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Sony Releases Walking Humanoid Robot 96

Posted by Hemos from the it's-a-pising-match dept.
Steve Wight writes "Looks like Sony had a bit of robot envy the other day when Honda officially released their 120cm humanoid robot. Well, here is MSNBC's story about Sony's new walking humanoid robot which looks pretty cool, even if it is on 1/2 a meter tall. Fifteen meters per minute walking speed and can get up if it falls down. Although, the Honda robot could squish it under its foot. *grin*"
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Sony Releases Walking Humanoid Robot More

Sony Releases Walking Humanoid Robot

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  • ROBODEX 2000, the world's first exhibition of "Robots as Partner"

    The freakin' Japanese are sick.

  • Umm (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Isn't this like, old news again?
  • Yes run. Run far and fast. My first feeling when seeing this was fear. Anyway, I just put in an order to Honda to make me one with some modifications. First, I need it to be approx. 200 feet tall. Then, it has to have jet packs on the back and weapons on the fists. Then I can finally be GIGANTOR..... GIGANTOR.... GIGANNNNNN... ANNNNTORRRRRR.
  • Hmmm, I wonder how it'll stand up to a Pit Bull...perhaps I should limit it's dog kicking job to those rats with big ears (yo quero taco) or that obnoquous yipping poodle my aunt keeps bringing over.

    Okay - your cat keeps scratching at the sofa. Darned it, your aim with the water spray bottle isn't what it used to be, now your TV is smoking. Bring out Mr. Walker - "Kick the Cat!"

    Disclaimer - "No real pets were used in this hypothetical situation - only stunt dogs and stunt cats"


  • Oh my god. My wife just looked at the picture and realized that the robot is dancing The Macarena. (I am not making this up.)
  • Is anyone else thinking about the movie Virus [go.com]? Or is this the super army or robots [javanet.com] anime has been warning us about for years. Maybe we should start considering the status of our own army of super robots. Some of the people I could find working on it are The Georgia Tech Mobile Robot Laboratory [gatech.edu], The MIT Mobot Group [mit.edu], The University of Texas at Austin has a Robotics Research Group [utexas.edu], and there is the Stanford Robotics Laboratory [stanford.edu]. All in all pretty dismal. you only have to go a few links down in a search result list to get to the Biped Robot Research in the World [mel.go.jp] link. If you check it out you may notice, They are all in Japan. We are soooo gonna get our asses kicked. Even Robodex 2000, the world's first exhibition of "Robots as Partner" from November 24-26 is in Yokohama, Japan.
  • So now you can buy an Aibo, and then you can buy one of these to take it out for a walk.

    All I need now is a robotic fish for my aquarium.
  • ...was fortold by the TV show Futurama.

    First it's climbing stairs and doing other cute little human things. Next thing you know, it's fitted with a docking port for Nixon's head, and all hell's breaking loose.

    Apologies to those who haven't seen that episode...

  • No kidding, I think it is both interesting and potentially useful. I wonder how soon it will be until this kind of work is used for instance in building useful prostheses. People that can not walk any more might have a use for a machine that can do it for them.
  • ...and I was waiting for the clone wars

    dammit....
  • Hell yeah! wait... you get to sleep in till 6? $#@%!!!!!
  • I don't want to be a film geek, ah well I am anyway....

    Gort, Klaatu Barada Nicto!

    is what you say to STOP the laser attack.....


    ----
  • Actually Klaatu was the name of the humanoid alien..

    not a command for Gort (the robot).

    Btw as Klaatu wasn't Gort's master I don't suppose he was in any position to give orders anyway.....
    ----

  • She's almost as big a whore as Anne Marie [goatse.cx].
  • There is an article on Japanese ZDNet here [zdnet.co.jp] with pictures of the robot actually kicking the soccer ball, and then doing the "GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL" pose. But it doesn't drop to its knees and take off its shirt. The CCD can differentiate the colors of the ball, and kick the one you tell it to. Pretty cool.
  • Is there a city that was designed? There's a few that claim to be, but if the design changes every 20 years or so I for one don't think they can defend the claim.
  • Honda's robots can't do dynamics, just kinetics. What I mean is that they can take actions which are stable at all times, like walking; but not take actions which pass through instabilities, like jumping or running

