Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Android Weightlifter Now Capable Of Body Slam
A human-sized weightlifting android successfully picked up a 145 pound humanoid doll from a bed in Tokyo yesterday. This remarkable feat was accomplished by an android robot that itself weighs just 154 pounds, created by University of Tokyo professor Yasuo Kuniyoshi and his team of engineers. As previously stated on this site, Robot Nurses Seem Unavoidable. Of course, the first prerequisite for a body-slamming, wrestling robot is the ability to lift an opponent as big as yourself.
(Android weightlifters getting stronger)
The android robot was able to perform this feat without large motors due to an interesting advance in sensor technology (it has more than 1800 embedded sensors) and software that can interpret the data.
“Large motors are not safe for use in household robots,” explains Kuniyoshi. “Only a small amount of power is applied at each of this robot’s joints, but it can successfully move heavy objects by using the tactile sensors to regulate how it lifts and carries things.”
The weightlifting robot is also able to execute different maneuvers depending upon the situation. In picking up a thirty kilo package from a table, it slid the package to the edge of the table and then picked it up with the other arm.
To pick up a person-sized doll from a bed, it slid its arms under the doll, lifted and backed away.
Professor Kuniyoshi states that the new android robot has potential uses in the nursing care industry or the moving profession.
To get a better idea of the advance involved, compare this android robot to RI-MAN, a robot nurse developed in the RIKEN Bio-Mimetic Control Research Center. RI-MAN can only pick up about a third as much weight.
(RI-MAN elder care robot)
Because it is clearly intended to be man-sized, this is a good time to remember the origin of the term robot - from Karel Capek's 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossem's Universal Robots).
Read more about RI-MAN at RI-MAN And Roujin-Z Robots: Elder Care Fact And Fiction and RI-MAN Face Tracking, Electronic Nose Robot . Via Android shows off people-lifting skills.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/29/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.' - Greg Bear, 2003.
SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1972.
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.' Robert Heinlein, 1962.
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
'With a whir, the Scarab shot from the concealing shadows of the corner where it had hidden itself.' - Raymond Z. Gallun, 1936.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.'
The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space
'It's area, and its consequent light-gathering capacity, was many times greater than any rigid mirror...'
Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion.
CyberCab - Tesla Renames The Robotaxi
'A cybercab dogged their heels...'
SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'Whisper Mode' ala Blue Thunder Researched At Bristol
'Forest Lawn.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
Bespoke Environment Music From AIs
'Call 'em Winter Mute," said the other, making it two words.'
Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
