Japanese engineers have created a robot athlete
A team of researchers from Tokyo designed two robots that can do push-ups, stretching and perform other physical exercises like a real person. The models are so detailed that they even begin to sweat during intense training.
In the latest issue of the American magazine Science Robotics, released this week, Yuki Asano and his colleagues from the Department of Informatics and Technology at the University of Tokyo say that the robots Kenshiro and Kangoro are designed to simulate the proportions of the body, the structure of the skeleton, muscles, and in general, the functioning of the body of an average human.
Kangoro is 167 cm tall and weighs 56.5 kg and is equipped with five fingers and legs that can naturally touch the ground and even sweat.
"The skeletal structure of our robots uses spongy metal material printed on a 3D printer," Yuki Asano said in an interview with the Japan Times. "We have developed a cooling system that forces water to seep through this material and evaporate." This allows Kengoro to continue push-ups for several minutes, not letting the engines overheat.
Asano hopes that the technology will allow a better understanding of the anatomy of the human body and brain.
"The data from our sensors can indicate which muscles are responsible for certain types of physical activity," Asano says. - We hope that this information will be applied in various fields of medicine or track and field athletics for the treatment of injuries and the training of athletes.
According to the researchers, aluminum bodies equipped with numerous engines have the flexibility not achieved in the early versions of humanoid robots.
