ROBOTS DREAMS

Researching Robonova With Google

With the 1st US Hitec Robotics Cup competition coming up this April, just a few months away, we needed to refresh our memory on the Robonova-1 humanoid robot.

The Robonova-1 is, without a doubt, the best selling robot in its class in terms of world-wide sales, and is instantly recognizable. But, when was it actually introduced? And what was the initial press and public reaction?

We weren't exactly sure, and didn't want to trust our fading, and sometimes fuzzy recollection. So, as usual, we turned to Google to try and scope out some answers.

Robonova and the WiiMote (Video)

Right after we posted about RoboDance 4 supporting the WiiMote with the i-SOBOT, we found a project by BillB on the RoboSavvy robot forums to implement the WiiMote with the popular Robonova-1 humanoid robot.

While the RN/WiiMote project isn't as complex, nor as far along as RoboDance 4, it is a clear demonstration of what can be accomplished. We can hardly wait to see a more robust and fully developed version.

Robonova-1: Tsukumo Starts Sales of New Sensors

Tsukumo Robot Kingdom in Akihabara just started selling two new sensor options for the Hitec Robonova-1. Both sensors are sourced from Hitec Muliplex Japan, so apparently they are officially supported products compatible with the Robonova-1 humanoid robot.

The first sensor, pictured left, generates a digital sensor output signal when touched. The sensor substrate is only 12.9x29 mm. The second sensor is a peak sound detector that generates a signal if it hears a loud noise like clapping hands.

Both sensors are priced at 2,000 yen on the Tsukumo Robot Kingdom website.

 

Robot Kits Are Just The Beginning (Video)

Some people buy a hobby robot kit, assemble it, try out the motions provided by the manufacturer, and then get bored. But for others the stock kits are just the beginning of the fun and challenge. They take the standard robot and start to add a lot of their own creativity and skill. The results can be very rewarding in terms of personal satisfaction and peer recognition.

A great example is the work done by "Eullin" and posted recently on the RoboSavvy forums. He started with a standard, off the shelf, Hitec Robonova-1 then let his imagination and creativity loose. His video below should give you a good idea of what can be accomplished with some dedication, effort, and time.

iHobby Expo: Robots, Robots, Robots! (Video)

  Left to Right: Futaba RBT-1, RoboPhilo, RoboNova I

Although we weren't personally able to make the trek all the way from Japan to Chicago, thanks to all of our great readers that sent in reports, photos, and videos it feels like we were actually there enjoying all the fun and excitement. The latest contribution was lots of great video footage sent in by Marc Lampcov, the CEO of RoboFactors, LLC.

Marc must have spent countless hours capturing all the participating robots on camera because his footage (see below) includes great performances by the RoboPhilo, Robotis Bioloid, Futaba RBT-1, Robonova I, and much, much more.

RoboGames 2007: Android Wrestling Awards Ceremony (Video)

In going back through all our video and photos from the June RoboGames 2007 event, we discovered some good footage, probably taken by Jason, of the awards ceremony for the Lightweight and Heavyweight Android Wrestling competitions (see video below).

No great robot action in this particular video, but still it's extremely meaningful for the participants and their big fans - like us!

Optimus Prime Robot Practices Riding a Motorcycle (Video)

Inspired by the Robot Magazine project to have a humanoid robot execute a world record motorcycle jump, Matt Bauer mounted his Robonova-1 based Optimus Prime robot on a motorcycle, and started practicing (see video below).

As you might predict, the robot had some difficulty in steering the motorcycle - after all this was his first ride ever. And, we have to admit that the robot did better than we did with our first motorcycle - much better.

Rook's Pawn Shows Off His Gyro Stabilization (Video)

Rook's Pawn III started off life as a stock, off the shelf Hitec Robonova-1 humanoid robot kit. Over the past year and a half, Rook's has evolved tremendously - to the point that Rook's creator, Matt Bauer, feels as if he has redesigned the robot from the ground up at least two or three times, including redesigning and replacing almost all of the metal frames and other hardware.

