Articles tagged with: ‘japan‘
Robotics »
HiBot’s robot Expliner could aid in aging power lines inspection
In one of our previous articles we wrote about a robot developed to inspect the aging power lines in the USA, as well as about importance of preventive maintenance and inspection of the aging power lines. Many power lines in western Japan are 80 years old, so Tokyo-based HiBot worked… »
Robotics »
Hitachi’s vision of a future service robot – EMIEW 2
Electronics company Hitachi unveiled a new version of their small roller-skating robot which they plan to use as tour guides or help to security guards with additional surveillance. Dubbed the EMIEW 2 (Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate 2), the little humanoid robot has complex spring-loaded shock absorbers in… »
Robotics »
I-Fairy robot conducted a wedding ceremony in Tokyo
How do robots bring people closer? Well, if you are a robot researcher you might bump into partners from the same niche. A robot we already wrote about, I-Fairy, conducted a wedding ceremony which took place in Sunday, May 16, 2010 at Tokyo, Japan. According to Kokoro, the robotics firm… »
Robotics »
BallIP robot is able to balance on a ball while it carries weight
Dr. Masaaki Kumagai, director of the Robot Development Engineering Laboratory at Tohoku Gakuin University, in Tagajo City, Japan, and his student Takaya Ochiai have built a robot named BallIP (Ball Inverted Pendulum) that is able to balance on a ball. Such a ball-balancing design is like an inverted pendulum, and… »
Robotics »
Robovie R3 robot is much better yet cheaper than previous version
We already wrote about Robovie-II robot – designed to assist the elderly and disabled in everyday task. Japanese start-up Vstone and Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), have launched a new half-size humanoid robot designed for the same purpose and they named it Robovie3. The robot is much improved, yet… »
Robotics, Tech »
Elder farmers in Japan to use power suits in the future?
We already wrote about various power suits, but this one differs in its purpose. A Tokyo Agriculture and Technology (TAT) University postgraduate student is seen demonstrating the new power-assist suit for elderly agriculture workers, developed by Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology professor Shigeki Toyama. He plans to set up… »
Bionics, Robotics »
Geminoid F – human-like female robot gets better facial expression
Hiroshi Ishiguro, a professor at Osaka University, is famous for creating a robot replica of himself, the Geminoid HI-1, a teleoperated android that he controls remotely. The new gynoid robot named Geminoid F (”F” stands for female) is also designed to be remote controlled by an operator. It is a… »
Gadgets, Tech »
iFeel_IM! adds physical hugs to your virtual conversation
Wheatear you use instant messaging to keep in touch with people you love or cooperate, or use it to keep the pesky people at distance you had to be introduced to the emoticons or smileys. A husband-and-wife team of scientists based in Japan felt emoticons weren’t enough for people to… »
Tech »
Super-fast book scanner digitizes a book within minutes
Scanning a book manually, page by page, is a slow, mind-numbing task. In order to solve this problem, Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa from the University of Tokyo (we also wrote about his baseball robot), and his lab members Takashi Nakashima and Yoshihiro Watanabe, created a super-fast book scanner. The system lets… »
Tech »
Midori-chan – vegetation planting system minimizes water usage
After writing about green roofs and green walls implemented in various architectures, we are going to write an article of a system that eases the maintenance of green roof foliage. Midori-chan is a system designed to maximize vegetation growth and recycle waste, while dramatically minimizing water usage. The engineers at… »