Murata Seiko unicycling robot stays upright, wows onlookers at CEATEC (video)

Murata Seiko, the newly improved unicycling robot that we peeked a few weeks ago, was proudly on stage with her bicycling sibling at CEATEC, and we couldn't resist the urge to swing by and see exactly how amazing her balancing skills were. Sure enough, the bot never once teetering or tottered, and while it didn't scoot around for very long, we were still impressed to see it hold itself up with no human intervention. 'Course, we won't really be wowed until she successfully navigates down a few slops on the way to San Francisco's Pier 39, but based on what we saw in Japan, we'd say that she's well on her way. Check the vid after the break if you're scouting a performance.

Murata Seiko unicycling robot stays upright, wows onlookers at CEATEC

[Kelvinyam Posted Oct 8th 2009 4:36AM]

One day all cars will be running on single wheel. LOL

[x181 Posted Oct 8th 2009 4:40AM]

ride my pretties! *cackle cackle cackle*

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 8th 2009 9:46AM]

COCKLECOCKLECOCKLE

[scottnz Posted Oct 8th 2009 5:35AM]

amazing video very cool

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 8th 2009 1:06PM]

ditto

[Bones3D Posted Oct 8th 2009 6:43AM]

Hmm... I wonder if the fan looking thing in these might be a flywheel of some sort.

[Invalidd Posted Oct 8th 2009 8:50AM]

My first thought was: 'gyroscope of some kind to help it balance.' But it's not much of one, and it wasn't spinning very fast, so IDK. Also I was thinking that she has a lot of weights under her skirt for a lower center of gravity.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 9th 2009 11:02AM]

Yes, the fan-looking thing is for balance, you can clearly see it operating in the video of both the unicycle and bicycle bots :)

It is a flywheel, not a gyroscope. It doesn't need to spin fast to stabilize the bot, just needs to spin in the opposite direction the bot is falling.

Also, you don't want a low center of gravity when trying to balance, you want a high center of gravity (try to balance a ruler or a yardstick in your hand and tell me which is easier).

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 8th 2009 8:23AM]

is there any advantage of riding on single wheel? I know it is just a concept to proof the abilities, but seriously - would there be any sense to make e.g. "one wheel segway"? I see only disadventages, but afaik e.g. having just two wheels on segway is good for power consumption and ability to have bigger wheels.

[Eternity Posted Oct 8th 2009 8:53AM]

More Skynet trojan horses... we are doomed by 2012 they will of invaded all Japanese living rooms. We all know once you take over japan, you take over the world! With all those hidden Gundams they are secretly building under ground.

[deecee Posted Oct 8th 2009 10:47AM]

Interesting technology, crappy video. What was that, eight frames per second? It gave me a headache.

[FordGTGuy Posted Oct 8th 2009 11:12AM]

When it can stay up right while sliding on ice and getting kicked as hard as someone can possibly kick it call me.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 8th 2009 12:18PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

[Nino Posted Oct 8th 2009 12:33PM]

I am sure the robots have some sort of Gyroscope built in to keep them balanced.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 8th 2009 5:47PM]

you can see the gyroscopes turning at breakneck speeds in their chests. you can even see while they reverse the rotation, if you look closely. not intelligent robotics

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 13th 2009 10:24AM]

I am here to protect you from the terrible secret of space!