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Korean Bipedal Robot Kit
The Black Dragon writes "This has got to be the coolest thing I've seen in a while. It's a bipedal (walks on two legs) robot that you can put together yourself and program with movements. The site is in Korean, but from what I've been able to get from translators and currency exchange, it'll cost about $1,400. (There's a movie embedded half way down.)" Gizmodo has a blurb.
Because I want a robot army.
Now.
Ohhh Boy, embedded video on the web page. That site will be smoked QUICK!
Here is a link that shows what appears at a glance to be a superior robot model from Japan doing all kinds of neat tricks. It has 22 Degrees of Freedom rather than the 17 DOF in the robot from Wow Robot. This page also has video, but they are all links at the bottom of the page.
I agree that one of these would be great fun to play with!
Urge to post... fading... fading... RISING!... fading... fading... gone.
Now, think of what I could do if I had 2 extra hands, I could eat pizza, play video games, and browse the internet all at the same time.. not to mention all the other things you guys could come up with
Seriously, if it wasn't for the $1000+ pricetag that'd be the hit new toy this comming xmas!
Don't have Korean installed. North or South?
It comes with a ching chong mung and and four hong dong pongs!
Seriously though, what's with posting links to adverts that only about 3 people are going to be able to read?
The movie is called "The $1400 Man"?
MOUNT TAPE U1439 ON B3, NO RING
Robots
I know what I'm doing this weekend!
my new robot over--. Wait, we're in charge here. THE ROBOTS WELCOME US!
...she's a replicant, isn't she?
It's a bipedal (walks on two legs)...
So what you're saying is that it's NOT like a bicycle and doesn't have two pedals for my feet to go on? Hmm.. Now I'm confused..
What is your penile percentile?
I'm glad they included that definiton for the /. crowd.
I think I think, therefore I think I am.
That's cool. Does it want a job as President of the United States?
All these Asian robots are gonna kill us all.
(*Thinks about going to see I Robot when it comes out...*)
This robot reminds me a lot of the build-it-yourself Lego machines thay have been produced for a number of years now. The kits provide you with the base legos, along with motors, gears, and a nifty computer interface device that lets you write programs for a robot to execute.
The legos were a lot of fun, but the batteries for the remote/receiver never lasted that long.
This could be a nice next-generation version of the lego system, or it could turn into (brace yourself) this.
Any idea if this is equiped with Genuine People Personality? :-)
That is an interesting approach. Basically it looks like their robot is a framework for servos. There's almost nothing to it but servo mounts that are connected to each other.
The video is impressive, but are we watching a simple playback of a preprogrammed sequence? In that case, no dynamic "balancing" is necessary.
A robot with true balance would have to be MUCH more sophisticated.
Who want's a kidney? I'm willing to sell a kidney to get this thing.
Note: I didn't say "I'm willing to sell one of my kidneys to get this thing.". What do you care where the kidney comes from?
And you have the most freaking cool toy ever.
You gotta think if they are selling something this "high-end" that they could afford to purchase some time from an English translator and a web designer.
English isn't the end-all to beat-all language... but there are a whole lot of rich Americans.
This rocks... if there were information in English, most likely many news organizations would be all over it.
DK
Win Prizes For Your Guru Linux, Windows, Solaris, and Internet Tricks
can I install slackware on it?
That said, you can get a cheaper one. They are not as good, but... they're cheaper. Lynxmotion's Biped, or the less fancy Parallax Todler.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
domo aragato for that super-neat advertisement...
Pea...tear...Griffin? Yea, yea, Peter Griffin.
As of this writing US $1 = 1,149.25 South Korean Won. That makes the robot US $1261.69.
I've seen these from another company.
You must program each individual joint one by one, trial and erre style.
No feedback, no sensors, no remote control!
just memory for the movements
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
I think the Koreans are gonna be the next Japanese.
*hastily, before my Korean buddies start lookin for blood* That kit is not some little playtoy, looks like it's got some real tech in those servos and algorithms for balance and c.g. control. And the price puts any Nipponese offering I've seen to severe shame.
Oh, and embedded video or not, the site looks to be handling the traffic just fine.
