Posted by Andrew Tingle on November 10th 2006 | Respond?

HRP-2 Promet Humanoid RobotHaving already featured a number of robots in Thoughts from the Sidelines – from bike riding robots that can remain perfectly balanced even at a complete standstill to dancing robots and even iPod robots – we couldn’t possibly pass up on featuring this rather remarkable video of the HRP-2 Humanoid Robot, otherwise known as “Promet”, strutting his stuff.

What is immediately striking about the HRP-2 is the extremely natural and fluid nature of its movement as well as its obvious dexterity, as is evidenced in the video featured below which shows the HRP-2 not only performing a traditional Japanese dance but also climbing stairs, crawling, squatting and even laying down.

It has to be said, as impressive as even the previously featured Robonova-1 undoubtedly is, the HRP-2’s moves makes it look positively robotic in comparison.

Created by Kawada Industries Inc. with assistance from Yasukawa Electric Corporation and Shimizu Corporation, the HRP-2 is the result of the Humanoid Robotics Project headed by the Manufacturing Science and Technology Center (MSTC).

HRP-2 Robot Large Detail

Standing at 154cm in height and weighing in at 58 kilos, The HRP-2 is being used to explore future robot technologies with respect to walking on uneven surfaces, tipping-over and falling control mechanisms as well as “human-interactive operations in open spaces”.

You can see the HRP-2 in action in the following clip (to view as a stream click the picture, or you can download the clip, should you wish, via the supplied link).

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You can read more about this fascinating robot, as well as view further video presentations of him in action via this page.

Looking for more? See Robotics or scroll down for carefully selected related items that may also be of interest to you.

HRP-2 - The Humanoid Robot

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