power is applied at each of this robot's joints, but it can successfully move heavy objects by using the tactile sensors to regulate how it lifts and carries things."

The droid demonstrated different maneuvers for different situations. To lift the 30-kilogram package, the robot used one arm to slowly slide it to the edge of the desktop, where it grabbed the package with its other arm to pick it up. To remove the 66-kilogram dummy from bed, the android slid its arms under the body, lifted it slightly and backed away.

Kuniyoshi says this robot's ability to lift such heavy objects with ease is unusual, and he hopes further improvements will earn the robot a job in nursing care or in the moving industry.

[Sources: Nikkei Net, Mainichi]

Bionic hand with can-crushing grip

22 Mar 2007

Bionic hand crushes CC Lemon can --- A team of researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) claim to have developed the world's first electromechanical prosthetic hand with a grip strong enough to crush an empty beverage can.

This bionic hand weighs a little more than 300 grams and has a grip strength of around 15 kg (33 lbs), which is about half that of the average adult male. The hand also features four quick, nimble fingers that take as little as 1 second to flex and extend. When used in combination with the hand's opposable thumb, each finger can deftly pinch and pick up small objects of various shapes.

Researchers have long considered it a great challenge to design an electric prosthetic hand with a strong grip. Toru Omata, a graduate school professor at TIT, explains that until now, electromechanical hands have relied solely on motors for their grip. The secret to this bionic hand's strong grip, he explains, is the system of pulleyed cables that run through the fingers and attach at the fingertips.

One day in the future, the proud owner of this bionic hand will be able to crush cans at will. For that to happen, though, the researchers need to outfit the hand with a system of myoelectric control technology, which would allow the user to control the hand by flexing other muscles.

(Watch video of the hand crushing a CC Lemon can.)

[Source: Japan News Network]

Mospeng-kun: tissue-dispensing robot

16 Mar 2007

Mospeng-kun, tissue-dispensing robot --- Mospeng-kun is a tissue-dispensing robot created by InterRobot Inc., a robot development and rental company based in western Japan.

When the friendly Mospeng-kun detects a person nearby, it utters a high-pitched onegai shimasu and offers up a pack of tissues. When the tissues are taken from the robot's hand, it thanks the customer with an arigato gozaimashita and grabs another tissue pack from the cartridge for the next person.

InterRobot's rental fees start at 100,000 yen ($835) for 5 days, which is quite a bit more than the going rate for a human tissue distributor. But Mospeng-kun looks to be a cheerful worker, constantly maintaining a smile on its face monitor. In addition, according to the company website, Mospeng-kun is capable of gathering information about the people it encounters on the job. Unfortunately, though, the robot really needs to learn to work faster before it is ready for the sidewalks of Shibuya. Watch the video.

Tiny robot reduces need for surgery

26 Feb 2007

Surgical microbot ---

On February 26, researchers from Ritsumeikan University and the Shiga University of Medical Science completed work on a miniature robot prototype that, once inserted into the body through an incision, can be freely controlled to perform medical treatment and capture images of affected areas. The plastic-encased minibot, which measures 2 cm (0.8 inch) in length and 1 cm (0.4 inch) in diameter, can be maneuvered through the body by controlling an external magnetic field applied near the patient.

While other types of miniature swallowable robots have been developed in the past, their role has mostly been limited to capturing images inside the body. According to Ritsumeikan University professor Masaaki Makikawa, this new prototype robot has the ability to perform treatment inside the body, eliminating the need for surgery in some cases.

The researchers developed five different kinds of prototypes with features such as image capture functions, medicine delivery systems, and tiny forceps for taking tissue samples. MRI images of the patient taken in advance serve as a map for navigating the minibot, which is said to have performed swimmingly in tests on animals. Sensor and image data is relayed back to a computer via an attached 2-mm diameter cable, which looks like it can also serve as a safety line in case the minibot gets lost or stranded.

[Source: Chugoku Shimbun]

Ubiko robot knows where the smokers hang

21 Feb 2007

Ubiko sniffs out ashtrays -- Robot manufacturer tmsuk, Kyushu University and the Kanazawa Institute of Technology have teamed up to develop a robot that can sniff out the smells that accompany fire. A public demonstration of the robot's new abilities was held at Kyushu University on February 21.

