Robotory’s Photo Album Update

A lot of new pictures coming from Robodex web sites!

Robots become family friends

AFP – Japanese scientists are trying to make robots part of the family rather than automated servants — by improving their ability to communicate with their human owners, according to exhibitors at the Robodex 2003 robot fair in Japan.

This year’s fair, in the port city of Yokohama, has been dominated more than ever by humanoids — robots based on the human form, some of which can even walk on two legs, like Honda’s ASIMO or Sony’s agile SDR4-X II.

Honda has until now concentrated on perfecting the naturalistic movements of its 1.20-metre-tall and 52-kg android, but is now interested in its capacity to interact with humans, a Honda representative at the fair said.

The latest version of its ASIMO understands about 100 words and can recognise voices and faces.

The robot has already found itself a place in the job market and works as a receptionist, for annual fee of Y20 million ($A280,000), at nine companies including IBM Japan and the Takashimaya department store chain.

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Betterhumans :: News :: Humanoid Robot Can Quickly Learn Movement and Coordination

A new humanoid robot has been unveiled that uses a neural network to quickly learn movement and motor coordination.

Called HOAP-2, the robot is the next-generation of the HOAP line built by Fujitsu.

Looking like a crude version of Honda’s Asimo, HOAP-2 is half a meter tall and weighs seven kilograms.

Fujitsu will start taking orders for the robot next month and plans to ship to Japanese customers in July.

Hardware, software

The robot uses the Linux operating system, an Intel Pentium III processor running at 700MHz and a USB port through which users can download code.

It also relies on a reconfigurable neural network that utilizes Central Pattern Generator and numerical perturbation technology.

The robot combines the neural network with a Fujitsu program called Humanoid Movement-Generation System.

The overall result, says the company, is minimized software code for motional control — less than one-tenth that used in conventional systems, Fujitsu claims.

More details of HOAP-2 will be made public at Robodex 2003, in Yokohama, Japan from April 3 to 6.

The Register Fujitsu preps Linux-based robot

Fujitsu has launched a humanoid robot – based on a real-time version of the Linux operating system.

The HOAP-2 is driven by an Intel Pentium III running at 700MHz. It is half a metre high and weights 7kg, and is scheduled to ship to Japanese consumers in July (Fujitsu will begin taking orders next month).

We’re not entirely sure what buyers will do with the thing, which lacks the aesthetic appeal of Sony’s robot, also unveiled this week, the DR-4X. HOAP-2 looks like a cruder version of Honda’s Asimo droid.

The metal beastie sports a USB 1.1 port – its internal network operates across USB – through which the user can download code to run on the robot, which ships with a Fujitsu PC. There’s an optional 802.11b link.

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The Japan Times Online Kansai robots on march amid Astro Boy hoopla

OSAKA — The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, is witnessing a surge in visitors ahead of the April 7 “birthday” of Astro Boy, the humanoid robot for which the late cartoonist is probably best known.

Norihiro Hagita, director of the Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories at Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, pats the Robovie-IIS, an autonomous communication robot that can respond to various types of touch. ASAKO MURAKAMI PHOTO

The real world has not yet been able to create a robot akin to the futuristic Astro Boy (known as Atom in Japan), incorporating a highly advanced artificial brain, eyes that can see through objects and hearing that is 10,000 times more acute than that of an average human.

But the dream is still alive, not just with children but also among businesses and municipalities in the Kansai region that hope the promotion of robot technologies will help revitalize the local economy.

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The Japan Times Online Sanyo, tmsuk to set up robot firm

OSAKA (Kyodo) Sanyo Electric Co. and venture firm tmsuk Co. said Wednesday they will jointly establish a company to sell and maintain robots.

The new Tokyo-based venture, called tmsuk Sanyo, will begin selling a dinosaur-shaped house-sitting robot named Banryu, according to the companies.

Banryu was jointly developed by Sanyo Electric and tmsuk.

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Robodex 2003

Official : Robodex.org.

Sony, Fujitsu, Honda, …

Robots for the masses

Jan. 9 — A start-up company says it has developed a navigation system that is cheap enough to bring robots to the mass consumer market. Pasadena, Calif.-based Evolution Robotics said its technology that lets a robot determine its position relative to its environment is based on wheel sensors and a Web cam that cost less than $50. That’s a fraction of the cost of current robot navigation systems relying on laser range finders, which can cost $5,000, the company said.

Honda’s Giant ASIMO Robot to Tour U.S.

ASIMO, Honda’s four-foot tall walking robot wonder, has arrived on US shores to kick off a nationwide, 15-month educational tour that will culminate in a visit to the North America school that comes up with the best essay on robotics. The tour, fully funded by Honda, is aimed at students from grades five through high school.

Spider-bot joins NASA’s robotic zoo

Jan. 29 — Engineer Robert Hogg’s spider sense is tingling, but he’s no superhero. His spider sense comes from an insect-like robot with a leg up on its wheeled counterparts because it walks instead of rolls. The spider-bot, developed by Hogg and his team of researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is the latest affordable addition to the agency’s robot family. Its legs step over obstacles, clamber up rocks and reach areas of interest that would normally be inaccessible to wheeled rovers that run on flatter paths.