And, all of his hard work and dedication has paid off well. Rook's took home metals from both RoboGames 2006 and 2007, and has even made the trek all the way across the planet to join in the activities at last year's ROBO-ONE 10 competition in Japan.

3rd Wonderful Robot Carnival: Advancing the Sport (Video)

Sometimes a little friendly competition can lead to significant performance advances. A few people start playing the 'what if' game. "What if our robots could do..." That triggers some thoughts and the exchange of ideas. At first everyone thinks the new challenge might be too difficult, or they see all the roadblocks in the way.

Pretty quickly though, egged on by each other, and stimulated by the challenge, they start to come up with solutions. Some work, some don't. They figure out what is practical, and what isn't. And, in very short order, a lot of people are doing what they used to think was too tough.

A great example of this is what we saw during the 3rd Wonderful Robot Carnival Die Shoot event here last Sunday afternoon, as you can see from the video below.

3rd Wonderful Robot Carnival - Keeping the Spirit Alive (Video)

The 1st Wonderful Robot Carnival, held just one year ago, was an absolute blast. Free of the stress and high pressure environment that's built up around the ROBO-ONE competitions, the Carnival participants could just relax and have a ball playing with their robots in events that were specifically designed to generate the most fun possible. It immediately became our favorite robot competition in the Kanto area.

But, what do you do for an encore? How do you keep a robot competition fresh and exciting, yet keep the rules fairly stable so that entrants don't have to completely rebuild their robots for each event? It can be a major headache, but thankfully Ishikawa-san, the founder and guiding spirit behind the Carnival, was up to the challenge.

For the first two Carnivals, the lead-off event was a 2 meter dash where the robots competed in sets of two, but the scoring was against the clock. To keep the event interesting, and to be able to accommodate the over 40 entries, Ishikawa-san converted the Dash 2000 event into a one meter out, one meter back dash around a pylon (see video below).

ROBO Virus Spreads in the UK

We don't want to give the false impression that our favorite humanoid robot hobby/sport is only being enjoyed in Japan or at RoboGames in the US. Far from it. People all over the world are involved, and although their numbers are still relatively small, they are growing rapidly.

For example, several builders in the UK, who met each other via the RoboSavvy forums, took the initiative to organize a ROBO-ONE type competition. They contacted the TIC micromouse organization, and arranged to share a part of their event space, promoted the gathering via RoboSavvy, pulled together some prizes for the winners, and made it all happen. It's a great example of what can be done if people that care get involved and take ownership.

Their robots, by the way, represented all of the popular, well-known kits including Robonova (Hitec), KHR (Kondo), MANOI (Kyosho), and Bioloid (Robotis). The background information and event photos can be viewed on the UK ROBO thread. We're sure that they would be happy to share their experience and learning with others that want to organize a similar event.

Typhoon Battles Wonderful Robot Carnival and Loses (Video)

 

Two major forces of nature hit Tokyo today.

One was incredibly destructive - Typhoon "Man-Yi" that drenched towns, damaged houses, and shut down transportation including stopping the Bullet Train in its tracks for hours.

The other one was incredibly constructive - the 3rd Wonderful Robot Carnival which drew over 40 humanoid robot entries, challenged us with new events and new twists on old events, generated tons of laughs and never ending surprises, and left everyone with big smiles and great memories.  

Japan Hitec Cup Robot Competition Scheduled For December

Although Hitec has been actively selling the Robonova-1 here in Japan, as well as their servos for hobby robot use for quite a few years, and has been a ROBO-ONE sponsor, up until now they haven't taken the plunge to actually stage a 'Hitec' robotic competition. All that will change on December 8th of this year when the 1st Hitec Cup robot competition in Japan kicks off.

