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
 |
Twendy-One Robot Is Your Humanoid Helper
Twendy-One is a new and improved robot from Waseda University in Japan. The unusual name derives from the name of its predecessor (and sister bot), Wendy. Japan is anticipating a labor shortage in human services (the country has the greatest proportion of senior citizens in the world), and is determined to meet the challenge with robots.
(Twendy-One is ready to assist you)
Twendy-One also the soft touch needed for those essential breakfast tasks like taking toast out of the toaster. Twendy-One has enough strength to serve you breakfast. The trunk of the robot has four degrees of freedom to allow it to bend all the way to the floor to pick up an object, or to wipe up a spill so you won't fall. Twendy-One has the same arm length and reach as an average human woman; the hand has thirteen degrees of freedom for necessary dexterity.
(Twendy-One uses tongs delicately to remove toast)
Twendy-One's hand is biomimetic - it mimics your hand. The fingertips are made of soft material and has a gentle curved surface like a human hand. The fingertips have a six-axis force sensor, and additional distributed force sensors. Twendy-One can pick up and handle delicate objects like paper cups or soft plastic items without crushing them. It can even manipulate a straw!
(Twendy-One has a hand like yours - note the pad at the base of the thumb)
Twendy-one's head does more than just contain two CCD cameras and a force sensor (to detect a touch to the head). The robot can angle and tilt its head like a human being does to indicate intention - like asking a question or nodding to indicate assent.
Compare Twendy-One with this detailed look at RI-MAN, a Japanese health care robot; it has a smell sensor and face tracking, in addition to tactile sensor-guided movement.
Update 15-Apr-2008: See Flexible Frank from Robert Heinlein's The Door Into Summer for a good match on this one (thanks, Pete). End update.
See Twendy-One pick up a ball from the floor. Via RobotWatch; see also the Twendy-One website.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/28/2007)
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 ( 5 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
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.
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
'I made them... with the fine work of the watchmaker...' - Boris Zhitkov, 1931.
Robot Snakes No Longer Stopped By Stairs
'...she dropped her hands from the wheel, took the robot snake from his box.' - Lee Chaytor, 1958.
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
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!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
Harvest Power From Tears And Blinking With Smart Contact Lens
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
'...a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System!'
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
'With a whir, the Scarab shot from the concealing shadows of the corner where it had hidden itself.'
AI Enhances Images Your Brain Sees
'I could have sworn the psychomat showed pictures almost as sharp and detailed as reality itself'
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
'I made them... with the fine work of the watchmaker...'