.kr domains are South Korea, while .kp is reserved for North Korea (don't think they actually use it yet, though).
http://www.wowrobot.co.kr/enter/dEnterWebData/KHR- 1/khr1_a.wmv
Here's anotherKorean bot kit. Fun stuff. I saw them demo the quad w/RF module. Takes some of the fun out of it, but then again you can concentrate on AI if that's your thing.
English langauge site that says the kit is "Coming Soon" is at http://www.kopropo.com/robot_kits.htm
this thing beats Asimo hands down - more flexibility in a much smaller package.
Check out the video - gotta love the head stand!
"You mortals are so obtuse." -Q
All 17 different joints are powered by a single motor
Really? I had no idea that 17 different servos could be powered by one motor. How interesting.
In case you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic.
(There's a movie embedded half way down.)
No, that's its willy. Better work on that translation. :P
I for one welcome our new Robotic overlords, even if they are made from R/C car/airplane servos. Let's just hope they are 3 laws safe, or at least that Will Smith will defend us.
But it wouldnt take to much extra engineering to turn such miniturized robots into battery powered metal go-to bots.
Certainly the complexities in getting these machines to take out the garbage or wash the windows may be out of the consumer markets range for some years....
but how difficult would it be to use such machines in a more remote control Wi-Fi sense? put a little webcam on its head, give him an 802.11 chip.... and youve got a bipedal real life avatar of sorts... or a neat spy who (with some better engineering) can cover some seriously troublesome terrain.
at the price point this machine comes at.... it seems iRobot and more this decade level of affordable domestic machinery are much closer than we may have thought.... ASIMO and honda's works seemed to be extrobantly expensive toys, not of the commodity variety.
And im not speaking of the more automaton variety of home appliance bots in semi-fashion at the moment (the "robot" vacum, and now a grass cutting one of the same genre), for the most part i feel any robot with wheels isnt a REAL robot in the multipurpose ambiguous sort of role most consumers imagine. Mainly.... people dont want to buy a different robot for the many redundant tasks we have in a houshold (literally hundreds of daffy duck and tom and jerry cartoons with all the robots for the "automated household" comming out of every crevice), so our real hopes lie in a bipedal robot who can be trained (programmed) to do a variety of tasks.
security aside.... how long till it's a commercialy viable consumer level industry? Seems closer than i thought.
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
given that the page will be smoking in a while, here's
a mirror of the video
I grew up in St. Joseph, MI down the street from the Heath/Zenith plant. They released the heathkit HERO robot, the first (this is arguable, Im not really a robot historian) consumer grade robot.
We had one in school, our science teacher had buddies at Heathkit. You programmed it in assembly, via a keypad on the top of the robot. I don't even remember if there was a way to load an instruction set into it, until later models came along.
There is a website dedicated to the good ol Hero. Back then (late 1980s) we were sure that by 2004 we'd all be living with robots like the ones in the new I,Robot movie. I guess it didn't really happen.
It would be cool if the I,Robot bad guy (only seen the trailer, they got THAT GUY, who always plays villans, to play the villan) had a HERO on his desk or something. Esp. since the USR company in the movie is supposed to be in Chicago, right across the lake and home of several Zenith facilities.
The description on the page sucks, but go to your local Best Buy and check out the RoboSapien. Its joints have several degrees of freedom, and the remote looks like a TiVo remote on steroids.
If that's not screaming to be hacked, hooked to a linux box, and used to terrify the cat, I don't know what is. And at 1/14th the price of the Korean `bot. It's not a kit though, which I know is a negative on Slashdot...
How is this different to Robosapien?
Act now and get a healthy spleen for half-price.
"Offer void where prohibited. Sorry Tennessee!"
Does it play Ogg Vorbis?
Kopropo.com
\/__
O-O
it's also a bi-pedal !
"There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
These little guys were the star of the recent Robolympics in San Francisco (apart from my combat robot that it :) ) - absolutely amazing - some great pictures here.
What would Will Smith do? Kill it.
Wow. How appropriate. Actually, I wish that South Korea's TLD was .kp because I've spent quite a bit of time in S. Korea and firmly believe that the young women there are the most attractive (hot) that I've encountered in all my travels.