Optimus Prime Shows Defiance to Crowds in Ohio (Video)

Oops, we mistyped that headline. It should have read, "Optimus Prime Shows Off to Crowds in Defiance, Ohio."

Last weekend, Defiance, the hometown of Matt and Jen Bauer of Bauer Independents, and birthplace of Rook's Pawn, was anxiously awaiting the upcoming opening of the new Transformers movie on the Fourth of July. Matt knew that a small town like Defiance, located in the heart of the mid-West wasn't likely to draw any of the movie's stars to the opening, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

In the matter of just a few days, and a few long nights,  he completely converted Jen's Robonova-1 robot into the spitting image of Optimus Prime!

RoboGames 2007 - Humanoid Robot Rumble (Video)

Normally after all the competitions are said and done, and the builders aren't worried about some minor damage keeping them from participating in the next round, we have a rumble event - the humanoid equivalent of Kind of the Hill or Last Robot Standing.

At RoboGames 2007 there were finally enough active competitors that we had the first rumble, then a little while later everyone decided they just hadn't had enough fun, so we had a second hilarious rumble.

RoboGames 2007 - Stair Climbing (Video)

At first glance the challenge looks deceptively simple. Have your robot climb a short set of stairs, take a few more steps, then descend a similar set of stairs. In real life it quickly turns into a major challenge - one that might drive you over the edge trying.

At RoboGames 2007 in San Francisco last week, many of the competitors attempted the stair climbing challenge, and several of them achieved very respectable results, as you can see from the video below.

RoboGames 2007 Best Humanoid "Hits" (Video)

We're still in San Francisco taking a short vacation and doing some interviews of robot companies in the SF Bay area, so we don't have access to our video editing gear yet. However, Matt Bauer of Bauer Independents has already posted a video compilation (see below) of memorable 'hits' from the android/humanoid competitions during RoboGames 2007.

One Reason Why You Definitely Want To Come To RoboGames (Video)

The general impression and common public perception has been that hobby level humanoid robotics outside of Japan lags way behind the bots created by Japanese builders here. All of that is about to change dramatically at the RoboGames event, held this coming weekend at Fort Mason in San Francisco.

By the time that the dust clears, and the events wrap up, on Sunday, there will be no possible doubt that some of the custom humanoid designs built in the States, basically from scratch, are just as competitive, interesting, and exciting as their Japanese counterparts.

Think we're exaggerating? Well, take a look at the video clip below featuring just two of the awesome humanoids that will be competing this weekend - then book your tickets for the premier robot event of the year.

Robot Demonstrates Asimov's 1st Law of Robotics

Asimov's 1st Law of Robotics states, "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." That 'law' came into play a few nights ago when Matt Bauer was walking down a path in the dark carrying his ROBO-ONE class custom designed and built humanoid robot - Rook's Pawn.

Robot Image Recognition Couples Robonova-1 With Java (Video)

Here's the challenge: Have your humanoid robot identify an object - in this case a red block, walk over to it, bend over and pick up the block.

That's the first experiment that 'JavaRN' on the RoboSavvy Robot Forum wanted to try with his brand new Robonova-1 robot (see video below). For most of us - ourselves included - just getting a kit like the Robonova assembled and working correctly is enough of a challenge, but JavaRN went way, way beyond that - way beyond.

Jumping Robots! Matt Bauer's New Robonova Dual Knee Joint Kit (Video)

Matt Bauer, the creator of Rook's Pawn, has earned a lot of visibility and respect in the Robonova-1 humanoid robot community for his creative hardware modification kits - like his best selling robot gripper design - and software like MECH Puppeteer - a very user friendly GUI front end for the Hitec robot.

Today Matt officially took the wraps off a totally new mod kit for the Robonova robot - a dual knee joint kit that gives the robot surprising flexibility, effectively doubles the speed of moves involving the knee, and even enable the robot to do some pretty impressive jumps.

