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!
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.
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.
Thank you for reading GetRobo! We plan to provide more robot news from Japan in 2010, so please visit us often.
Hitoshi Takahashi spent 11 years building this giant beetle robot just by himself as a hobby. Rhinoceros beetle in Japanese is "Kabutomushi" -thus the robot's name. It's 11 meters long and weighs 15 tons (estimate). It walks and can take up as many as 5 to 7 people. See photos of it being transported here.
Appeared on TV below.
