The following information is true and accurate at the time of publication.
November 21, 2000
Sony Develops Small Biped Entertainment Robot
Sony original 'Actuator' & 'Whole Body Coordinated Dynamic Control' Give Wide Venety of Movements
(Tokyo, Japan) - Sony Corporation today announced the development of a small biped walking robot "SDR-3X" (prototype). This is part of Sony's continuing exploration of new possibilities for the entertainment robot.By synchronizing the movements of 24 joints on its body, the robot can perform basic movements such as walking and changing direction, as well as getting up, balancing on one leg, kicking a ball and dancing.
The robot uses the same OPEN-R architecture as Sony's four-legged autonomous Entertainment Robot "AIBO".Two technologies applying the OPEN-R architecture, the "actuator" that moves the joints and "Whole Body Coordinated Dynamic Control" for real-time control of the joints realize the biped walking motion of the SDR-3X.
small biped walking entertainment robot "SDR-3X"(prototype)
The development of OPEN-R was announced in June 1998 as an architecture for entertainment robots.Components of the robot such as hardware, movement software and information processing programs (e.g. speech recognition, image recognition) have been subdivided into modules specific to each function.These modules can be easily changed and adapted to enable a robot to perform a variety of new applications.
The newly developed "Actuato" that moves the joints is constructed from a motor unit, a gear-unit and a circuit unit.By combining these three basic components into one device, high power output can be obtained from small, lightweight actuators.Sony developed three types of actuators with different joint sizes and power output.
To realize stable walking movement, the Zero Moment Point (ZMP) where the combined force of both the inertia and body weight meet, must be judged against whether balance is possible on the surface that is being walked upon.The SDR-3X uses two RISC processors for thinking and motion control.Information gathered from a CCD camera, microphone, posture sensors and touch sensors on the bottom of the feet are processed to synchronize movements of the body joints.
Based on the OPEN-R architecture, Sony will continue to develop basic and applied technologies to explore new possibilities for entertainment robots.
The SDR-3X will be shown at ROBODEX 2000, the world's first exhibition of "Robots as Partner", from Thursday November 24 for 3 days until November 26 at Pacifico Yokohama.
Technologies used in SDR-3X (Prototype)
- 1) Efficient Power Output from Small Sized Actuator
- Sony developed three types of small actuators (ISA) for joints with different power output requirements.High power output actuators are used in the knee joints to support walking movement.
| Name |
ISA-S | ISA-M |
ISA-MH |
| Torque Rate (When 1A applied,kg.cm) |
6.2 |
15.9 |
24.0 |
| Size(mm) |
Ø 24 x 49.5 |
Ø 31 x 47.5 |
Ø 31 x 52.5 |
| Mass(g) |
73.5 |
119.7 |
143.2 |
- 2) Quick Motion/Synchronized Body Movement
- In the same way as a human being, the SDR-3X moves the upper half of the body to counteract the yaw-axis moment generated from the lower half of the body. As a result, the SDR-3X can walk at a speed of 15 meters per minute with 60mm strides. In addition, when it walks up slopes or moves its whole body, information gathered from posture sensors in the torso area and touch sensors on the bottom of the feet are used to control its posture to prevent it from falling over.
- 3) Communication by Voice
- Movements of the SDR-3X can be verbally controlled through two microphones in the ear section. The robot possesses a speech recognition function and can recognize about 20 pre-recorded words. In addition, it can respond to these verbal instructions through a speech synthesis function that enables the SDR-3X to answer with one of about 20 recorded words.
- 4) Movements based on Image Recognition
- The robot can distinguish specific color areas from visual data captured by the CCD camera in the head area. Based on this ability, the SDR-3X will recognize the instructed color ball, find the goal net, move beside the ball, shoot the ball and recognize whether the ball has landed or not in the net.
- 5) Other
- The SDR-3X can be operated by remote control by using a Wireless LAN Card in the PC card slot.
- A simulation software has been developed to simulate the movements of SDR-3X on a personal computer.
For Reference
SDR-3X Main Features
| CPU | 64 Bit RISC Processor (x2) |
| Internal Memory | 32MB DRAM (x2) |
| Operating System | Aperios (Sony's original real time OS) |
| Robot Control Architecture | OPEN-R |
| Program Storage Media | 16MB Memory Stick (x2) |
| Joints/Degrees of Freedom | Head:2 degrees of freedom
Body:2 degrees of freedom
Arms:4 degrees of freedom (x2)
Legs:6 degrees of freedom (x2)
(Total of 24 degrees of freedom) |
| Internal Sensors |
Visual Input |
180,000 1/5 inch CCD Color Camera |
| Voice Input |
Microphone (x2) |
| Distance Detection |
Infrared Distance Sensor |
| Acceleration Detection |
Dual axis accelerometer |
| Angular Rate Detection |
Dual axis angular rate sensor |
| Touch Detection |
Contact Sensor (x8) |
| Voice Output | Speaker |
| Input/Output | PC Card Slot (Type II)
Memory Stick Slot (x2) |
| Walking Speed | Approx. 15m per minute |
| Mass | Approx. 5.0 kg (with battery & memory stick included) | | Dimensions (height x width x depth) | Approx. 500 x 220 x 140 mm |
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