More than two years ago, I told you that female robots were coming. Now, Tomotaka Takahashi, founder of Robo Garage, a spin-off of Kyoto University, and creator of several famous robots, has unveiled his 'Female Type' robot (also named FT). According to a brief article from Mainichi Daily News, FT walks like a fashion model. FT only weighs 800 grams for a height of 35 centimeters. It also has two gyrosensors to increase its stability.
Before going further, here is a picture of the Female Type robot (Credit: Robo Garage and Mainichi Daily News).
Now why did Tomotaka Takahashi build a female robot?
"There're loads of male-type and child-type robots around, so we figured making one in the style of a woman would be good for PR and stuff, as well as create new demand," Tomotaka Takahashi, Robo Garage's boss, said during a Friday media conference.
And were there specific problems encountered while building FT?
Bipedal robots need stability, which has meant that have needed a low center of gravity to stop from falling over and have subsequently looked fat. FT, however, is svelte, courtesy of its tiny motor.
To counter the instability resulting from FT's slim-line figure, Robo Garage installed two sensors inside the robot that detect if it's starting to lean. When activated, the sensors stop FT moving so that it can regain its balance.
Below you can see that FT can keep its balance (Credit: Robo Garage).
But will we see a commercial version? It might be written on the FT home page, but as I don't read Japanese, it's hard to know. The only information available is that it took 13 months and several million yens to build FT.
Anyway, if the company decides to sell this robot to the public, I hope it will found a better name for this female robot.
Finally, for more information about the previous robots built by Tomotaka Takahashi and his team, please visit this gallery.
Sources: Mainichi Daily News, April 8, 2006; and various web sites
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