Mystery Robonova Transformer Robot In Singapore? (Video)

Sharp-eyed Humanoido, from the RoboSavvy robot forum, discovered a very interesting set of recent videos (included below) showing what appears to be a Robonova-1 robot that's been modified to act like a Transformer - complete with a set of wheels to drive around.

In addition to the Transformer mods, the mystery robot, which appears to have been hacked in Singapore by "TC Tan", features a head mounted video camera, and some really slick Kung Fu moves.

Robot Week In Japan!

ROBO-ONE kicks off next Saturday morning, and early indications are that tickets for the premier robot event may sell out long before the doors open. The latest measure of the extreme interest in personal humanoid robots here is a content rich, multiple page, robot special section unveiled this week at the top of the Yahoo Japan website. 

Takeshi Enters Robot Baseball Spring Training? (Video)

Some people buy a humanoid robot kit, do the assembly, play around with it for a few days, then it gets put on the shelf. Others, like DirtyRoboto, see it as a challenge and long term learning experience. They realize that the initial assembly is only the beginning of the journey.

DirtyRoboto, his nickname on the Robosavvy Robot Forums, seems to be making real progress, and enjoying every minute of it. A few weeks ago he added some custom designed grippers to "Takeshi", his Robonova-1 humanoid robot, and now he apparently wants his robot to become a major league baseball pitcher! [video below]

Wonderful Robot Carnival - Bottle Traction Competition (Video)

We've fallen a little bit behind on posting event reports and videos, and are trying to catch up as quickly as possible since there are more exciting events coming up over the next few weeks. At the same time, we don't want to overlook any of the really important, informative, or really fun, topics in our attempt to get caught up.

As we've mentioned before, the Wonderful Robot Carnival competition is an absolute blast - five to six hours straight of over-the-top robot fun. The most recent Carnival was held here in Tokyo in early January, and included competitions like the Die Shoot, Balloon Survival, and Bottle Traction. The first two depend a lot on strategy and speed, while the Bottle Traction event is really more of a test of the robot's design and the builder's skill.

Giving Your Robot A Voice

Robot Magazine just posted a detailed 'how-to' article by Gary Smith in the UK that covers adding a Quadravox sound board and interface to a Robonova-1 robot. The article includes building a sound library, how to program the sound card, mounting everything in the Robonova, and how to drive it using the robots BASIC programming language.

We're not sure how easy it would be to follow the same approach with other robots, like our two humanoids, but we're certainly going to give it a try!

2nd Wonderful Robot Carnival - Die Shoot (Video)

In addition to the Balloon Survival competition, the Wonderful Robot Carnival format lends itself to special challenges and head to head competitions. Bouts like the 'Die Shoot' use a simple, straightforward format, with very few rules or restrictions, yet involve a lot of thinking, strategy, speed, and performance.

Robots Dreams Milestone: 1,000,000 Robot Video Views

It took about ten days longer than we originally thought it would, but the Robots Dreams video clips passed the 1,000,000 view mark earlier today. We think it's a good indication that there is a tremendous, and rapidly growing interest in robotics. It's very encouraging, and we really appreciate the interest and loyalty of all our readers. Thanks!

2nd Wonderful Robot Carnival - Balloon Survival (Video)

One of the benefits of living here in Japan, and being a dyed in the wool robot fan, is that there are literally countless robot events to pick from - either to watch or to participate in. One of our absolute favorites is the "Wonderful Robot Carnival" events staged biannually in Tokyo by Ishikawa-san.

The Wonderful Robot Carnival format includes some traditional robot games, like a 2 meter sprint, a robot rumble, and a ROBO-ONE style battle in the ring. It also includes some totally 'over the top' competitions like the 'Balloon Survival.' The Balloon Survival concept is simple and straight forward, almost like a kids party game. And like many of the games we played at parties as kids, this robot game is a tremendous amount of fun.

