ROBOTS DREAMS - Robot news and robot hacks from a true robot geek

Magical Robot Mystery Tour (Video)

As we mentioned a while back, Takahashi’s karakuri robot creations are really amazing. Of course, the attention to fine detail and craftsmanship are excellent, as you might expect from a Japanese artist of his ilk. But, even more striking is Takahashi’s magical and delightful “world”, the context and ‘story’ that he created in his imagination as the natural environment occupied by flying mechanical fish, insect size solar planes, fiddle playing elves in bottle houses, and much, much more.

Luckily we were able to capture some of his creations in motion in the video clip below.

Nakamura Rolls Out New Humanoid Robots

Nakamura, one of the top ROBO-ONE competitors, has a long line of other humanoid robot achievements under his belt.

For example, he's the creator of the transformer robot, WR-07, that totally amazed and delighted both the crowds and the judges during the demonstration phase of the ROBO-ONE competition a few years ago. The robots performance was so cool, and so totally unexpected that a YouTube video of the robot has racked up over 6,000,000 views todate.

At the same time, Nakamura created Kondo's highest performance robot controller for several years, the Motion Processor, and he was the guiding light and mentor for the creation of the popular Gogic Five robot kit. And, in his spare time, he organized the Himeji Robot Challenge competitions to inspire and motivate young (and old) robot fans in his community.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Nakamura is rolling out a new set of humanoid robot kits, Jo-Zero and STD-Zero, that are sure to set a new standard with robot fans and competitors both here and abroad.

Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, we weren't able to be on hand for the official unveiling. However, one of top Japanese reporters we know and respect, Hideo Ishii, was able to make it and filed an extensive report including lots of great close-ups, detailed performance specifications, and video clips.
Ishii's detailed report

Ishii, by the way, isn't just a technology reporter. He is also the author of several leading books on building and modifying humanoid robots and other high tech gear, and is also a key member of the champion robot soccer team, Bamboo Bridge.

[From the Robots Dreams iPhone]

Toy Just Waiting To Be Hacked (Video)

Here’s a toy we’ve never seen before, from a TV show we’ve never seen, just begging to be hacked for use as part of some kind of robot:

New Improved Forkknife Robot Now With Lasers!

The original Forkknife robot was intended as a demonstration of remotely control using a Google Android based G1 cellphone.

The robot mobility and local computing platform was the SRV-1 developed by our friends at Surveyor Corporation. The SRV-1 is extremely popular with colleges, universities, and research labs doing advanced work in mobile robotics, artificial intelligence, swarms, and remote surveillance.

Now the Forkknife robot developers have taken it to the next level, and have even equipped the robot with lasers!

Forkknife2- with lasers

[Posted from my iPhone]

RoboPhilo Junior - Neat New Remote Control

One of the high points during our review session with the RoboPhilo Junior was it's new PS2 gamepad type wireless controller. After struggling with IR based remotes (Robonova, I-SOBOT, the original RoboPhilo, etc.), the new controller is a breath of fresh air and a pleasure to use.

And, because almost everyone has played video games using this layout style, the button locations and functions are natural, almost intuitive.

The robot designers also realized that some customers may want their own custom layout, so they made it simple to remap the control keys (or combination of keys) so that it triggers any predefined command or motion.

The communication technology operated without a hitch during our testing sessions, though we should point out that we live in a semi-rural area without much radio or other electrical interference.

And, what are the best parts?

First, the new controller comes with the robot kit and is included in the purchase price, unlike other manufacturers that sometimes ask you to part with an additional $100 or more to get the same functionality.

Second, the new controller will be made available for use with the original RoboPhilo- a move that's sure to be applauded by owners everywhere.

Third, since the communication technology has been widely known for a long time and hacks documented on the Internet, it won't be long before users put together direct control apps to operate their robot directly from their PCs or networks.

[Posted from my iPhone]

Melissa Robot Performs Some Useful Tasks (Video)

Melissa is definitely evolving, and is getting to the point that we can believe evetually robots like this will provide useful service around the home and office. And, we really appreciate Melissa’s builder’s sense of humor and willingness to openly share his ‘bloopers’ and false starts with everyone online as well.