    Here in the netherlands, in Delft, they're developing robots which should be able to that. They focus, not so much on the ability to walk, but on the ability to reclaim energy during walking, thus becoming more efficient. The place they're doing it is at the Delft Biped Laboratory [tudelft.nl], part of the tudelft

    ----------------------------------------------
  • Its 15 years later scince I first wanted an OmniBot 2000 for Christmas, and I still don't have one :( . I would be really impressed if someone took the old Tomy robots, and re-released them (then I can finaly have a *new* OmniBot 2000 rather than having to get one through Ebay :). Oh..eh... This robot Sony built is cool too :)

  • Re:wow (Score:2)

    by Stormie ( 708 )

    Not buying one until facist recording practices stop.

    Is a "facist" recording practice one where only someone with a pretty face gets a record deal? Actually, that's a pretty good summary of modern pop music.. ;-)

    Down with facist recording practices! We want voicist practices!

  • Re:Hope PETA doesn't hear about this... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    people eating tasty animals? I wouldn't eat Aibo steak, and it's probably quite tasty too.
  • It's the wrong trousers, Grommit! And they've gone wrong!

  • For that you don't really need a bot - a spouse will do :-)

  • I'd rather have an autonomous vacuum cleaner look like...a vacuum cleaner.

    I think I tend to agree with you. There *MAY* be a sound reason for having them shaped to look like and mimick human movement, but the biggest reason I can see for it is that that's what people expect.. Given this age of GUI interfaces, perhaps what they're looking at the "user friendliness" angle. I.e. if it looks more human, it'll be easier to interact with as if it were human.

    People who are already technophobic might feel silly talking to a box on the floor that sucks up the crumbs, but they'll feel right at home talking to MS-JoeBot.

    But look on the bright side! If they weren't humanoid robots, they wouldn't be able to ;boogie [akamai.net]!


    -The Reverend (I am not a Nazi nor a Troll)
  • ... is release the 8 foot tall version with smooth metal "skin" on the arms & legs. Then I'll buy one, and name him Gort. He'll look great out in the front lawn (provided that the military doesn't try to encase him in a block of plastic)

  • Re:Proof of concept: Disquieting, of questionable (Score:3)

    by dmatos ( 232892 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2000 @10:11AM (#606566)
    As has been said before by many people (Asimov may have been the first), we have build our world for bipedal creatures. For a general purpose robot, it must be humanoid to use our tools. It is also much more efficient to have a humanoid robot be a chauffeur, maid, and cook than to put a brain into every vacuum cleaner, stove, car, fridge, microwave, and toilet plunger that you own.

  • EXT. BATTLEFIELD - NIGHT (Score:4)

    by daeley ( 126313 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2000 @10:12AM (#606567) Homepage
    EXT. BATTLEFIELD - NIGHT

    Human troops is desperate combat with the machines for possession of the dead Earth. The humans are a ragtag guerrilla army. Skynet's weapons consist of Sony SDR-3X and P3 Hondas (human-like robots), four-legged gun-dogs called Aibos, and airborne PlayStation 2's.

    SEQUENCE OF RAPID CUTS:

    Explosions! Beam-weapons firing like searing strobe-light.

    A gunner is an armored personnel carrier fires a LAW rocket at a pursuing Aibo, bringing the dog to its knees in a fiery explosion.

    A TEAM OF GUERRILLAS in a intense fire-fight with Sony and Honda endoskeletons in the ruins of a building. Three Sonys advance, firing rapidly. A Honda P3, with flesh ripped open and back broken, gropes for a rifle on the ground.

    A PlayStation 2 overruns a human firing position. Soldiers are cut down as they run. Fiery explosions light the ranks of advancing machines.
  • There's at least one very good reason for the humanoid shape -- when you start by assuming that your universe of interaction is a world that was intended for humans. If you put a human and a six-wheeled tank on the surface of Mars, sure, the tank will probably win (at least over a semi-flat surface). But what about when you tell them both to go upstairs, through the doorway, pick up the magic 8-ball off the desk and come back? You need a humanoid robot to navigate such terrain, otherwise what happens is you end up having to reengineer your office into something more robot-friendly, and how many places (non-industrial) want to do that?
  • a partnership with these folks [realdoll.com] and the highly prized (or is that priced?) Natalie Portman model (Marketing slogan: you don't have to fall down for it to get you up!)