To me, K.P. is something very special (and has nothing to do with TLDs) and I alway associated it with S. Korea.
even if it was all a pre-programmed sequence. The thing's ability to do headstand, bend and lay down face down flat and get back up, and sidle, etc. It makes for some very flexible movements. It's not a utility robot, certainly.
I was watching the video w/o sound and it appeared to be "raising the roof", "doing the worm", "doing the electric slide", and then acting like Jim Carey in his dream scene from Dumb and Dumber.
While I am impressed with the video (that it stood up to the Slasdotters) I have to question whether the actual robots will perform as shown?
Bender: What'd you call me?!?
Hobo: A Robo. You know, a robot hobo.
Bender: Ohhh, I thought you said ROMO
When you ping a .kp site, the ICMP packet is kept inside the country and analysed, instead of being sent back!
Stand clear of the doors. The doors are now closing.
Now imagine a Beowulf cluster of those!
...but would it kill them to use a tripod?!
Lets see . This thing uses like 10 servos,processor,frame,software.
Analogy for building one would be something like a huge r/c plane with all the servos.
i think you could make a knockoff for 500 - 1000 dollars ? Any challengers ?
to do totally unintended things. Of course, this being a general non-purpose robot, almost everything you make it do can be unintended. Reminds me of a very very simple robot I saw on a Japanese TV show this morning - a robot that moves (rolls on wheels) in one direction to serve tea. You pick up the cup, it stops moving. You put the cup back, it turns around and go back where it came from. Simple logic, but great in functionality (for someone to serve tea to you, for instance).
If only this thing had a bit more power and more dexterity in digital manipulation (more nimble fingers), it'd be great.
now, if MS buys off that robot idea and makes it cuter and implants an AI system into it and sells it to every household in the world... we could see the end of the world as we know it.
Kim Jong Il will be able to make the robot movie he always dreamed of...
Best Prom Ever.
What really makes a robot? As far as I knew it, a robot had to have some type of AI to make it autonomous to be a real robot. This thing, the battle-bots, and the robosapian are just glorified remote controlled cars. Its somewhat cool, but I still think the er-1 (evolution.com) kicks this things shiny metal ass.
even i cant move and dance that well
North Korea doesn't need the Internet. They only have one computer (circa 1950), and they all share it.
With the new iRobot comming out soon I don't think this thing stands a chance.
The robot is actually manufactured by Kondo, from Japan:
c ts _kit.html
http://www.kopropo.com/robot_kits.htm
Japanese page with more info:
http://www.kopropo.co.jp/html/KONDO/Robot_produ
Wowrobot seems to be just a retailer specialized in robots...
Date more, my friend.
A lot more!
...where the editors need to define "bipedal" for the SlashDot audience? Have we really gotten that much dumbed down?
Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
At least it should be able to do "the Robot".
So, what is k.p.?
Other posters recognized the robot is basically a framework of servos that can execute a pre-programmed set of movements. In the case of the video, impressive combos, but pre-prog'd nonetheless.
What if you could hot-wire a wireless connection? (Okay, hot-wire was a bad choice of words, let's use "hack" instead...) Instead of a pre-programmed sequence of movements, you could write intellegent modules to handle things like balance, position, etc... The heavy thinking would occur on your PC while the movements were executed by the unit. Communication between the brain and the muscles would occur over 802.11xyz, Danish kings, or whatever.
You may need to add a few sensors or a gyroscope from an R/C helicopter, but it would be like the ultimate MindStorms kit!
Or perhaps the cheap-geeks version of Robot Battles! All teams would have identical hardware packages and it would be up to their programming skills to beat the other teams. [Echoed race announcer voice:]Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! The first annual Cheap-Geeks distributed component processing competition! Watch live as recursive algorithms battle for supremecy with servo-actuated motor systems! [systems... systems..] You'll pay for the whole seat, but you'll only use the edge!
Yea sure, FOX would pick that up over reality shows about blonde, teen, lesbians in bikinis any day.
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
If I want to know what a website written in some foreign-dog gibbersih says, I'll write a table-driven translator in machine code like God intended! Didn't these chumps get the RFP that says that this is the Internet, speak English, dammit?!!!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I know you from anti-slash! You're a seriously fucked up fucknut!
