ROBOTS DREAMS

10th KondoCup Robot Soccer Competition Photos

Our raw photo set from the 10th KondoCup Robot Soccer competition held last Saturday and Sunday is available online. Lots, and lots, of humanoid robot fun!

 

New MANOI AT01 Robot Body Shells - More Photos

For more MANOI AT01 Type-C shell photos, see below.

Robot Builders Gather at RT Corp in Akihabara

We had a great time at RT Corp in Akihabara this afternoon. Lots of creative KHR and MANOI humanoid robot builders, including Dr. GIY, were hanging out,sharing tips and experiences, and helping each other with their robot creations. We've uploaded our raw photos from todays RT Corp robot session.

By the way, if you're lucky enough to make the trek to Japan and Akihabara, please make sure to visit RT Corp, and tell Nakagawa-san, the founder, that we introduced you. !8-)

 

4th Wonderful Robot Carnival Rocks! (Photo Album)

The Wonderful Robot Carnival events, held every six months in Tokyo, just get better and better. Today's competition, the 4th, was jam packed with robot action, surprises, humor, and even suspense from the time it opened at 1:00 pm until the winner was declared just before 7:00 pm. With over 40 entries, 5 completely unique competitions, plus a ROBO-ONE pre-qualification stage, it was hard to blink without missing some of the action.

Checkout our raw photo album from the 4th Wonderful Robot Carnival, and stay tuned for some really exciting videos.

8th KondoCup Robot Soccer Competition Photos

We managed to catch part of the 8th KondoCup Robot Soccer Competition (KHR-class) in Ueno this past Sunday, and have uploaded the raw photos from the event.

 

ROBO-ONE Grand Prix 2007 in Chiba (Photo Set)

We had a fantastic time today at the ROBO-ONE Gran Prix 2007 competition in Chiba, our home town. The venue was perfect, the crowds turned out and obviously had a great time too, the demonstrations were excellent, and the battles were everything you would expect from eight of the top ROBO-ONE competitors. Our raw photos from the event have been uploaded here: ROBO-ONE Grand Prix 2007 in Chiba. Enjoy - we know we did, and you should too.

 

iHobby Expo: Early RoboPhilo Photos

 
Initial photo of RoboPhilo  from the iHobby Expo show this weekend in Chicago:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1533801

Don't worry, there are lots more on the way.

[via: RCGroups.com]

ROBO-ONE 12: Second Day - Final Awards Ceremony

And, finally, we just uploaded the photos taken on day two covering the ROBO-ONE 12 Awards Ceremony. Enjoy.

 

ROBO-ONE 12: Second Day Photos - Set One

We're slowly catching up with our huge stack of 'to-do' items, and just posted most of the photos from ROBO-ONE 12: Day Two. That was September 16th, Takamatsu, Japan. The images cover most of the competitions in the ring, though there are a few omissions when we were capturing a match on video. Enjoy.

 

ROBO-ONE 12: First Day Photos - Set Two

We're finally starting to catch up on all the backlog, and have uploaded the rest of our unedited photos taken during the first day of the ROBO-ONE 12 competition in Takamatsu, Japan. By the way, there are a few duplicates in the set because of an uploading problem with Flickr.

 

ROBO-ONE 12: Day One - First Photo Set

The first raw (unedited/corrected) set of ROBO-ONE 12 photos was just uploaded to Flickr. This set includes roughly 255 photos starting on Saturday morning before the venue opened, and goes through about mid-morning. Saturday was devoted to the technical 'Demonstration' phase of the two day competition. We're still sorting through another similar set covering the rest of Saturday, and haven't had a chance to pull all of Sunday's photos and videos out of the cameras yet.

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.  

RoboGames 2007 Photo Gallery From Crabfu Steamworks

IMG_5221
Originally uploaded by Crabfu SteamWorks.

I-Wei, the genius behind all the great steam bots created at Crabfu Steamworks, just posted his RoboGames 2007 photo gallery including some great shots of the Robots Dreams team, like the one above.

Thanks I-Wei!

RoboGames 2007 - Day Three

DSC02629
Originally uploaded by Tempusmaster.

It's been three wonderful, excitement packed days - four if you include setting up the afternoon before RoboGames opened to the public. We're really glad we came, and have a boatload of new memories to take back to Japan with us, and share with all our robot fans there as well. Of course, the competitions were great - and even sometimes amazing. But the best part was being able to meet, develop, and strengthen friendships with all the great people involved in RoboGames - both as participants, organizers, and fans.

We'll write more about specific happenings and experiences, and posting some great video clips over the next week or so. For now, here are all the photos taken by the Robots Dreams Team today in the RoboGames 2007 Day Three photo gallery. Enjoy!

RoboGames 2007 - Day Two

DSC02313
Originally uploaded by Tempusmaster.