Takeshi Takes Up Disco Dancing (Video)

We can't tell if it's a direct response to Dr. GIY's dual dancing MANOI AT01 cats or not, but "DirtyRoboto" from the RoboSavvy online robot forums has put together a really creative music video (see below) starring his disco dancing Robonova-1 robot - Takeshi - that's definitely worth spending a few minutes to check out.

Extending The Robonova-1 Robots Capabilities (Video)

The Robonova-1 humanoid robot kit from Hitec has sold thousands of units worldwide, and is frequently featured on science, technology, and gadget television and radio programs. Most of the people that buy one are very happy to have the assembled robot walk, do some karate moves, and even a cartwheel or two.

But, for others, that basic functionality is just the beginning of a long, and extremely rewarding journey. They spend countless hours figuring out each new challenge and capability. It might be as basic as creating a new move, or as complex as adding additional degrees of freedom and completely redesigning the robot's frame and geometry.

One challenge that's particularly interesting to us at the moment is adding sensors to the robot and then using their signals to modify it's behavior. It's the first, very preliminary yet necessary, step towards creating truly autonomous behaviors. A good example is the work done recently by "DirtyRoboto", a frequent participant on the RoboSavvy online robotics forums.

New Robot Exercise Video Released (Video)

Matt Bauer, the founder of Bauer Independents, creator of Rook's Pawn, and an all-around "good guy", has just released a brand new exercise video. But instead of watching Jane Fonda, or that 'Jake' guy with the funny accent, Matt put his favorite robot body building instructor in front of the camera and captured all the action.

ROBO-ONE Gran Prix: Tokyo Dome City - Photo Album

We had a great time at the ROBO-ONE Gran Prix event at Tokyo Dome City today. Our basic event photo album has been uploaded - so go ahead and browse through it. We plan to post some reports and videos of the robot competition soon.

Taking Your Robot For A Walk, Hand In Hand (Video)

The typical approach to controlling a humanoid robot like the Robonova-1, KHR-2HV, or MANOI AT01 is to utilize a remote control that either looks very much like those used in the R/C plane or car space, or a modified game controller. You stand back, usually a few feet away from the robot, and punch buttons on the remote to put it through it's paces. That's fine - after all it works and works well. Still, it's very 'arms length', not up close and personal.

But what if you could interact on a warmer, more personal level with your robot? What if you could bend over, take it's hand like you would with one of your children, and kind of lead it around by the hand? Wouldn't that be cool? We think it would be very, very cool, especially after seeing how 'Bullit" from the RoboSavvy forum managed to implement it with his Robonova-1.

UK TV Celebrity Fathers Robot Child

Two years ago, November 2004 to be precise, Jason Bradbury - one of the hosts of the popular UK Gadget Show program - made a trip to South Korea that changed his life forever. Like most adventuresome young men on the loose in Asia, Jason immediately fell deeply in love with one of the local inhabitants. It happens all the time. Only in Jason's case, the object of his affections was a cute little humanoid robot named Robonova-1.

Although the relationship wasn't consummated at the time (the Robonova-1 hadn't been released for sale yet) Jason never forgot the experience and kept longing to be reunited with his robot soul mate. Now, after all these years of separation, Jason reports on his personal blog that, "I'm a robot dad!". So, next Monday, November 20th, the world (at least those with access to the program in the UK), will get a chance to see Jason and the other Gadget Show hosts cavort and play with a whole range of robots, including Jason's new-born robot child. From the behind the scenes photos below, it looks like they had an absolute blast.

Rook's Pawn Becomes The Stuff Of Legend

Less than a year ago, Rook's Pawn was just a box of parts and servos in a Hitec Robonova kit box. Then Matt Bauer got his hands on the kit, assembled the robot, created some surprising kung fu/karate moves, then started hacking to improve it. A few months later, Rook's Pawn was climbing ropes and swinging from the trees.

