We know HUBO has skills: he’s able to wield foam swords with fearsome precision. And it looks like he’s got some skills when it comes to dancing, too… Unfortunately, those skills all involve being able to automatically detect and tract live audio beat, and not actually doing anything especially groovy with that knowledge. Well, you have to start somewhere, I guess, but maybe HUBO could take some lessons from HRP-4C.

[ DASL ]

You know, I kinda hate to say it, but that actually looks pretty good. Or at least, relatively good. Last year, AIST’s HRP-4C robot was somewhat woodenly singing J-Pop, but this performance is borderline believable if you squint really hard while trying your level best to willfully disbelieve that she’s a robot. Maybe she took some pointers from their newer HRP-4?

I guess what I’m saying is, this seems to me (from a purely artistic and non-technical perspective) to be a significant improvement. Much of the credit likely goes to AIST’s new dance choreography software, which prevents users without robotics experience from planning dance that might sending their robot sprawling. Dancing might be a bit of a novelty for robots, but it’s certainly a good way to try and teach fluid and non-robotic movement, which is a big step towards less-uncanny humanoids.

[ AIST Press Release (Translated) ] VIA [ Pink Tentacle ]

Remember how Chief Cook tried to cheat at pong at ICRA in 2008 by going “hey, look over there, a dancing robot!” Well, now we know what he was pointing at.

If you want more (you want more, right?) head over to Eric Sauser’s website to watch a video of Chief Cook dancing all around Switzerland (complete with table dances) to some sweet, sweet Buffalo Springfield.

[ LASA @ EPFL ]
[ BeatBots ]

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This, I’m told, is a robot swan. A Swedish robot swan, which may or may not explain why it looks like it does… Only having been to Sweden once, I’m not qualified to have much of an opinion on their fauna. This particular Swedish robot swan has been taught to dance, of all things, as part of a collaborative project between the computer science and theater departments at Mälardalen University.

The actual choreography was done by Åsa Unander-Scharin, a professional dancer, who programmed movements into the swan’s wings, neck, beak and feet. Apparently, the performances move people to tears, and spectators have described the experience as “touching”, “fascinating” and “beautiful.”

I won’t go all crazy about this because you’ve heard it before, but it’s a fine example of how expressing emotion is (or at least, can be) entirely unrelated to things like human facial features. If you want to get humans to develop an emotional connection with a robot, forget the literal approach to humanness… All it takes is some simple movements and careful attention to programming to make even the most basic of robots appear to display emotions themselves, and elicit an emotional response from us.

[ Mälardalen University ] VIA [ Physorg ]

BTW, the first Google Image Search result for “robot swan” takes you to a webpage for “robot swan king.”

Just let that sink in, you’ll get it in a sec.

This is neither the first, nor the best, robot dancing video we’ve seen, but what I like about this one is how unapologetically not made for dancing this robot is. It’s an industrial robot, in an industrial setting, and you get the sense that it might be neglecting its duty as boxes pass it by in the background while it’s groovin’ out.

So why is it dancing, you ask? Because it’s a robot, and if you have access to a robot, it’s basically impossible to keep yourself from finding cool (albeit non-productive) stuff to do with it.

VIA [ YouTube ]

Last year, it was a Billie Jean tribute dance. This year, twenty Aldebaran Robotics Naos are kicking it up a notch by dancing in sync to nearly ten minutes worth of music including Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. Never mind the choreography that must have been involved… Consider what ten minutes with no screw ups implies about the precision and repeatability of Nao’s software. Impressive, but until Nao figures out how to do a head spin, I think Manoi can still bust better moves.

VIA [ Wired ]

It’s that time of year again! The dancing hexapods are back for their annual competition of skill and style in Austria… I’m not sure who won, but my money is on the light-up disco ball, ’cause it’s shiny.

Another video, after the jump. (Read more…)

If you were to take either the robot’s costume by itself, the dancing by itself, or the music by itself, things would be normal. It’s the combination that gets a little weird. This robot is called, you guessed it, Dancing Doll, and she uses 25 servos, a couple gyros, and an accelerometer to bust all those polka moves without falling over. She only stands 60 cm tall, but (in case you were wondering) according to the website her real name is Alice and she’s “15 years old forever.” Oh, you want another vid now? You got it:

[ Dancing Doll (Translated) ] VIA [ GetRobo ]

Latest contender for the Uncanniest Robot of the Year Award (speaking of, I think we should have an Uncanniest Robot of the Year Award) is Doka Harumi, an entrant in the Robo-One dance competition during IREX on Saturday in Japan. Shockingly, shockingly, she didn’t win. I honestly can’t figure out why. It’s a robot/schoolgirl dancing to J-pop. In Japan. What, were there not enough tentacles or something? If you want to see the winner, you can click through at the end… It’s not nearly as impressive as some of the losers and the special guests. More vids, including an appearance by Manoi, after the jump. (Read more…)

This, apparently, is the trick Nao has up his nonexistent sleeve that’ll help him pick up chicks. Personally, I can throw a Frisbee slightly better than Nao, but it hasn’t helped me pick up chicks at all, unless you count picking them up off the ground after your wayward Frisbee smashes into the side of their head. Oh well, I can only assume it’s because I don’t live in Japan.

Watch Nao dance (’cause Nao likes to dance), after the jump. (Read more…)