Automata and Robots
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Research on Traditional Technology from the Edo Period and Modern Robots
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Episode 10: A Giant Robot If Manufactured…
Giant robots are familiar from TV programs. How much would one cost to be manufactured?
I have calculated an estimate for the cost of manufacturing Gundam before. And as a result I discovered that it would cost slightly less than 80 billion yen for just the materials. It does not include the cost of labor or the necessary infrastructure. Only the material and process costs.
I calculated the surface area of Gundam on the premise that it is made of aluminum alloy plates of a honeycomb structure with a height of 18 meters. I got estimates for the computer system and sensors to get a grip on the cost of construction. However, this Gundam can only function by walking.
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The main computer used is a super computer called Blue Gene by IBM and costs 171 million yen. A total of 30 large motors which output 400KW are used: 12 in the lower body, 2 in the trunk, 14 in the arms, and 2 in the neck. For your information, a Shinkansen motor outputs 300KW and that of an electric scooter about 500KW. The cost would be about 800 million yen for just the motor. The required motive energy of the motor would be equivalent to seven Apache military helicopter engines. One Apache costs 5.7 billion yen; therefore, seven would be 39.9 billion yen. The total cost would be just below 80 billion yen.
Just an aside let’s compare sizes. Gundam is meant to be 18 meters high and weigh 43.4 tons. I am one tenth of that height and I weigh 57 kilograms. morph would weigh 432 tons when if his 50cm was proportionally increased to 18 meters. Gundam is 18 meters and weighs 43.4 tons, which is far lighter than that. It can be manufactured using materials for just below 80 billion yen. It can walk but not fly. It couldn’t fit a pilot. Moreover, an additional two issues arise.
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Issue 1: Mass is a major issue as Gundam is slim but would still weigh several hundreds tons if normally manufactured. Its legs are slender: Slender legs are preferable in ensuring control. However, they would result in a lot of pressure being applied to the soles of the feet. Roads and the ground could not withstand the pressure applied from that weight and the body would sink into the ground.
How high a human being can be is limited by the weight it can support. Too high a robot would need very thick legs. A human can briskly walk at about 4 km per hour and can run at about 8 km per hour. Impact of 120 to 140% of their weight is applied to the feet when they land. Speed is basically impossible for a 43.4 ton robot. It could only galumph around. Hence we need to ask ourselves: “For exactly what purpose are we developing a giant robot?”
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Issue 2: Cost effectiveness. Now let’s compare the price. How about the evaluation it would cost 80 billion yen? For example, a tank costs 500 or 800 million yen. An airplane costs 20 to 30 billion yen. The cost of launching a rocket is 10.1 billion yen. A fighter jet costs over 228 billion yen and an aircraft carrier 513 billion yen. A giant robot is cheaper than them but how cost effective are they?
In conclusion, manufacturing a giant robot would be meaningless. However, a robot that a human could ride is another story again. I really want to manufacture a robot that a human can manipulate while riding it. It does not have to be a giant robot. A robot that can be ridden on will become mandatory in the future. And why is that? I want future robots to be machines that can help do things that humans cannot: The same is equally true of Hallucigenia 01.
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Categories of robots are shown in the figure below.
The higher the hierarchy the higher technology. Moreover, failures are not permitted in higher technology. The cleaner robot, air conditioners, car robots, home security, and security robots are all home appliance field examples. The requirement is being of higher technology. “Safe and secure” is a keyword. Currently people help people; however, this is impossible with an aging society. It is important to not only make home appliance robots but also manufacture robots that can manipulate home appliances. Robots can be used as physical equipment in realizing “I want to do it by myself” by people who cannot even if they do want to. They can be machines that people can ride and use to manipulate things.
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Many places are inaccessible places even in wheelchairs. The term “barrier-free” was contrived on careful consideration. In brief the environment has been adapted to machinery as well as paving roads so vehicles can move around on them. The barrier-free concept can be realized to a certain degree in urban areas; however, the places we visit have many other things to them than just artificial buildings. We need to remake wheelchairs into machines that can take people anywhere. Being truly barrier-free is not adapting the environment to the machinery but rather the machinery to the environment.
Also, people tend to adapt the environment to technology when technology advances. For example, highways destroy the natural environment with pavement: Automobiles run on it. However, technology can make a compromise with the environment when the technology has advanced enough. Excessive pavement may be no longer necessary. We engineers can leave better technology for use by the next generation. The following robots need realization: Robots that people can ride on in accordance with the natural environment and that can go anywhere without the need for a paved road and what is more that can convert the feeling of “I want to do it by myself” into physical energy and concrete action in the field of welfare in the future.
Humans live by communicating with each other. Robot must not do anything that people can do. The role of robots is first in help caregivers and the second support people who can take care of themselves but want to be able to do everything themselves.
In fact we aim to upgrade Hallucigenia 01 to where humans can ride them and use them to manipulate things. It will use wheels where needed and feet where wheels can not go. Hallucigenia 01 is being manufactured in the spirit of creating a robot that can go anywhere without having to destroy the natural environment. Technology itself does not destroy the natural environment. I want to formulate a plan for future robots with which users can go wherever they like without needing anybody else’s help. The technology to manufacture Gundam available but necessity for it is unknown. However I believe robots that humans can use to manipulate things with will be indispensable in the future.
This was also a catalyst to me when I first started developing robots. I could not go to many places when I was sick and had to use a wheelchair. I inherently like to go to various places. I love to watch the evening sun and nature. I have wanted to manufacture a robot that can be a support to people who cannot go anywhere by themselves.
I have loved robots since having to use a wheelchair and thinking about how I could go anywhere using a robot. Aging results in physical deterioration: Your body cannot be controlled very well but your brain still works well. I think an ideal robot would realize the hope of such people of being able to do anything by themselves without having to trouble their families.
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【Hallucigenia 01】
Demonstration movie
Jointly developed by fuRo and LEADING EDGE DESIGN
(Click the image to see the movie. 4 minutes and 36 seconds, 15,610KB)
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Takayuki Furuta
Director of Future Robotics Technology Center of Chiba Institute of Technology
Engaged in developing humanoid robots as the leader of the Kitano Symbiotic System Project, JST robot development group. Has been the director of the Future Robotics Technology Center of Chiba Institute of Technology since June 2003. Developed the humanoid robot “morph3” in 2002 and “Hallucigenia 01” which was produced by integrating automobile technology with robot technology in 2003.
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Automata and Robots 
