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

King Kizer Featured In Summer 07 Robot Magazine Issue

In the week between last Christmas and New Years, we had the great opportunity to visit Nao Maru and his family at their home in Hikone, Japan. They were kind enough to answer all of our endless questions about the development of King Kizer, the ROBO-ONE Champion robot for ROBO-ONE 10, why they feel so strongly about robotic competitions, and how that has lead to an amazing winning record at events here in Japan over the past two years.

Thanks to their patience and cooperation, the Summer issue of Robot Magazine, due to hit bookstores and news stands in the US on May 1st, will feature a four page, detailed article titled "Playing to Win!" - Nao Maru's core philosophy and a major driving force behind the success of Maru Family and their King Kizer series robots. 

Robot Fever Grows By Leaps and Bounds: RT Corporation

RT Corporation, founded by Yuki Nakagawa, has always been one of our favorite stops whenever we have the opportunity to visit the Akihabara electronics district of Tokyo. Now she has given us a couple of new reasons to visit the RT showroom as often as we possibly can manage.

As you can see from the photos below, RT has moved to a bigger, and much more spacious, facility just a couple minutes walk from the main Akihabara train station. It's obvious from the size, and the stock in the RT showroom, that they are firm believers in the concept that the robot boom is starting to experience a strong growth explosion, not just here in Japan, but globally.

Robots, Research, Podcasts, And A Dog Named Ken

We have to confess. We've unintentionally been holding out on you. There's an absolutely wonderful online resource, regularly refreshed with great robotic content, that we've been enjoying for quite a while but somehow totally forgot to share with all of our readers.

Every two weeks Markus Waibel, with the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, EPFL, Switzerland, interviews some of the leading researchers and professionals involved in robotics and artificial intelligence world wide and distributes the audio interviews via the Talking Robots Podcast.

EMMA Just Gets Better and Better (Video)

Our recent visit with Nakano-san, the creator of EMMA-U0A - the small yet fully functional humanoid robot, drew a lot of attention from our readers. People are very interested in EMMA's design, how Nakano-san did the fabrication, availability of the GWS servos that EMMA uses, EMMA's gaits, and quite a few other details.

At this moment, we're not in a position answer all the questions that were submitted, primarily because of other pressing schedule commitments. But, we don't want to ignore our faithful readers, so to tide them over until we can put together a really comprehensive article covering EMMA, we've included some additional video clips below.

Kondo Expands The Akihabara Robot Scene

If you're a robot fan who happens to live in Japan there is no better way to spend a gray, rainy Sunday afternoon, then to hop on the train to Akihabara and hang out with other folks with the same interests and passion. It's great to be able to find out the latest news and rumors, pick up some spare parts and accessories, log some practice time, or just chat with each other.

Up until recently the number of 'gathering' spots was fairly limited. The Tsukumo Robot Kingdom is probably the most well known location, and we've certainly run into a lot of friends there from time to time. Still, it is a retail store focused on selling robot kits and components to an ever growing crowd of customers. The staff is certainly very open and helpful, but it really isn't a place where you want to practice with your robot.

Then, just a couple of weeks ago, Kondo, the developer of the KHR-1 and KHR-2HV robots and a charter member of the ROBO-ONE organization, opened a new facility in Akihabara called "ROBO SPOT", about five minutes walk from Tsukumo, that seems destined to become an active center for the robot community here in Japan.

Avatars, Marionettes, Puppets, and Robots

For those of us that are interested in the use of robots and robotic technology to create avatars, marionettes, puppets, and other similar 'beings', the Puppet Vision Blog is an invaluable online resource. Andrew, the PuppetVision publisher, keeps the content fresh, relevant, and always interesting. You'll find articles and pointers to a whole raft of both current and historical puppetry and lots of information on how they are created.

Making A Robot Dream A Reality - RT Corporation

Many of us dream about chucking our "day jobs" and starting a business that would allow us to focus all of our time and energy on something we really love - something we have a deep, deep passion for. For most of us, it's just a dream. But Yuki Nakagawa decided to stop just dreaming. She, and her group, gave up their "day jobs", and have committed all their time and energy to making RT Corporation the leading robot school in Japan, and eventually perhaps the world.

New Viper Robot Fansite

Sprocket2Cog, our favorite Roboraptor hacker, and Mindstorms maniac, has expanded his horizons to include the Viper Robot system from MicroBric. To share his learnings, and to encourage others that want to get their feet wet with robotics, he's created a brand new website specifically dedicated to the Viper and its robot relatives.

New Robot Museum Added To Our List

We're always on the look-out for interesting robot exhibitions, museums, and competitions, so now we absolutely have to add the brand new Robo Park in Puchon, Korea.

Robot Hall Of Fame

The January issue of Wired Magazine had an article that attempted to list the “50 Best Robots Ever”, but kind of fell very short of the mark. At least it triggered a lot of discussion and debate over which robots really have been the best – and caused us to check out the Robot Hall of Fame. . .