Unicyclist Murata Seiko-chan ‘09 has improved balance, speed

Not to be deterred by Honda’s U3-X, Murata Manufacturing’s unicycling robot, Murata Seiko-chan (Murata Girl) has received some upgrades since its debut in 2008, and they’re keen to show off their hard work.  They gave a preview of what they’ll be showing at this year’s CEATEC JAPAN 2009 (beginning early October) that included a traveling speed of 15cm/sec (three times faster than the original model), a smaller turning ratio, and the ability to navigate a thin balance beam only 2cm (3/4″) wide.

The robot has been given additional gyro sensors to aid its balancing act, a front-mounted camera to detect the balance beam, and distance sensors.  More than 6 months and several million yen have been invested in the robot, which is expected to boost sales in Murata’s electronics components due to its undeniable PR value. Videos after the break.

[source: Robonable]

Related posts:

1. CEATEC Japan 2009: Robot Round-Up
2. Robofes: HRP-4C stacks up well next to HRP-2 Promet
3. ･Murata Girl
4. Kokoro’s I-FAIRY magically appeared at CES 2010

This entry was posted on 2009.09.26 at 05:20 and is filed under Murata Girl. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Unicyclist Murata Seiko-chan ‘09 has improved balance, speed”

1. technabob on September 26th, 2009 at 07:49

   unicycle robot by murata has much better balance than me…

   This jolly little robot gets around not by walking or crawling, but by rolling along on a single unicycle wheel.

   Murata’s Seiko-chan (Murata Girl) self-balancing unicycle robot first came onto the scene back in 2008, but has recently been upgrad…

2. :: TecnoloGeek :: » Blog Archive » Murata Seiko unicycling robot gets an awesome upgrade on September 27th, 2009 at 01:26

   [...] appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

3. Murata Seiko unicycling robot gets an awesome upgrade at Technology Nirvana on September 27th, 2009 at 01:53

   [...] appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

4. Murata Seiko unicycling robot gets an awesome upgrade | Technology South Africa on September 27th, 2009 at 02:11

   [...] appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

5. Murata Seiko unicycling robot gets an awesome upgrade « Tech Pulse! on September 27th, 2009 at 08:24

   [...]

6. robb robinferianto.com on September 28th, 2009 at 05:57

   yea it rolls.
   kind of cute.
   but, does it do anything else ?

7. Robotbling on September 28th, 2009 at 06:33

   Its ability to ride a unicycle on a tiny balance beam isn’t impressive enough for you? It was designed as a PR tool, so it does not need any other functionality than what it was designed to do. It is a companion to Murata Boy, a robot that can ride a bicycle and maintain balance even when it’s stationary.

8. gadgets » Blog Archive » Video: Murata Seiko führt neue Tricks vor on September 28th, 2009 at 14:01

   [...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments [...]

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