    Going on means going far
    Going far means returning
  • They can be thankful that the US hasn't decided to kick their ass since 1812
  • Human form factor must be worthwhile, otherwise humans, the dominant species, wouldn't have it.

    My guess is that using the legs exclusively for locomotion allowed the limbs on the upper body to gain a finer musculature which in turn enabled fine motor control and the ability to make and use tools. Specialization, really.

    Like someone else pointed out, a robot built like a human could use human tools and equipment. It's true a vacuum that looked like a person would be kind of silly, but one that could use *any* vacuum wouldn't be..
  • I'm probably wrong, but are you thinking of this ICQ prank [somethingawful.com] on SomethingAwful [somethingawful.com]?
    ---------
  • I can't believe they are working on that sort of shit instead of getting the PS2 released on time for the hollydays.

    Sometime you just see so much shit in this world

    dudle
  • Although, the Honda robot could squish it under its foot.

    Maybe, but I would imagine the Sony robots will be cheaper and a relatively inexpensive beowulf cluster of them would be able to work together to topple the Honda robot (who [is that proper?] can't get back up on its own?).

  • I remember in some science-oriented store they were selling some chicken-walker robot(bout the same size) that had a camera and stuff on it. Really pricey. Anyone know the model I'm talking about?
  • The accompanying video is for the Honda robot, which is big. The Sony robot is the tiny one. I could find no video of the Sony robot.
  • ...And I told her it was Sony's new Walkman. She groaned.
  • >>a political system that is as coherent and functional as a game of cricket

    Did I miss something? Someone from the B.R.A. is making fun of someone else's political system?!?

    Um, who's the president-elect today?
    :)

  • Bahh! (Score:1)

    by jon_c ( 100593 )
    Well I was unable to find any video of the dang thing. Prob in a few days we'll have something, I didn't however find this [aibo.com] link to a really neato 3d presentation of Abio the pet dog. which by the way they just dropped the price of (to about $1,200 bucks, what a steal).

    so that's all I have for the karma whoring.. sorry.

    -Jon
  • info: Sony is a huge company with many many divisions. SCEI (Sony Computer Entertainment Incoporated) is the division that handles the PS2. Obviously Sony's robotics division isn't going to be helping out with that.

    You're just bitter because I have a PS2 and you don't :p
  • And when are the SmallSoldiers [smallsoldiersgame.com] coming up?

    My little brother needs some action besides PS2!!

  • Is there a city that was designed? There's a few that claim to be, but if the design changes every 20 years or so I for one don't think they can defend the claim.

    That depends - I would say that the classic US style of city "planning", where streets are exclusively north-south and east-west with regular intervals, certainly seems to be a design. Bad, perhaps, but design nevertheless. And this design really favors automobiles, IMHO.

  • It's Loose! Run!
  • or betamax?

    (oh - first post?)
  • How long until Sony and Honda build enough for a soccer team? The Aibos are already playing, we may as well extend the competition to bipedals.
  • Anyone know how good this thing is at balancing yet?
    Very. I saw them at the Sony Technology Exchange Fair (STEF) October, 1999. They had one dancing in time to music.

    FYI, STEF is the annual, employees-only gathering of Sony geeks worldwide in Tokyo.

  • Got the offer from the American Automobile Association right here. I guess you stash it in your trunk and send it to get more gas when you ignore the idiot light too long with the needle on E.
  • Goodbye Jesus, you're fired!
  • Granted, But I would ask how many realdolls are there vs. how many hookers?

    The question is not is it technicaly possible to automate the task (fighting, f*cking, flipping burgers etc) but can you build a robot that does these things cheaper that some random poor 18 year old dragooned into the respective taks.

    Um.. You missed my point.. the answer is right at your fingertips... if people are spending thousands to buy the real doll now (instead of some random poor 18 year old) then they'll be just as likely (more likely, in fact) to purchase the same thing if they add realistic movement.


