Here in the US, we’re used to robot sumo happening at an, um, relaxing pace. Not so in Japan, as you can see in this vid. It’s from the 2010 All Japan Robot Sumo Finals, specifically the human-driven competition. Unsurprisingly, due to the pace of the match, the robots themselves are doing a lot of the thinking:

The secret is that they build a lot of autonomous functionality into the R/C robots as well. The operator can give the command to attack, but the actual engagement and high speed opponent tracking, is built into the robots.

This makes me wonder what the point is of having a human in the loop at all… It seems like the robots might be able to do a better job of reacting quickly and making decisions in such a confined environment. There’s also a separate category for fully autonomous robots, and here’s that final:

I’m not entirely sure what those big white panels are for, but if I had to guess, I’d say that they’re designed to fool the opponent’s sensors somehow, and if you watch the video closely, they may have worked.

There’s clearly a convergence taking place between the human controlled and autonomous sumo robots, so it’ll be interesting to see how the competition evolves. It’s possible that the two separate competitive categories will combine into one, but it’s hard to say whether the humans or the robots will have the edge, at least at first. While the robots are definitely able to react faster, they’re also restricted by their sensors, and they have less experience with deceptive tactics. But if nothing else, robots are fast learners, and it’s probably only a matter of time before they make humans completely redundant, at least when it comes to sumo.

[ Robot Sumo Finals ] VIA [ Robots Dreams ]

The Robo-One Humanoid Helper Robot Project challenges hobbyists to create robots capable of performing common household tasks. I’m not sure whose house these robots have been chillin’ at, but these common household tasks include getting drinks from a fridge, pouring said drinks, setting off a party popper, waiting until you’re hammered, and then giving you a shoulder massage.

And then the video cuts out, but you can fill in the blanks… Just make sure to ask it to deactivate its crotch cam before things get too crazy.

Happy new year!

VIA [ Robots Dreams ]

IEEE Automaton scored a sneak peak at Aldebaran Robotics’ newest version of their Nao robot at the Humanoids 2010 conference in Nashville recently. Nao’s body has been completely reworked to be more robust, and longer curved arms give the bot more space in which to pick stuff up and throw it at you. A new motion engine helps Nao move more fluidly, and as you can see in the demo above, it exhibits some fetchingly human moves.

Nao also got a new head, along with an upgraded brain that helps it to recognize speech and images. It can do some form of facial recognition and it sounds like it’s capable of reading text as well, which is pretty handy. There also seem to have been a few, um, attitude adjustments… This latest version of now is the spunkiest yet.

Incidentally, I never really noticed this before, but doesn’t Nao sound an awful like those freaky sentry guns from Portal? Oh well, it’s probably just a coincidence.

Probably.

VIA [ IEEE ]

Lynxmotion’s hexapod kits are shaped just like hexagons, which is not only neat, it also gives them the ability to walk in any direction while looking like they’re supposed to be going that way. Lynxmotion decided that it would be a good idea for them to walk through a muddy stream, which would not have been my first choice when it comes to demonstrating an expensive robot. But, it does show some of the advantages offered by a walking robot with high ground clearance and little stick legs.

There’s also an add-on kit that includes these sweet light-up legs, as in the top pic:

Sweet, yes. Also menacing, especially with that predatory gait.

Lynxmotion’s hexapods are actually reasonably cheap, considering that they use three servos on each leg, which if my math is right works out to 18 servos total. You can get a complete kit for only about $700.

[ Lynxmotion ]

This demo was developed for “forskningsdagene,” which is apparently a word that somehow means Norwegian Science Week. By combining a Wii Balance Board with a little self-balancing LEGO NXT robot (aka LegWay), you can have all the fun of riding on a Segway without actually having to be someone who rides on a Segway.

VIA [ Reddit ]

Hobby roboticists now have a serious problem: which awesome off the shelf sensor do they use for 3D mapping, Kinect’s stereo camera system, or Neato’s LIDAR system, which has just been hacked wide open. Posting on RobotBox (presumably because of the sweet bounty that they threw down), Hash79 has provided video showing the raw distance output from a Neato XV-11′s LIDAR sensor:

The next step is for smart people to plug this hack into a module that the rest of us (who aren’t quite so smart) can readily access, like ROS. The step after that is to figure out how to find a Neato sensor without having to buy the entire robot. And the step after that is to go crazy and maybe speed up the motor and mount the sensor on a servo that scans up and down to get a whole 3D scene and damn this is going to be awesome!

VIA [ RobotBox ]

Okay, so maybe this isn’t Humanoid Robots 101, but the rules are a little bit different when you work at Trossen Robotics and get paid in semi trucks full of exotic servos. At least, that’s what I imagine happens over there.

[ Trossen Robotics ]

Apparently, this is legal in combat:

Garoo will open a beer for you:

Two more, after the jump.

Frosty does backflips:

And lastly, Kinopy plays a Yasubei drum:

For more of the actual Robo-One combat, check out the link below.

VIA [ Biped Robot News ]

This, kids, is yet another reason why you should start teaching yourself robotics. Plus, you can tell your parents (or your significant other, if you’re a big kid) that you “need a new paintball gun for your science project” (or something). Instead of a Tippman, though, I’d have to suggest something way better; something like an AKALMP Excalibur (otherwise known as the greatest paintball gun ever made).

Anyway, wouldn’t it be cool if you could somehow buy this turret setup as a kit or something? Yeah it would.

[ Alter Robotics ]

Alex over at Trossen Robotics writes,

“Our intern Jennero Rossi has been working diligently on his very first short documentary to give a first hand look into the world of robotics. We’re hoping that people who are interested in learning about robotics could find this video inspirational and see that they don’t need a PhD to start getting involved.”

Not that you should underestimate the knowledge, skill, and ingenuity of robot builders, but you shouldn’t let the fact that it’s robotics intimidate you, either. As several people in the video point out, a lot has changed in a very short time, and robotics is easier to get started with now than it’s ever been before. Go to an event. Take a class. Join a club. Buy a kit. Before you know it, you’ll have your very own mechanical minion with which to enslave and/or destroy humanity. It’ll be fun, I promise!

[ Trossen Robotics ]