Humanoid Robot KHR-1 SDK Released

ls129 writes "KHR-1, the Japanese Robo-One humanoid robot kit from Kondo (previously mentioned here), is finally open for creative software development. The first unofficial implementation of the PC-controller API has just been posted. Using the SDK, the 17 servos that give the robot its mobility can be remote controlled by the PC via WiFi or bluetooth, and their current position can be retrieved several times per second. This unique feature will allow robot fans to go beyond simple performance of motion sequences or low-level gyro-based motion correction and develop algorithms that involve feedback control and AI." Update: 04/05 16:59 GMT by T : As originally posted, I erroneously changed the robot's nationality from Japanese to Korean; that was a boo-boo; the linked site with an English translation is Korean, but the robot itself is Japanese. Apologies to the submitter, who had it right.

Re:The 18th service

[Jedi Alec]

So as to avoid missing FP by a split second?

Re:The 18th service

[FirienFirien]

"Servo" - as in 17 servos, used in the article - is short for Servomechanism [wikipedia.org]. Remote actuation. Service, on the other hand... and you can bet that they've already thought of more than 17 ways to use it. I have, and I haven't even had coffee.

Stand by

[Underholdning]

Stand by for 300 "I for one welcome our new robot overlords" comments, 250 comments about terminator, 4 "Robot, Kill Flanders!" and 3 "FIRST POST".
Thank you. This was just a drill. You may now resume to your regular work.

Re:Stand by

[Deltaspectre]

"Robot, kill our new robot overlords before they obtain first post!"

Ahh but you missed the arcade classic

[Prince Vegeta SSJ4]

Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert, Stop the Humanoid...Stop the Intruder.

Bezerk. Early 80s

3... 2... 1...

[ImaLamer]

In Soviet Russia The Government Remote Controls You!!!

no, really- check out the news clips

[SuperBanana]

Stand by for 300 "I for one welcome our new robot overlords" comments,

Did you notice the TV screengrab in the bottom left corner on the page about the robot itself? The P-n-P next to the woman looks very much like the HKR-1 holding a long gun to someone's head. Sounds like they're already here!

Re:Stand by

[Hard_Code]

How about the post about programming your robot to do "the robot".

Chobits

[elasticwings]

Dammit, I got all excited for nothing. Wake me up when somebody actually starts a Chobits line of robots.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Chobits

[elasticwings]

So you can't use one... communications port. That doesn't mean the other ones are inaccessible.

Re:Chobits

[EmperorKagato]

Chobitsu-ka?

hmmm.....

[sugapablo]

"can be remote controlled by the PC via WiFi or bluetooth"

So can this feature be combined with a previously posted Slashdot story? Can users use bluetooth to make the robot approach a nice young woman in a train station and ask if they're "Toothing?"

Re:But is it tall enough?

[hey!]

I don't know what is more pathetic -- that somebdoy would bother to put together a web site devoted to Korean giant monster movies, or that I would read that website with some interest. That's ten minutes I'll never get back.

the most important question

[billwie]

yeah, but can it do the robot?

Re:the most important question

[Lancer]

You joke, but I am so going to rule on DDR with this thing...

WiMAX

[Cruithne]

Forget WiFi, you could have quite a bit of fun with something like this over a WiMAX connection..

I know I would enjoy sending my robot out around town with a video camera and two way voice communications allowing me to talk through it to people and respond and everything ;)

Re:WiMAX

[bcmm]

You lazy bastard...

Wait, you mean we don't have to leave the basement anymore?

Is it legal for these things to sign credit card reciepts, drive etc.?

North Korea built one last year.

[AtariAmarok]

North Korea built a humanoid automaton last year. Seen here [zap2it.com], it is somewhat more lifelike than the South Korean effort.

AI, OK, but how much?

[couch_warrior]

Is this going to produce AI as in "I am bender, please insert girder"? Or as in, "Maybe the blue fairy will make me into a real boy so my mommy will love me". I eagerly await the former, and I dread the latter, since it will take us two seconds to pervert it into "Im gigolo Joe, Waddaya know?" Artificial intelligence for menial tasks is great. Artifical humanity will be perverted so fast it will make your head spin.

