Matt Hristovski Michael Di Nicola
www.scs.ryerson.ca
•WTF is Humanoid Robotics?•Why is it so popular?•What are Advantages/ Disadvantages?•Where are we going with it?
Robots that look like or mimic people Like an android?
Karel Čapek coins the term “Robot” – 1921
1930’s to 70’s: theory of humanoid shapes, electronics, and movement.
Not until 1970’s until a practical autonomous Robot of this type
Boom in development from 1980 to present
• Waseda University• The first fun-scale
anthropomorphic robot developed in the world
• Able to communicate in Japanese and measure distances and directions to objects using external receptors, artificial ears and eyes, and an artificial mouth
Waseda University Plays keyboard Not as versatile,
considered “specialist”
Able to read sheet music and play it
1985 - Hitachi’s WHL-11 (walking 13 s/step)
1986-1991 - Honda’s E series 1989 - Pacific Northwest
Laboratories’s Manny (42 degrees of freedom)
Present day: Honda, Hitachi, Military intuitions, NASA compete with designs
Looks and feels more “Human” Easier for integration in applied role Can perform some tasks better Good in science fiction (especially
Eastern Anime) Looks cool
Performs some tasks better Looks cool Makes good villains
Incredibly hard to implement Increasingly complex with every
function Terrible at performing tasks suitable
for wheels (landscape or high speeds) Technology (gyros, advanced servo
designs) Not trustworthy
$1million a unit Can go up stairs Play soccer Run 6km/h Carry 1kg 51.8v Lithium-ion30 mins endurance
Sings and Dances Androidish/ Gynoid Demonstrates humanMovement/speech
Intended for space Designed to work side by side with people Can carry 15kg Wheel chair design/mounted platforms
Large advancements in both interest and technology
Competitions between large corporations
Can do many tasks that were once near impossible to implement (play soccer?)
Still a ways off from popular sci-fi films like Terminator or I Robot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dKPkL2oto0