HRP-3 Mk-II Blue Collar' Robot

The HRP-3 Promet Mk-II, a blue-collar android tough enough to trudge through heavy rains, carry out disaster relief operations and work in environments hazardous to humans, demonstrated its blue-collar skills at a June 21 press conference at Kawada Industries headquarters in Tochigi prefecture.

The 1.6 meter (5 ft 3 in) tall, 68 kilogram (150 lb) robot, sometimes lovingly referred to as “Ma-kun,” is the latest fruit of a 5-year joint effort by Kawada Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) to develop a humanoid robot with sufficient skills to enter the workforce. This latest HRP incarnation features tougher hardware to make it more suitable for work in adverse environments, as well as improved balance and the ability to move its body parts in a more complex, coordinated fashion.


SOURCE:
Pink Tentacle

A very interesting and cool robot.

As technology, especially robotic technology develops we will see, and indeed are
seeing an increase in robots in places that they once only existed in in Science Fiction.

The one thing I love about Japanese robots to, they are aesthetically pleasing,
instead of being overly industrial and utilitarian.


Comments, Opinions?

VERY cool, but I have one question--can it do the dishes?

Seriously, I have a feeling within the next 2 decades or so with major advances in AI and robotics looming, Asimov is going to wind up looking like a prophet.

Originally posted by yuefo
Asimov is going to wind up looking like a prophet.

Asimov quote that would be Scary if it came true:
Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.

As much as the theories are now somewhat in practice, they wont be added together for quite some time.

I know it seems strange that the engineering world wouldn't immediately add AI and adaptable robotics together, it's more of a question of, "What can we use it for NOW?"

Being in Robotics engineering, I have observed how slow the marketing of engineering can be. And marketing is really what holds it all back.

We really do want to go as fast as we possibly can with technology, and we actually do experiment with this stuff on our own time, but in the corporate world... they don't want to work with it until they can figure out exactly how to bill you for it.

Strange huh?

Oh well. We've pretty much given up trying to push the technologies we work with... we just want our paychecks now.

Originally posted by johnsky
Being in Robotics engineering, I have observed how slow the marketing of engineering can be. And marketing is really what holds it all back.

We really do want to go as fast as we possibly can with technology, and we actually do experiment with this stuff on our own time, but in the corporate world... they don't want to work with it until they can figure out exactly how to bill you for it.

Does this mean this technology has been around for a while?
Hitachi: Move the Train with your brain

A new technology in Japan could let you control electronic devices without lifting a finger simply by reading brain activity.

The "brain-machine interface" developed by Hitachi Inc. analyzes slight changes in the brain's blood flow and translates brain motion into electric signals.