KIST’s Biomimetic Robotics Lab developed BabyBot in 2002, a humanoid robot built to mimic a 1-year old child.  It had limited speech recognition, and image processing capabilities based on a unique vision system that had a higher resolution in the center of the image and a lower resolution for the outer edges.  The system was designed to mimic the way our eyes work by focusing on what is being directly looked at.  The researchers hypothesized that a such a system could reduce the image data processing speed to a 10th of its normal rate.  The robot was able to walk and could perform a dance.

The original BabyBot is 75cm (30″) tall, weighs 15kg (33 lbs), and has 24 degrees of freedom (2 legs x6, 2 arms x5, neck x2).  In 2003, they created a refined version of the robot called BabyBot-R which weighs less than 10kg (22 lbs) including its battery.  A few videos and photos follow after the break.

[source: etnews (KR)]

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Check out the fancy footwork and spot-on timing of this customized (are those carbon fiber shoes?) Manoi AT01’s dance routine programmed by Dr. GIY.  It’s based on a song from an anime called Heart Catch Precure (whatever that means).  Wrestling so much speed and life out of a typical hobby robot is no easy task, when you consider how the quick and erratic movements can knock them off balance.  The bar is set pretty high by the professional choreography we see in music videos, anime, and computer games all the time, but  I think Dr. GIY has managed to outdo himself, wouldn’t you agree?

Video:

…and another.

[source: Dr. GIY @ YouTube]

Takeshi Maeda updated his site the other day with photos of his latest robot work-in-progress.  Apparently the new ROBO-ONE regulations regarding arm-to-leg length ratio caused quite a headache for him, but he had some fun figuring out how to work within the limitations.  This bot may not be quite as big as some of the previous OmniZero robots, but I’d still like to see it compete!  Hit the source link for more photos.

[source: Takeshi Maeda's site (JP)]

Zhejiang University developed this friendly robot, called Hai Bao (“海宝”), one translation of which is “maritime treasure”.  It stands 155cm (5′1″) tall and has animated facial expressions on its LCD screen. The robot has an intelligent hand-shaking system and can make multilingual greetings in 6 languages. Hai Bao is an entertainment robot designed to interact with tourists by taking photos for them, doing simple quizzes, performing a dance routine, telling jokes, and singing songs. Multiple Hai Bao robots can lead tours together, perform a “changing of the guard” ceremony, and group dance performances. Reports suggest that 37 of these robots will be deployed at the Shanghai World Expo.  It appears the robots use a laser range finder in their base to help with obstacle avoidance, which should help them out when surrounded by the throngs of visitors expected at the upcoming expo.  A few more photos follow after the break.

[source: Xinmin (CN)]

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Robita, a Japanese hobbyist and blogger, is currently in the process of re-engineering his Ignis bipedal humanoid robot.  He uses CAD to design all the metal brackets and uses primarily Vstone’s powerful VS-S281J (torque: 28.5 kg/cm).  In the following video, you can see one of his robot’s legs supporting a 1.5 L bottle of water without breaking a sweat.  You can also check out what the previous version of the completed robot looked like here.

Video:

[source: Robita602 @ YouTube]

Left to right: WAMOEBA-2, WAMEOBA-2R, WAMOEBA-2Ri, WAMOEBA-3

Waseda University’s Sugano Lab created a series of emotional communication robots over the course of a decade in what came to be called the WAMOEBA Project (AMOEBA in Waseda University; Waseda Artificial Mind On Emotion BAse), dovetailing with the work being done on Hadaly-2 and WENDY.  It gets the amoeba part of its name from its self-preservation control mechanism, which the researchers hypothesized could give rise to the communicative and emotional capacity of human beings.  This self-preservation mechanism was based on “internal secretions” – a system which supervises and controls the battery voltage, circuit temperature, and electrical current.  This in turn would affect the robot’s “emotions”, which are communicated through colors on its monitor as well as its tone of voice.

The robots were commonly equipped with 2 CCD cameras for vision, 2 microphones for sound localization, speakers for speech synthesis, ultrasonic and bumper sensors for obstacle avoidance, and internal sensors for battery voltage, current, and temperature.  Several robots were created, beginning circa 1995-1999 with the WAMOEBA and WAMOEBA-2.  The WAMOEBA-2R was presented publicly at the 1999 International Robot Exhibition, where crowds of people interacted with it and filled out questionnaires about their experience.  WAMOEBA-2Ri followed in 2000-2003, which could recognize faces and visually track objects and reach for them.  From 2003 until 2007 WAMOEBA-3 was used to further study interaction with humans.

• WAMOEBA Project @ Waseda University Sugano Lab (JP/EN)
• WAMOEBA-2R @ Waseda University History (EN)

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Avalon was released in 2001, so given its similarities to The Matrix it’s all too easy to write off as one of several rip-offs hoping to ride the coat tails of that film.  Actually, it’s only fair that Mamoru Oshii took some ideas from The Matrix as payback, since many elements of that film were inspired by Oshii’s version of Ghost In The Shell.  Shot in Warsaw, Poland, the film’s sepia-drenched scenes paint a bleak portrait of gritty urban city life.  Ash, the heroine, is a single woman with not much of a life making a modest living by playing a futuristic massively multiplayer online shooter called Avalon.

Players enter a totally immersive digital world via helmet-like BCIs that look like they could suck your brains out – and sometimes do.  Rumors of a secret level inaccessible to all but the highest ranking players leads Ash on a mission to find one of the game’s star players, who has disappeared from the regular game.  She joins a group of other high ranking players to find the way in, but rumor has it that when you cross over you have only two options: finish it, or die for real.

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Well, Japanese hobbyist Hinamitetu has finally managed to craft an acrobatic gymnast robot that can perform a mid-air somersault and grab back onto the horizontal bar without falling!  This is the 7th version of the robot, which appears to have a pressure sensor that activates the grippers on contact.  Who knows what’s next?  Perhaps he’ll work on the dismount.

Video:

[source: Hinamitetu @ YouTube]

After Honda blew the lid off of its humanoid robot project back in the late ’90s, it eventually revealed almost a dozen prototypes – except this one.  The P4 (above: fourth from left) is the middle ground between the P3 and the first model of ASIMO, and its overall size and design reflects that.  It’s being shown for the first time beginning March 20th 2010 at the Twin Ring Motegi Honda Collection Hall, along with the other prototypes.  I’m guessing Honda didn’t bother showing it to the public back when it was new (circa 1999) because the P3 was still being publicly demonstrated, and ASIMO’s unveiling in 2000 would make it irrelevant.  That said, it’s definitely cool to see another robot in ASIMO’s lineage, as it gives us further insight into Honda’s development process.

[source: Honda ASIMO site (JP)] via [Node (JP)]

developed & published by Capcom/2000.11.28
1 Player/1 CD-ROM/SONY PlayStation

Breath of Fire 4 focuses on two main characters. Fou-Lu, a god-like badass who has just awoken from a 500 year slumber, and Ryu, who appears out of thin air with no recollection of who or what he is. You’ll spend most of the time with Ryu and his friends, which are fairly well developed and likable, and the scenario moves along at a smooth pace with never a dull moment.

A fragile cease-fire between empires hangs in the balance, with Ryu and Fou-Lu, and Nina’s lost sister caught in the middle. Dialogue between characters is accompanied by expressive character portraits and sweeping camera angles, and there are many scenes. The strong cultural styling of each new area really help to flesh out the world.

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