Define perversion

[jimbro2k]

I'll define it:
If you do something I don't do, you are perverted.
If you do something I do, you are normal.

Since most people measure themselves with their own yardstick, most people are normal.
It's the rest of the world that's sick.

Re:Define perversion

[couch_warrior]

Well, we certainly didn't mean to offend any *robosexuals* in the audience, seeing as how their behavior was presciently genetically predetermined before robots existed...or so they claim...

Re:AI, OK, but how much?

[ImaLamer]

"I am bender, please insert girder"

I loved that show...

Re:AI, OK, but how much?

[Tenebrious1]

Is this going to produce AI as in "I am bender, please insert girder"? Or as in, "Maybe the blue fairy will make me into a real boy so my mommy will love me". I eagerly await the former, and I dread the latter, since it will take us two seconds to pervert it into "Im gigolo Joe, Waddaya know?" Artificial intelligence for menial tasks is great. Artifical humanity will be perverted so fast it will make your head spin.

When can we start up KidNappster? I want my LiuBot!

Re:AI, OK, but how much?

[ArsonSmith]

Are you trying to tell me that "I am bender, please insert girder" isn't peverted???

Re:AI, OK, but how much?

[couch_warrior]

Dost thou forget the line - "I don't want anyone thinking we're robosexuals, so if anyone asks, you're my debugger..."

Hang on, AI?

[thrashor]

Do my eyes deceive or did I just read that the unique wireless control mechanisms of this robot will allow developers to implement AI? If that's all we needed, we've been focusing on the wrong areas!

Re:Hang on, AI?

[MBGMorden]

I think it's a matter of processing power. Serious AI is going to take serious processing power. No little robot will be able to carry the leve of equipment needed to "think" on its own. So the solution (for now anyways) is to setup the software on some super computer (or at least something significantly more powerful than the robot's internal facilities) and then send interaction commands to the body via a wireless link.

Hopefully in the future suitable devices will shrink down to a level that they ca

Re:Hang on, AI?

[ls129]

Congratulations on posting the first non-troll comment!

The AI-enabling feature is the position feedback that you can get from the servos. In order to create AI you need a feedback loop involving getting sensor data and updating servo positions repeatedly.

Normal RC-servos were designed to be embedded in a RC-car or RC-plane and controled by a human. In this case the feedback loop is acheived by the human seeing what the car is doing and updating the direction with his joystick.

For an autonomous robot t

Available for sale to the US?

[ItWasThem]

Does anyone know if this is orderable/importable/for sale generally in the US? Both sites are craawling to a halt today and I REALLY want one. Course I haven't seen the price yet...

Re:Available for sale to the US?

[WormholeFiend]

if you have to ask what price, you probably can't afford it...

At least, this Korean robot [wowrobot.co.kr] isn't on the cheap side

Re:Available for sale to the US?

[i4u]

The Kondo KHR-1 Robot Kit sells for $1,499.00 at AudioCubes [audiocubes.com].

Re:Available for sale to the US?

[WormholeFiend]

you can also get one here [sozbots.com] for 146$ more... or just check that site to see what the insides of the box looks like. Looks like a Mecano set! Everything needs to be assembled.

Prior art ;-]

[Anonymous Luddite]

Anyone else think of the Quasar [inetnebr.com] robot?

Yes...

[Urger]

...but if I stick a magnet on it's head does it want to become Folk singer?

Re:Amazing

[ls129]

intelligence is all about low-level feedback control. when you take a million small such entities working together other things emerge like stragegy and and soul.. :)

try to google : feedback control robot

for example:
http://mundobot.com/projects/melanie/v3/enmelanie3 .htm [mundobot.com]
http://www.ynl.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~fabio/bipedloc.htm [u-tokyo.ac.jp]
Sony Quorio, Honda Asimo etc.

Re:Amazing

[Intron]

Have you read Penrose's book, The Emporer's New Mind? Its about whether a machine can ever achieve consciousness. [Spoiler: No] I don't agree with Penrose, but I also don't have the tools to argue with him. He makes a tough case.

My favorite part

[PriceIke]

"You can be writing a comment if you be sign-in."

Robotics they can do. Engrish [robo-one.or.kr] is just a bonus, while you're waiting for the robot pictures to download ..

