Technabob » biped

Honda’s New ASIMO Robot Shows Off

Conner Flynn — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:00:05 +0000

Honda has been busy, and not on new versions of the Civic or Accord. Today, the company has unveiled their new ASIMO robot, improving upon the 10 year-old design. Now ASIMO can kick balls, (hopefully not human male’s) hop on a single leg and it can even predict the direction a person will walk, so that it can avoid collisions with the person.

This new robot also has a much improved intelligence and can adapt to situations. He still can’t sign autographs.

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Of course he can still do all of the things that he used to as well, which includes running and stealing the show at whatever events he attends as well as open a thermos and pour a drink. That last should come in handy on Jabba’s Sail Barge, should he ever decide to infiltrate and rescue his friends.

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[via TechCrunch via Geeky Gadgets]

MABEL: Running Robot Rocks it

Technabob — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 03:01:13 +0000

Most of the bipedal robots I’ve seen over the years are pretty pokey. But this robot can run at a peak speed of 6.8 MPH, which is definitely about the point where I fall down and go flying onto the floor on the treadmill.

But MABEL the robot can tear around at those speeds, thanks to her human-like leg and knee structure. MABEL was created by Johnathan Hurst of Oregon State University, and the running tests were performed by professor Jessy Grizzle and a team from the University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon. While MABEL’s peak speed is 6.8mph, her average speed is about 4.4mph, which is still pretty fast for a robot in my book. Plus, she lifts her feet about 3 to 4 inches into the air when she runs.

Let’s cut to the chase and watch MABEL in action:

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Boy, that’s pretty amazing stuff there, Maynard. But I have to say that MABEL sort of gives me the creeps. Not only is that noise she makes as she runs enough to make me think I’m being chased by an army T-800s, I’ve been pretty freaked out by disembodied robot legs ever since Herbie Hancock’s Rockit music video.

[via Futurity via Holy Kaw]

KURMET Bipedal Robot Jumps Like a Frog, But Isn’t Green

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 13 May 2011 13:30:51 +0000

The fact that I am creeped out more than a grown man should be by some robots is well established. Hector did me in as a kid. There is more than a little creepy to KURMET for me – it’s the blue knob feet I think. That and I could just see waking up to this lower torso hopping back and forth over my bed, wearing some crazy doctor’s head.

This Bipedal robot is roughly human-sized and is designed to run and jump. It was created by researchers at Ohio State University and the University of Notre Dame. The bot was designed for repeatable and controllable jumping motion. That long boom you see is there to stabilize the bot and apparently isn’t needed for the actual jumping.

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I guess it’s sort of like a robot training wheel, only it’s not a wheel. In the future, the researchers hope to push the boundaries of programming so KURMET can do more than just running and jumping. They want it to play hopscotch and do flips. I’d be more impressed if it could double-dutch.

[via Spectrum]

Turkish Iron Man Robot Will Hopefully Not Go Crazy and Kill Us All

Range — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:46:57 +0000

I didn’t expect Turkey to come up with its own Iron Man, but it looks like they did. It was created by a research team at the Sabanci University in Istanbul and is Turkey’s first humanoid robot. They call him SURALP, not Turkish Iron Man, which seems kind of a shame.

SURALP has been in the making for eight years and about $1 million has been spent to construct and design it. The humanoid robot first appeared in a press conference in Turkey, where he was kind enough to perform a little jig and answer a few questions. SURALP is actually an acronym, Sabancı University Robot Research Laboratory Platform, and it stands 5’5″ tall and weighs 250 lbs.

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As you can see from the video, he’s actually a little bit on the pokey side, but at least he can answer simple questions with a yes or a no, which is pretty cool in my book. However, there are currently no plans to turn his metal grippy hands into weapons.

[via Plastic Pals]

Omg, Run, It’S Hector! Oh Wait, It’S Just Lola

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:06:19 +0000

When I was a kid, there wasn’t any parental supervision over what I watched on TV. I once watched a flick called Hotel Hell and couldn’t go into the meat area in the grocery store for six months. I can thank the sci-fi flick Saturn 3 for my unnatural fear of humanoid robots like Lola.

In my defense, Lola does look a lot like Hector, the imposing robot from Saturn 3. LOLA thankfully isn’t a murderous robot, she just likes to leisurely stroll around missing chairs and whatnot as she goes.

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I’m not sure why the German designers pegged it as a girl; it has no jubblies or anything. But it does have a couple of HD webcams for eyes, stands 180cm tall, weighs 60kg, and has 25 joints. The video of the thing walking around does creep me out a little, though. Damn you, Hector!

Element Commune: Legohaulic’S Walking LEGO Mech

Range — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:59:09 +0000

Tyler Clites, who’s also known as Legohaulic, put together this amazing LEGO build. He calls it Element Commune. When you first see it, it looks like a great design, but then when you see the thing walking around, it’s takes it to a whole ‘nother level.

If you check out the video, you can see the walker walking about. It’s an amazing feat. Tyler admits that his goal is to create a fully steerable walking biped, which would be really insane!

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The bipedal mech has a great look, and Tyler clearly put a lot of effort into this mechanical marvel. You can check out more photos of his build over at his Flickr site. He was inspired by this decidedly less slick YouTube video:

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[via Brother's Brick]

Co-Robot Offers (Drunken) Humanoid Moves on the Cheap

Technabob — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:40:30 +0000

While it certainly isn’t the most sophisticated robot out there, this kit from Japan is possibly the least expensive bipedal robot I’ve seen.

The Co-Robot keeps it on the cheap by using just a single motor and a wobbly gear-drive system to help it amble along. Now don’t expect the type of smooth walking moves of Honda’s ASIMO here. This little guy hobbles along in a manic frenzy that’s sort of like Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein on crank (or maybe Michael Flatley: Lord of the Dance at normal speed). On the plus side, simple mechanical sensors can detect when Co-Robot falls over, so he can pick himself up from his (all too frequent) falls.

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The robot has three modes of operation: walking, dancing and somersaulting (also known as stumbling, thrashing and falling down). While the instructions for building Co-Robot are in Japanese, it’ looks like it would be simple enough to put together from the visual diagrams in the manual.

Still, if you’re looking for a fun way to introduce your kids (or yourself) to robotics, and don’t want to break the bank, you might want to check out Co-Robot. Originally available only in Japan, the guys over at the MakerSHED have imported a batch, and are selling them for $29.95 (USD) a pop.

[via ROBOTS DREAMS]

Yeti Walker Bi-Ped Robot Perfect for Star Wars Fans

Technabob — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:07:35 +0000

Looking for a way to build yourself a functional AT-ST walker? Have I got the perfect robot for you.

The AREXX YT-3000 (aka “YETi Walker”) is a bi-pedal robot which can be programmed using your PC or an remote-controlled via an IR interface. It’s powered by an ATMEGA8 microcontrolller, which can be easily programmed in C to do your bidding.

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In its basic configuration, the YETi is a simple walking machine, but can be expanded with additional sensors and modules such as an ultrasonic obstacle detector and an external LED display.

The basic YETi Walker kit is available from TheRobotShop for £69.99 (appx. $114 USD).