The researchers outfitted a 60-kilogram (132-pound), 112-centimeter (44-inch) tall Ubiko -- a tmsuk robot originally designed to serve as a temporary receptionist -- with a first-of-a-kind set of olfactory sensors specifically tuned to detect the odors of smoke and ash.

In the test, Ubiko, which moves on wheels and has a slightly humanoid appearance (albeit with a pair of triangular feline ears atop its head), was tasked with patrolling four rooms, each with a different smell. One room smelled of perfume, one smelled of garlic, one smelled of cigarettes, and one was odorless. When the robot smelled the room with ashtrays, it identified it as likely to catch fire and sent a wireless message to security.

Kiyoshi Toko, electronic engineering professor at Kyushu University, says, "We want to increase the accuracy of the sensors and create a fire-prevention robot that can detect subtle smells that humans cannot perceive."

For now, the robot has no fire-fighting skills except the ability to alert the authorities when it detects a funny smell. This is probably a good thing in an office environment, for example, where Ubiko might wreak havoc by spraying fire retardant on heavy smokers or on innocent employees who happen to visit smoky restaurants during their lunch breaks.

[Source: Nikkei Net]

Yuki-taro autonomous snowplow robot

08 Feb 2007

Lawson buried in snow ---

The harsh winter in Niigata, Japan brings heavy snow, which can pose problems for residents -- particularly the elderly -- who are faced with the laborious task of clearing it from driveways and entrances. To the rescue comes Yuki-taro, an autonomous snowplow robot developed by a team of researchers from five Niigata-area organizations.

Yuki-taro autonomous snow plowThe friendly-looking Yuki-taro measures 160 x 95 x 75 cm (63 x 37 x 30 in.) and weighs 400 kg (880 lbs). Armed with GPS and a pair of video cameras embedded in its eyes, the self-guided robot seeks out snow and gobbles it up into its large mouth. Yuki-taro's insides consist of a system that compresses the snow into hard blocks measuring 60 x 30 x 15 cm (24 x 12 x 6 in.), which Yuki-taro expels from its rear end. The blocks can then be stacked and stored until summer, when they can be used as an alternative source of refrigeration or cooling.

Yuki-taro is the result of nearly seven years of work by researchers from the Niigata Industrial Creation Organization (NICO), Research and Development, Inc. (RDI), Niigata Institute of Technology, Yamagata University and the Industrial Research Institute of Niigata Prefecture (IRI), who set out to design an environmentally-friendly robot that can operate by itself and support the elderly. In 2006, Yuki-taro received a Good Design Award in the small-to-medium sized enterprise category.

Researchers continue to work on reducing Yuki-taro's size, weight and cost, and they hope to make it commercially available in five years at a price of less than 1 million yen ($8,300). It is unclear whether or not the researchers intend to further enhance the robot's "cute" factor, but they might ought to consider attaching a pair of pointy ears. O-negai!

Yukitaro a la Pikachu

[Sources: Asahi]

Robot nabs naked fugitive in freezing Seoul sewer

01 Feb 2007

Robot nabs naked fugitive in freezing Seoul sewer --- This story is not from Japan, but I couldn't resist...

On Tuesday, police in Seoul, Korea enlisted the help of a small robot to track down a fugitive purse-snatcher hiding out in the city's sewage system. The 57-year-old suspect was on the run after snatching a woman's purse at a hospital. Witnesses to the crime tried to detain the man, but he wriggled out of his clothes -- all of them -- and managed to escape into the city's sewage system through a 1-meter (3.3 feet) diameter pipe.

Police located the man four hours later with the help of a 6-wheeled, camera-equipped sewage pipe inspection robot able to broadcast images for up to 150 meters (nearly 500 feet). Once they apprehended the man, who appeared to have lost his way in the darkness of the cramped pipes, the police returned him to the hospital, where he received treatment for hypothermia. The temperature in Seoul on Tuesday was 1 degree Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit).

