HRP-2 – The Humanoid Robot

Having 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).

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.