    -The Reverend (I am not a Nazi nor a Troll)
  • A leash attachment for the humanoid to walk Aibo.

    Seriously though, this thing looks like a cross between an astronaut and a Transformer. Anyone know how good this thing is at balancing yet? I assume that since it walks without tipping over (at least on a level plane) that the balance arms were computed correctly. But how much flexibility is there in the balance structure for the robot to be modified? If I put a Voltron sword in its' hands, will it tip over when it walks?

    *sigh* Yet another geek toy... I need more money at this rate...

    Kierthos
  • Clearly the Japanese are ahead (at least publicly) on walking robots, so that begs the question: do they have robot weapons? stick an M-16/203 on one of those and we have the first robot warrior... Somehow I don't think the military wants to use Asimov's three laws of robotics on a combat robot...
  • so if I can get it to reboot a computer then I can replace my tier I support group, let alone any telecom one! come on Sony make it do something that is useful!
  • Looks like it could be lots of fun in the sand box... 24 joints filled with grit. Tell it to kick the blue ball and watch it keel over and convulse on the ground, thrashing in agony as its servos grind away.

    Still, it won't be long before this keen technology makes its way into dolls that pee, bitch, and wander around the house looking for lighters. Ahh, progress.

    [must.. resist... obvious.... joke....]

    Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of these things?

  • wow (Score:2)

    by zoftie ( 195518 )
    Not buying one until facist recording practices stop.

  • Interesting. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Interesting.
  • Now I build a robot "army" to put on the "moon" to take over the "world".

  • Screw battlebots! (Score:4)

    by don_carnage ( 145494 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2000 @10:18AM (#606597) Homepage
    I want to see a couple of these things locked in Gundam-style combat.
    --
  • If these things are relatively cheap, why not send an army of them into minefields to trigger the mines? Then people won't have to risk their lives to clear the minefields, and innocent children would get safe places to play.

    To finance it, I'm sure (at least quite a few more or less sick ones) people would pay good money to watch a show about it, cause it might be spectacular.


    ---

  • Hmm.. (Score:2)

    by void* ( 20133 )
    From the article:

    Responding to commands, it can pick out a specifically colored ball and kick it toward a goal net, Sony said.

    Presumably it can do the same thing with the company's Aibo robot dog, a second-generation model of which Sony began selling last week for 150,000 yen ($1,366), down from 250,000 yen for the original version.

    Now, I'd really like a robot that can kick an Aibo towards a goal net. :)

  • Besides which, We still have alot more humans than we know what to do with so the market for either millitary or recreaional robots is porbably going to be quite limited.

    Well, people are already making money on the Real Doll [realdoll.com] so chances that someone would want their real doll to be equipped with the ability to move, mimick sexual responsiveness or respond to spoken commands (I'll leave those to your imagination) seem pretty high to me.


    -The Reverend (I am not a Nazi nor a Troll)
  • Did anybody else notice that they didnt fairly compare the weight + height of the two robots in the article. They're both in completely different units. The Honda is 48"/120cm tall and weights 93lb/43kg. Conversely, the Sony robot is 19.7"/49.25cm tall and weighs 11lb/5kg.

    ---
  • Correct. The video linked in the article is the Honda robot that was linked to yesterday. He's about 4 feet, IIRC.

    J.J.
  • Actually, the video they have linked from the story above is the video of the P3 Honda robot... The story is about the Sony robot which is 19.7 inches tall. The P3 is 120cm, depicted in the video.

    They could have done a better job organizing or explaining it. I was wondering too, since /.'s article talks about the Honda robot, but links to the Sony article... there's a link there to jump to the honda article - which should have been what /. linked too...

    <shrug> what kin ya do?
  • And just how is this offtopic? I was referring to a product similar to the Sony bot.
  • Ever waited for a AAA towtruck to bring you some gas? I'll take my chances with the robot.
  • I think that humanoid robots may actually have some utility in form, being able to easily negotiate the human environment better than other body types would.

    I think that a three-fook cockroack or spider would be less versitile and more upsetting... At any rate, it will be interesting to see there this goes in the future.

    BTW, how would your vacuum cleaner vacuum your stairs? Not using its wheels!

