e-nuvo
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ZMP sells bi-ped robot source code to spur development, uprising
Tokyo-based ZMP has already teamed up with a consortium of other Japanese companies to take on the encroaching robot threat from South Korea, and it's now taken another step to spur on development and released the source code to its nuvo series of robots. Unfortunately, it's not going the open source route, with interested researchers and mad scientists instead required to dole out ¥257,250 (or $2,355) for a package that includes a nuvo robot, the source code, an electrical circuit diagram, three days of training, and an ID to give you access to the nuvo community. You'll also have to sign a non disclosure agreement with ZMP, and if you're not one of the first fifty to sign up, you're out of luck for now. Not exactly casting the widest of nets, but those looking for less expensive, more open robot platforms to play with certainly have plenty of other options to consider.
ZMP rolls out the e-nuvo WHEEL robot
While it's not exactly a life-sized humanoid companion, ZMP is rolling out (literally) a new robot destined to awe physics and engineering students everywhere. While the company has dabbled in robotics for academia before, the new e-nuvo WHEEL is a learning tool (be it science or anger management) through and through. Designed to challenge your MATLAB / Simulink skills, the two wheeled machine won't stay put (or stand straight up) without your programming efforts mastering its motion. Sporting an unmistakable nuvo body on an "inverted pendulum," the company even has supporting textbooks that explain how Newton's "equation of motion" can be tweaked and implemented in order to get your 'bot up and about. While there's no apparent pricing available, the e-nuvo WHEEL is still currently "in development," but should be wheeling around (or laying flat on its back) in campus laboratories soon.[Via GoRobotics]
