Wabian-2 (WAseda BIpedal humANiod-No.2), developed at the Waseda University walks like a man, moves its head, torso, arms and hands and will soon be able to change the expressions of its face according to its various “states of mind”: happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, distaste.
The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, Italy, collaborates to the project. “We’ll give the robot cybernetic hands and an artificial skin,” explained Paolo Dario. “But also a brain to estimate and analyse external stimuli.”
By simulating as much as possible the way humans walk – bending the knee and moving the feet in various way, Wabian will provide researchers with insights on human pathologies and will help them obtain the data needed for developing medical and rehabilitation instruments. This can be done by measuring robot’s motion instead of human’s motion that is difficult to measure quantatively.
Via La Repubblica.
Robots + emotion: robots falling in love, self-aware robot.