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HERO Jr. RT-1 from Heathkit (1984) was developed for the home market, as an educational personal robot. A plug-in cartridge system allows it to play a range of games, and the remote control accessory allows users to drive the robot manually. Like HERO 1, HERO Jr. has a 6808 processor and can be programmed in Wintek Tiny BASIC, but it has only half the memory of the HERO 1, with a 2k RAM. Its non-rotating head contains simple light and sound sensors, a Polaroid sonar range sensor, and an optional infrared sensor. Around 4,000 Hero Jr’s were sold over a period of eight years. Its Votrax speech synthesiser with pitch adjustment even allows it to sing songs such as the cult classic, “Daisy Bell.”

Fun in Photoshop.

Honda E1 (1987), or Experimental Model 1, was a humanoid biped robot developed to study how humans walk. Larger than the E0 and statically stable, it could creep along at 0.25 km/h. This model and subsequent E-series robots have 12 degrees of freedom: 3 in each groin, 1 in each knee and 2 in each ankle.

Honda P1 (1993) is the first in the P series of humanoid prototypes with arms and legs. The lower torso is based on the earlier E series, with each leg having 12 degrees of freedom. Each arm gives it an additional 14 degrees of freedom, plus 4 degrees of freedom in each hand. It can perform basic tasks such as operating switches, using handles to open cupboards, and picking up and carrying objects. However, the P1 was not unveiled to the public at the time; maybe it looks just too ‘badass’ for the clean-cut Honda corporate image. Honda kept its existence a secret until the announcement of the P2, three years later.

HRP3L-JSK or Urata Leg by Junichi Urata at the University of Tokyo’s JSK Lab (2012) builds on the leg system developed by Kawada for the HRP-3. A continual problem faced by robotkind, is being kicked and knocked down by their creators. One way around this is to develop faster response times, so that they can quickly regain their balance. The HRP-3L achieves this using high-torque, high-speed robotic legs with high-current, liquid-cooled motors powered by supercapacitors. Unlike conventional batteries, supercapacitors deliver high current, and can be recharged almost instantly. 

H5 robot by the Dept. of Mechano-Informatics, at The University of Tokyo (1999). Where previous work had focused purely on the problem of walking, the H5 explores the generation of whole-body movement. It’s 1.3 m tall and has 30 degrees of freedom, but because of the high-dimensionality of this search space, it’s infeasible to find whole-body movements using brute-force search. A simplified robot model focuses on controlling the robot’s centre of gravity, allowing the H5 to do squats and lunges.

REEM-A by PAL Robotics (2005) was the first humanoid service robot built by PAL Robotics. It is 1.4m tall, has 30 degrees of freedom, and is capable of walking at 1.5km/h. At the RoboCup competition in Bremen in 2006, REEM-A won the walking competition and reached the semi-finals in taking penalty kicks. Want to try your hand at chess? It plays chess extremely well using the Hydra chess engine and, impressively, is able to see and move the chess pieces itself.

Tiago (and Tiago Base) from PAL Robotics (2016) is a mobile service robot. This happy looking robot has an extendable torso that moves up & down like an accordion, and a single arm with a simple gripper or hand. Tiago is the workhorse of robotics research, being highly versatile and fully programmable in ROS. It’s a successful blend of functional, appliance-like design, with features that are recognisably humanoid, “if it is too much like us we may reject it, if it seems to threaten our identity. We want robots in our homes as something nicer than a dishwasher, but it is still a tool and not a friend.” Francesco Ferro, CEO of PAL Robotics.

WABIAN-2R (Refined) by the Humanoid Robotics Institute, Waseda University (2006). Building on the WABIAN-2/LL (Lower Limb), the WABIAN-2R has a more human-like, heel-to-toe and knee-stretched walk. With 39 (active) degrees of freedom (DOF) in total, the new upper body has 2 DOF in the trunk, 3 DOF in the neck, and two 7 DOF in the arms, each with a 3 DOF hand. Conceived as a whole-body human simulator, this robot can be used to perform ruggedisation testing on devices intended for human use, such as mobility aids. At the Aichi Expo in 2005, WABIAN-2R appeared in a live-demo showing how the knee-stretched walk is more energy efficient than the classic ‘ASIMO’ knee-bent walk.

KOBIAN-RIV Whole Body Emotion Expression Humanoid Robot by the Humanoid Robotics Institute, Waseda University (2007). This robot is based on the WABIAN-2 bipedal humanoid and the WE-4RII emotion expression humanoid. The Marcel Marceau of the robot world; KOBIAN can express up to seven different ‘emotions’, including delight, surprise, sadness and dislike, with accompanying poses. The head alone contains 24 degrees-of-freedom, allowing its lips, eyelids and eyebrows to be moved into various positions. The idea is not to terrify users, but for robots to use emotional expressions in a way that makes it easier for humans to understand them. 

MM7 Selektor "MaschinenMensch" (Machine Man) by Claus Scholz (1957), Vienna, Austria. The robot seemingly wearing a gimp mask doing the household chores is the MM7. It was created by Claus Scholz-Nauendorff, known as the "Viennese father of robots," as a means of studying cybernetic control. The MM7 uses feedback controlled stepping switches and visual receptors, and is widely regarded as the predecessor of today's industrial robots. "As well as answering the door and the telephone, the robots can pour drinks, shake hands, hang up clothes, and vacuum clean floors. To answer the telephone, the robot uses a miniature tape recorder device which is built into its head."

UK 1985

The Monsters ‘Legacy Of The Wizard’ NES