KHR-3HV Humanoid Robot Has Big Feet...

The new Kondo KHR-3HV humaniod robot kit has feet that depart from the popular bathtub design used in older Kondo designs.

You can compare the relative size in this photo. The older bathtub foot is on the left in the package, while the new foot is to the right.

Proportionally, the new feet are larger and not as natural looking - they almost give the robot a circus clown feet look.

That being said, the new robot's expanded footprints should make it easier to align and balance correctly, which will contribute to smoother, more human-like walking and other motions

One curious observation: the new feet have lots of extra holes and servo mounting locations designed in from the git-go.

The bottom (sole) of the foot reveals a huge array of holes, many of which are countersunk for use with mounting screws, and two servo mounting patterns. The foot edges have also been designed for better robot walking providing more of a bevel and clearance for the robot to tilt its foot slightly without dragging or tipping while initiating a walk move, much like humans do.

The top side of the foot shows the holes, and the unused servo mounting patterns more clearly.

Note that the stock KHR-3HV only uses four small screws and nuts to attach the ankle servo frames to the feet. It’s functional enough, however our huge paws are going to find it difficult, and a little frustrating, to work with those tiny parts. We’re not watchmakers…

Does this indicate that Kondo has a lot of options or add-ons in the works? They had to have something in mind, even if it was only to provide lots of flexibility for future KHR-3HV hackers.

Hopefully there will be some exciting follow-on products that use those extra holes, but we're not going to hold our breath waiting for them to appear.

[Posted from my iPhone]

Early Version of Hina (Video)

One thing that immediately caught our eye while watching this early version of Hina was the wide leg stance and feet that are slightly toed out. This is a very different, and much more stable, approach than the rectilinear approach used by most robot kit manufacturers and hobbyists in the past. Even the 3^rd generation Kondo humanoid robot kit, the KHR-3HV, is basically rectilinear and suffers the inherent instability issues that come with right angle designs. Biological creatures, like you and I for example, almost never come with right angles or square corners.

Try putting your heels, back, and head flat against a wall to get them all in a straight line, then try walking forward holding that posture without falling down. You’ll quickly understand why most of the 1^st and 2^nd generation humanoids have trouble walking, or even maintaining their balance while standing still. It’s something that Hina’s creator seems to have understood, either logically or intuitively.

Humanoid Robot Control Question

Joe wrote in asking about possible robot remote control strategies and wanted to know what most of the builders here use. Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be any ‘universal’ solution, no “one-size-fits-all”. All of the humanoid robot manufacturers seems to have their own unique controller and communication approach. Some of them, who will remain nameless, use antiquated and expensive RC technology designed for a totally different environment.

That being said, the PS2 game controller (or a clone) appears to be the choice of most builders that aren’t satisfied with the original manufacturer’s optional equipment. For example, the Logitec Wireless PS2 Controller is readily available and costs a fraction of the price.

The challenge is to interface it to your particular robot controller. This is typically done using a small dedicated PIC board. PIC boards are small enough to be mounted on the back of the PS2 controller receiver and add minimal weight to the robot. The board can be programmed handle the communications and perform the protocol/command translation between the codes sent from the PS2 controller and the commands your robot wants to see. There are lots of online resources, like The Curious Inventor PS2 Guide, documenting the PS2 controller protocol and sample code. It isn’t a trivial project, but if you have some PIC experience, and can find out your robots command structure, then it’s well worth the effort.

Tools for the Robot Traveler

When you have a hectic travel schedule, like we did for the past three weeks, the last thing you want to hassle with is a rats nest of tangled cables and connectors. Over the years we’ve purchased, and shelved with frustration, numerous products that we thought would be the answer, including PC mice that used IR and several other communication technologies. Every time we ran into some limitation. Either there was interference, or the batteries went dead at exactly the worst time, or something else went haywire.

Thankfully, during the Texas leg of our journey our nephew suggested using a new product that we immediately fell in love with and have used constantly ever since.