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ROPID Has Serious 'Quick', Good Hang Time
The coolest thing about the ROPID robot is that it has very quick movements, and can jump about a quarter of its own height straight up in the air. Developed by Tomotaka Takahashi of Robo Garage at Kyoto University, the little robot can even respond to voice commands.
ROPID has everything I used to look for when picking teammates for (highly competitive!) pick-up games in college. Quick movements (great "quick"), good leaper and struts just a bit while walking up to the court.
(ROPID has style, leaping ability)
Robots that are able to move quickly are really starting to come to the forefront. This is in contrast to the science fiction robots that I remember from my childhood. Every depiction of a robot in movies was a slow-moving device; not surprising, considering that each one had a person inside it.
In sf literature, robots could be faster. For example, the usuform robot bartender in Anthony Boucher's 1943 story Q.U.R. was just as fast as a person in manipulating a drink shaker.
More recently, of course, CGI movie robots have gotten quicker. Sonny, from the movie I, Robot, has great 'quick' - and he's quite a leaper.
Via Robot Watch.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/28/2009)
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