I don't know where whoever did the Gizmodo writeup got the idea that the entire thing was powered by a single motor. You can clearly see from the photos that each joint has its own servo.
SIERRA TANGO FOXTROT UNIFORM
This robot appears to be designed for RoboOne, a form of competition that has been popular for a couple years in the Far East, but is just now catching on here in the States. The Robolympics website has some great videos.
Your design to a real part online: Big Blue Saw
I think that would be a big seller...at least to the slashdot crowd.
Because his parents never bought him a computer as a kid!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Now we have to worry about "Wow Robot" rushes attacking our peon lines.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Don't have Korean installed. North or South?
North Korean Translation: "Your great robotic creation of the people will defeat the running capitalist dogs of war! All rise and sing the praises of our great leader, Kim Jung-Il!"
And build my own Awesome-O!
I met the guy who builds these at the Robolypmpics back in March. I've got some photos of this guy and his companions, along with some other bipedal robots at http://www.gism.net/photos/gallery/robot/robot.htm l
Don't Crease the Weasel!
It's somewhat hastly made translation, but hopefully there'll be no trouble understanding it.
Bipedal Robot Assembly Kit
KHR-1 is a wire-controlled robot equipped with new servo-motor(torque 7kg) and 17 joints. For the first time in bipedal robot of this dimension, robot movement can be triggered by capturing the position, with just a click of a mouse.
Proprietary controller
Proprietary controller can control 12 servo-motors(24 when linked with another). Booster logic is embedded so that no malfunction would occur should charge in servo-motor cause temporary fluctuation of current.
Contents of assembly kit
Servo-motor: 1
Frame: 1
Controller board: 1
Proprietary software: 1
Board link cable(PC serial port compatible): 1
Power cable: 1
Ni-Cd Battery: 1
Proprietary recharger: 1
Assembly instruction manual: 1
Hardware specification
Dimension: 340x180mm
Weight: 1.2kg (with battery)
Joints: 17
Connects to PC through RS-232C port
Software specification
OS: Windows 2000/XP
Recommended CPU: Pentium III and above
Recommended RAM amount: 128MB and above
Position capturing: a revolutionary way of instructing robot movement
No need to enter digits in a time-consuming way to instruct robot movement. With position capturing method, movements can be made in reduced amount of time.
In position capturing mode (instruction mode) you can freely adjust each joint of the robot, and the configuration is captured by the software. Further adjustment can be made in PC, enabling more complex movement.
The board weighs just 24g
With a total of only 1.2kg in weight, swift movement is possible.
Software
Enclosed CD contains assembly instruction manual and motion instruction software 'HeartToHeart,' which enables movement instruction through position capturing.
Software environment
PC running Microsoft Windows 2000/XP
Recommended RAM amount: 128MB
Recommended CPU: Pentium 3 and above
Communication port: RS-232C (May not work with USB-to-Serial conversion cable)
CD-Rom drive is required to install software and view the manual
Manual in CD shows a detailed instruction. You can learn the basic methods of movement-making through just by following the instructions. Simple examples such as forward and backward moving are included, that you can test the robot right away.
Slashdot me with L$s!
By the way, the price of 1.45m Korean Won roughly equals to 1,260 USD.
Slashdot me with L$s!
Well, it probably could be my butler, but it'd be a lousy one. It doesn't look as though it could carry many cleaning supplies or drinks on a tray or towels. Why isn't someone working on that kind of technology? Get with the program, people, You're at least 10 years behind schedule.
Why is this marked as funny? You people find poverty funny?
or fold my laundry?
damnit.
wow. Look at all you wrote, and yet what it comes down to is you just don't know what you're talking about.
I'll spell it out for you: For $1300 us you get this "robot" which is actually a bunch of interconnected servos. You can program "movement" for each server, and play it back. Yeah it looks cool, but it can't walk up to a ball and pick it up.
This thing is no artificial intelligence.
It has no "sight". No ability to see its environment and even make out a sinmple shape (like a ball).
It has no sensors. In other words you could program a fance running sequence, put him down and let him go... and if there's a wall in his way, he'll smack right into it.
It's not self-balancing. All movements are programmed in a sequence, and therefore you program it in a way that keeps it balanced. It won't balance itself.
