GetRobo Blog English

Humanoid robots hustle and shuffle

 You've noticed that humanoid robots built by hobbyists kinda shuffle when they walk. That's because many of them use "parallel linked legs" which use frames that look like 2 parallelograms, one on top of the other. The merits of this structure is that it allows the robot builders to make larger robots that are not as heavy and that are more stable.

 This structure doesn't fit robots that play soccer, but at least for competing in the ROBO-ONE battling competitions, it's become a must if you want to win. That's because the builders want longer arms on their robots which can only be proportionate to the length of the legs due to ROBO-ONE regulations. Now that the rule has been changed so that the distance between the tip of the left and right arms when open must not exceed 240% of the length of the legs (used to be 340%), the builders are eying to make taller robots without adding the weight.

  Recently the ROBO-ONE Light Class Competitionfor robots under 3kg (7 lbs) took place in Yokohama. The champion robot Fantom (photo below) gets to go to the 17th ROBO-ONE. Both Fantom and second place Gargoil-mini use the parallel link structure.

 Check out the final match between the 2 robots.  (Written  by IKETOMU )

[FIRST 2010] Robot works, packed up and waits to be named

 Hooray! The robot is working! Yesterday's problem - a combination of wiring, faulty cables and some code - have been resolved. Test run was done at the school library.

 It can climb mountains

 And it can kick - hard

 Just like any professional engineer (and journalist) the team would like to work on it more but there is always a deadline. It's time to pack up because FEDEX is picking the robot up next morning to be sent to storage until the Silicon Valley Regional that's being held on March 18-20 at San Jose State University.

(Photo: Into the box. Team mentor Craig -right- created the Eagle Strike logo on the crate below.) 

 

And off it goes.

 The team will continue to work on small parts and code, and also to come up with a name for their robot. But basically it's time to get some rest after 6 intense weeks of building. "Otsukaresama~" as we would say in Japanese.  

 

[FIRST 2010] 36 hours to go and there is a problem

 It's 4:30pm on Sunday and the robot is not responding. There is a problem but Team 114 is not quite sure what it is. Could it be the bug that some of the other teams were complaining about? Or is it something else?

 
(Photo: Testing)

(Photo: More testing)

(Photo: Calling to seek advice)

(Photo: If it could only tell us what the matter is.....)
 

 

ROBO-ONE humanoid robots compete to become household helpers

 ROBO-ONE is holding it's second  Humanoid Helper Project this weekend. (For those that missed the first one in 2008, check out the articles here.)

 The finals are being held right this minute in Yokohama Japan, but GetRobo guest author IKETOMU has kindly sent us his report about yesterday's preliminary. 

 The purpose of the Humanoid Helper Project is to motivate individual robot builders to develop and show off their technologies that may eventually be used to commercialize household robots. Household robots meaning not the Roombas, but the Rosies.

 In this competition, robots are remotely controlled via WiFi by operators that are looking at the environment through a PC. This year, the preliminary consisted of the following 3 events.

 1) Pouring water from a plastic bottle into a cup

 2) Carrying a dish of ping-pong balls on a tray

 3) A 30 minutes endurance race

  Three robots entered the preliminary. Doka Harumi (Doka project), THKR-4 (CAP Project) and Musashi (MARU Family). All are HUGE. As of the end of yesterday, 1st place went to Musashi,  2nd place was THKR-4 and 3rd place was Doka Harumi.

 Enjoy the videos!

Pouring water with a bottle into a cup by Doka Harumi Pouring water with a bottle into a cup by THKR-4 Pouring water with a bottle into a cup by Musashi Carrying a dish of ping-pong ball on the tray by Doka Harumi Carrying a dish of ping-pong ball on the tray by THKR-4 Carrying a dish of ping-pong ball on the tray by Musashi Thirty minutes endurance race by Doka Harumi, ThKR-4 and Musashi

[FIRST 2010] Three more days till shipment date

 There's only three more days left till Team 114 (as well as all the other 1,800 FIRST teams around the country) must pack the robot up and ship it to the regional competition site.  This ensures that all teams equally have 6 weeks to build the robot after the rules are announced regardless of when and where the regionals are being held.

(Photo: Team 114 robot taking more shape and character)

 All the components have safely arrived and the team has had the chance to drive the robot around. But today, they have taken the drive train off again. "Why now?" asks Ms. Davis, one of the team advisors. The answer is, they need to attach an encoder so that the robot can control it's speed.

(Photo: James, one of the mentors, helps installing the encoder) 

(Photo: The roller that keeps the ball will be attached in front of the robot)

 

 Another last minute change were the bumpers. Instead of using different color flags to tell which robot belongs to which team, this year the robots have to be able to change the color of their bumpers. This has turned into a sewing project which Ms. Davis decided to take over. "I'd rather have you guys focus on the engineering part." 

(Photo: Team advisor, Ms. Karen Davis)

(Photo: Flipping the cloth will change the bumper from blue to red)

(Photo: Team 114 believes their powerful kicker will be a differentiator at the games)

And yet the story unfolds...........