Then
d
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a
NOW
LARGE ROBOTS
by Tom Carroll
Last month, we discussed little
robots — from nanobots that can't
be seen with our naked eyes to the
smaller types that many experimenters
and hobbyists build. Fortunately for
most experimenters, smaller is usually
cheaper, but not always. Tiny
machines are certainly a lot harder to
work on, as anybody who's tried to
solder (and unsolder) SMT ICs with a
hundred-plus pins knows. The
mechanical part is even harder as one
might need the skills of a watchmaker
experience to accomplish many tasks.
Large robots, on the other hand,
are usually easier to construct as basic
tools can normally be used to cut
metal, fasten fasteners, and position
the parts. However, due to the larger
size, large machines of any type need
large motors and more beefy power
supplies. These larger items cost more
money and that may limit going larger.
Some of my best robots were in the
hundred to two hundred pound class,
human-sized anthropomorphic
machines. I've always enjoyed building
large bots that can move about, pick
up things with 'hands,' and look a
bit humanoid, but the cost of their
components is quite a bit higher. It
is this higher cost that keeps most
experimenters from building humansize or larger robots.
Asimo removed his hat as a gesture to the crowd and a pyrotechnics
display emanated from his hat. The
whole 35,000 pound float was driven
from the rear and visually controlled
by a spotter in the front. A 454 cid
V- 8 engine drove the float and the
hydraulic systems, with separate
generators to supply electrical power
(see Figure 1). Honda has always been
innovative with their entries in the
Rose Parade. Last year's entry was a
floral Honda Ridgeline truck with
Asimo at the wheel.
FIGURE 1. Honda float featuring Asimo.
78 SERVO 03.2009
Honda's Asimo
Stars in Rose
Parade
I'm not usually wide
awake on New Year's Day after
staying up the night before,
but my wife had the 2009
Rose Parade on TV and I was
astonished to see a 49 foot
Honda Asimo as the lead-off
float. Honda has never been
known to build anything
second rate and this giant
robot replica was no
exception. Rising from a
16 foot prone position, the
robot stood upright in just
two minutes. Honda was
celebrating 50 years of doing
business in the US and this
float was titled "Hats Off in
Celebration," in keeping with
the parade's theme.
NASA JPL/Caltech
Robot in 2005 Parade
Honda was not the only Rose
Parade float to feature a giant robot.
NASA JPL and Caltech in Pasadena,
CA, featured a giant 50 foot tall robot
in the 2005 event. "A Family of
Explorers" represented a compilation
of nine exploration spacecraft built by
JPL to explore the Earth's environs and
deep space.
Figure 2 shows the robot standing
on two of the most famous of these
spacecraft — Spirit and Opportunity.
On the robot's left leg is the spacecraft Jason-1 (designed to study our
oceans) and on the other leg is the
Genesis Spacecraft on a mission to
explore the Sun. The right arm is
GALEX — the Galaxy Evolution
Explorer telescope — and the left arm
is the Mars Global Surveyor, studying
Mars from orbit. On the belly of the
robot is Stardust (that grabbed comet
samples and sent them back to Earth)
