RoboBuilder, a South Korean manufacturer of hobby robot kits, is set to launch two new do-it-yourself humanoids catering to very different markets. They’ll make use of the company’s new Smart Actuator Modules (SAMs), which are compatible with the older wCK servos and numbered by their rated torque. They were developed with the assistance of researchers at KwangWoon University and KIST.
The RQ-TITAN (short for Technological Innovation Towards ANdroids) is a large kit that can be assembled to stand 84~100 cm (33″~39″) tall and weighs 8.5~10 kg (19~22 lbs). In the photo up above you can see its legs standing next to the company’s current kit.
Intended as a research platform for RoboCup’s TeenSize League, it is priced at a whopping 30,800,000 KRW ($27,200 USD). This is mainly because powerful servos like the SAM-170 and SAM-140 don’t come cheap (roughly $600 and $440 USD each respectively). RoboBuilder may debut the RQ-TITAN in the TeenSize League at RoboCup this year in an attempt to one-up Robotis, a popular competing brand, which is also set to launch a TeenSize DARwIn robot sometime this year.
It comes with a 2-axis gyro sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, a USB camera, and is powered by a Windows-based Tiny PC. The default configuration comes with 22 degrees of freedom: head x2 (SAM-28), chest and shoulder x4 (SAM-140), arms x2 (SAM-28), legs x14 (SAM-170EO). It can also be expanded to include individually-actuated fingers and/or force sensors in its feet. Furthermore it can be controlled via smartphone, Xbox 360 game pad, or puppeteered through a smaller robot.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the RQ-HUNO is a tiny humanoid kit that measures just 19 cm (7.4″) tall, making it one of the smallest kits in the world (4 cm shorter than the Robovie-nano and 4 cm taller than the BeRobot). It has a total of 16 degrees of freedom using a combination of SAM-5 and SAM-3 servos, which pack just enough power for its small stature.
Given that it will likely be cheaper than the company’s flagship model (which can be had for $420 USD), the RQ-HUNO is set to be a very attractive entry-level kit. Hopefully it will actually launch with the exoskeleton options seen in the conceptual rendering, because if it does it’s not too far off from something like the cute J4. The only problem I have with it is the feet and ankle assembly seems a bit cramped. A video of the robot can be viewed after the break.
A Russian team of researchers has built (part of) the country’s first realistic android. Like the Geminoids built in Japan the android bears an uncanny resemblance to its human creator, Dmitry Itskov.
Itskov is the eccentric founder of several online news outlets and Russia-2045, a group that believes the singularity is near. The team hopes to build a fully-functional replicant by 2020 so that by the middle of the century it will be ready to host a digital copy of the mind, effectively circumventing a little thing called death. If that sounds kooky, you might be surprised to learn that some very smart people are betting it will happen.
The android’s upper-torso was unveiled earlier this year, so it’s still very early in development. Some simple face recognition is being demonstrated and they have a pair of robot hands moving, but they hope to get it walking in a year or two. That seems overly optimistic, given it can’t even blink, but more power to them.
More entertaining than the android is the following (English) propaganda piece from the movement that forecasts the next 30 years. It’s a great piece of theater brimming with buzzwords and hilarious predictions, but the commingling of science with promises of immortality results in a pseudo-religious tone that raises red flags.
What with robots taking up a huge pavilion at Korea’s Yeosu Expo 2012 (which opened this weekend, see a preview here), what better time to appreciate another Korean expo from two decades ago?
The Taejon (now spelled Daejon) Expo ’93 was only a three month affair, but it was one of the largest ever held. Some 108 countries participated, and several futuristic pavilions were erected that can be visited today for a small fee. The expo’s theme was “The Challenge of a New Road of Development”, so robots were a natural fit. While most of the robot attractions fell into the category of silly animatronics, there were some real ones that drew portraits and balanced wine glasses.
As the translator for Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy, Frederik L. Schodt was in a particularly good position to write a book about the Robot Kingdom, otherwise known as Japan. The monicker came about as a result of the nation’s large population of industrial robots, which continues to dwarf that of other nations.
How Japan earned that title is a lesson to anyone interested in the country’s rise to prominence in the electronics and automotive industries, and presages the arrival of their famous humanoids. Entertaining black and white photos, quotes from prominent roboticists, and factoids are peppered throughout the book.
Schodt covers industrial robots from their rocky beginnings to Fanuc’s massive robot fortress at the base of Mt. Fuji. I must admit I was initially uninterested in reading about the manufacturing side of robot history, but I was pleasantly surprised by how dramatic the whole thing was. Without getting too technical he describes a variety of robots and their functions, and the vastly different receptions they received in the United States and Japan.
Japanese companies were so proud of their robots that they aired commercials on prime time television showing the latest in factory automation. In an essay by the president of Fanuc, industrial robots are compared to a fictional samurai from the Edo period. Like Tengezaemon, an industrial robot could still be very useful even if it had only one eye, one arm, and one leg to slide around on.
Suidobashi Heavy Industry (an impressive name for what is in reality a small group of dedicated giant robot afficionados), is in the process of building the first 3.8 meter (12 ft 5 inch) tall, 4,500 kg (4.9 ton) single-occupant mecha. The ambitious group is made up of Kogoro Kurata (production), Wataru Yoshizaki (control circuitry), and Yusuke Kitani. They’ve opted for V-SIDO software to handle the mecha’s master-slave controls (developed by Asura Engineering), and plan to have the mecha, named Vaudeville, fully operational by the end of this year.
As you can see in the photos Vaudeville is supported by four legs, each ending in a wheel. The software will combine a smartphone, master-slave handle bars (for the arms), and a Microsoft Kinect sensor, allowing the pilot to rotate the cockpit (presumably with his head movement). Furthermore, the group claims it will sell the savage beast with optional water gun, camo paint job, and so on to suit your personal needs. You can see more photos and watch some crazy work-in-progress videos, including its giant hand crushing a box, after the break.
One thing’s for sure; the fact its arms are too short for practical use won’t prevent Vaudeville from impressing crowds where ever it goes. You can follow the project’s development at its official Facebook page and Twitter (though it doesn’t look like they’ve updated much).
