GetRobo Blog English

Biped robot builders in Japan become interested in more legs

 Until recently, robots with more than 2 legs have been less popular compared to biped robots among hobbyists in Japan.

 There was just one 4-legged robot kit, the G-DOG , which HIP JAPAN started selling in July 2008.

 But nowadays, Japanese robot enthusiasts who have been working on custom-built biped robots are starting to become more and more  interested in making multi-legged robots. This is a noteworthy trend.

 It kind of started off with Shimaken -who is a well-known humanoid robot builder - when he joined the `Wonderful Robot Carnival - Petit `  with his original hexapod `Shiguma` in November of 2008. Bishii  of  (Asakusa-giken) and Tanaka  of  (Dainihon-giken) declared in December 2009 that they have begun to make multi-legged robots loaded with toy guns and sensors for future competitions. They used the image monitor such as `Remo`.

 This year,  ROBOSPOT held an information exchange meeting about multi-legged robot on Jan 23rd. A number of robot builders joined the meeting and exchanged ideas. Some people made presentations about their new robots. One of them was me. I presented the videos of my new robots with 5 legs, BT-L5 and BT-L15 .

 After the meeting, ROBOSPOT announced it's plan to start a new competition for multi-legged robots this coming spring. Mr. Morinaga , who is known as the `Father of ROBO-ONE` also started to make multi-legged robots, one being the Metallic Bio with 7 legs.

 Igaa , another famous biped robot builder know for `Saaga` and `Soga`, also made a new multi-legged robot with wheels for `the 1st Kanto Robot War` and published his video below. His wheeled complex multi-legged robot can move with high speed.

 K who is famous for a big Gundum robot at S.H.R.B. , is also making a multi-legged robot with 4 legs .

 So why is this trend happening now?

Marriage of Robotics with Handicraft

 Engineer and electronics shop owner Osamu Iwasaki who's been building robots for some time is currently interested in using "soft material" for his machines. His newest work is the RoboKnit which is a collaboration with Hanakomet who did the knitting. 

 

 A little while ago, Iwasaki-san worked with textile artist Tomoco Mouri to make the Kinetic Quilt.  He used a Lilypad Arduino, one $12 servo motor and piano wire and it took him about an hour to build this.

 He is fascinated with what in Japan is now called "extreme handicraft" which seems to have a strong following of its own. You can see examples of this art form here and there's even a group called  O-DA-I Craft where someone comes up with a theme and people send in photos of their work according to that theme.

 So why combine handicraft with robotics?

 People's reactions to these kinds of robots is what motivates Iwasaki-san. The RoboKnit is "Cute!" and many children gathered around when he was filming the video at the park.  On the other hand, the general impression of the Kinetic Quilt was "Creepy~~." "If they were just made of motors and metal, people would've reacted differently. I'm curious to find out what kind of movements and structure make people react in certain ways," he says.

Gymnastic Robot's Hands

 If you liked the gymnasitc robot that does the horizontal bar, you may want to check out the latest video by the creator  hinamitetu. It shows how the hands of this robot work, although it seems that they broke off from the robot. Probably from one of it's falls?

 I guess I don't want my fingers to be caught up in this one....... 

Interactive LED Display

 Not directly related to robots but thought this is really cool.

 An interactive full-color LED display made by nahitafu. LEDs are normally used to emit light but they can also become photo sensors because a weak electric current flows when they detect light. So he was able to control the colors of the LEDs depending on how much light they get. According to nahitafu, it's not difficult to do that with one LED, but it's not easy to make it work this nicely in arrays. Look at how it glows when he moves his fingers.

 

 His dream is to make large wall displays with this.

5 Legged Robot

 Hobby roboticist IKETOMU-san built a 5-legged robot using servos and parts that he found idle at home.

 Because he's using the KHR-1 body, it was difficult to make a hexapod - thus a robot with one less leg. He thinks that "the 2 legs in the front can be used as arms in a battle competition" and that "we could probably think up some new and interesting competition by making the legs longer."

 IKETOMU-san has been working on bipedal robots since 2004. One of his newest work is below. I'm starting to notice that some of the most talented hobbyists in Japan are starting to move beyond the "traditional" humanoid robots. It's going to be really exciting to see what comes next.