If you’re ”burdened” with making the trek to Honolulu for this year’s MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (it begins June 3) you may want to visit Murata Boy, a bike-riding robot who makes his first U.S. visit. What’s so neat about this 19-inch-tall cycling machine? His skills.
The little guy does not fall down, even when he comes to a complete stop. And, it’s not training wheels keeping him up, but a gyro sensor located underneath his seat that detects tiny movements to calculate the slanting angle of the body. Once the angle is figured out, a large rotating disc in the robot’s chest generates force to correct the slant. Video demonstrations in .wmv format are available at the Web site.
Constructed by a development team at Murata’s Kyoto, Japan facilities, Murata Boy is, on the one hand, a demonstration of Murata’s technological capabilities and, on the other hand, a really cool feat of engineering. “This reminds me of the 21st century we dreamed of as children,” said K.Y., a member of the design team. “Murata has many exciting technologies to make the 21st century fun, like sensors, communication modules, control technology, and circuit technology.”
Aside from the gyro sensor, Murata Boy uses a host of other components and modules when it goes out for a drive:
- Ultrasonic Sensors (the eyes) - the right sensor transmits ultrasound and the left sensor receives ultrasound reflected from an obstacle. His eyes also blink in Morse Code.
- Shock sensor – detects impacts to the body.
- LUMICERA lens material – transparent ceramic material for eye camera lens has a refraction factor higher than glass.
- Bluetooth module – link wirelessly with PCs and cell phones to transmit operating signals, sensor data, music.
- Li-ion rechargeable battery
- Dc/dc converter
- 1-mm-thick flat speaker
- Other components: EMI suppression filter, trimmer potentiometer, NTC thermistor, Ceralock ceramic resonator, chip monolithic capacitor.
Some of Murata Boy’s other tricks and skills include incline climbing, parking, obstacle detection, and traveling on a narrow path. He rides at about 2 kph.
Unfortunately, Murata Boy is not for sale, and even if he were, he costs about as much as a car.
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[...] Shortly after my I published last week’s MURATA BOY post, I was able to speak with Jerry Kolbe, director of business development, Murata Electronics North America. Kolbe stressed that, while MURATA BOY is really cool little fella, the main reason for his existence, along with his nine brothers, is to showcase the capabilities–on a component level–Murata has to offer. [...]
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