The next stop was RoboGames 2006 in San Francisco, where the robot actually metaled. Not satisfied with what he had already accomplished, Matt completely redesigned Rook's Pawn from the ground up, adding additional DOF and functionality. Then he and his team (wife and brother-in-law) flew over to Japan to compete at ROBO-ONE 10. Now we're hearing rumors that Matt and Rook's have actually setup a real business back home in Defiance, and even have a machine tool or two on order. The most recent feather in their cap? Rook's Pawn, raising Matt's totally awesome gripper design high in the air (an act of defiance?) is currently featured on the ROBOT Magazine website banner in the same company with ASIMO! How cool is that?

New Robots On Display At Plastic Model/Radio Control Show

The 2006 All Japan Plastic Model and Radio Control show ("PlaModel Radicon" in Japanese) opened today at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Chiba. We've posted the raw photo album online, and will be posting quite a few reports and videos from the show over the next few days. The show is only open to the trade and press on Thursday and Friday, and the general public is encouraged to visit on Saturday and Sunday.

While it isn't specifically a 'robot' show, there were certainly lots of robots and robot related items on display. It was easy to see, and even play with some of the brand new robots, including the JR Robotics RB-2000 series, the G-ROBOT from HPI/Futaba, a pre-release glimpse at the new 'armor' for the Kondo KHR-2HV, and lots of others. Kyosho will be giving special demonstrations of the MANOI AT01 and PF01 robot on Saturday and Sunday. 

Matt & Rook's Pawn At ROBO-ONE 10 in Japan

ROBO-ONE-B017
Originally uploaded by Tempusmaster.

Matt Bauer and Rook's Pawn, his humanoid robot creation, made it all the way to Japan to participate in the 10th ROBO-ONE competition held this weekend in Nagai. They had lots of adventures, and a few mis-adventures, along the way. We'll be posting quite a bit about their trip and the event over the next few days.

ROBO-ONE Action From RoboGames 2006 (Video)

Thanks to Matt Bauer, the creator of Rook's Pawn, we're able to share the 4 minute video clip below that includes some of the ROBO-ONE matches that took place at RoboGames 2006 in San Francisco recently. Not only did Matt produce and edit the video, he has also added an insightful and humorous running commentary. It gives a real feel for what it must have been like to be there as a competitor, as Matt was.

Thor The Robot Takes Up Skateboarding (Video)

A little friendly competition is usually a good thing, and if it happens to involve some robots, then it's double or even quadruple goodness. We've posted before about the Plen robot's ability to roller skate and skateboard. It's performance was surprisingly good and very realistic. Many robot hobbyists, and a few pro's, immediately wanted to recreate Plen's free-rolling escapades.

The Plen robot has 21 degrees of freedom that allow it to make some unique moves, and with a street price of around USD$ 2,500 it's beyond the reach of a lot of budding robot experimenters. But, why let little things like physics, mechanics, and budget stand in the way of having fun?

Rapid Robot Evolution - Rook's Pawn

It's amazing how quickly time zooms by, and how fast robots evolve. Early this year - yes, we're talking about early 2006, Matt Bauer was working on his stock Hitec Robonova-1 humanoid robot kit and happened to run across the Robosavvy website and forum. He signed up as a member and made his first forum post on Sunday,  February 05, 2006.

He's come a long, long way since then. And, in just under two weeks he and his wife will take his robot on another long and exciting journey. This time they're all getting on a plane to compete in the ROBO-ONE 10 competition in Japan against some of the top humanoid robot builders in the world. 

ROBO-ONE J Competition Isn't So "Junior" (Video)

The "J" in the title of the ROBO-ONE J competitions is generally assumed to mean 'junior' and may give the impression that the robots are less functional or capable. It turns out that many of the J-class robots can perform just as well, and often a little better, than the larger, full-blown ROBO-ONE robot designs.

To help illustrate that point, and to give you a quick feel for how high-performance the ROBO-ONE J robots actually can be, we put together a short video clip (see below) featuring a few of the robot designs that caught our attention during the ROBO-ONE J 7 event held earlier this month in Kawasaki.

