An agile humanoid robot
November 6, 2012
NimbRo-OP (credit: University of Bonn)
University of Bonn computer scientists have developed a scoccer-playing robot called NimbRo-OP intended to develop new capabilities for humanoid bipedal robots, such as using tools, climbing stairs, and using human facial expressions, gestures and body language for communicating.
With 20 drive elements that convert computer commands into mechanical motions, NimbRo-OP is highly agile. For example, it can kick a soccer ball, and get up from a prone position like a human.
The hardware and software is open source.
Comments (17)
by asiwel
Heck, I liked this little robot … maybe a bit slow, a little awkward, and pretty expensive .. but I enjoyed the video and appreciated the work. Certainly not a toy but not too complicated either ….
by tik
Unimpressive!
by Stanley Honour
The side to side rocking motion is de-stabilizing and clumsy to say the least.
the Japanese have already developed a robotic pelvis that dampens out this motion and creates a much smoother, more natural, and suprisingly more Efficient gate. Asimov does not have this yet, different company.
by melajara
Sorry but I’m not impressed.
Sure it’s open source but at $20’000, still way too expensive.
Granted you can shave at least 50% from the bill when building the robot yourself but still, most probably it has a ridiculous autonomy (hence the DARPA grand challenge to make those robots really autonomous and not only ridiculously expensive TOYS).
Alas, I’m not seeing artificial muscles (interspersed with moulded battery cells acting as “flesh+fat”) but just old fashioned servos (granted there are 20 of them to be coordinated, not bad).
It pales in comparison with Asimo, but wait, Asimo is worth several millions dollars, actually it is so expensive that nobody knows the real figure!
And here we are with hype, hype and hype again but not so much progress for having those personal robotic assistants able to do the simplest menial job at an affordable cost.
But circa 2020, it will be a different story, hopefully.
by Bri
At 20 grand, I want to know how many miles to the gallon it gets, and if it’s available as a lease. More seriously, if it were dextrous enough to be a useful worker, it would still be a bargin at 20,000. A human costs far more than that to employ for a forty hour work week, and of coursethere is no pension.
by erichlof
Maybe a combo of this and a military-style exoskeleton would give it a boost in the velocity department (both walking speed and kicking speed)?
by Mr.X
@Erich: Wrong country.
by Kristof77
I watched this video hoping to be impressed…. ehh let down
by Homer
There’s a prediction I’ve heard often that by 2050, a robotic soccer team will be able to defeat the human World Cup champions. I think that timeline is ridiculously conservative. I give them till 2022.
by Matthew
Assuming such a game is possible, I would bet you 1000 dollars that it won’t happen by 2024.
by Bri
In just a few years, robots have developed a tremendous amount. By 2024 AI is supposed to be practically here. I wouldn’t bet against a robot team beating humans by that year. That’s eleven to twelve years from now. They should be awe-inspiring by then!
by Gorden Russell
This is from the University of Bonn, so of course it plays soccer. In 18 months Cal Tech will have one that picks up a basketball and throws it in the general direction of the net. In three years MIT will come out with a design that dribbles the ball and gets nothing but net. In four-and-a-half years the Texas Aggies will have a punter that can kick the ball through the goal posts and in six years there will be a team of robots running down the field, making lateral passes, throwing the long bomb, and tackling each other. You’ll see this by Thanksgiving of 2018.
by Mr.X
@Gorden: They should built a politic-bot, no matter what it does, it could only better our politics.
by Bri
That gets my vote.
by dave
Robama!
by Mr.X
Robney;)
by Neo
very agile indeed…. this is the next Messi. lol don’t gt me wrong, we need to increase their speed now.