Are the electronics scalable?

[gorehog]

I wonder this about the current crop of fly-by-wire, computer controlled, r/c products...for this, and the pico board [sslsites.de] for the piccolo helicopter.

Are these things scalable? Can I use the same electronics with larger, more powerful servos? And, if not, how far do I have to deconstruct the things to get to the core logic.

See, the way I figure it this could be a way to build an ALIENS-style loader, or a Gundam...or in the case of the picoboard maybe some kind of helicopter.

Just an idea.

AI Has Been Solved

[Mentifex]

The news [advogato.org] has recently been announced -- just in time for the emergence of AI-ready robots -- that the sideways integration of sensory input with a conceptual mindgrid is the solution to artificial intelligence.

The solution to AI qua problem -- qua grand challenge to humanity -- exists at first in theory [sourceforge.net] only.

The Association for Computing Machinery has reported in ACM Sigplan Notices 33(12):25-31 [acm.org] (1998) and in ACM Sigplan Notices 39(12):11-16 [acm.org] (2004) on progress in implementing the AI solution as open-so

Re:AI Has Been Solved

[tommyboyprime]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, Terminator started with the premise that all the computers in the world were all hooked together at a single point in time and achieved AI on there own. I'm stocking up on weapons as we speak.

Re:AI Has Been Solved

[Intron]

All of the world's computers hooked together? But that would require some sort of international network! Not likely to happen.

Re:AI Has Been Solved

[Tellalian]

Please don't mod up this well-known fraud [nothingisreal.com]. He has no formal education or experience in AI and his "theories" have long been debunked by those that do.

Just another toy...

[zappepcs]

The 17 servos in this robot use a LOT of battery. Add a wireless card to that and the joy of *using* this robot will only last a few minutes. Especially if that battery has to also power the remote video link. Its not big enough to carry lots of batteries. The act of remotely controlling a robot is not new, nor is it proprietary. There are dozens of servo controllers on the market that can be controlled using simple serial commands. The clever home robotics hobbyist can buy all they need to replicate this

Re:Just another toy...

[ls129]

The robot can last up to 25 minutes with a NiCD 600MaH battery.

What makes this robot unique is the use of the Kondo ICS-KRS series of servo motors that provide feedback not just PWM-based position control. Many hobby roboteers would be glad to learn about dozens of servos on the market that give you position feedback without having to hack the heck out of the servos and possibly insert a tiny15 [atmel.com] into the gearbox in order to get some position feedback.
There are a couple of Korean companies that make servo

Re:Just another toy...

[zappepcs]

Ok, perhaps the servos are not truly ordinary, in as much as they have position feedback built in, but that is still not something that is impossible to achieve in other ways. In truth, to get a standard servo in a place where it has not or cannot move to the position commanded by PWM is not very easy at all. Digital servos have a good deal of muscle, and a robot in the toy size range is seldom, if ever, going to push the servo that hard. Its an application where absolute position information is not require

Re:Just another toy...

[AtariAmarok]

"The robot can last up to 25 minutes with a NiCD 600MaH battery."

Let me know what batteries I can use so I can still use the robot later even after the batteries die. I don't want these Nicads which destroy the robot after 25 minutes.

Re:Just another toy...

[cynopraxis]

Hehe, I just think it's funny that you put yard work and mining on other planets in the same sentence. I don't need the other planet mining thing, but YARDWORK! Man, that would rock. I'd also love a bot that could screen my phone calls for me. Having a robot tell bill collectors to shut up would be much less stressful for me.

Re:Just another toy...

[drinkypoo]

If anything, yard work is a harder problem than mining on other planets, in terms of the robotics involved. Distinguishing between a flower and a weed is, to say the least, non-trivial.

Re:Just another toy...

[Intron]

If it grows back, its a weed. Now how do you tell useful ore from worthless rock?

Re:Just another toy...

[drinkypoo]

you drill samples and use some kind of spectrometer or burn it and run it through a gas chromatograph.

Re:Just another toy...

[cynopraxis]

Ok, how do you tell if the person on the phone is a bill collector or salesperson?

That sounds harder than telling the difference between a weed and a flower. Similar comparison though.

