Japanese were the first to create a humanoid robot. It’s been almost 10 years since Asimo’s launch, nowadays there are dozens of humanoid robots in Japan. There is a company called Kondo Robot that makes low cost humanoid mini-robots. They cost around 1.000$, and are usually available in electronics shops around Akihabara.
Kondo robots are programmable, but people usually use them using remote controllers. For example, there are competitions where humanoid remote controlled robot teams play soccer. Every year there is a pretty popular competition in Akihabara organized by Robo dreams.
There are lots of “robot competitions”, I personally know: Robolympics, Robogames andRobocup.
2 replies on “Humanoid soccer”
Looks like there’s still some bugs to work out, kinda humorous though.
[…] Last weekend I went to Akihabara and spend some time visiting the Tsukumo shop where they only have robots and robot related goodies. They are specialized in humanoid robots but they also have all kinds of electronic and mechanical components that you would need to build your own robot. Will Smith went to this shop when he came to Japan to promote his movie “I, Robot”, they are also one of the organizers of the Akihabara robot competitions. […]