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Pneuborns Are Not Your Typical Infant
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CREDIT: Hosoda Labs, Osaka University
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Few things in life could be more horrifying than having a fully autonomous robotic baby with an exposed skeleton crawl after you, its pneumatic joints hissing. Thanks to Osaka University’s Hosoda Labs, and their Pneuborn robots, there is a greater chance you can have that experience.
The Pneubron 7-11 was built to study the relationship between motor development and interactions with the world. It was designed to resemble a seven month old, measuring s 80 centimeters (31 inches) tall, and weighing 5.4 kilograms (11.9 pounds). The infant robot has 26 degrees of freedom, which give it the ability to crawl, twist its spine and rollover.
According to a report from Plastic Pals, researchers implemented a learning algorithm, which was able to generate successful crawling forward motions, and they were able to accomplish this despite the robot’s lack of sensors or sophisticated artificial intelligence.”
CREDIT: Hosoda Labs, Osaka University
In case the existence of one of these things wasn’t traumatizing enough, the Pneuborn 7-11 has an older sibling, the Pneuborn-13, and this one can stand. The Pneuborn-13 was designed to resemble a 13 month old and was designed to he effect the musculoskeletal structure itself has on the emergence of bipedal walking. Similar to the Pneuborn 7-11, Pneuborn-13 is autonomous. The robot is able to hold a standing posture and can make stepping motions.
Of course we saved the best for last. According to Hosada Labs, the actuators that are used to make the robot’s bodies are soft flexible materials, which allow the pneuborns to interact with their environment for several hours at a time, without risking mechanical damage or overheating.
That way, the fun can continue all afternoon!
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