The Japan Times Online Sanyo, tmsuk to set up robot firm
OSAKA (Kyodo) Sanyo Electric Co. and venture firm tmsuk Co. said Wednesday they will jointly establish a company to sell and maintain robots.
The new Tokyo-based venture, called tmsuk Sanyo, will begin selling a dinosaur-shaped house-sitting robot named Banryu, according to the companies.
Banryu was jointly developed by Sanyo Electric and tmsuk.
[…]
Robodex 2003
Official : Robodex.org.
Sony, Fujitsu, Honda, …
Jan. 9 — A start-up company says it has developed a navigation system that is cheap enough to bring robots to the mass consumer market. Pasadena, Calif.-based Evolution Robotics said its technology that lets a robot determine its position relative to its environment is based on wheel sensors and a Web cam that cost less than $50. That’s a fraction of the cost of current robot navigation systems relying on laser range finders, which can cost $5,000, the company said.
Honda’s Giant ASIMO Robot to Tour U.S.
ASIMO, Honda’s four-foot tall walking robot wonder, has arrived on US shores to kick off a nationwide, 15-month educational tour that will culminate in a visit to the North America school that comes up with the best essay on robotics. The tour, fully funded by Honda, is aimed at students from grades five through high school.
Spider-bot joins NASA’s robotic zoo
Jan. 29 — Engineer Robert Hogg’s spider sense is tingling, but he’s no superhero. His spider sense comes from an insect-like robot with a leg up on its wheeled counterparts because it walks instead of rolls. The spider-bot, developed by Hogg and his team of researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is the latest affordable addition to the agency’s robot family. Its legs step over obstacles, clamber up rocks and reach areas of interest that would normally be inaccessible to wheeled rovers that run on flatter paths.
Honda Unveils Improved Humanoid Robot
TOKYO (AP) — Honda Motor Co. may have come up with the most attentive and perhaps honest car dealer ever in its child-size walking robot Asimo.
The 1.2-meter (4-foot) tall machine, which first went on sale two years ago, already knew how to walk, climb stairs and recognize voices. The upgraded version also understands human gestures and movement.
[…]
Robots offer engineers room for creativity
San Francisco – Twenty years ago, Tsugio Makimoto, then a Hitachi, Ltd. Semiconductor manager, delivered a keynote speech at the 1982 International Electron Devices Meeting about how robotics would play a role in semiconductor fabs, largely to transport and handle wafers in a futuristic fab. Makimoto, now a technical advisor to Sony Corp.’s semiconductor operations, painted a much livelier picture of robots in a keynote speech today (Monday, Dec. 9) at the 2002 IEDM.
“Twenty years ago I was partly wrong. Humanoid robots are not very useful for practical purposes. Instead, robots hold great promise for entertainment,” said Makimoto. Sony has sold thousands of its “Aibo” robot, which looks like a small dog, since June 1999. The new versions of Aibo are able to go to a charging station to replenish its own battery power, and include Bluetooth interfaces to share information with other Aibo robots, or with human-controlled computers.
But it was a seven-minute video of Sony’s biped robot, the SDR-4X, which wowed the engineers attending the plenary session of IEDM. The video showed the SDR-4X, Sony’s fourth generation biped robot, walking up and down steps, over unlevel terrain, and standing up on its own after being knocked flat on its back.
[…]
Ananova – Dino-robot promises mobile assistance
Sanyo have unveiled a dinosaur-shaped robot home-help.
tmsuk and Sanyo Electric Reveal New and Improved ‘Banryu’ Home-Robot
Tokyo (JCNN) – tmsuk Co., LTD., (pronounced “temzack”) a small robotics firm from Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Sanyo Electric (TSE: 6764), have developed an improved version of their home-robot Banryu. The two companies wish to finalize the design and details and to commence the marketing of the first-ever useful home robot to the general public in year 2003.
The new “Banryu”, which means “guard-dragon” in place of “guard-dog”, takes on a look of an ancient reptile with a futuristic twist. The development of the robot was commenced in year 2001. The new Banryu incorporates significant improvements to the earlier prototype shown at the ROBODEX-2002 (Yokohama, Japan) exhibition in March 2002. Its speed has been increased from 3meters/min. to 15meters/min., a velocity more than fast enough for a home robot designed to travel in confined cluttered spaces. It also is able to confidently go over gaps over 10cm, sensing the height with sets of sensors located on its legs.
The robot also holds onboard a completely new “odor-sensor” developed jointly by tmsuk, Kanazawa Institute of Technology (Professor Nanto), and New Cosmos Electric Co., LTD. The developers believe that this is one of the first devices that can sense a particular odor with practical accuracy. With the sensor the robot will be able to detect “burnt scent” which is known to occur in the atmosphere preceding a fire.
The robot is aimed to be used for several purposes including home-security defined loosely. The developers are in talks with the market leader, Sohgo Security Services Co., LTD., regarding provision of related services, technology and know-how.
tmsuk is to “pre-market” the product at the end of this year. (the delivery to customers is likely to take place next Spring) tmsuk plans to market about 50 Banryus to interested customers domestically for this exercise. The details will be posted at the Banryu web site (www.banryu.jp) . A full marketing effort is to follow by the end of 2003, should the result of the pre-marketing be favorable.
tmsuk was responsible for the design and development of the robot and its mechanism. Sanyo provided batteries and power train, voice/sound recognition technology and cosmetic design. Sanyo is also to manufacture the products post pre-marketing stage.
Visit tmsuk robotics at http://www.tmsuk.co.jp/eng/index.html.
News – FUJITSU
MARON-1: Main Specifications
Dimensions: 32 x 36 x 32 cm
Weight:5 kg
Operable parts:2 powered wheels (left, right); 1 rotating arm; 2-way movable camera head (pan, tilt). 5 degrees of freedom
Sensors:1 Infrared sensor/emitter (for operating electronics by remote); 2 cameras, 1 proximity sensor
User interface:1 touchpad; 5 menu keys; 2 function keys; 1 4″ LCD monitor; 1 microphone; 1 speaker
Operating system:WinCE 3.0
Expansion interfaces:1 USB (host); 1 PC card slot; 1 RS-232C port (for maintenance); 1 DC-IN connector
Battery type:NiMH (in main unit)
Run time per charge:12 hours (*2)
Accessory:AC adapter