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Promet's little bro, the HRP-2m "Choromet" humanoid robot
It's no secret that we love us some humanoid robots around here, and while their skiing, fighting, and temp skills are always impressive, all we really wanna do is watch the little guys dance. Unfortunately for us, most of the dancing bots we see around here are crazy expensive -- see the Partner Ballroom Dance Robot, for example -- including the HRP-2m "Promet" model that costs over $70,000-a-year just to rent. Well apparently Promet's manufacturer, Kawada Industries, haven't found much of a market for their pricey life-sized bot, so they've teamed up with Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and three other firms to build a smaller, cheaper version of the HRP-2m called the Choromet. Powered by Linux, this 35-centimeter tall version can perform most of the same tricks as its big brother (such as standing on one leg, or delivering a killer Voltron impression) at a much more reasonable $4,450, and is being targeted towards the academic and research communities (which is where Promet originally learned to shake his groove thing).[Via I4U, thanks Bram V.]
Since you're up, could you bring HRP-2 something from the fridge?
We've liked what we've seen so far from the Kawada's HRP bots, what with the dancing and the martial arts and the industrial capabilities, but their latest update for the HRP-2 has just vaulted the line from a life of menial tasks straight to middle management. The bot is now capable of accepting verbal commands to grab a drink from the fridge, but it would much rather delegate the task, which it can do equally as well. Sounds like this unit is gearing up for a life of 40 hour work weeks and a cushy pension, instead of the dancing ninja industrial bot we mistook it for.[Via Robot Gossip]
Kawada's HRP-3P humanoid robot designed for risky business
Japanese firm Kawada is no stranger to industrial robots (and dancing ones, at that). Now they've gone and built what we're affectionately dubbing the Scapegoat Robot, designed to do dangerous work on construction sites and undertake other risky ventures. The HRP-3P robot is agile enough to walk on icy surfaces as well as under heavy rainfall. At 160cm tall and 65kg, the battery-powered robot takes remote-controlled and preprogrammed commands in the line of duty, and we imagine good ol' Scapegoat would take a bullet for ya, too.