17 Servos: Too Many?

[drooling-dog]

When I saw this I'd just finished reading an article in Science (18 Feb 05) entitled (subscription required). Contrary to the "mainstream" approach of actuating every joint with a complex control system, the authors describe three robots that achieve very natural human-like gaits using far fewer actuators and much simpler control principles (one of them using adaptive learning). Not only are these robots far simpler to control, but they typically require only about a tenth of the energy of designs that at [sciencemag.org]

Re:17 Servos: Too Many?

[drooling-dog]

Oops. Let's try this again...

When I saw this I'd just finished reading an article [sciencemag.org] in Science (18 Feb 05) entitled
Efficient Bipedal Robots Based on Passive-Dynamic Walkers (subscription required). Contrary to the "mainstream" approach of actuating every joint with a complex control system, the authors describe three robots that achieve very natural human-like gaits using far fewer actuators and much simpler control principles (one of them using adaptive learning). Not only are these robots far simpler to control, but they typically require only about a tenth of the energy of designs that attempt to actuate every joint (e.g., knees). I'll speculate that this passive/dynamic approach is going to dominate in the future.

Re:17 Servos: Too Many?

[Spy Hunter]

So far all those robots do is walk forward at one speed. To do more (like stop, or turn, or climb stairs, or get up after they fall) they will eventually need joint control. What is really necessary is a servo with a clutch. Or artificial muscle. Then robots could harness passive dynamics but still be able to exercise control when necessary.

Look out VINCENT, Max is back!

[scupper]

#070 in the contest [robo-one.or.kr] is the ancestor of the killer robot Max [toymania.com] from the Black Hole [imdb.com].

VINCENT and "Bob"'s days are numbered!

Re:Look out VINCENT, Max is back!

[axis-techno-geek]

"Kiss my colossal metal a$$!"

Feedback claims dubious

[AndyLippitt]

Unmodified hobby servos do not expose the position data without cracking them open and reading the internal pot. Looking at the API, I'm guessing it's simply remembering the last positions you told it to move to and regurgitating them.

I'm working on a project that sort of does what this is claiming to do by providing this feedback by way of current sensing.
http://satiety.com/robot [satiety.com]

Re:Feedback claims dubious

[ls129]

I dont think the RCB-1 controler regurgitates the previous position. The servos really do have a signaling protocol that allows the controler to retrieve the current position.
Check out the PDF called "ICS Servo Special Protocol" here: http://robosavvy.com/Support/2 [robosavvy.com]
This will be validated experimentally soon.

I know someone who has done a similar project developing interesting gaits that utilize current AND position feedback form the servos. http://www.mundobot.com/projects/melanie/v2/enmela nie2.htm [mundobot.com]

Re:Feedback claims dubious

[AndyLippitt]

I stand corrected. These servos are unsual and very cool!

Re:Feedback claims dubious

[Tellalian]

Most people in-the-know realize that traditional RC hobby servos are practically useless for serious robotics projects. They're underpowered, inprecise, and unreliable. This is why several companies such as Kondo and Megarobotics (both Japanese IIRC) have designed special digital servos that are more powerful, easier to mount, and double as sensors using networked bus protocols. If you're into robotics, don't waste any more money on obsolete RC servos.

Re:Feedback claims dubious

[drinkypoo]

But, rc car servos are cheap as hell and available in high torque and high speed versions. If you can report the position cheaply somehow, then they're not bad little devices. If you were building a snake robot or something I'd think that RC servos would be a VERY good idea, because they're cheap as hell. For very fine control, I'd probably want your digital servos.

How small do the digital servos get?

Oh no...

[The One and Only]

The last time I saw a KHR-1 they looked like walking chrome toasters!

Re:Oh no...

[Tellalian]

Get with it. They're aluminum now ;)

Compatibility

[Tellalian]

It should be noted that this is a closed, binary, Windows-only dll, which may even damage your $1500 robot. I don't want to sound zealous, but no serious robotist should be using Windows. Wake me when anyone can compile it under Linux.

Use this library at your own risk. There is no guarantee this software would work at all in your system or your robot. Your robot might be damaged. ... This is a library for controlling the KHR-1 RCB boards using the serial link from a PC under Windows.