Japanese scientists have recently unveiled a small robot capable of riding a bicycle and stopping without falling over.
This robot, named Murata Boy, was created by the Murata Manufacturing Company and was introduced to the public yesterday, October 4, at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies 2005 (CEATEC 2005) held at Makuhari Messe, just outside Tokyo.
Engineers stated that the most challenging aspect of creating this robot was ensuring it could maintain balance while riding the bicycle. They addressed this issue by equipping the robot with special sensors that allow it to detect speed and tilt, which then relay this data to a computing device.
All of the robot’s movements—forward, backward, and stopping—are controlled through a wireless computing connection.
Murata Boy stands 50 cm tall, weighs 5 kg, and can reach speeds of 76 cm/second. The cost of the Murata Boy robot is 5 million yen, equivalent to approximately $43,744. It is worth noting that Murata has been developing bicycle-riding robots since 1990, but this latest version is the first capable of stopping without falling.
T.VY
