Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Android Weightlifter Now Capable Of Body Slam
A human-sized weightlifting android successfully picked up a 145 pound humanoid doll from a bed in Tokyo yesterday. This remarkable feat was accomplished by an android robot that itself weighs just 154 pounds, created by University of Tokyo professor Yasuo Kuniyoshi and his team of engineers. As previously stated on this site, Robot Nurses Seem Unavoidable. Of course, the first prerequisite for a body-slamming, wrestling robot is the ability to lift an opponent as big as yourself.
(Android weightlifters getting stronger)
The android robot was able to perform this feat without large motors due to an interesting advance in sensor technology (it has more than 1800 embedded sensors) and software that can interpret the data.
“Large motors are not safe for use in household robots,” explains Kuniyoshi. “Only a small amount of power is applied at each of this robot’s joints, but it can successfully move heavy objects by using the tactile sensors to regulate how it lifts and carries things.”
The weightlifting robot is also able to execute different maneuvers depending upon the situation. In picking up a thirty kilo package from a table, it slid the package to the edge of the table and then picked it up with the other arm.
To pick up a person-sized doll from a bed, it slid its arms under the doll, lifted and backed away.
Professor Kuniyoshi states that the new android robot has potential uses in the nursing care industry or the moving profession.
To get a better idea of the advance involved, compare this android robot to RI-MAN, a robot nurse developed in the RIKEN Bio-Mimetic Control Research Center. RI-MAN can only pick up about a third as much weight.
(RI-MAN elder care robot)
Because it is clearly intended to be man-sized, this is a good time to remember the origin of the term robot - from Karel Capek's 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossem's Universal Robots).
Read more about RI-MAN at RI-MAN And Roujin-Z Robots: Elder Care Fact And Fiction and RI-MAN Face Tracking, Electronic Nose Robot . Via Android shows off people-lifting skills.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/29/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'' - Isaac Asimov (1940)
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...' - Elizabeth Bellamy, 1899.
SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
'Beware the 'long, flexible, glittering tentacles...' - HG Wells, 1898
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
'There was no wheel, and no steersman!'
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'
DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'
Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'
Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It
'I squatted down beside the roller and tried to make some sense out of the knobs. There were thirty-nine of them...'
SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
'Beware the long, flexible, glittering tentacles...'
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?"
Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering From Harvard
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
