GetRobo Blog English

RoboGames, Here We Come!

RoboGames is this weekend and there are now at least 10 robots being flown over to California from Japan to participate in this annual robo-full event. Thanks to the efforts of the RoboGame organizers and Robots Dreams, there will be a special stage for Team Robot Japan this year where you'll be able to witness first hand the very latest of the Japanese robot hobbyists' creations.

If you are lucky enough, you may even get to operate the fighting champion robot Real King Kizer, made by the Maru Family.

The leaders of Team Robot Japan are Kazumi Koguma - photo below right - and Kazuko Barisic - left - who work for Mazel Japan, the company that organizes the robot entertainment events called ROBOT JAPAN. The hobbyists that won prizes at past ROBOT JAPAN competitions have been invited to participate in RoboGames.

An interesting fact worth mentioning is that the ROBOT JAPAN events are held at Tsukiji Hongan-ji (photo right), a famous Buddhist temple in Tokyo. The events are nothing religious - it's just that they are held at the "Buddhist Hall" within the temple's premises. Koguma-san, who spent 20 years of his career in event promotion and ticket sales at the industry's leading company, was asked to boost the utilization rate of the auditorium. He came up with the idea of organizing robot events, because he is interested in eventually finding a way to help people with disabilities using robotic technologies. The name of the company he founded - Mazel - comes from the Japanese word "mazeru" (mix). He wants to work on projects that will enable a society where people with all kinds of abilities and disabilities can mingle and cooperate. 

He doesn't have a concrete idea on how ROBOT JAPAN can help him reach his goal yet, but he plans to take it step by step. His company has invited Saito Kobo, a company that makes electronic wheel chairs, to participate in RoboGames this year. 

GetRobo will be at RoboGames this year to follow Team Robot Japan for an article on ROBOCON Magazine, THE robotics magazine in Japan. Will try to put up lots of photos here too. Hope to see many of you there!

"Real Steel" in Real Life

Many robot enthusiasts saw the movie Real Steel - a story about boxing in the near future involving teleoperated fighting robots. Naoki Maru in Japan was one of them. He and his son thought the movie was awesome and they decided to build a robot of their own. 

Meet Real King Kizer. The robot is a little over a meter high.

It's using the ASUS Xtion PRO LIVE sensor - similar to the Kinect - for full body motion capture. Unlike a master slave system that the human operator has to wear, the advantage of the new robot is that anyone can easily try it out.  It drew a huge crowd on March 3 at an event called RoboStar in Osaka, Japan, where the new robot made its debut.

The Marus are not novices in fighting robots. They've been competing in humanoid robot competitions for a while and they were in Houston, Texas, in spring 2009 to show off their robots in the U.S.

Hopefully they will have the chance to come here again!

Thank you Maru-san!

Beer Can Transformer Robot

 In the U.S., beer fetching robots are quite popular, but here we have a beer can that does not need to be fetched. It can walk over to you! Although, there's no liquid inside - at least not yet.

 It's made by Ron Tajima (@longjie0723) who professionaly is an expert on legged robots. You can see his earlier hobby work  here (Wiimba) and here (Pacmba).

 Also, it's fun to see how much his son has grown!

 Thanks Ron!

Robots at the Japan Pavillion @ CES

 Less than 3 more weeks till the end of this year and it's time to start preparing for CES, the world's largest consumer electronics show to be held in Las Vegas Jan. 6-9, 2011.

 Here is the list of robot-related companies that will be exhibiting at the Japan Pavillion at the Robotics TechZone.  

 * CYBERDYNE - the maker of the robotic suit HAL

  
  

* PARO Robots - the therapuetic robot that looks like a baby seal

 

* Vstone - of humanoid fame

 

* JS-Robotics - that makes the Ladybug robot for the education market

 

 Also, maybe not only for robotics but there will be component companies TOPS Systems ,  Xiroku and nextEDGE Technology showing off their latest products.

 Last but not least, two cities in Japan that are promoting robotics research, Tsukuba and Osaka, will be there in case you are planning on opening offices there.

Castrol-1 ~ "Free kick" machine can kick ball 206 km/h

 Engine oil company BP Castrol based in Tokyo unveiled the world's first engine-driven "free kick" machine called Castrol-1. Moriyama-san has the story on his blog NODE and Game Watch.  

 You can watch the newest videos from the press conference - where Castrol-1 showed off his kicking skills at 206 km/h - on the Game Watch site (just click the photos), but here's a slow-motion video taken a few days before at the work-shop where the machine had been under development.

 And at real time,

 So why this? Castrol BP is one of the sponsors of the FIFA World Cup 2010 and it wanted to show the world it's emphasis on "best performance" and the joy and excitement of challenging new ideas.

 The machine was developed by artist Kogoro Kurata who has a lot of experience with steel. The kicker is made by steel and carbon fiber-reinforced  plastic. The mechanism is almost the same as a normal automobile engine using differential gears. Rotating speed can be adjusted. The kick is initiated by "changing the foot from the right to the left on the break pedal" says the article. I'm not sure how this really works but it's a safety measure so that the kicker doesn't move with, say, just one push of a button. Also the artist Kurata-san says that it is soccer after all and you want to be using your feet.

 There are 2 cameras each facing the front and the ball. The machine weighing 2 tons moves around on electric motors and not the engine.  Last but not least, the engine uses "Castrol EDGE" oil.