Humanoid Robot Becomes Even More Humanoid (Video)

After you build a bipedal robot kit, like the Hitec Robonova-1 or Kondo KHR-2HV, it isn't long before you feel inspired to add modifications and features of your own.  While making significant add-ons requires some skill and know-how, it is certainly within the reach of hobbyists and experimenters that are willing to apply themselves to the challenge, as we've seen by the recent flurry of robotic creativity that has sprung up on the Robosavvy forums.

An good example is the work done by "Hivemind" to dramatically improve and expand on the basic Robonova-1 robot design. 

Robonova-1 Robot Raises The Bar (Video)

The humanoid robot experimenters world is still relatively small, and stretched across the globe. Yet, when one experimenter comes up with a new twist or interesting robotic creation time and space are no barrier. Everyone communicates almost instantaneously across the internet, so the energy and excitement just builds. When the creators of the Plen robot recently released a video showing the robot roller skating and skateboarding it immediately inspired others in Europe, the US, and other locations to try and either recreate the feat or go Plen one better.

The most recent attempt at Plen's feat took a surprising twist. "Beermat" (his Robosavvy robot forum nickname) created a really professional looking set of skates for his Robonova-1 robot, but was having a few problems coaxing consistent skating moves from his robot. Then he came up with a brilliant idea...

Project M: Keeping MANOI Balanced (Video)

Although it's certainly not the first robot to take advantage of gyro sensors to maintain its balance, the MANOI AT01 robot from Kyosho turned out to be surprisingly stable. The robot uses Kondo servos and the RCB-3 controller board with 3 available analog servo inputs. The analog inputs can be used to add functionality to the robot with a number of different sensors. 

Like most robots in this classification, sensors are add-on options and need to be ordered separately if owners want to take advantage of the performance enhancements. Thanks to Sugiura-san and the Sugiura Brothers, we were able to do a side by side comparison between a MANOI AT01 robot equipped with gyros and another robot without gyros. The video below clearly shows the performance improvement.

ROBO-ONE J 7 - Event Report - Part 1

The 7th ROBO-ONE J competition was held August 5, 2006 in Kawasaki, Japan. The 'J' events focus on a class of humanoid robots that are typically a little smaller but often no less powerful than the robots that compete in the main ROBO-ONE competitions.

The ROBO-ONE J competitions attract a wide range of robot hobbyists including some of the top champions that have also built J-class robots, families with young children, university teams, and beginning robot hobbyists that have modified KHR-1 or Robonova-1 type robot kits.

Robots Take Over Google Labs!

Google Labs Theme
Originally uploaded by jrmski.

Or, at least, the Robonova's amused and distracted the folks at our favorite search engine lab for a while. We'd really like to know how they compare playing with real bots versus developing new search-bots...

Here's what Donna Bogatin with ZDNet had to say about the event-

"Throughout the vast open-air complex, party goers battled it out robotics style, 'Fighting Robots for Fun': Kung-Fu Androids, Small Combat Robots, Soccer Androids. . ."

ROBO-ONE J Photo Gallery

ROBO-ONE-J-522
Originally uploaded by Tempusmaster.

All the photos from Saturday's event are online in the ROBO-ONE J Photo Gallery.

ROBO-ONE J Rocks

We had an absolutely fantastic time today in Kawasaki at the ROBO-ONE J event. With almost 70 entries showing up to compete the schedule was full to overflowing. In the end it ran about 30+ minutes over schedule, but no one was complaining at all.

It's almost midnight here in Japan, and we're still moving photos off memory sticks and on to our HDD for processing so that we can reformat the memory and use it again tomorrow at the ROBO-ONE Special event. The net/net is that it will probably take us a day or two (or three) before we have all the photos up on-line. In the meantime, here's a very small sample.

"ROBOT LIFE" Magazine Introduced

Nestage, an Osaka based game distribution company, started publishing a new robot magazine titled "