ROBOTS DREAMS

More "Senses" for the Kyosho MANOI and Kondo Robots

Kondo has announced an upgrade to the RCB-3 robot controller board that features support of the new Kyosho 32PORT/RCB-3 sensor board (pictured at left). We guessing, because detailed information on the Kyosho board isn't available yet, that this will address the analog sensor port limitation of the RCB-3 based robots, and really stimulate the development of autonomous applications. This will probably include the KHR-1HV and Kyosho MANOI AT01 and PF01 robots. Given this exciting development, it's easy to imagine a team of autonomous AT01 robots going head to head against an Alderbaran NAO team when RoboCup 2008 rolls around. 

The new sensor board is a Kyosho product, and Kondo does not intend to resell it, but has upgraded the RCB-3 firmware to fully support the board. The Kondo announcement does state that the firmware and Heart to Heart 3 (H2H3) application software upgrade only applies to RCB-3 controllers and is not compatible with the RCB-3J controllers (used for the KHR-2HV robots) at this time. That's likely to be a 'bummer' for KHR-2HV users.

In terms of additional RCB-3 and H2H3 functionality, the upgrade adds support for the Kyosho sensor board, but does not include any other changes or improvements. So, if you are already using Ver1.03 of the firmware and don't plan to use the new sensor board, there is no compelling reason to upgrade at this time.

Is SK-Pang up to Something With the GOGIC-Five robot?

We can't be sure exactly what SK-Pang has in mind for the next generation Gogic-Five humanoid robot kit, but the image below that was recently posted on the company's website looks extremely interesting, and has triggered a lot of thought, especially about robot transformers: 

ROBO-ONE 12 Entry Deadline Extended Through Sunday

According to the latest news posted on the official ROBO-ONE website earlier today, the entry deadline for the ROBO-ONE 12 competition, coming up September 15th/16th in Takamatsu, has been officially extended through Sunday, September 2nd. As of 10:05 pm this evening (Thursday, August 30th Japan time) there were 78 official entries in the database, and we always see a flood of entries during the last day before entries close.

Weird-72 Creator Kazuhisa Terasaki Talks About His Robot Creations (Video)

 
Long term readers of Robots Dreams may recall Weird-7, a wooden robot designed by Kazuhisa Terasaki. The robot was able to achieve surprising performance given the fact that it used really cheap servos and a controller board. One of Terasaki's favorite tricks is to have Weird-7 laying down, literally as flat as a board, and then have it pop up and come to life.

Weird-7 turned out to be quite popular in Japan, and eventually Terasaki was talked into marketing the product as a kit. The Weird-7 kit sells for just under 30,000 yen (roughly $260 US), and can still be found at Tsukumo Robot Kingdom in Akihabara as well as quite a few other robot retailers.

But, Terasaki wasn't satisfied, so he went on to create Weird-72, a bigger, better, more humanoid robot version of Weird-7 - only this time his robot could actually jump rope. We caught up with Terasaki, and Weird-72,  in Mountain View, California during our trip to the Anybots facility in June. 

i-SOBOT Responds to Keepon and Penguin Robot Dance Challenges (Video)

First we had Keepon, the cute little rhythmic yellow ball robot dancing it's way through Tokyo and Akihabara. Then, yesterday, Humanoido had his two servo Penquin robot doing a credible imitation of Mumbles from the Happy Feet movie.

So i-SOBOT just had to get into the act, and offer up a little Latin Rock dance performance (see video below).

William Cox Interview with Bruno Maisonnier of Aldebaran Robotics (Video)

William Cox, of Gorobotics.Net, caught up with Bruno Maisonnier, the CEO and Founder of Aldebaran Robotics at the recent RoboCup 2007 competition (see video below), and had a chance to get a briefing on the new NAO humanoid robot.

Although neither of them knew it at the time, NAO was soon destined to replace Aibo in the RoboCup Standard Platform competitions.

Kondo Set To Release New Robot Accessory

Kondo, the creator of the KHR-series humanoid robots, technology partner with Kyosho for the MANOI series, and the supplier of key servo and controller components to many of the top ROBO-ONE competitors, will be introducing a new accessory in September.

Their new robot stand looks perfect for setting up, adjusting trim, and even displaying any of the KHR-series robots. According to Kondo, the stand can be used for the original KHR-1, newer KHR-2HV and KHR-1HV robots, and the MANOI AT01. It even works with the Kondo GENEX robot suit installed. And, the stand and robot easily fit into the official Kondo robot carrying case. (see photos below).

Cherubim Robot From Robot Force is a True Transformer (Video)

Iwaki-san, the guiding spirit driving the Robot Force organization in Osaka, and the co-author of the great KHR-Perfect book, just posted a new video (see below)  featuring Cherubim, his red 'Transformer' robot in action.

The Robot Force group is heavily involved in humanoid robot development, sales, marketing, support, and stages several major robot competitions including Robo-Fight and Robo-Gong. Iwaki-san definitely enjoys robotics, but more important, he really treasures the motivation, joy, and inspiration the hobby/sport provides to his customers, employees, and the spectators that attend their events.

So, it was natural for Robot Force to develop several Transformer type humanoid robots like Cherubim. These aren't 'toys' - they are fully functional humanoid robots that are capable of competing at the top levels in ROBO-ONE events and robot soccer matches.

Dancing Penguin Robot Shows Some Cool Moves (Video)

Humanoido, one of our online robot friends and fellow fanatics, wrote in to tell us about the software he developed to convert the 4" tall,  two servo (yes - just two servos) biped Penguin robot from Parallax into an amazing dancing dervish-  

"Penguin is a tiny new robot, which is a greatly scaled down version of the Parallax Toddler robot. You may think there's not a lot of things you can do with just two servo motors. Face it, even getting a biped to walk smooth is a real challenge But for the past 3 months I've been in the lab writing software. This has led to some very interesting things, like dancing and skating. Some of the dance moves are rather fantastic, wouldn't you say?

Penguin goes beyond his two servo motors. The code has virtual motors. These exist only in software. But they give the robot capability to move in new ways. Let me know what you think of this dancing. It's modeled after little Mumbles Penguin on the Happy Feet movie."

So, take a look at the Penguin in action below, then tell us, and Humanoido, whether Michael Jackson, or Mumbles, has anything to worry about.

Pleo - What's Behind, and What's Inside the Dinosaur Robot (Video)

There's no doubt about it. Pleo, the robotic dinosaur from UGOBE, is an amazing creation. It's movements, actions, and reactions, are surprisingly realistic and lifelike - when it has its skin on.

It's August already, and the ramp-up for the holiday buying season is already well underway. Manufacturers are racing to get their products into the supply chain so that they can fill the shelves at WalMart, Target, and all the other major retailers as customers begin their annual Christmas buying spree. For most manufacturers, especially those in the toy end of the market, the holidays are a do or die proposition. That appears to be especially true for Pleo.

To prime the pump and get the 'Pleo Buzz' going, UGOBE has been sending out a series of newsletters and posting new videos (see below) about Pleo online every two weeks. Their latest newsletter was titled "Sneak Peek into Pleo" and provided an interesting look behind the UGOBE curtain.