At the end of this video news clip, the police ask the man why he stripped off his clothes, to which he replies, "Leave me alone. I'm not feeling well."

[Sources: Chosun Ilbo, TUF]

Future tourist destinations

12 Jan 2007

Here are a few places that will be interesting to visit once they are complete...

Osaka IRT Lab -- Osaka IRT Research Center (Osaka)

With the completion of the Umeda Kita Yard Redevelopment Project in 2011, the robot takeover of central Osaka will have begun. This 7-hectare area on the north side of JR Osaka station will be home to the Osaka IRT Research Center (tentative name), which will bring together ten companies -- including Citizen, German industrial robot manufacturer KUKA, Panasonic (Matsushita), Murata Manufacturing and others -- who will conduct IRT (information/robot technology) research in areas ranging from data communication networks to artificial intelligence to control technology. In an area open to the human public, the companies will maintain ongoing interactive exhibits showcasing the latest advances in robotics, making it an ideal destination for tourists and residents who wish to acquaint themselves with their new overlords.

Sumida Tower -- Sumida Tower (Tokyo)

The year 2011 will also see the completion of the Sumida Tower, which will stand 614 meters (2001 feet) tall. As the tallest free-standing tower in the world and the tallest man-made structure in Japan, Sumida Tower will serve as a communications tower for six television stations.

The tower, which is also referred to as the New Tokyo Tower, is expected to attract about 3 million people per year to Tokyo's Sumida ward, replacing Tokyo's other tower (Tokyo Tower) as the phallic tourist trap of choice. The Sumida Tower will dwarf the aging 333-meter Tokyo Tower, which was constructed in 1958 by the Takenaka Corporation.

No need for the Takenaka Corporation to feel envious, though. The company has bigger plans...

Skycity 1000 -- Sky City 1000 (Tokyo)

Since 1989, the Takenaka Corporation has been toying with the idea of constructing Sky City 1000, a 1 km (3281 feet) tall superstructure containing a virtual city of 35,000 residents and 100,000 workers. Sky City's 8 square kilometers (3.1 square miles) of floor space means there will be plenty of room for shops, schools, theaters, and all the other trappings of urban life that attract tourists.

Sky City 1000 will no doubt be a nice place to explore, and it should relieve some of Tokyo's congestion and free up some green space in the city below -- which will be great for the peons living on the outside.

Shimizu Corporation's space hotel -- Space hotels (450 km over Tokyo)

For travelers seeking greater highs, there are space hotels. Since 1989, Shimizu Construction has been developing plans to construct a 64-room space hotel, which the company hopes to put into operation in another 20 to 30 years.

At 450 kilometers (279 miles) above the planet surface, guests will enjoy fantastic views from their 7 x 4 meter rooms. The 7,500 ton facility will rotate at 3 rpm, producing enough centrifugal force for an artificial gravity of 0.7 g.

For the traveler seeking a more colorful destination, there is Pon De Station, a 24-room low earth orbit hotel designed to resemble a stack of "Pon de Ring" donuts from Mister Donut. The Pon De Station design comes from the Space page on the quirky SNTV site, and it appears to be a variation of the proposed "Space Love" hotel that also appears on the site.

Pon de Station --

The Space Love Project is seeking investors in its hotel, which will specialize in offering intimate space weddings. The hotel plans to offer rooms to couples for 10 million yen ($83,000), which includes the round-trip journey aboard a small space plane.

(For a glimpse of hyperactive web weirdness, visit the SNTV jump page, sit back and enjoy the ride.)

Martian colony, Obayashi Corporation -- Martian settlement (Mars)

For the ultimate getaway, there is Mars. Japanese construction giant Obayashi Corporation has been researching and developing plans for a Martian colony for over 10 years. According to the company's projections, the Martian population will reach 500 in the year 2057. By 2090, the population will be 50,000 strong and the Martian economy will make up 5% of the solar system's GDP. By then, it should be an interesting tourist option. But the company believes Martians will declare independence from Earth in 2092, so you better hurry up and make those travel arrangements before things get sticky.

« Older
Newer »