  • If you put a beowulf cluster of SDR-3X's in a room with a 486SX, how long would it take them to program Windows 95?

    --

  • ...or what you say to avoid demon attacks:

    Klaatu Barada N...

    Klaatu Barada Ni...

    Klaatu Barada N<mumble>

    [looks around nervously]

    ...

    [wise man] Did you say the words?

    [Ash] Yeah, I said 'em - more or less...

    [all Hell ensues]

    Hail to the King, baby!

  • Damn. Before we know it, Sony will change its name to SkyNet and be releasing hordes of Terminators upon us! Boycott Sony before they end off humanity!!!
  • Nah, looking back, it's been historicaly cheaper to use real people instead.
  • Well then NO WONDER they can't get the damn things out!
  • Are you implying that microsoft employees are SMART?! :p The only similarity between Microsoft employees and the robots is that they both have artificial intellegence. :)
  • When people first started imagining computers running real world objects it may have seemed more efficient to have a humanoid robot be able to use human tools instead of a plethora of specialized smart tools. However, now the costs of the 'brains' have dropped drastically, and wireless communications would allow these tools to communicate with even smarter sources if they weren't smart enough to do something by themselves. So the question comes back, is it more efficient to build small, smart, special purpose tools or generic simple human-or-robot usable tools, and one big complex smart human-like robot?

    Probably the answer is both. Smarter more capable tools should be built when they can do most of their jobs without human help and without too much more cost, but some more generally capable bots would be needed to do tasks that a computer might be *smart* enough to do, but the tool itself can't be easily designed to do. Like a wheeled robot vacuum cleaner might not be able to walk itself up the stairs.

    Even then, theres no need for the general-purpose bot to be human-shaped. A quadraped bot with a set of arms no human torso or head could do it too. Basically the only *real* reason to make a human-shaped bot is because its a cool challenge. If the goal was to make helpful general purpose bots in the short term future I can't think of any reason that it needs to be a bipedal human-shaped bot. Bipedalism works well for us, and its a neat trick, especially if you could to it cheaply, but somehow I don't think the Honda or Sony jobs will be cheap any time in the near future.

  • As long as your favourite beverage comes in color this little buddy can recognise, you don't have to pick up the empty cans ever again. Just have him pick them up and kick them out (or under the couch if that is preferred).

    It would of course be nice if he could fetch new cans, too, but carbonated drinks don't respond well to kicking.


    ---
  • I concede that these early stages have to be done first, but looking at this, I wonder how practical a humanoid form factor is going to be for robots. Having been brought up on too much bad science fiction, I feel distinctly uneasy at the sight of these 'droids mimicking human movement. Also, I wonder how much utility this form factor is going to have for machines. I'd rather have an autonomous vacuum cleaner look like...a vacuum cleaner.
  • These new breed of robots better understand the command Klaatu.

  • The videos on the site have some pretty cool shots of the robot standing on one leg and walking down stairs. It's uncanny...
  • Gort, Klaatu Barada Nicto!

    Actually, if you say that and the robot unleashes a laser attack, I definitely want one then... it will give me something new to do to the neighbor's yippy little dog.

    Also, I figure it won't be long before someone gets one of these and mods it into a full Battlebot or something like that...

    Imagine one of these things with a sawblade cutting arm...

    Kierthos
  • I would be pretty pissed off if my robot person starting kicking my $1300 robot dog.
  • This would only be cool military technology if you get get 5 of them, and command them to form into VOLTRON!! Yeah!!

    Or, failing that, at least give them flashing eyes so we can have "Giant Siezure Robot" for ourselves.

  • Man, I could swear I've heard about this before. But it's not like this story's been posted 3 times or anything... :)
  • ...and this is "stepping all over someone's IP" how?

    Companies have been building bipedal robots for years. The MIT Leg Lab [mit.edu] has done a bunch.

    What your comparison shows is merely that there are some pretty established ways of building humanoid robots: motors, communication, memory, and a pretty well publicized pathfinding algorithm.

    Crying about stolen IP at this story is about the same as accusing Porsche of stealing Ford's IP about using four wheels to support an automobile.

  • "The robot is 19.7 inches tall and weighs 11 pounds..."