What can we say? Day Two at the RoboGames 2007 event was even better than Day One. More action, more excitement, participation by some of the stars of MythBusters - one of our favorite Discovery Channel television shows, the best humanoid wrestling action of any RoboGames event so far, big crowds, and tons of fun.

You can check out some of the day's events and happenings via our RoboGames 2007 Day Two photo gallery, or better yet - hurry on down to the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason in San Francisco to see for yourself. Tomorrow's the last day, and should prove to be absolutely outstanding.

Another Great Day at RoboGames 2007

画像 074
Originally uploaded by Tempusmaster.

Today, the official opening day of RoboGames 2007, was fantastic. We learned a lot, saw first hand how rapidly robot skill and technology has grown in the US, watched some really neat autonomous robot soccer competitions with entries from all over the world, helped out a team from Singapore, got to meet quite a few of our online friends and readers from Robosavvy and other places we frequent on the net, and had our first taste of the ear deafening-ripping-tearing-sometimes fire breathing combat robot battles.

There were also some very impressive art robot creations - like the one above desiged by Vince, others with music, lights, and other creative approaches to combining art with robotics and movement.

As usual, we have quite a bit of video footage (with more to be taken over the next two days) but until we have time to process and edit it, you'll have to be content with the gallery of RoboGames 2007 First Day photos we just put online. Enjoy - we certanly are!

Almost Human(oid)

What the?!


Originally uploaded by Tick Tock Tom.

"Tick Tock Tom" has a fantastic photo collection on Flickr that contains lots of robot sculptures that look amazingly human, or at least humanoid.



Like a fine sports car design that looks like it's racing down the road even when parked, some of the creations Tom captured with his camera appear to be humans captured in motion - to the point that you can easily imagine what they are up to, or even saying.

ROBO-ONE 11: Second Day Photo Set (March 25, 2007)

Our ROBO-ONE 11 photo set from Sunday's competition has been uploaded and is available for viewing. In the interest of time, we haven't adjusted any of the photos, so a few of them are darker or lighter than we would like, but we think you will like them nevertheless. Enjoy!

ROBO-ONE 11: First Day Photo Set (March 24, 2007)

Our raw ROBO-ONE 11 photo set covering the first day of the extremely popular competition here in Japan has been uploaded and are available for viewing.

3rd KondoCup Robot Soccer Competition - Photo Set

We had a fantastic time this afternoon at the 3rd KondoCup Robot Soccer competition in Akihabara. The teams have improved their skill levels to a surprising degree, and the play is much more realistic and exciting. Our raw set of photos has been uploaded to Flickr, and we'll be posting videos and written reports here on Robots Dreams over the next few days.

What ROBO-ONE Is Really All About

We're often asked what ROBO-ONE is all about, and it's difficult to come up with a specific, "one size fits all" answer. For some people the most important aspect is the technical challenge. For others it's the chance to compete against others to show off their skill. And for some it's about being a member of the group. Still, they all have one thing in common - the smiles. Everyone has a really great time and comes away with lots of great memories.

Some of the Tokyo Dome City ROBO-ONE Grand Prix competitors at the end of the day's matches.

NTV Program - Robot Soccer Group Photo

Hikima-san, the manager of the Kondo Robo Spot facility in Akihabara was kind enough to send us this group photo from the NTV robot soccer video shoot.

Japanese TV Program Features Robot Soccer

Nihon TV, one of the major Japanese networks, ran a segment on their popular weekly "Burari" program that airs on Saturday mornings. The program, hosted by Ryouichi Yamaguchi, visited the Kondo Robo Spot facility in Akihabara to feature robot soccer. Mondai-noid, our MANOI AT01 robot, was lucky enough to play on one of the soccer teams during the program taping, which took place just before Christmas.

Project M: Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup Robot Competition

The first Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup competition was totally amazing from start to finish. The robots, the performances, the speed, the colors, the spirit of the competitors, the venue, the support from Kyosho and Kondo - everything. We couldn't have asked for a better event. Our raw Kyosho Cup photo album has been uploaded is ready for viewing. And, we have some great video clips coming up featuring an autonomous bear, a lightning fast sprinter, a robotic duo auditioning for MTV, and a whole lot more.

27th Annual All Japan Micromouse Competition - 2007 (Photos)

Mark Lee with the new robotics start-up company, Metacraft Technology, in Singapore recently visited with us at the ROBO-ONE Gran Prix event at Tokyo Dome City. His company is so new that they don't even have a website up yet. Their plan is to promote robotics, especially humanoid robotics, in Singapore and the South East Asia region.

For the past several years Singapore robot enthusiasts have captured the top positions in micromouse competitions, even here in Japan. So Metacraft believes that there will be a strong interest in humanoid robotics as well. While his group was here in Japan they also visited the 27th Annual All Japan Micromouse Competition and were kind enough to share some detailed close-up micromouse photos with us.  The competition, by the way,  took place in Nagai, the same rural location where we attended the ROBO-ONE 10 competition in September.

