Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has announced the list of the ten finalists for the 2006 Robot Award.
A total of 152 Robots were in the competition that has four categories:
- Service Robots
- Industrial Robots
- Public Sector Robots
- Small-to-Medium Sized Robots
1) SERVICE ROBOTS:
- Paro:
Paro is a seal robot that has therapeutic properties. It is a furry robot that has been modeled after a baby harp seal.
The Robot can serve as a pet and it also has some therapeutic properties. Its body is covered in tactile sensors and its actuators provide it a smooth movement. About 800 such robots have already been sold in Japan.
- My Spoon:
My Spoon is a robot that has been designed to help patients who are unable to use their hands. The robot transfers the food from a tray to the patients mouth one bite at a time and has three levels of operation named manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic.
- Robotic Building Cleaning System:
This autonomous Robot can travel around halls and rooms and perform cleaning operations along the way. The Robot has the ability to control elevators so it can go from one floor to another. After traveling every passage in the building the Robot returns back to the same point from where it started.
2) INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS:
- MOTOMAN-DIA10/ MOTOMAN-IA20:
This industrial robot arms have human like movement as it consists of two 7-axis arms mounted on a torso. The robot has the same flexibility as that of a human arm.
- High-Speed Reliability Verification Robot (Denso Wave)
This robot uses advanced vision technology to perform automated inspections on the go. This inspects the whole line at a much faster rate without stopping the line which allows for a much faster and cost-effective operation.
3) PUBLIC SECTOR ROBOTS:
- Tele-operated construction Equipment:
These machines were originally developed for faster rescue operations after a disaster such as a landslide and an avalanche. These perform faster rescue and also prevent the occurrence of a secondary disaster.
- Urashima:
This is a remote operated underwater vehicle that can penetrate into the deep seas for exploration. The machine is powered by hydrogen based fuel cells that enable the machine to travel long distances without the need of any refueling.
4) SMALL-TO-MEDIUM-SIZED ROBOTS:
- URG Series Scanning Laser Range Finder:
These are autonomous compact laser range finders and feature low power consumption and are an ideal match for mobile robots.
- KHR-2HV (Kondo):
This is a high performance human like robot. It is much faster than its predecessor KHR-1. It has more gears and controls. The robot has seventeen adjustable joints that enable the robot to move, jump, perform back flips and other human like moves.
Moreover the robot has USB connectivity which enables you to teach some more attractive movements and tricks to the robot.
- Squid-Fishing Machine:
The machine developed by Towa Denki features many improvements. The machine relies on functions such as high-tech load detectors, squid finders and water depth detectors. The machine is fully automatic and can boost squid fishing productivity.
If I were the judge of this competition then it would have been very difficult for me to choose the winner as all of the Robots have amazing capabilities. I think the same problem will be encountered by the actual panel of Judges.
Via: pinktentacle
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