Soundbite: Takakatsu Isozumi, General Manager, Kawada Industries "The biggest advance is that the robot can handle an environment that is more like what humans face."
It may look like a robotic version of "Flashdance" or bring back memories of Gene Kelly, but Japan's latest android does more than just dance in the rain.
How about the old soft - or hard - shoe in wet sand, previously a treacherous terrain for less than adroit androids?
No problem for HRP-2 Promet, a 1.54-meter high-stepper designed by Kawada Industries and a former animation artist to boldly go where no 'bot has gone before.
Japan is home to almost half of the world's 800,000 industrial robots, an eventual $10 billion market.
HRP-2 can still handle the more traditional nuts and bolts factory work, but its off-road exploits at speeds of up to 2 kph mean a new A-I opportunity for Japanese robots - what a feeling, indeed.
Dan Sloan reporting.
Soundbite: Takakatsu Isozumi, General Manager, Kawada Industries "The biggest advance is that the robot can handle an environment that is more like what humans face."
It may look like a robotic version of "Flashdance" or bring back memories of Gene Kelly, but Japan's latest android does more than just dance in the rain.
How about the old soft - or hard - shoe in wet sand, previously a treacherous terrain for less than adroit androids?
No problem for HRP-2 Promet, a 1.54-meter high-stepper designed by Kawada Industries and a former animation artist to boldly go where no 'bot has gone before.
PlaniSim Program (697)
RS MEDIA SUITE 1.2 (431)
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}