KondoCup Robot Soccer Photo Gallery Online

Our photo gallery from today's KondoCup Robot Soccer competition in Akihabara was just uploaded and is available on-line. As usual, the videos will take a little longer, so please be patient. 

ROBO-ONE 10 Featured On The ROBOT Magazine Website

ROBOT Magazine just posted a ROBO-ONE 10 photo gallery from the September competition here in Japan. The images include top robots like Metallic Fighter, RETRO, King Kizer, MYRO, Black Blade, Arius, plus many of the well known competitors. There's even a great shot of Nishimura-san and Matt Bauer (Rook's Pawn).

The magazine's managing editor, Tom Atwood, made special mention of Jin Sato since he was really impressed when the two of them met at the RoboNexus event last year. We're guessing, but the purple robot currently in the center of the ROBOT Magazine website banner looks very much like one of Sato-san's creations.

All Japan Robot Sumo Kanto Regional Finals - Photo Album Online

We had a fantastic time at the All Japan Robot Sumo Kanto Regional Finals yesterday. Lots of great robot sumo action, drama, and we learned a lot more about this fascinating robo-sport. Our Robot Sumo photos have been uploaded, so feel free to browse through them. We should have some detailed reports and videos posted over the next few days. Watch for them- we think you be surprised at how different and exciting it is.

ROBO-ONE 10: 2nd Day Photo Album

ROBO-ONE-10-d078
Originally uploaded by Tempusmaster.

We just posted the raw (unprocessed) photos from the second day of the ROBO-ONE 10 competition in Nagai, Japan. The album also includes some shots from the first day's demonstration events.

The image above shows King Kizer, the new ROBO-ONE champion, trying its hand at ROBO-ONE Rumble Ball. The blue strap is to show that the robot was playing for the Blue team during this particular game. Although the rules for Rumble Ball are still evolving as the robots and their operators get more experience playing, it seems clear that the ROBO-ONE committee has decided to replace the old Rumble event with this newer team focused game.

Rumble Ball, by the way, was previously called 'Battle Ball' but apparently there were some concerns raised over potential copyright confusion. We'll be posting more details, stories, photos, and videos during the next few days.

ROBO-ONE 10: 1st Day Photos

We just uploaded the 'raw' unprocessed photos from the first day at ROBO-ONE 10, The photos were taken during the Demonstration competitions on September 16th, and at the event party that evening. There's a lot to tell, and a lot of videos to process, so stay tuned.

Kyosho Releases First Photos Of MANOI AT01

The MANOI Athlete Humanoid Series of advanced robots from Kyosho consists of the original MANOI design - now designated the MANOI PF01 and a more recent addition, named the MANOI AT01. While we really like the MANOI PF01 classic manga/anime character type image, we believe that its newer 'brother' robot, the MANOI AT01, is going to be tremendously exciting and popular as soon as it's released to the market.

Until late last night, Kyosho has been fairly low key about MANOI AT01's external styling, and only showed an 'artist conception' type image of the robot. At public showings of MANOI they would exhibit a completed PF01 side by side with the AT01 body sans any covers or body shells. Now they have released a photo gallery disclosing what the AT01 will actually look like - and it's great!

Spring Fight In RoboCountry IV - Photo Gallery

  [ Click here to view the RoboCountry IV photo gallery ]

Although it doesn’t get as much press attention as some of the larger robot events in Tokyo or Osaka, RoboCountry IV can be just as interesting and meaningful. It’s the largest ROBO-ONE type robot competition west of Osaka, and many of the top robots from all over Japan participate. The most impressive part, at least for us, is the obvious fascination and enjoyment on the faces of all the kids that were able to attend. This wonderful set of photos was taken by Higashiyama-manager of Sanuki Kodomono Kuni, and was provided to us to share with you by K. Matsuda the event organizer.

Forget About Tickle Me Elmo!

Robosapien Tickle!
Originally uploaded by stuartbuchanan.

'Tickle me, Robosapien' is so much better.

Stuart Buchanan posted this great photo of Mira and friend on flickr.com.

Originally from Scotland, Stuart Buchanan is the host of the international music show FAT PLANET on Sydney's FBi 94.5FM (Sundays, 3pm) and publisher of the long-established mp3 blog, fatplanet.com.au.

Hacking Together Photo Equipment

If you're like me, then every once in a great while you'll need to take a macro shot of a robot but can't afford the $$$ to buy professional equipment. So, you do your best with what you have, but end up with a subpar image ruined by really harsh shadows.

The Micromouse (Micromice?) That Roared

It took a while, but we were finally able to pull together all the photos we took at the 26th All Japan Micromouse contest, sort through them, toss out the obvious bloopers (no need to embarrass our cameraman), and upload them.

A Robot's Dreams - Photo Gallery Goes Live!

We’ve taken a lot of exciting robot photos at exhibitions, trade shows, and robot competitions recently. But they don’t do anyone any good gathering dust on our hard drive, so we decided to create the Robot’s Dreams photo gallery.