JAPAN: Panasonic's battery-powered robot gears up to race in the Le Mans circuit, while another humanoid takes on bridal fashion

Record ID: 401795

  • Title: JAPAN: Panasonic's battery-powered robot gears up to race in the Le Mans circuit, while another humanoid takes on bridal fashion
  • Date: 24th July 2009
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JULY 24, 2009) (REUTERS) PANASONIC'S' "EVOLTA" ROBOT ON TRICYCLE NEWS CONFERENCE AND PEOPLE WATCHING STAFF PRESENT ROBOT EVOLTA ROBOT BATTERY PACK OF EVOLTA ROBOT (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) TOMOTAKA TAKAHASHI, ROBOT CREATOR, TALKING AT CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TOMOTAKA TAKAHASHI, ROBOT CREATOR, SAYING: "There's a lot of people supporting this
  • Embargoed: 8th August 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Science / Technology,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA2ODQXVH7DRO1CGJVQ86TT1LPI
  • Story Text: Robots were out in force this week in Japan, doing everything from trying the Le Mans race circuit to taking on bridal fashions.
    Japan's electronics maker Panasonic on Friday (July 24) announced their intention to break the Guinness world record for the greatest distance travelled by a remote-controlled car, using their Evolta robot.
    This would be the second Guinness record for the Evolta robot, after it was able to climb the Grand Canyon in the United States last year in 6 hours and 46 minutes.
    The Evolta robot has been put on a small tricycle and will attempt to run the Le Mans circuit in August for a whole 24 hours.
    While hopefully able to keep pedalling the whole time, the Evolta isn't quite up to controlling where it drives, and so will be following the infrared from a lead car that will take it around the circuit.
    The creator, Tomotaka Takashi expressed hope that it does more than just complete the circuit.
    "There's a lot of people supporting this dream-inspiring attempt, so I definitely want it to succeed. I want to share the whole experience with everyone through them watching it on TV," explained Takahashi.
    Panasonic plans the attempt for August 5th at 10 a.m. French local time, and Panasonic is to hold a competition to let people guess the total time the Evolta Robot can pedal, with first place receiving a Toyota Prius.
    With some robots racing around the track, the HRP-4C, or "Miim" (pronounced MEE-m) as she is affectionately known, took on another human field, bridal fashion.
    She's no stranger to the catwalk, either, having her first debut in March, albeit with more storm trooper-looking fashion than bridal.
    Fitting for a hi-tech robot, the dress worn was also state of the art, claiming to be the world's first to use two new advanced fibres to make the dress.
    One is made completely from recycled materials, and the second uses nano-tech to create fibres that are 1/7500th the width of a human hair.
    Additionally, the dress, made by famous designer Yumi Katsura, glows in the dark.
    Even "Miim" seemed to rather enjoy the dress.
    "This is the first time I've worn a wedding dress. So, I'm really happy today to be able to wear one of Yumi Katsura's dresses," Miim said in Japanese from the runway.
    Although Miim may have gotten the bridal walk down pat, her price tag puts her out of reach for most weddings, costing the Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) almost 2 million U.S. dollars to develop.
    Weighing in at 43 kilogrammes and standing 1.6 metres tall, Miim was designed to resemble the average Japanese girl, although her gait might still give her away.
    As of the end of 2007, there were 6.5 million robots in operation across the world, according to the U.S.-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEE).
    Japan has the highest robot population density, and over 18 million robots are predicted by 2011, although percentages for Robotic Bride's maids were not given.
    While Miim managed to show off her wedding fashion, there is still no word as to who is the groom.
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