    If you watched the video, you'll see the robot standing by a couple of kids. He DWARFS them- and it's only supposed to be 20 inches tall? I know the Japanese people are short, but that's ridiculous. Something ain't right.

    Besides, the robot walks like an 80 year old man with calcium deficiency...

  • From the article:
    Capable of kicking Aibo the dog...

    Uh-oh... watch out for PETA...

    Anyway, it's good to see they've already got our fledgling artificial intelligence machines started out on the right track -- going after their electronic comrades rather than their human owners!
  • that human robot could be centerpiece for some elaborately funny pranks. just think, dress it in a Satan(TM) costume and give it pitch fork. have it mysteriously appear in public places, such as a crowded church or a zoo. hee hee hee. OR, get a Scary Monster(R) costume and hide it under your siblings bed. when the screams for "MOMMY!! THERE"S A MONSTER UNDER MY BED!!" happen, watch your parent(s) or gardian or whatever, calm them down be saying "There's no monster under you bed, see..." as you trigger it to crawl toward them and say I will rip your intestines out though your eyes and use them to hang your childling to use its dead corpse as a puppet. OH WHAT FUN!!
  • but the most important quiestion is....does it have a robot parot for its robot penis???

    (insert penis bird icon here)

    ha!
  • Bet all the Sony execs are going to cry themselves to sleep now.
  • What constitutes a robot weapon? Arguably, most missiles nowadays are robot weapons.

    If I were designing a killer robot, I wouldn't jack around with something human shaped. I'd do something a lot smaller, faster, and cheaper...like something the size of an RC car equipped with small grenades or a small caliber firearm.

    Incidentally, it does not "beg the question". Begging the question is a debate snafu in which you invoke a circular argument to prove your point.
  • Did anyone take the time to look at the Honda version of the bipedal robot (requires M$ Media player). It totally kicks ass. It's as tall as a human, can walk up and down stairs and within 10 years will have all the range of motion of humans. I can see this thing on a space mission or doing hazardous duty work sometime soon. VERY cool.
  • I'll be impressed when they teach it how to ride a bicycle.

  • As has been said before by many people (Asimov may have been the first), we have build our world for bipedal creatures.

    As much as I like Asimov, I'll have to disagree. We have built our world for vehicles. Granted that our buildings are for bipeds, but all the rest is designed for cars, trains, and what-not. Look at any large city (especially in the US), and wonder what it was designed for. People? Yeah right. The only thing that it was ever designed for is the CAR. Same thing with the open country - most of that is farmland, and can only be handled by (mostly huge) vehicles.

    It's correct that cars (and most of the tools we're surrounded by) are designed for bipeds to use and handle, but that doesn't mean that it's an efficient interface for a droid.

    I think it is just old thinking that tells us that a robot servant must be humanoid. Why move piles of expensive biped mech around, when small networked tools can do most of the jobs, and at a fraction of the price?

  • 1) The Aibos are playing, but not well. The wheeled robots are better, from what I've been told and seen.

    2) Honda's robots can't do dynamics, just kinetics. What I mean is that they can take actions which are stable at all times, like walking; but not take actions which pass through instabilities, like jumping or running.

    This doesn't mean that Honda's robots aren't interesting. It does mean that watching them play football (soccer) wouldn't be interesting!

    -Paul Komarek

  • You fool! You've given MS an excuse for not shipping Xbox on time - they have other product divisions draining resources.

  • At least make him able to turn off that da** alarmclock that wakes me up at six in the morning!


    ---

  • Re:Military Bipedals (Score:3)

    by alumshubby ( 5517 ) on Wednesday November 22, 2000 @10:07AM (#606636)
    I suspect, given where mankind's motivations put its money, there's an unspoken race to see whether we have robotic combatants or robotic sex toys first.
  • without tipping over (at least on a level plane)

    As the article states (sigh), it has sensors so that it knows it's current posture and can walk up a slope.

    If I put a Voltron sword in its' hands, will it tip over when it walks?

    As the article states (sigh), it has sensors for balance. Just like with the human body, of course, if too much weight is added to the side it cannot stand. But it keeps it's posture by relying on sensor input, not pre-programming.


    ____

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