Scientists at the University of Tokyo, led by Dr. Kento Kawaharazuka, have taken a novel approach to this problem. Instead of creating a fully autonomous vehicle, they've developed a robot that can drive a regular car.
Enter Musashi, a musculoskeletal humanoid robot designed to mimic the human body and control a car just like a human driver. This innovative approach could potentially allow non-autonomous vehicles to be driven by a robotic chauffeur.
Musashi isn't your average robot. It's designed with a musculoskeletal structure that closely resembles the human body, featuring 74 "muscles" and 39 joints, excluding the hands. Its hands have five fingers each, and there are pressure sensors in both the hands and feet.
RoboShiko! Sumo Exercises Still Good For Robots
'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.' - Roger Zelazny, 1966.
Giant Robotic Hands At Gundam Next Future Science
'Waldo put his arms into the primary pair before him; all three pairs, including the secondary pair mounted before the machine, came to life.' - Robert Heinlein, 1942.
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RoboShiko! Sumo Exercises Still Good For Robots
'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.'