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A Robot Carries Humans, Another One Plays Flute
Roland Piquepaille writes "The New Scientist says that a robot able to carry humans was demonstrated in Tokyo. The robot, developed at Waseda University in Tokyo and the Japanese robotics company tmsuk, 'uses 12 actuators to move forwards, backwards and sideways while carrying an adult weighing up to 60 kilograms (130 pounds).' It will be used 'in the fields of welfare, as an alternative to wheelchairs, which can go up and down stairs.' The Takanishi Laboratory carries other projects, including a flutist robot. More details and references are contained in this overview, which also includes a picture of the flutist robot in concert."
I push people down the stairs.
I am the shover robot - I shove people down the stairs
Great, at 130 pounds the American population is out of luck.
while carrying an adult weighing up to 60 kilograms (130 pounds)
Only 130lbs?! Looks like I'll be carrying the robot on my way out of the burning building.
-Valiss
Sorry, mr robot, without knees having legs is probably worse than wheels.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
What is needed is a robot that will help disabled people get in and out of bed. My aunt has a disabled child who is wheelchair bound and needs help getting in and out of bed. So when they get an all-purpose walking/moving/assisting robot that will do those tasks, then they'll have something with a BIG market!
Surely this Covers the climbing up stairs thing, not to mention the reaching high places, as well as not looking quite so conspicuous as being carried round by a dirty great robot when youre out shopping.
same technology, inventor, and company as the Segway.
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There is no hatred more pure and true than that expressed by children.
Pretty soon they'll be wanting voting rights and they'll be forming unions. Then Ford will have to outsource their car manufacturing overseas where the robots work for less and aren't held to the same stringent emissions standards we have here. It's just a downward spiral from here, folks...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Don't most adult humans weigh more than 130 pounds?
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There is no hatred more pure and true than that expressed by children.
Unbelievably old-hat. A flute-playing automaton was constructed before 1750. Search for Vaucanson (the inventor) and flute (the instrument)--it's no secret, though the current developers fail to mention this prior art.
I hope they are careful about shielding their electonics. I knew a guy who was a high level quadriplegic who steered his electic wheel chair with his chin. One day he was in a subway station and as a train came up the strong electromagnetic fields caused his chair to go geserk. He was *very* frightened. Someone grabbed his chair and turned it off.
No electrons were harmed creating this post, though some may have been subjected to electrical and/or magnetic fields.
They came, they carried, they conquered.
A better image is available here.
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The comments I read were really lame. This is an important step forward folks.
A practical walking machine should probably have 6 legs and be able to trott like a horse. Imagine how useful such a machine would be for mineral exploration. When such a machine can scale a scree slope then this means that mankind will not have to hike in 20 miles in order to check out a claim.
A machine that can walk over windfalls would be more fun than a bike.
I think the OpenSource community can program one. But I've not heard of any takers. If we could even simulate a walking machine we'd be well on the way because actually building the actuators is not going to be very difficult... what is difficult is writing the code to control them.
I think they have everyone fooled. Note the speakers and subwoofer at the bottom of the pic. ;) Why whould a flute playing robot need speakers?
Seriously though, this is very impressive. From the lung to the lips and mouth like piece that makes the air come out is if from a normal mouth, it's amazing. I'd like to hear how it sounds and I'd be interested in the software that was made to convert the midi notes into breath strength/time and the finger movements.
A distinctive mark, characteristic, or sound indicating identity