Japanese Roboticist Builds Helper Robot Out of Off the Shelf Parts
Move over helper monkeys, there's a new non-human assistant slowly shuffling into town.
An amateur roboticist in Japan has constructed a humanoid helper robot using only off-the-shelf components. The robot, called THKR-4, was an entrant in the 3rd ROBO-ONE Humanoid Helper Project, held in Yokohama, Japan.
In an early New Year celebration, THKR-4 walks to the fridge, opens it, and takes out a small bottle of what looks like champagne. The video then cuts to the robot pouring a drink, which is a little nerve-wracking, as it never seems to have that good a grip on the bottle. The robot also pulls the string on a party popper, and gives one of the men in the video a shoulder rub. Well, a shoulder poke anyway, as its fingers don't look like they actually move.
It's not clear whether the robot is autonomous, or has to be remote controlled. You never see a controller in the video, but the robot does have an antenna on its back, which might indicate it's being piloted by someone off-camera. Of course, that's just speculation and for all I know the robot might be hyper-intelligent and should be made president of the world. Obviously, THKR-4 isn't going to revolutionize the service industry just yet, but it's a good step towards robotic assistants, and all the more impressive when you consider that it was essentially built by a hobbyist.
Source: Robots Dreams [http://www.robots-dreams.com/2010/12/robo-one-humanoid-helper-robot-project-thkr-4-parties-video.html#comments] via Dvice [http://dvice.com/archives/2010/12/helper-robot-of.php]
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Move over helper monkeys, there's a new non-human assistant slowly shuffling into town.
An amateur roboticist in Japan has constructed a humanoid helper robot using only off-the-shelf components. The robot, called THKR-4, was an entrant in the 3rd ROBO-ONE Humanoid Helper Project, held in Yokohama, Japan.
In an early New Year celebration, THKR-4 walks to the fridge, opens it, and takes out a small bottle of what looks like champagne. The video then cuts to the robot pouring a drink, which is a little nerve-wracking, as it never seems to have that good a grip on the bottle. The robot also pulls the string on a party popper, and gives one of the men in the video a shoulder rub. Well, a shoulder poke anyway, as its fingers don't look like they actually move.
It's not clear whether the robot is autonomous, or has to be remote controlled. You never see a controller in the video, but the robot does have an antenna on its back, which might indicate it's being piloted by someone off-camera. Of course, that's just speculation and for all I know the robot might be hyper-intelligent and should be made president of the world. Obviously, THKR-4 isn't going to revolutionize the service industry just yet, but it's a good step towards robotic assistants, and all the more impressive when you consider that it was essentially built by a hobbyist.
Source: Robots Dreams [http://www.robots-dreams.com/2010/12/robo-one-humanoid-helper-robot-project-thkr-4-parties-video.html#comments] via Dvice [http://dvice.com/archives/2010/12/helper-robot-of.php]
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