For more life-like robot video
clips, information and photo,
please visit
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- RI-MAN is the world's first
robot designed for lifting and
carrying humans. A variety of
sensors, including flexible
tactile sensor sheets, provide
RI-MAN with a sense of vision,
hearing, touch, and smell.
These senses help RI-MA
more

For more life-like robot video
clips, information and photo,
please visit
http://ROBORAMA.info
- RI-MAN is the world's first
robot designed for lifting and
carrying humans. A variety of
sensors, including flexible
tactile sensor sheets, provide
RI-MAN with a sense of vision,
hearing, touch, and smell.
These senses help RI-MAN
perform tasks such as locating
people who are calling out to
it, responding to spoken
commands, carefully lifting
those who need lifting, and
checking the sanitary
condition of the person it is
carrying. RI-MAN is able to
integrate a wide range of
sensory data to adapt to
changes in the environment.

The robot is also equipped
with 19 motors, controlled by
a system of hierarchical
distributed processing that is
modeled after the nervous
system found in biological
organisms. This 'nervous
system' â?? a network of what
RIKEN calls C-CHIPs â??
integrates sensor data
processing with motor control
to provide RI-MAN the autonomy
needed to respond quickly to
changes in the environment.
The head has 3 degrees of
freedom, each arm has 6, the
waist has 2, and the base
(which acts as RI-MAN's legs)
has 2. Safety-related
technology, including safety
circuits and soft skin and
joints designed to prevent
injury, are incorporated into
RI-MAN's design.

Still in the initial testing
phase, RI-MAN is currently
practicing with dolls that
weigh about 12 kg (26 lbs).
Researchers plan to increase
the weight of the practice
dolls over time, with the aim
of achieving the ability to
lift human adults in 5 years.
Researchers will continue
working to upgrade RI-MAN's
sensors and data processing
skills to improve
adaptability. The aim is to
create a robot with the
physical power needed for
heavy lifting and the
reasoning skills needed for
operating in places like
people's homes. RIKEN says
that with these skills, RI-MAN
can be put to work in nursing
and rehabilitation, in
furniture moving, or in any
other job that requires
muscle.

Category Howto & DIY

Tags ri, man, robot, robotics