Development of RODEM the Universal Vehicle
VEDA International Robot R&D center made an announcement on development of what the company calls the Universal Vehicle. RODEM which is in category of its own is designed to provide a freedom of movement for elderly and physically challenged people. Depending on the given situation it can be a robot or a vehicle or even a wheel chair. The name of RODEM comes from “Robot de Enjoy Mobility”. Read more
Development of Brain wave controlled wheelchair by BSI-TOYOTA Collaboration Center
The BSI-TOYOTA Collaboration Center otherwise known as BTCC has successfully developing a system utilizing the fastest technology in the world in controlling a wheelchair using brain waves in a time as little as 125 milliseconds. Being a new signal processing technology for brain machine interface (BMI) application, it is a Real-time control of wheelchairs with brain waves. The Brian Machine Interface (BMI) based system would allow elderly or physically challenged individuals to interact with the world through signals from their brain without any needs to give voice commands. The recently developed technology uses combination of RIKEN’s blind signal separation and space-time-frequency filtering technologies to allow brain-wave analysis in as little as 125 ms in comparison to the conventional methods of several seconds. Read more
Magic card interface for Robot control
Japan Science and Technology Agency under the “IGARASHI DESIGN Interface Project” developed a technology which uses a paper tag as interface to control the robot operations. A card contains a specific pattern in black and white that a robot reacts to, and by using combination of cards where various orders have been written the operation of robots can be controlled. The operation of robot has been controlled via a camera which is set on ceiling capable of reading the black and white pattern on the card, processing the data and finally sends the order to the robot wirelessly. Read more
Development of human like Robot by AIST
It stands only 158 cm tall and weighs 43 kg (including the battery) and it is so cute. This newly developed humanoid robot by AIST mimics the look of young Japanese females. HRP-4C’s walking motion and movements were developed based on human’s general movement and motion and then mimicking them through use of walking control technology developed in the Humanoid Robotics Project (HRP). Additionally, the speech capability of the HRP-4C has been achieved through speech recognition technology. The HRP-4C has been developed as part of the user Centered Robot Open Architecture (UCROA) under the AIST Industrial Transformation Research Initiative. With the expectation of humanoid robots to be one of the final forms of the next generation robot their application up to now has been limited to only R&D and so on, it has been difficult to develop the next generation robot. Read more
Development of Kitchen Robot
As robots are gaining functional sophistications to do intricate and complex work with their potential application stretching from Automobile manufacturing to medical industries to name a few, helping it to go one step further in becoming part of a Japanese family by helping them with various house chores. This is a major milestone considering Japanese aging society. Following this development path, researchers at University of Tokyo in cooperation with electronic giant Panasonic Co. Ltd developed a Kitchen Robot with specific function of washing dishes. Read more
Cleaning Robot by Fuji Heavy Industry
Now days Robots are put to test in performing various task from cooking to taking care of elderly. This one however is taking care of cleaning floors. This floor cleaning robot was jointly developed by Fuji heavy industries and Sumitomo Corp. It is an improvement to its earlier model by its enhanced drive motor and durable power circuit as well as improved signal processing program. Read more
OKI robotic office chair
Leopard is a concept that incorporates robotic technology with office furnishing. This was developed in cooperation of OKI and Okamura Corporation.Okamura a 1945 founded company out of Yokohama currently is involved in manufacturing office furniture and ergonomic chairs among multitude of other products. The stand of this chair is in fact a robotic leg which was developed by OKI which mimics the muscle and bone structures of thighs and hip of a human body. The leg has a capability of jumping and landing as natural as human legs thanks to its mounted springs and accompanied motors. This is the first time for OKI to employ this technology into a commercial product since its introduction in 2005.
The Leopard does not come with motor but it is able to tilt forward when the occupant is standing up and sinks and provide the outmost comfort when a person is sting on it by using mechanical parts such as hydraulic cylinders and springs. Read more
Honda Walking assist Exoskeleton
This is a follow up to Honda’s effort since 1999 to enhance this technology based on ASIMO robotic know how to assist elderly and other individual with walking problem as well as the people working constantly at half way sitting posture. Honda introduced the Walking assists Exoskeleton in April of this year and followed that up with the yet another model of Exoskeleton this November. The objective of this device is to reduce burden to the legs while individual is walking or is in half-way sitting position which may occur in such places as factories or car assembly sites. The device supports part of the individual’s weight and reduces the pressure to their leg’s muscles and joints. Read more
Personal transporter robot
August of this year Toyota Motor Corporation displayed its two-wheeled personal vehicle robot by the name of Winglet at its press conference in Tokyo. Winglet is equipped with sensor with primary function of monitoring an individual who is standing on it to achieve its optimal stability and performance. It comes with a sit down as well as upright model. The upright design is based on the intellectual property of Sony that was sold to Toyota on March of 2007. Read more
