Nagoya Expo 2005 will open next weekend. Last weekend some of the Pavilions and showroom had their opening ceremonies. I found Toyota has suddenly become newsworthy because they ' ve recently presented their version of walking biped robot. Look at this English preview site. Although Toyota's presentation is not always so cool and this time is "exactly Toyota", but this i-foot is cool. Here take a look at this Pavilion site. You may check out the details and specs in their Press release.
I knew Honda Ashimo and Sony's Qrio, but I had not heard that Toyota had made a walking biped robot like this i-foot. The point that impressed me was that as a car maker they ' ve made "a riding type", it is a transportation device at any rate. Yes I can sense their spirit. This BBC news story seems skeptical about the practicality and necessity of these vehicles. Well what do you think?
Speaking of personal biped walking robots, reminds me of the APU in Matrix. ( Whenever I think of Matrix, I still feel a little bit sad and disappointed. As a Matrix lover, I really wish they hadn't made Revolution.) Captain's name is Mufune maybe he has Japanese blood. Here is another bit of walking biped robot news in Tokyo. Walking on two legs, such a simple task proves so difficult for machines. I wonder why Japanese companies and the Japanesee have had such a driving interest in that, Perhaps it's due to watching a lot of robot animation? Yes do you know a Doraemon is robot too?. All boys dreamed of riding a robot when they were yonger. :-) Sometimes people make their dreams come true.
haha. Walking on two legs isn't a simple task!
it only seems simple. our bodies just make it LOOK easy.
so many millenia of evolution got all the kinks worked out, solved the physics, programmed the articulators. it's all very elegant, isn't it?
representing a 3-dimensional world using only the input from two eyes is pretty complicated too, but our heads do it marvelously.
i think robotics-engineers have their work cut out for them.
Posted by: Dan | Sunday, September 25, 2005 at 06:38 AM
Hi Bjorn
Thank you for your link, I like to see robot.
Posted by: Mari | Monday, April 18, 2005 at 07:35 PM
Hi Mari,
I agree with you completely on the Matrix issue, as I was also completely disappointed by part 3.
Anyway, another walking 'robot' features in
"The Wrong Trousers" with Wallace & Gromit, maybe you know it?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108598/
This one I find actually quite funny.
Posted by: Bjorn | Tuesday, April 12, 2005 at 06:02 PM
I like the Dora in this shade of baby blue, really kawaii.
Posted by: Huang | Thursday, March 24, 2005 at 12:35 PM
Hi Rob
Thank you for interesting link. You will go Aichi Expo? Please update on your nice blog.
Hi Claire
yes yse I remember Labor in Patlabor too! Sasuga Claire, you know very well.
Hi ulfur
Thank you, robot. The words itself has a kind of our dream.
Hi Orange
Thank you for nice link. yes yes I read that news. It is funny.
Posted by: | Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 10:34 PM
Yeah! Me and the GF are planning to go down to the Expo later this summer! I saw a preview of some of the attractions on NHK the other day. One thing that looked really cool was this huge "eartha-tarium" thing (yeah.. I just made up that word). It's like big spherical movie screen that you enter into on this raised platform (think about Professor X's big mental-power-amplifying-sphere) but instead of looking at stars, you fly around the earth and into the ocean and stuff.. Even watching on the TV screen, I could feel my stomach drop because of how real it looked.
Anyway.. about the robots.. yeah well. Apparently the plan is to develop robots advanced enough to take the place of nursing home.. nurses and factory laborers. (no really.. read it on the internet so it's gotta be true.)
"Quick! Act fast or we'll be forced to bring in more Filipino nurses and Iranian labor!"
[http://www.globalaging.org/elderrights/world/2004/japaninvention.htm]
"Yeah, good idea! And also let's try to nip the problem in the bud by paying girls 1 million yen if they have a 3rd baby!"
[http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/nat_world/031205_APworld_japan.html]
Anyway, robots are cool. The Expo is cool. And I'm about to go out for a few cool ones!
Posted by: Rob | Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 06:22 PM
I like them! They remind me of the Labor in Patlabor. (I enjoy that anime, especially the movie WXIII, although you do not get to see the mecha so much.)
I think the BBC are jealous because they have not invented anything like that in Britain. It may not be very cool to drive a Toyota, but I really like my Prius.
Is Qrio a toy like Aibo? Asimo is the size of a 9-10 year old child, but the picture of Qrio at Sony's website makes it look like a toy...I am a little confused...
Posted by: Claire （クレア） | Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 10:17 AM
lovely robot post!!
seeing the "walker" robot was really funny, kind of kitsch presentation i agree. It does not move so fast either. the exoskeleton idea is fun to see "kind of realized". reminds me also of the lifter in the Aliens movie. like so many robot realizations from japan you could see it work for the elderly.
the spring happening on your front page is beautiful by the way
Posted by: ulfur | Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 07:41 AM
I think these robot-vehicles will only fly in Japan, sort of like this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4361563.stm
Posted by: orange | Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 01:36 AM