JAPAN: Panasonic's battery-powered robots gear up for Ironman triathlon challenge in Hawaii

Record ID: 401780

  • Title: JAPAN: Panasonic's battery-powered robots gear up for Ironman triathlon challenge in Hawaii
  • Date: 15th September 2011
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 15, 2011) (REUTERS) JAPANESE ROBOT DESIGNER TOMOTAKA TAKAHASHI UNVEILING NEW SERIES OF "EVOLTA" ROBOTS VARIOUS OF EVOLTA ROBOTS DISPLAYED ON STAGE TAKAHASHI AND OTHER OFFICIALS SEATED ON STAGE SCREEN SHOWING HAWAII IRONMAN TRIATHLON COURSE MORE OF EVOLTA ROBOTS DISPLAYED ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) SENIOR CO-ORDINATOR OF PANASONIC CORP. S
  • Embargoed: 30th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Quirky,Science / Technology,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA7GYTH6TBQA5578L6M4HYXHYE5
  • Story Text: After scaling the cliff walls of the Grand Canyon and driving the Le Mans racetrack for 24 hours, Japan's tiny robots are set for a new challenge -- Hawaii's grueling Ironman Triathlon course.
    Japanese electronics company Panasonic announced on Thursday (September 15) it will take on one of the world's toughest triathlon routes with its new series of Evolta robots.
    Fitted with three different bodies and three rechargeable AA-batteries, the hand-sized toy-like robot will swim, bicycle and run for a total of approximately 230 kilometres (143 miles).
    The time given to complete the task is one week or 168 hours, which is ten times longer than it would take an athlete.
    The batteries fitted to the robot's back, which go on sale in Japan on Oct 21, can be recharged up to 1,800 times by being placed on a recharger pad, the company said.
    Officials at Panasonic said the robotic feat, if successful, could help convince customers of the quality of their battery products.
    "It's hard to tell how powerful our battery products are by just showing them to customers, so we planned a severe challenge to demonstrate how great the rechargeable Evolta is," Senior Coordinator at Panasonic Corp. Shingo Yuto said.
    The Hawaiian triathlon race will be the fourth campaign for the plastic-carbon robots.
    In 2008, an Evolta robot climbed 530 metres (1739 feet) up the Grand Canyon in under seven hours.
    It also broke the Guinness world record for the greatest distance travelled by a remote-controlled car by completing the Le Mans race in 2009.
    The tiny robot proved its endurance once more by walking 500 kilometres from Tokyo to the old Japanese capital of Kyoto in 2010.
    Yuto hoped the incredible feats would be inspiration to Japanese people recovering from recent disasters.
    "Through challenging and accomplishing hard tasks, we'd like to give some encouragement to the people of Japan," Yuto said.
    The three bodies include one mounted on a tiny bicycle and another in a round hoop with a supporting rear wheel.
    The third, a 51-cm-tall (20-inch) swimming robot is mounted on a curved, fin-like blade with its arms stretched out to carve through the waves and tides of the Hawaiian sea.
    The robot's triathlon challenge begins on October 24 and will continue non-stop for seven days and nights.
    The actual Ironman World Championship will take place in early October.
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