Wired News: 'Running' Robot Gets Off Ground: "Welcome to Wired News. Skip directly to: Search Box, Section Navigation, Content.
Search:
Wired News Wire service news & photos Animations Wired Magazine HotBot (the Web)



'Running' Robot Gets Off Ground

Wired News Report Page 1 of 1

10:06 AM Dec. 18, 2003 PT
TOKYO -- Sony's walking robot already knows a few hip dance steps and can kick a miniature soccer ball. Now, it can jog -- a new trick that developers say is ingenious because it requires the machine to jump off the ground, if only for a fraction of a second.
The new skills of the humanoid, developed by the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant's robot unit that makes the dog-like Aibo, were demonstrated to reporters at a Tokyo hall Thursday.
Story Tools

See also
Robots Rumble at Annual Expo
The New Pet Craze: Robovacs
Wakamaru Bot at Your Service
Dr. Aibo, You're Wanted in O.R.
Read more Technology news
Today's Top 5 Stories
Are You Ready for Some Science?
Segway Stumbles in Europe
Tech Toys Survive Trial by Tots
Wal-Mart Sells Songs for 88 Cents
'Running' Robot Gets Off Ground
Tech Jobs Partner
never settle. When an upgrade of the 23-inch-tall, 15-pound robot was introduced last year, Sony executive Toshitada Doi said it might go on sale for the price of an expensive car. But now Sony has no plans to sell Qrio, which is short for 'quest for curiosity.'
Instead, the machine is being billed as an amusing 'corporate ambassador' that can highlight Sony's innovativeness. The company would not say how much it has cost.
'All around the world, universities and think tanks have been researching how to make robots run but we a"