The list goes on.... We're actually much "farther away" than YOU think.
You must not believe in All-Wheel-Drive then? Four wheels powered by one engine? How ludicrous!
. . . quarter-scale sized."
1. Buy two robots.
2. Buy Barbie wardrobes.
3. Clothe robots.
4. Buy web-cam.
5. Register domain for LIVE-NUDE-KNURLS.com
6. Offer paid membership to see web-cam of knurl-on-knurl action.
7. ???
8. PROFIT!!!
As someone posted above, this robot is a Japanese product.
The manufacturor has several more movies, too.
They've been doing this for a while and fighting them in a competition called robo-one. www.sozbots.com is supposed to be selling the Kondo kits by this weekend. You can get info on building one from scratch using servos, stamp boards, etc. at http://forums.delphiforums.com/RoboOne/start
I disagree with what you say, but I'll defend your right to say it to the death - Voltaire
Did you notice his eyes? Why is he so angry? He clearly bent on world domination. I, for one, welcome our new Bipedal Robot overlords.
Looks real flimsy, which wouldn't be surprising for a Korean toy. When airplane servos are directly attached to each other, they're as fragile as paper. The servo head is held on by a 3/16" thick piece of plastic and not designed to support the weight of another servo. In this toy, the weight of many servos is being transferred to a 3/16" piece of plastic. Perhaps Japan will make a better toy by coupling the servos to load bearing joints.
- equipment that offers a clearly stated (and comprehendable) range of motion types and weight/force tolerances
- a non-obscure computer hardware interface like USB
- an accompanying open program environment, where "open" means (a) all source provided, and (b) easily portable to various OSes.
Any leads that anyone could provide would be welcome. And barring that, anyone with robotics experience want to partner with me as software guy to make such a kit?- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
I found a bipedal robot much cheaper: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate gory=747&item=5905146415&rd=1&ssPageName=W D1V
[ebay.com]
Another funny case of 'engrish'. On their website, they inform you that you "may" find what you ordered :)
Kit
Inside of the package, you may find
1. a set of all the parts including frames, servomotors, CPU board, battery, battery charger, AC adapter, serial cable, connector, cables, screws.
2. a software to make motions of the robot, called 'TopDancer'.
3. an attache case in which you can put the robot and the charger adapter.
4. a plan which indicates the quantity and the place of each parts.
Looks like they are already in the USA
Sorry to post AC, but its going to get modded into oblivion anyway. The issue isn't raising a child, its carring a fetus to term and giving birth to the child. Until supply catches up with demand, adoption should take care of all of the "raising a child" issues.
To your earlier point, "can a foetus think?", the answer is unequivocally yes, beyond a certain point. In fact, a child born as early as 24 weeks can survive (odds are not good, but it does happen).
Personally, I beleive that life is a fuzzy thing. Science can't put its finger on just when an embryo/fetus changes from a mass of cells to a human being. However, It is somewhere between conception and birth, and I would prefer to err on the side of caution and place the burden on the mothers-to-be. Its not life and death for them, and (barring rape) its not like these women are blameless. They made bad decisions, and should have to live with the consequences of their actions (the fathers should too, but somehow they are completely left out of the whole debate). This is one way "learn about life" as GunnFodder put it. It's a tough lesson, but better than the possibility of killing a human just to eliminate the consequeces of a bad decision.
I did a search and could not find any open source Design or Software in this category. Does Anyone know of one?
If not , Hopefully someone more knowledgeable in the Electronics / driver writing / coding arena will be inspired enough from seeing this to Start something up on Sourceforge or something.
If it is controlled through wireless connection - (802.11, USB, I don't know, Fill me in...)would the lag prohibit doing the balance layer of the control from the desktop?
I would LOVE to see a grassroots version of this that could support Soccer, Sumo, environment mapping, and other popular-ish projects as Dev Forks of a common Hardware configuration.
It seems like people aren't able to easily build on the efforts of others in these areas as it sits right now. Seems to me that lots of this type of work could be software only - if there was a hardware platform that had a track record of experimentation / modification / development by diverse people.
Someone fill in the gaps for me - what am I missing in this little experimenters fantasy?