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No Servant, Japan's Build-a-Robot Delivers Joy
isabotage3 writes to tell us that a new Japanese build-a-robot product may offer up a bit more participatory joy than models past. Even though it took this novice reporter over eight hours to assemble he still seemed to think that the end result was worth it. With a quick interface that allows everything from basic movement mapping to complex dance and aerial maneuvers, this robot seems to offer the user an experience far removed from the ASIMOs and AIBOs of years past. From the article: "You don't have to be a scientist, or even very smart, to play with Manoi AT01. But there's a catch: A lot of work is required to get it going. The $1,260 machine, which can walk, wave its arms and do other simple moves, comes in a kit that requires assembly — a sprawling, mind-boggling concoction of matchbox-size motors, plastic Lego-like parts, twisted wiring, 200 tiny screws and a 100-page manual."
The article mentions that this is a Manoi robot. A spot of online searching leads me to this MPEG video.
Cheers,
Ian
If you're interested in these things, you should also compare the featureset (hardware AND programmability) of other Japanese robotics kits. Two come to mind: the Kondo KHR-1 / KHR-2 series, and the Robonova series. There are others, but these two seem to have solid support and continual development. The Robonova has a nice feedback system, allowing you to hand-pose the robot and "snapshot" that pose, and then you string together all the poses into various actions. It's almost like you're programming it via stop-motion modeling.
One area I think that most are weak is that of vision support. I'd like to work with recognizing various symbol targets (even barcodes or stripes) and get specific command feedback. Also, this scale of robot is just now getting familiar with gyro inputs, but it's not like it's suddenly able to walk up inclines and catch itself falling. They seem best able to work in a very simple flat-smooth environment only.
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Would have been helpful if the submitter included a link to a PICTURE of the robot, which the article didn't either...
I found it here. And in English.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
The assembly is about typical for a Kyosho product. Try building one of their better 4WD R/C cars, with a working suspension, transmission and differentials to assemble. Very similar experience.
The actuators for this robot are apparently still output-only R/C PWM-type servos. The competitive product Robonova, though, has position and current feedback from the servos to the control computer, which moves it out of the dumb preprogrammed category into something that has potential for real autonomy.
The sensor suite on these things is still below par. These things really need a 6DOF inertial navigation system for balance, which means three rate gyros (about $22 each) and three accelerometers (about $6 total). They need force sensing in the feet and hands. With that, a camera, and a WiFi link to an external computer, you have almost ASIMO-level hardware functionality. I'll bet we see all that in a year. It's the obvious next step.
Then the problem is to develop software for robust legged locomotion. There's been work on that, but most of it is with expensive one-off machines. Once that moves to commercial robot hardware in the $1K range, progress will be rapid.
To avoid going into detail: Lord Oda (anyone ever play shogun total war?) introduced the practice of using arquebuses in warfare at the battle of Nagashino http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nagashino/ they were therafter used with great succes in battle until the victory of Tokugawa (who succesfully scared his enemies into joining him through the use of firearms, in mid-battle) at the battle of Sekigahara.
Tokugawa then proceeded to ban the use of firearms from battle, considering them to be an unfair advantage, dishonorable, etc. However, guns had become extremely popular in japanese warfare, giving rise to a large caste of gunsmiths, all of whom lost their job due to this imperial decree.
These gunsmiths then proceeded to turn their attention away from crafting firearms, instead focussing on mainly technological gadgets (we're talking 17th century here) like clockworks. Herein we find the roots of Japan's culture of small and intricate parts.
I learned all of this during my travels to the country, while assembling what felt like a few-thousand piece gundam with a Japanese friend of mine, asking myself the very same question "what the hell is up with all these microscopic parts?"